peterpumkino

Sorry Andy, I meant site (what an a-hole). Peter

Andy, Welcome back! I sent an email to you requesting info on the sight. Did you get it? Are you the right person to address this to? Thanks Peter (mrpeterrobertson@aol.com)

I just love the 'greay spoons' in the US, they're really fantastic but, alas, they're becoming a dying breed as Americans prefer Denny's, IHOP's et al as they are sooooooo much cleaner and sterile. Shame.

Nothing, but nothing, beats a good ol' English unhealthy fry-up breakfast when I'm in the mood, also I agree that Pizza Express is one of the best Pizzas in England (the topping is surprisingly good even if it's not from a wood-burning) and a fresh portion of KFC can be good. I also admit to Sweet and Sour Pork occassionally.

Come on Simon, surely you can see I'm winding everybody up, it's surprisingly easy!

I have one question only and then i'll discontinue this conversation as it's obvious that no-one has any real idea as to what I'm taking about (although it's nice to see my liking for Mezzo Pizza being ackowledged). Has any of the 'great posts' and 'applause' people actually lived in Italy (not in an American military camp or as a student with Americans and Eurepeans but actually lived with Italians) - ha! I thought not.

I second your various comments re. Sheeky's, although the ambiente is not wonderful the food and service is - IMHO.

Absolutely right Steve, my thoughts entirely. AA Gill has a lot of faults but he is NOT a layman. You may not agree with him (that's your right) but you have to agree that he does eat for a living and has been to many, many restaurants - I happen to agree with him when it comes to Italian restaurants, cooked by Italians in Italy!!!! A story: I was at Rome airport with my 14 year old American daughter. As we both like Fritto Misto and we were in a salf-service restaurant we went to the counter where fritto misto was being fried. The mini-chef asked us to wait and then threw out the remains of the fritto that he had been using and made us wait until he did a fresh batch. The food he had just fried was, in my mind, perfectably acceptable (it had been fried about 7 minutes previously) but no, we had to wait !! THAT'S the difference and that happened at a cheap, self-service airport cafeteria - try that at JFK and see what happens! That's Italian food, cooked in Italy, by Italians for Italians. Nothing less will do. OK?

Point taken, but up to a point only. Do you call Amatriciana, Carbonara or Due Formaggi light sauces? Your description of Italian food was very naive. I also feel that you will get a similar standard of food throughout Italy (unless you go to tourist hotels or tourist restaurants where they cut corners as they think, correctly I feel, that tourists don't know the difference). I, for one, like, no LOVE, Italian food as cooked all over Italy for Italians. That's my preference and for that I do not think AA Gill's comment was naive, he was just stating a fact. Authenticity is not the point, the cuisine I love is.

Macrosan, Very good. I know that AA Gill does have many faults but when he talks Italian he talks Italian - really.

Sorry, that should read: nytimes.com

Steve: I don't have the link but here's the site: nyimes.com It's the July 17 edition, food section. And in the Guardian here's another one that should get all the whiners going (I'm nothing if not impartial!). getting ripped off in the u.k. at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4463970,00.html But before the whiners start remember this: The Guardian is a very left wing paper and is very anti-American and very, very anti-George W. Bush plus it starts by comparing restaurants in Tuscany and Piemonte with those in London - an absolutely absurd comparision in my opinion. Remember what I said about newspapers being there to sell newspapers! Enjoy it though.

Aright it's either going to be Cochin D'Or or La Cagouille. Thanks everybody for your input...and now to eat (actually i'm going on Friday!).

Gavin, I couldn't have said it better myself. Yes, you've got it. In regards to 'fancy' restaurants - they are not for Italians, they're for Americans (fascitious joke - sorry). But serioously that's the mistake a lot of people make with Italian restaurants. On a Sunday the Italians get in their cars and dirve out to some real rat bag place and eat for 4 hours! And we're talking all levels of Italians, that's the thing to do and that's why they have problems in France as they do the same thing there and are dissappointed (French food is marvellous but you have to pay for it). It's really a different World. So-much-so that the Italians think that's it's halarious that our expensive restaurants serve Pollenta. You only get that in the hills in really rustic and cheap restaurants! And did you know that Italians only drink beer with their Pizza and not wine (yes, I know, I've had fights with them on this - I ask them what you drink with cheese, tomatoes and bread - wine! So what's pizza if it's not cheese, bread (dough) and tomatoes!). AA Gill said it best, he said that the difference is so great that tourists are going to Italy and complaining that they couldn't get Italian food!!

Steve, First of all having lived and travelled all over Italy (Milano, Rimini, Roma, Torino, Venezia, Bologna, Napoli, Palermo etc) and having had the pleasue (!) of marrying one (from Ivrea in Piemonte) I have rarely seen an Italian menu without some kind of veal dish but that is not the point, the point is that this meal was definately NOT as you would get in Italy. It may sound Italian, it may have an Italian chef, it may smell Italian but on my daughter's life this meal was NOT Italian in any way. Maybe that's my problem, THAT is what I was expecting and that is NOT what I got ergo I didn't like it. Maybe (just maybe) if I was going expecting an English/Italian/quasi-French meal I would have been better prepared and may have liked it. IMHO there are very, very few restaurants World Wide that serve Italian food AS YOU WOULD GET IT IN ITALY and that's what I like - hey, everybody's different.

Interesting - it does show that a). we all have a equally valid difference of opinion as what what is deemed 'good' and b). possibly the standard of food varies depending on conditions (not least of the consumer! i.e he or she has a hangover, a very 'hot' date, is in the mood, is not in the mood etc). Whilst I agree wholeheartedly that The Ivy is exceptional for non-pretentious food (if you can get in) I will say that when I went to Locanda Locatelli a couple of weeks ago here are my comments:: First the tables are far too close together. It's truly memorable cliche) if you want someone blowing smoke up your nostril (believe me, you cannot forget that). Why do these very ignorant, selfish, morons insist on smoking their cancer sticks in a way that the person at the next table has to inhale their smoke whilst eating. My partner could not taste the subtle flavours of the food thanks to this 'dolly bird' (yes, it was a woman, the man was OK, I'm not being sexist but this type of woman doesn't care about anything but herself). Secondly, the menu: not very adventurous (really!), not very Italian (who heard of an all-encompassing Italian menu, as this one claims to be, without a veal dish?) and the very same every day. Thirdly, the food: I suppose it was very good. Certainly very fancy, colourful, pretty etc etc but what about the flavours? What it definately was NOT was Italian! Methinks Sig Locatelli learned too much at the Tour D'Argent. This was French and others do the subtle flavours MUCH better (Raymond Blanc, Ramsay, the Roux's etc). Amongst other dishes I had the Linguine with lobster. What lobster? A few crumbs and that's it and the sauce was watery (alla most Italian restaurants outside of Italy), I had the same dish at Metro Pizza and it was amazing, so much flavour, cooked just right and very similar to the exact same dish I had in Santa Margerita. I'm sorry but an Italian Italian would not eat this. Taken as a good restaurant the food was well-prepared and seasoned and the service, whilst slow, was excellent. Taken as a great restaurant - not-so-good, taken as an Italian restaurant - not even close. Madonna can have it. Sorry Gary, but that was my observation, for what it's worth (i.e. nada).

Sorry guys. I've given you all a bit of a red herring with the oysters. I only mentioned them to describe the kind of plateau de fruits de mer I am lookling for, It's the freshness and variety the of platter rather than the oysters per se. Sorry - any specific ideas? Jaybee: Does Le Cochon D'or or La Cououille (where is it?) fit the criteria?

He has a bit of a point - except he should have started his tome with the word 'many' rather than 'most'. Let's face it 'Moules et Frites' is not my idea of gourmet (or even good) food. But, guys, remember that a newspaper article is not written in gold. The writer's job is to sell newspapers, good news doesn't do this, bad news does. Don't forget the article in the NYT last week trashing Brit restaurant. All the whiners leapt on that one patting themselves on the back saying, smugly, that they were right all along!!! You can't have it both ways. Moral of the tale: take this kind of article with a big pinch of salt (that goes for the NYT as well).

Steve, I have printed Coquillages which I know is a generic word for this kind of restaurant. Within that list there is a Roi des Coquillages at place Vichy = is that the one you recommend especially or do I just take my pick?

Thanks Steve, I'm printing both files and will use. Peter

One of my favourite types of French food is Fruits De Mer (you know, the cold sea food platter with oysters, shrimps, crab, cockles etc that is served in layers like a wedding cake - usually there's a man outside who is dressed like a pathologist doing a post morem chucking oysters and whatever else he does with the seafood). As I'm off to Paris for the day next Friday does anybody know where it's really good in Paris? Strangely enough I had it in Rick Stein's in Padstow, which is considered the best sea food restaurant in Britain, and it was not good - I suppose there isn't the demand (therefore the turnover) for such a dish in England which requires ultra-fresh ingredients. Also I go over to Boulogne quite a bit so if anyone knows a good Fruites De Mer restaurant in that region let me know (I know the 2 Etaples restaurants and their great). Can anybody help me?