PhilD

I used to think that; however I am now starting to think they represent a very conservative, middle England view, with Peyton thrown in to add a little frission and colour. It would be good to see a judge with a slightly "younger" perspective (sorry couldn't think of a term that wasn't ageist). I assume Peyton is meant to play his role but why does it need to be so quirky? I know, good TV! I had been also thinking that a chef would add value to the panel. Maybe an opportunity for Ramsay to show a serious side and avoid the slide into a "tabloid" career? Although a really good bet would be Michel Roux Jr. he really shone on Masterchef.

My moneys on Stephen. ← Hope you didn't place a bet I was quite surprised with friday's program - the judges were a lot more enthusiastic about the food than I thought they would be. Roll on next week! ← I like Leith's cookery bible series (but did they come out after she sold the Cookery School?), but Pru is rapidly following Delia into a historical food cul-de-sac. Interesting to look back on but no longer relevant. She reminds me of an elderly relation who once loved good food but now has very conservative tastes, and who turns their nose up at anything unusual. That said, I don't think Stephen did enough on the day and James's food was better. However, it was one of the weaker rounds.

Sad news about the co-owner: Alexander Mosely

Sa. Qua. Na. would be my choice. We didn't eat there on our last visit as we had booked elsewhere and it had recently opened so it was an unknown. It has subsequenty got good press and a star. It looks pared back and very modern.

I think this change could be very positive. The menu had got a bit moribund so hopefully by concentrating on the menu and dropping the ALC we may see it being reinvigorated with Heston ringing the changes from day to day; as other chefs do with their menus. Heston's philosophy based on the psychology of eating and his take on he whole experience of the meal makes a lot more sense within the confines of a set menu. But like a rock band it must be tricky reproducing the greatest hits night after night as that is what the punters want to experience. I would have been quite frustrated if I hadn't enjoyed some of the famous classics on my visit; but that said I wouldn't return unless the menu changed. One thought on his rumoured London opening. Maybe he will follow Ferran Adria's lead and keep one restaurant for innovation (The FD) and other restaurant for a greatest hits menu. Adria has El Bulli for innovation with no repetition from season to season, and La Alqueria (near Seville) which does the dishes from the back catalogue, and is staffed by some of the top talent from Roses and sometimes Adria in the El Bulli off season.

I am quite intrigued by this week. Stephen seems quite analytical and has the confidence to keep improving the dishes, so I expect to see some interesting changes when he cooks on Friday. James on the other hand seems to be comfortable with what he is doing although his fish dish seems to be way off the brief (although similar to a standard dish he as on his menu). Does anyone else dislike being served food on slate tiles rather than a plate? I also agree with Judy about James' character. He does seem a bit up himself; I really didn't like his comment about Stephen's restaurant being "...a little bit slapdash".

Why do you think these dishes lack taste and style? Maybe not your style, but clearly other peoples. Plenty of restaurants also follow the "St John" mode and present food in a different (simpler) style. I enjoy all styles, and I make my choices according. I love having the choice - it would be sad if they were all like Nathan or all like Fergus (as examples of their respective genres).

ElisG - it took me a long time to find how to do it - I couldn't find any instructions. So I jotted some down for you. Hope they work...! 1. Save your images as small files (the upload facility likes the smallest you can do) 2. Click on your name 3. Then click on OPTIONS (2/3rds down the page) 4. Under menu on the lefthand side click on YOUR ALBUMS 5. On the right hand side click the drop down menu SELECT AN OPTION 6. Click UPLOAD IMAGE or BULK UPLOAD 7. You can then select files from your machine. Unfortuantly it isn’t over yet. When you want to add them to a post: 8. Select VIEW from the SELECT AN OPTION (under your albums) 9. Open the image you want to add, and click CLICK FOR ATUAL URL which is in small text next to the image 10. Copy the URL 11. Close the pop up 12. Go to the message you are working on (it helps to have two sessions open in your browser) 13. Select where you ant the image to be 14. Click IMG 15. Paste the URL into the pop up box 16. Click OK 17. Preview to check position 18. Start from from 8 to add more images to the message

Matthew, I seem to be following your lead. Last year San Sebastian this year we are heading to the same area for a week or two prior to an assignation in Roses. I will be very interested to see what you turn up, you SS recommendations were spot on. ← If you were really following my lead you'd only be heading to Roses for a quick dinner at Rafa and giving the other place (I forget its name) a miss ← Good advice - to be honest we haven't got round to any planning yet so all suggestions welcome.

Looks like we appreciated the same highlights - IMO both are really great. We had a tasting menu, the disadvantage is you get small portions but maybe the advantage to the restaurant is you don't get enough to fully judge them. I really like the crab, but it was gone in approx 10 seconds....! The one/two star assessment is tricky. For us it was far more enjoyable than the other UK two stars. However, that could be an assessment of the total package; staff, location and food, rather than simply the food. I find it difficult to disassociate them.

I had a really good lunch there just before Christmas. It was mainly charcuterie and wine but that what I enjoy and it was done well. I tend to think of the lunch service as quite good value relative to the quality of food. OK I have had better, but equally I have had many far worse experiences at the same price point. I have also eaten dinner there many times and generally enjoyed it. Sometimes it was perfect, other times a little patchy and once pretty poor. FoodSnobs review hasn't surprised me, and it is a little disappointing because it has been an old favourite of mine. When I used to eat dinner there on a regular basis it was very good value, even allowing for the variability ion the food. But as the price has risen over time; especially with the £/€ exchange rate, it probably is no longer worth the risk.

I am working to persuade the CFO and Chauffer that this needs to be done. At the moment I am looking forward to a trip for Sunday lunch to The Red Lion in East Chisenbury which has been recently reviewed by Dos Hermanos and Jay Rayner. I will report back.

Good to read the review, we are thinking of heading over the border to try it in the near future. It will be interesting to see what Stephen produces in GBM, IIRC last year he produced dishes that were a lot more involved that his menu at The Hardwick. With Stephen you need to remember he is a very good chef who chooses to cook rustic pub food; The Hardwick is meant to be very different and it sits at a different price point. A 3 course set dinner is £45 at the Crown vs. approx £35 for a starter, main, side order and pudding at The Hardwick (which I suspect would be twice the volume of the Crown). I think if I lived in Abergavenny I would love The Hardwick, but it is probably not worth a special trip; although in combination with The Walnut Tree it could be fine: Friday supper at The Hardwick, Saturday at The Walnut Tree, and Sunday lunch at the Crown on the way back to England would be fun. ElisG - on you next post it may be better to load the photos into the eGullet site rather than link out to them. I gave up on the first one as it took about 4 minutes to load.

Matthew, I seem to be following your lead. Last year San Sebastian this year we are heading to the same area for a week or two prior to an assignation in Roses. I will be very interested to see what you turn up, you SS recommendations were spot on.

Maybe the answer to Randy's question lies in how each country traditionally cooks beef. In England we roast beef and you can get some really good cuts that roast well, far better than similar cuts in France (I have never tried US ones at home). But I wouldn't be a champion of British steak, there is good steak, but it is tricky to find and you do need to search quite hard to find it in both retail and restaurants. In the US steaks are king and it is simple to find good steak. I suspect it is helped by the cooking technology and experience. The big US steak broiler is designed for perfect cooking, and given the volume of steak consumed the skill and experience of grill chefs ensures they know how to use the kit to produce an optimum product. So what of French beef? Is it sensible to compare French beef cooked in a US or British way? It will be difficult for the French product to compete well. But how does French beef compare when cooked in traditional French styles with US or British beef cooked in the same way. To me the beef from each country is good; however it needs to be cooked in the style appropriate to that country.

Back to the GBM. I find Stephen quite interesting, and his decision to cook off menu for James wasn't surprising. Having eaten at The Hardwick we found his food to be good, but it is really only good rustic pub food, nothing more and nothing less. He has the pedigree to do some great things, I thought his self analysis of the "Rabbit Rarebit" was very interesting, it will be interesting to see how he tweaks it for Friday. In comparison I suspect we saw that James still has some distance to travel. The contrast in experience will be insightful.

yes , the difference between one and two stars is nearly always tablecloths ← Gary - although it was a tongue in cheek comment from me, it may be a more serious point than you give credit for. The psychology of dining is complex, and even "highly trained" Michelin inspectors will find it hard to overcome first impressions. OK Michelin is "all about what is on the plate" but the set up of the meal which includes the staff, room, and supporting paraphanalia does make a difference. IMO it will never disguise bad food, but can lift good food. Food1 - Wishart would be my 2nd best meal, we had a superb meal there as well, and I would agree that it also deserves more. We had a dire experience at LCS, all I really remember is the frosty reception, the amateur service and very brightly lit dining room. As I said above the psychology of dining has a major impact and LCS was all wrong that night. I was reading Mattbites recently and he linked to a bloggers code of conduct which makes the valid point that we should visit a restaurant more than once or twice before making a definative comment. I wish I had both the cash and time to do that. A number of visits would even out and peaks and troughs in the kitchen, hopefully balance any emotional highs and lows, and ensure spouses are not unwell. I am keen to revisit LCS as our experience seems very different to some (but not all); did we simply catch the FOH team on a bad night? Nathan may be in the news this week, but I had been hoping to get there for 18 months and had been following some good reviews like Duncan's. On this visit he was on top form, it is a pity he is so far away from most people as it would be good to get a broader range of opinions.

I'm very much looking forward to reading your review. Will you try to have a word with the great man, if he can find the time? Enjoy. ← It was a really great meal - full report here. I would say solid 2 star cooking, possibly better. My guess is the lack of tableclothes is the only thing that stands between him and the next star. The Brill dish is similar to the Turbot he did on the show. It is really, really good. The meat course was also very good, but interestingly one weak spot was the use of gels in the desserts which was one of the weaknesses the judges highlighted - they really are not very nice. But that said his Peanut Mouse was a superb dessert. We didn't manage to speak to the big man but it looks like they are doing pretty well. Apparently they served 22 set menus on Saturday in a restaurant dining room with approx. 30 covers. They have been pretty full since the beginning of March and this weekend they were full (with some added tables) and turning lots of enquires away. The hotel manager told us that Nathan has been offered a few other TV slots, and he really enjoyed doing the show. Hopefully we will see more of him....although we don't want to lose him from the kitchen.

On Saturday we ate at Nathan Outlaw’s and it was the best meal we have had in the UK, and this includes Hibiscus, LCS, Fat Duck and Martin Wishart. The dining room is very comfortable with a great view over the harbour; good quality, and good taste is in evidence and is in place in every detail, from the fabrics on the chairs, to the different (and correct) Riedel glasses used for each wine. One critism of the setting is the lack of tablecloths, in a room this elegant and with food and service of this quality it is odd not to have them. The FOH staff are really, really good. Every one was knowledgeable about the food and wine, and they were all very friendly and happy. I was impressed that the waitress offering us aperitifs effortlessly recited about 10 different white wines by the glass from memory, and was able to talk in detail about the ones we asked questions about. Throughout the meal the waitress told us the grape varieties in each wine and a little about where they came from with some background details. This sort of skill and professionalism is all too rare these days For dinner there are two menus. An ALC with entrees at an average £13 and mains at £27, and a seven course-tasting menu at £70 or £100 with wine (which we chose). The wine list is pretty good, with a lot of bottles at the £30 mark. The food was all really first class, great cooking, well balanced flavours and a few taste surprises. The food and wine pairing is absolutely fantastic with each wine matching the food perfectly. At one stage we went from dry white, to red, to sweet and back to dry white and it flowed really well. There were only a couple of weak spots with the food, my partner thought the beef was a bit tough but I liked it, and he uses a couple of gels on the desserts, we both found these lacked flavour and had an artificial texture. On our next visit we will probably go with the ALC. The tasting menu did fill us up, but there wasn't really enough of each dish to wallow in the enjoyment of eating them; each needed a full size portion to really satisfy. The wines selection is good and reasonable value. But a fault with many of these pairings is getting the pace right, at the start of the meal we sat with empty glasses and could have done with a top up but towards the end the flow seemed right. What is the correct etiquette; do you order a cheeky half bottle for intercourse top-ups? First up the first amuse, a romesco sauce with little bread sticks and a very moreish crumbed cheese ball: The next amuse, a watercress soup with lemon oil and a perfectly cooked scallop: The first of the courses - Crab Salad; Curry, Apple and Coriander Toast served with Collio Bianco Klin 2004, Primosic, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy: Next - Cured Salmon; Marinated Beetroot Risotto, Horseradish and Dill served with Framingham Pinot Noir 2006, Marlbourgh, New Zealand: The next dish is similar to Nathan's Turbot dish which he prepared for the Great British Menu but this version is - Brill; Potted Shrimp Sauce and Broad Beans served with Furmint 2006, Royal Tokaji, Tokaji, Hungary: Rabbit and Ham; Jerusalem Artichoke, Walnut and Watercress served with St. Aubin 1er Cru Les Frionnes 2006, Hubery Lamy, Burgundy, France: Beef Rump; Hazelnut & Tarragon with Mushroom Pearly Barley served with Roda Reserva 2001, Bodegas Roda, Rioja, Spain: We then moved on to dessert, introduced not with a wine but wit a cocktail - tasty and lethal: First dessert - Lime and Vanilla Curd; Shortbread and Mango Sorbet: Second dessert, a real triumph - Peanut Mouse; Banana Ice Cream and Espresso Syrup served with Monte delle Fontane Passito 2001 IGT Garganega, Veneto, Italy: And to finish some petit fours, all perfect:

I thought the judges were a little harsh on Nathan's main, OK we can't taste it, but I couldn't really see the problem with its concept. However, Shaun's main looked very good. Nathan seems like a really great person, the really nice comment on Shaun's dessert, saying it needs to be the one served at the dinner, after he had lost was really genuine.

It is in CatererSearch.

I suspect Mark summed it up well: entree and fish to Nathan, main and dessert to Shaun. Given the main tends to be a key dish I think Shaun will get it.....but it is going to be close especially if Nathan reworks his pud. We are booked into Nathan's on Saturday night and I will be more than happy to try all four of his dishes if they are on the menu. Although I think he has a tasting extravaganza that may need to be ordered instead!

← It got 2 stars in the '09 Michelin guide and it's website has spring offers for this year - it looks very open to me.

I don't understand this debate. Isn't it simple? North of Hatfield is simply "The North" after all that is what the road signs say.

Depends on where you are coming from in Spain. We had planned the trip to end up in Andalusia so it was a natural end point for us. We did have three great meals there, which culminated in the full 30+ course dinner experience. They do El Bulli's greatest hits and so they select dishes from the back catalogue to make up the meal. I understand the head chef was one of the top chefs from Roses and Ferran can spend time in the Kitchen here (especially in the El Bulli off season) so the standard is meant to be as good - I haven't been to El Bulli yet so can't do a direct comparison. Seville is a nice city (although the hotel is approx 20kms outside) and Andalusia is a nice region, Spain is good because it has really good regional variations which hopefully you will see.