david goodfellow

Not been myself, but one day! You may be interested into this insight. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2010/jan/13/celler-de-can-roca-restaurant

Welcome aboard Richard. I follow your column weekly,and am looking forward to your well informed contribution. Nearly posted the link myself as I read it on Staff Canteen yesterday

We literally have just eaten the last two cheeks tonight, which were quite large and unfortunatly a little too gelatinous and we found them hard work. I served them with mash and some savoy cabbage sauted with lardons and double cream which worked very well. Next time I buy them I will go for smaller ones. Interesting that you should mention Alistair Little's recipe, I,m looking at the photograph of the dish now. I bought his book Keep it Simple back in 1993 when he was one of the most talked about chefs on the London dining scene. The dish looks great on paper and screams "eat me" Pigs cheeks are on my to do list, however top of the list is blade of beef, again cheap as chips but bags of flavour. If I can achieve anywhere near the quality Glyn Purnell puts on the plate, I shall be a very happy bunny indeed

Three courses for a tenner is just crazy, they will start to pay people to dine there at this rate. If, and it may be a big if, that Michelin star appears I think this menu will disappear. Would like to work in the kitchen for a day to see how they make that bread of theirs

A couple of videos in Catersearch that you may find interesting. The Masterclass series is well worth looking at, some good butchery tips and of course top chefs like Mr B showing us how its done. Anybody been recently? http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/01/08/331625/video-watch-a-masterclass-and-interview-with-michelin-starred-chef-sat-bains.html

Amazon thinks 20th Jan: Great Britain and Ireland 2010 Annual Guide I bet the info will be on here before that date.

Our one and only visit was a bit similar in as much my main course, lamb again was tough as old boots. It was a Sunday lunch and bless his heart the Maitre D compted my complete meal,( not the wifes ) so service was more than attentive. Seems a real shame the kitchen appears to be inconsistent.

Sheff, I'm disappointed, I really want to eat Martin Burge's food and when you mentioned Whatley Manor, was hoping you were going to treat us to a cracking review. Any chance you can elaborate on the highs and the lows, perhaps

Congratulations are well in order for winning F Word and good luck on their attempt at a Michelin star. Personally I think that this is more than a possibility. Birmingham really has quite a bit to shout about now, food wise at least. http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2010/01/08/331640/birminghams-lasan-wins-gordon-ramsays-best-restaurant.html

Wonder if anybody has dined here recently? It had quite a bit of exposure when it first opened. Some of the comments on Tripadvisor are very negative,interested to see if they have sorted out there front of house problems? AA Gills review in the Times is perhaps worth a read if you can put up with his initial drivel Reports appreciated. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/eating_out/a_a_gill/article6970422.ece

Nobody has mentioned Adam Simmonds at The Oak Room, Danesfield House, he is the only four AA rosetted chef not to currently have a Michelin star. He held one when in Wales at Ynyshir Hall so should be high on the list of possibles. Not eaten his food, yet, so can't comment from experience but pedigree and AA credentials easily make him a good bet. Happy New Year http://news.caterer.com/article/view/restaurant/19535232/chef-tipped-to-be-next-gordon-ramsay/

Well, I collected my Ox cheeks from the catering butcher, 5 for £7.60 they really are cheap as chips. There was a quite a bit of waste on them, however I think that I over trimmed them mainly because the wife really objects to fat/gristle, no matter how I tried to explain how it dissolves in the slow cooking process. I remembered eating a Jason Atherton dish at Maze which included Ox cheeks and googled it, and followed it roughly except that I reduced the port, but still put in a bottle of wine which makes the cheap cut quite a bit more expensive. Marinating them overnight was specified in the recipe and I tried cooking them in a slow cooker that I bought some time ago but have only used the once. On reflection I wished that I had added a strip of orange peel, as Prawncrackers suggested, I did however add carrots, leek, onions, celery, bay leaf, star anise, thyme, oregano and cooked the lot for seven hours on medium heat. Everything except the stock was retained in the cooker and the stock was reduced by half and butter was added to enrich the sauce further. As you may imagine the end result was divine,it was served with fluffy, creamy potato mash and some mange tout. In Jason's recipe, he bins the veg but I could not bring myself to discard so much flavor, so devoured it with the cheeks. On reflection once you have cooked this dish its easy peasy to do it again and of course its well worth the effort

Anybody have an idea how Nathan Outlaw will fare in January? Not dined there myself, not for want of trying, its just way too far away without tying into some other foodie visit.

I returned a couple of cookery books to my local library and was thrilled to bits to find "Yes Chef" on the shelves. Its contains "100 Great British Recipes from 20 Great British Chefs", including, Marcus Waring, Jason Atherton, Michael Caines, Nathan Outlaw, Glynn Purnell, Mark Hix, Anthony Demetre, Tom Kitchin, etc,etc,etc. Most of the chefs are Michelin starred and I just can't wait to tackle some of the recipes. I deem myself to be fortunate enough to have dined at quite a few of their restaurants so its a real pleasure to recreate the style of cooking. A lot of them seem to be signature dishes and most of them are very do-able to a cook of my standing. From a personal point of view, I can without hesitation recommend this book.

Sounds good John, and not too far away from me. Is it a recent opening?

Bapi, Great post and what stunning value, how do they make money at those prices? They will be pulled out of the place as soon as its been on the tele, hope they don't put the price up too soon as I just been on google maps and its very do-able for me No clues as to identity then?

Phil, you may well be correct, Marmite(love it or hate it) tells its own descriptive story perhaps. Having said that, and we have had a bit of dodgy service ourselves recently, we can't grumble at all. I know a few egulleters have also been and am looking to reading their reviews, in the meantime this is the other Birmingham newspapers take on it http://www.birminghammail.net/lifestyle/food-and-drink/restaurant-reviews/2009/09/24/love-s-restaurant-canal-square-browning-street-birmingham-tel-454-5151-97319-24769931/

I'll second that, its a very appealing spot.

Former Roux scholar and National Chef of the Year Steve Love and his wife Claire opened their Brindley Place restaurant, quietly in September, with a formal opening in October. Having worked with Gary Jones (Le Manoir) Alan Ducasse and briefly alongside Claude Bosi plus three years at Michelin starred Mallory Court it seemed full of promise. I stumbled on photographes of Steves food some while ago when he was in charge of the kitchens at Cotswold House in gorgeous Chipping Campden and decided to pay him a visit when we were in the area. Not to be, we caught up with him back in October at his new place. Difficult to find, Canalside, across a bridge off the beaten track, and away from any commercial neighbours it is quite welcoming. Seating up to thirty two with a private dining room for eight its small but perfectly formed. We were treated to an espuma of carrot, cumin, coriander, goats cheese and herb oil. This had a real depth of flavour, we could have enjoyed quite a bit more of this. Ham hock and parsley terrine, celery salad, and crispy white pudding. Leek, ginger and potato velute',girolles,peas, pike mousse. Claire spooned the peas, girolles, and pike mousse into the dish and poured the soup into the bowl, this tasted better than may have been imagined, as did the Ham hock which is being done to death up and down the country. Slow cooked shin of Beef, butternut squash, cabbage and root vegetables. Whiting fillet, bouillabaisse potatoes, fennel, cos, brandade croute. We both had the beef, which was sitting by the side of some red cabbage puree, and a medley (in a row) of vegetables sat on the side of the plate. The beef was tender but a little on the dry side and was well short on sauce to help it on its journey. The fish was taken as an extra course for a small supplement and chef very thoughtfully plated it for us both. I for one could have tackled a full plate to myself, it was well tasty although the brandade croute was not to my liking. I did however appreciate the slow cooked tomato infused with, garlic, orange, and a hint of rosemary. The mashed potatoes were presented in a separate pot. Marinated sherries, apple and pistachio cake, vanilla ice cream. Sticky toffee pudding with malted ice cream. We had a pre dessert of passion fruit creme with a tasty biscotti. The pudding was a work of art presentation wise, a feast for the eyes, tasted good too, I seem to remember some caramelised banana and a dome of chocolate. Mrs G enjoyed her choice too. Good, approaching very good, we think Loves is another most welcome addition to the Birmingham fine dining scene. It has much potential, our only concern was the time that it took for the food to reach the table considering that there was only fourteen diners in the room By the way, apart from the extra course that we had, all of the above is yours for an absolutely stunning £19.50. Go before the prices go up

Today, I will mostly be drinking Hoegaarden http://www.hoegaarden.org.uk/whatisit.asp

Giovanni Baldino is a seasoned campaigner, a consommate professional, with the ability to charm the birds from the trees. Sadly he can not clone himself and his staff let him down. Apart from the water incidents, one of the young ladies could not answer any questions as she did not understand or speak English.Another (male) waiter laid the table for a savoury course even though we had progressed to dessert. Service was extremely slow although I put this partly down to the kitchn. The food was not at all bad but apart from the bucatini it was mediocre, not really my idea of Michelin quality. Moving forward to your weekend it looks to me your in for a real treat, here's hoping your reports will be of the positive nature

Michael Wignall at the Latymer. Two star class act. If he was freed from the country house hotel environs and unleashed on London he would be seen as the dogs goolies.

My preferred current daily tipple is Greene King IPA, brewing beer since 1799, I will read you the blurb on the can. An award winning, perfectly balanced, premium quality beer brewed in Bury St Edmunds Suffolk. Award winning Green Kind IPA is easy to drink, making it the perfect choice for any occasion. The characteristic hoppy taste and aroma comes from the use of Challenger and First Gold hops, which are combined with pale and crystal malts to create this perfectly balanced, premium quality beer. I'll drink to that Cheers

Michelin starred and boasting "Best value set lunch award Tatler Magazine 2009" Semplice certainly seemed appealing. Chef Marco Torri has a very impressive cv, as has Giovanni Baldino, manager and co owner. We liked the high decibel room with its golden wave walls, interspersed with zebrano relief and low lighting. We plumped for the high value lunch which was £25 for three courses including coffee and a glass of wine. Some of you may be relieved to know I lost my notes so this review will be short. I remember that I had some superb bucatini with ham, can't remember what the wife had, nor can she. We both had a very generous serving of Tagliata, an Italian classic dish of good quality sirloin steak which was accompanied by some fluffy mash and a pond of tasty sauce. We chose an extra course off the carte,Roast wild Duck, scottish mixed mushrooms, new potato, globe artichokes, red wine sauce. This was tasty, but unremarkable in as much that it was a simple dish. Desserts were well, not memorable. What was memorable, was the shoddy service and the worst bread that we have eaten in any restaurant this year, it was a shocker. By her own admission my wife has weak wrists, but still could not manage to tear this hockey puck in two. Our young lady servers managed to miss the water glasses on three separate occasions with one spillage requiring one of them to put a napkin over to dry it out. Now I know that we males are prone to missing our target sometimes but not three out of three. The smartly dressed ladies next to us were happy bunnies except that when the one closest to me became animated the whiff of stale talc (or was it cheap perfume)added an unwelcome aroma to my meal. We had parked the car in a multi storey off Oxford St about eight minutes away from the restaurant and the ticket was in the four hour zone, which gives you some idea of how painfully slow this lunch had been Perhaps things were destined on this day not to be perfect, we have certainly had more than our share of great experiences recently, so its perhaps good to be philosophical, having said that I am not inclined to make another visit anytime soon.