[Discretionary spending?]

The Press Association reports:

But 40 of {the 60 staff} are expected to get their jobs back after Antony managed to raise private support and use some of his own money to buy back two of the restaurants, in Windsor and Kew, and the shop.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/a...6uTdpvdxLBl9x9Q

So, have I got this straight?

He couldn't raise a £200k overdraft to keep the show on the road (being unprepared to risk his own capital/house), but he has somehow come up with enough "private support" and "some of his own money" to do the cherry-picking.

Isn't there an inconsistency there?

Always seemed such a nice chap too ...

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Exactly!I was prepared to utter the statement "Bankers are not stupid"however given the plight of the global economy and our miserable share of it I think this statement would raise howls of derision.

I would be interested in finding out how his suppliers have suffered over this debacle?

[Discretionary spending?]

doing a 'tom' as it might now be known.

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It will be very interesting to see this story unfold.I just missed the morning BBC news

coverage no doubt it will be covered later in much detail.

Watch this space!

[Discretionary spending?]

he only wanted £200k and the bank wanted security over his house?

perfectly normal,  when i had the pub we had personal guarantees over everything so if he was that convinced they were going concerns he'd have done it, no suprise then that the bank weren't interested, another case of over-expansion me thinks.

i hope his suppliers got their cash, he took the entire supply of dexter beef filets and sirloins from a farm that supplied us (with the bits he hadn't taken.)

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Exactly correct Gary.If Wozza had complete faith in his business he would have put his house up.I did it years ago without hesitation, and it enabled me to expand almost unhindered.

I have heard that he is negotiating to buy 2/3 of those same restaurants,please correct me if I am wrong.You can now see a picture emerging of ripe "cherry picking".

[Corrigan's Mayfair]

I went two saturdays ago having read so many terrific reviews of the place.

I remember the site,as Chez Nico was located here, although the entrance was on the Park Lane side in those days(giving my age away).

Well my wife had the salad of game birds,which is one of Jan Moir,s best dishes of 2008.

I had the pig(their description)sausage with oysters both of which were delish

We sort of shared a game suet pudding which I could not finish because I had pigged out on braised Hare,mash and kale at Great Queen St at lunch.The other dish was Widgeon,an absolute stunning triumph.and it was a first for me.If this is on the menu when you go ,snap it up.

We did not have room for puddings because of our earlier lunch.

The moral of this story,for me at least is to go there hungry because Richard Corrigan is a very generous guy.

One last point the Widgeon was the most expensive dish on the menu at £26 and this is Mayfair.Some of the dishes were as cheap as chips given the quality of the cooking and the aforementioned location.

Richard Corrigan your a star!

[Birmingham]

crispy poached egg

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Please explain, I have never come across this before.

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think scotch egg without the sausage i would suspect, had very good example in france last week

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Spot on Gary I could not have described it any better

[Birmingham]

Sorry about that folks I didn,t realise I was being so verbose.lol.

,,,,,,,and the black pudding was pureed adding a bit of elegance to the dish.

Roast breast of Gressingham duck croustillant of leg,baby pak choi,with five spice sauce,followed.This was of a good standard,spoilt ,somewhat by the prep of my wife,s breast (more tea vicar).The sinew was still embedded.

We finished the meal with french and english farmhouse cheeses(for madam),and I had the Vanilla panna cotta with rhubarb sorbet.Now this is right up my street I am a sucker for both components.

All in all a pretty decent meal on a par with perhaps say Arbutus although it has to be said the portion sizes were more "tasting" size than the aforementioned.Prompting my wife to say "I could just eat a bag of chips on the way home".

If the review seems a bit negative it will not stop me returning for the tasting menu at £45 if it lives up to the promise it has to be a bargain

As a point of interest I paid in cash and asked for a copy of the bill, the waitress asked if I required any change rather cheekily I thought.I said no. As it was the £60 paid included a 10% tip I waited for the receipt,it did not arrive I had to ask another member of staff for it.It seemed to me she had her prize ,move on. I,m still waiting for a good night sir

[Birmingham]

I am a bit surprised no one has mentioned Turners in Harbourne yet.Birmingham can now boast three michelin star restaurants.This really puts Manchester to shame(come on you reds).

Well,here we go.

No sooner had I found out about ,not only Purnells star(expected)but the revelation Brum had another one, set the phone a ringing to book a few meals.

I had a wonderful lunch at Purnells a couple of weeks ago(my second visit)and dined at Turners this tuesday just gone

Weekends as you may expect are very busy,however I had planned to try their Auberge menu which is on a tuesday and wednesday3 courses for £17.50 with two choices at each course..A snip.

Now if this place was just around the corner from me i would no doubt be a regular,especially at these prices.

On entering the restaurant we did not feel a rush of warmth,more a feeling of ?.

Well considering I had just driven 50 miles on the frozen M6 to get here a wagging tail might have been nice.

The place was quite quiet to start with,although our table was for 7.30.A number of the tables were set for large parties.

Now for the food.We did not like the bread,not unusual perhaps for my wife,she is not a bready person.Very unusual for me,I love it.It had been re-heated and was verging on rock hard.

We ordered the same starter and main,something I try to avoid,as it is good to taste different dishes.

The starter was crispy poached egg,black pudding,pancetta red wine vinaigrette and a smattering of leaves.

We enjoyed this dish,perfectly cooked egg,crispy,tasty panchetta and the black pud

[Fraiche]

Just a new year update on Marc,s recent michelin star,and my meal here last week.

Like scores of others, Fraiche has been on my list of "to do,s" for some time now,in fact since I noticed a mention in michelin last year.

Looking on the map it looked a good hour and thee quarters drive away so I put it to the back of my mind.However when the new guide was leaked(on this site)I sprung into action.

My focus of dining this year has been weekend trips to London plus a few meals at Aiden Byrnes Church Green Pub at Lymm.So I was thrilled to bits to find not only the aforementioned within driving distance but two new michelin in Birmingham which is only an hour away.

I have now completed my Birmingham dinings having had meals at Purnells,Turners. and last year,Simpsons.More of these another time.

At last! I can hear you cry.

Well the trip was not as long as I thought,an hour and fifteen minutes.

Firstly may I say that the food looked very appealing on the website and I was

looking forward to some excitement on the palate

Like Gary we had the bespoke menu.We lost count of the courses.There must have been about fifteen including all the little freebie bits.

Now then, I was expecting good,but let me tell you we were blown away by his food.

This meal was as good as Hibiscus and we enjoyed it more than Le Champignon Sauvage.That should tell you something.

The highlight of the meal was, the Pork Belly,it sort of dissolved in the mouth,I cant remember a nicer piece of pig.

But hang on it was all good,the bass,the venison,scallop,and chicken,etc,etc.

I didnt take photos(I wish I had)and I didnt make any tasting notes so I can not go into to much detail ,but I can guarantee to you ,that I will be knocking on his door very soon for a return visit