Polarbear

It does. I'd missed that bit. J ← Yup, I've also just realised this only works if you assume the person who came 2nd overall came 2nd in the public vote. If he came 3rd he could still have finished second overall without drawing with with the person who came 1st. ← When is the actual Dinner being shown on the box?

The Midsummer House deserves attention and not only in the long evenings of June. The location and size of the restaurant militates against a third Michelin star (it is not really in position to be a “destination” restaurant), but I have no hesitation in preferring it over two London standards The Square or Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, and, if not as creative as Gordon Ramsay or The Fat Duck, capable of equaling them in pleasure and bettering them in cost. The Midsummer House/Midsummer Common/ Cambridge, United Kingdom/+44 (0)1223 369299/http://www.midsummerhouse.co.uk Pictures to be posted later. ← Great review. 2 very puzzling/hilarious quotes. 1.(it is not really in position to be a “destination” restaurant) 2. not as creative as Gordon Ramsay! Are you of this planet, Mork?

Many many famous artists have teams of workers knocking out their works for them. They just issue the brief and put their signatures on the finished piece. Damien Hirst works in this way and Salvador Dali was known to sign blank canvasses. ← All the Rennaisance artists worked in this way, including Leonardo Da Vinci. A chef, by definition, is head of the kitchen. They are like a conductor of an orchestra, who coordinates and leads others who play the instruments that make up the final piece as envisioned by him or her. The chef is there to create dishes, train others in making these to exacting standards, and maintain quality control. How often would any named chef in a restaurant actually touch your food? The answer is most likely very rarely. Even then, it may often be down to a final check over before the dish is sent to your table. We have seen at least one notable British chef who appears to have spread himself far too thin and is currently paying the cost for this. Will Heston do so? I suppose that remains to be seen. ← Saw a programme on the Furniture manufacturer Chippendale, did exactly that. Hired the help and sold it under his umbrella.

Or was it shares in Bamix...............?

Looks like Paul has got a great discount on Lethicin............

I saw him once pour water over some purple stuff, I think it turned into Ribena......Fooking miracle it was. I nearly gave him some bread and fish.

Paul Kitching is one of the uk's most avante garde chefs and very original, I think he will add his own unique personality to the way he writes his menus and so what? Allow him to express himself, surely it is justified by the actual food. lighten up! Personaly I think Tom and Martin are shitting bricks............

My moneys on Stephen.

I'll have 50 spots on ranks too.

My predictions are David Chang from Momofuku getting in the top 20 along with Mauro Colagreco at Mirazur. Noma in the top 5. Claude Bosi honouring Robouchon and hopefully some serious Japanese influence this year. We'll see.

I don't think this is fair. Sat has every excuse to with his business as he wishes. He's just returned from the Melbourne food festival and closed his restaurant for 2 weeks, as he likes to be there when the guests visit him. Sounds like a real 'Celebrity' chef thing to do!!!!! Sat, who I know well, has refused loads of telly work to concentrate on his day job, running a Restaurant. He has increased his staffing to 2 Sommeliers, again to offer a greater experience for his guests and has not got rid of any staff in this very difficult financial climate. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Ok Guys Just a few clarifications for you all on Sat Bain's Restaurant pricing structure. He did offer a Dinner menu for 3 and a half years at 55 pounds for 3 courses with 2 choices on each course, plus a Tasting menu of 7 courses at 65 pounds, plus a surprise menu at 85 pounds which consisted of around 10 courses. He also offered a Bespoke menu at 150 pounds for anything up to 20 courses. Again this was for those guests that really want a tailored menu, this again is chosen by a very few. Looking at the structure today. By the research done the sales of the Dinner menu for the whole Year was 8% hence them hitting it on the head. Also they then introduced the 3 Tasting menus this January 2009. Offering the 5 course Tasting Tuesday to Thursday only as again this only makes up at present 5% of sales. The Pricing structure has increased on the 7 course menu only in the last 3 and a half Years from 65 pounds to 69 pound, all of 4 pounds increase in nearly 4 years. So all in all the structure is really just re-jigged with the only price increase on the 7 course of 4 pound in 4 years. I don't think that's all that unreasonable. The Duck egg dish has a supplement of 15 pounds and is very popular, lets not forget this is a Business and the guest have complete control of saying No if they didn't want the egg. So just to clarify; 5 course menu - 55 pounds Tuesday - Thursday. Replaced the Dinner menu which was also only available Tuesday - Thursday for the last 18 Months. 7 course menu - 69 pounds an increase of 4 pounds in 4 years. 10 course menu - 85 pounds replaced the surprise menu at the same price. Bespoke menu - 150 pounds. So I can't personally see this stratospheric price rise. I hope this helps.