gavinhanly

Yes indeed - got that wrong. The booking line opens in December, and the restaurant opens at the end of January.

Couldn't find an existing topic for this - so thought I'd add one. The restaurant is still due to open in December - and we had a chance to chat to both Heston and head chef Ashley Palmer Watts last week, both of who were very nice indeed and happy to answer questions about it. We put together a quick interview with Ashley here: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Articles/preparing-dinner-by-heston-blumenthal-an-exclusive-interview-with-ashley-palmer-watts-mandarin-oriental Surely the biggest restaurant opening in London this year? And I am keen to know what the "old favourites" are that are coming to the menu.

We talked to Anthony Demetre this week and found out a little bit more: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Interviews/anthony-demetre-on-arbutus-wild-honey-and-the-opening-of-les-deux-salons

Went to the Hidden Tea room last week - great fun, and was much more interested in that concept than usual restaurant pop-ups, to be honest.

I couldn't actually see a topic on this one - so thought I might as well add one. As many of you may know, Daniel Boulud has been over to promote his new Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental. We caught up with him for a chinwag and here's the result: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Articles/talking-to-daniel-boulud-new-yorks-greatest-chef-comes-to-london Some interesting stuff, I thought, particularly his reaction to Michelin stars and how it can help with tourists (I've been gauging a restaurant by that myself once or twice in NYC), as well as some details about the opening (Chef, food etc) and the possibility of him bringing his After Hours programme to the UK. Haven't been to Bar Boulud in the US, or Daniel, but have been meaning to try. Anyone been who can give impressions?

Breaking news from Madrid Fusion where Ferran Adria has been speaking today. He's just confirmed that El Bulli will not be opening in 2012 and 2013 http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/ferran-adria-confirms-el-bullis-closure-for-two-years

Here's our full list of all the changes in London: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/michelin-2010-uk-guide-stars-leaked-again And a full revised list and details of all the restaurants with stars in London: http://www.hot-dinners.com/restaurants/search-results?jr_michelin=1star_2stars_3stars&order=rjr_michelin&query=all Quite surprised that Corrigan missed out, myself.

Just in case anyone hadn't seen it - Boulud is coming to the UK: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/mandarin-oriental-london-confirms-daniel-boulud I've always wanted to try Daniel or Bar Boulud in the States - but have never managed to fit it in. So has anyone been? What can we expect fo the UK?

So Caterer's search got a denial that Loubet's opening a restaurant at the Zetter - but a recent exchange on twitter would seem to suggest that the Times got the story right: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/bruno-loubet-opening-zetter-hotel So... are there any insiders on the board who can shed some more light on this?

We managed to catch up with Sat at the restaurant show - he's not all that fond of London restaurants, but he did like Murano... http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Articles/interview-sat-bains

Hi - we managed to catch up with Trevor Gulliver to find out more about the St John Hotel that's going to open in Soho (taking over Manzi's slot) - so I thought it was worth starting a new thread about it (hope that's OK?). It will, most importantly, feature a new St John Restaurant in the heart of Soho, and evolving the St John format again, as Bread and Wine did with the original St John. Will almost certainly be the most exciting Soho restaurant opening since the very well recieved Hix. Very long opening hours mean that there's much more chance in easily getting a table too. Loads more details here: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/trevor-gulliver-new-st-john-hotel-london

We went on Friday and posted out thoughts here: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Articles/pierre-koffmans-selfridges-pop-up-restaurant-launches - and you can check out our Twitter page for some pics of the food too. I thought the food was amazing, with the fois gras starter being a particular winner for me. I did ask if we could keep the menu, but they're only giving them away after the event finishes. We were the very first to arrive so had a great chance to look around the place and have a nice chat with Pierre's partner who seemed amazingly calm about the whole thing! Oh, and the £75 menu's the only option I'm afraid. Given the nature of the kitchen, they're just not set up for anything veering away from that.

In today's Restaurant Show in London, Adria hinted that in the future El Bulli may well open for fewer months per year, so getting a reservations's only going to get harder...: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest/ferran-adria-table-reservations-el-bulli

So, has anyone been? I went on Friday for lunch and loved it - one of the best dining experiences this year for me. The whole thing just felt like a very special occasion and, you could feel a sense of excitement from both the diners and the staff on hand. I'd also definitely suggest going for Lunch, just so that you can see the view, and I think it's still possible to book for lunch. Highly recommended.

Damn - if I'd read that last week, we would have asked him. We just did an interview with him and completley forgot to ask him anything about Michelin stars. Still, he didn't mention anything else about bringing back another chef and it would seem that it's important to him to give credit where credit's due: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Features/Articles/marcus-wareing-interview-the-ambitious-man

The restaurant run has just been extended to 31st October if anyone missed out on a booking earlier. Edit - agh, beaten to it...

Am going on the 9th for lunch, and the Coren review has indeed got me very excited. Even if it is a gimmick, it's a very, very good one. Hell, I'm frankly excited enough about eating on the roof of Selfridges. Have to admit, though, that I'm not as familiar with Koffman as I should be. Has anyone had experience of the original Tante Claire? What was that like back in the day (especially when compared with today's restaurants)?

You could always try this list (mods, please let me know if this is allowed or not, but it does seem relevant) - this will show you the best reviewed restaurants in the last 2-3 years: http://www.hot-dinners.com/Restaurant-Reviews.html?order=rjr_overallrating The caveat is - the more reviews, the more trustworthy the overall rating is. For instance, Murano, Corrigans & River Cafe have been well rated recently by lots of critics, while Indian Zing does well because of two recent stellar reviews. Of course, if you're in town for the London Restaurant Festival (not sure when your trip is), there should be a few more options available to you (Tante Claire, the bus trips, London Eye).

It seems fair to say that this will be the big ticket of the festival, and is bound to be over-subscribed. It may well be a publicty stunt designed to get the festival more coverage, but is that such a bad thing?

Launched today by Boris and Fay Maschler - some good stuff planned, but the "festival menu" sounds like the best idea, especially if some top restaurants sign up for it. Quite a few pop-up restaurants appearing too - including one on the roof of Selfridges (if I've read that correctly), which does sound like a must. Full details here, and I guess there will be more to come until it all kicks off in October (8th - 13th): http://www.visitlondon.com/londonrestaurantfestival/

Quite curious about trying Goodman myself. Overall, the reviews seem OK, but nothing spectaclular, but I am partial to a good steak. Given the heroic expense of Palm, it seems to be the best bet for a new steakhouse outing in London at the mo. Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, how much did the total bill come to inc drink?

It's receieved extremely positive reviews from all the critics - so much so that I'm surprised that more of them haven't visited it. It'd definitely be on my list too if I was in the area, but alas I'm rubbish about trekking out to Fulham.

Sorry - I didn't necessarily mean "dumbing down" as a negative thing - should have chosen my words better. I am actually highly optimistic given Heston's track record and, reading between the lines, it seems that the restaurant could well be more innovative than would appear upon a first glance at the article. I've just got my marketing hat on today, so just think that getting the idea behind the venture/menu out could have been better managed. But I guess that's very hard to do with a phone interview. But hey, that's all academic as this will be THE restaurant ticket in town for some time after it opens. And such a high-profile new restaurant in London can only be good for the restuarant business as a whole. I just hope I'll eventually be able to book a table...

Out of curiosity, if this seats 140, how many can fit into the Fat Duck? Assuming it's far less (about 40-50?) I can see the need to "dumb down" the menu for the new restaurant, if it's not possible to recreate the fat duck experience for so many people. But I have to say that "upmarket bistro" doesn't sound terribly compelling or original, and not, IMO, what the (general) public would expect from Heston. If I were Heston's or the Mandarin's marketing people, I could see the need to upweight the "experimental" angle somewhat.

In the restaurant category, Urbanspoon's app isn't bad - the "what's near me" function is quite fun, but ultimately it needs a lot more work to be really useful. Big Oven is quite a nice one though, expecially if you're looking for a recipe app.