eatenmess

im there! i could jump in the back of his van and eat some bread on the way back to the bakery. all i need is a ninja outfit, a smoke bomb and a pack of butter.

this is going to be a big one! my vote would go to Le Gavroche. its got history, atmosphere, its in a lovely area, the lunch menu blasts other value for money claims out the water (with arbutus knocking on its door with its pre theatre dinner) the food is the kind of food you could eat again and again and still want to go back.

i believe they get their bread from the same bakers that alot of restaurants in london use. petrus used tot use em and i think wareing still does. i've got to find out where it is so i can get some without having to go via Arbutus although it is worth it.

that really random. do any other top end restaurants do this? i love eating on my own sometimes.

it is an absolute bargain that lunch deal, been on many occasions and never left unhappy. its been a few years since ive had to taste menu so may have to go back and check it out. last time i had copious amount of gold leaf. cant stand gold leaf, whats the point? mmmmm taste that lovely gold leaf. erm... no.

my £1.99 tomato knife. ive always said if you keep your knives sharp enough then you dont need a silly little serrated knife but i finally gave in. ive been using it to cut the edges of pastry off tarts and flans etc too, i find it cleaner than my pastry knife.

some real bad opinion on Tom Aikens im seeing then. Is this an on going thing or has the relocation of Hibiscus just turned him on his arse? I really wanted to go there, and still do, but if people really are saying going somewhere else then im going to need to think about it, maybe see him for lunch the next day if im up for it.

thats exactly what i hear from people who have been to the new one. He wanted to move to London to compete with the London scene of restaurants and get more stars, its all very well but losing the personality is huge. There arent many restaurants that keep their personality through the years and none whatsoever who relocate it. Im a big sucker for that sort of thing, history, stories, personality all add up to what makes a great restaurant differ to a good one. But hey im going for some good food so i shouldn't cry too much about it.

Tell me about it Gareth! I was telling my friend why don't we arrive at lunch maybe get some dim sum somewhere and then go for dinner and then go for lunch the next day but he's go it stuck in his head now. I jokingly remarked well maybe we should hit Le Gavroche for lunch the day after while we're at it, which he took seriously. I've told him there's no way I'm doing that. Nah uh. I'll be doing Jay Rayner's seven 3 stars in seven days before I'm too careful!

i went to Hibiscus when it was in Ludlow and quite enjoyed it, i really should get round to going to its new location i've just built up a hatred for London. I only go there if i'm going for a meal. I cant find any other reason to go there unless a certain lily white team is playing in north London. this Square over Wareings is causing trouble now. why cant days be longer and stomachs be bigger??

Awesome pictures there tonto. Looks like you had a good couple of days in Spain! Was it just that Mugaritz out shone Arzak or was there something else about Arzak you didnt like? No i havent booked it yet but after you saying about Mugaritz i may have to make a decision on it. I do love some of the combinations that Aiken's comes up with and his presentation is beautiful. From what i've gathered through reviews and his site on The Berkeley it does seem to be the grand experience i totally see what you're getting at. I may have to think about this for another few days before booking.

the day some Scottish nut case thought it was a good idea to deep fry a pizza. i had one once, this chippy near me is owned by a scottish guy and he'll deep fry your pizza for you if you send it. so i got a delivery from domino's to his place (or as its called 'plaice') and he did it. it was exactly what i thought it was gunna be. a fatty greasy messy chewy thing that once would have resembled a pizza. there's somethings you shouldn't deep fry in my opinion.

Me and my dinning comrade haven't eaten out for a while together so we're slowing deciding where to go for a reunion meal. A trip to Paris to Pierre Gagnaire was in the pipeline and a trip to Arzak also considered, though we still think the Arzak trip will take place in November. We've decided to go Tom Aiken's Restaurant and Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley but on the same day around the end of August/beginning of September. I've done lunch and then dinner (which was a 8 course taste menu) before and was so stuffed by the time the 6th course of the taste came i had no idea how i finished the desert or why i chose to have some cheese as well. I say it was because i had to it felt like i was failing if i didnt, but it was probably just greed. I had a bite of my birthday cake and decided that was it, no more, never again would i do such a ridiculous act. In spite of that we're still going to do this. The problem i put to you is which one when? Wareing for lunch and Aikens for dinner or the other way around? Having been to neither i would love some feed back from people who have been to either or both. Thanks for any ideas or information you may have.

RDB totally agree with the night club thing, especially when your there for lunch. it seemed like you have arrived too early or something. my experience was a good one, even though my friend was seriously hungover from the night before (to the point of having to vomit between courses 4 and 5!!) when we agreed at half two in the morning to catch the first train to London and call up a few restaurants trying to get a table. we decided on Maze and arrived a few minutes early to a fairly quiet restaurant and were told to order some drinks and wait until our table was ready. i didn't know what to do, do i go to the bar and order 2 WKD blue? eventually we ordered two gin and tonics and sat patiently waiting. the food was extremely good there's no doubt about that, the service was a different story. you find till points at places like Nandos and Pizza Hut not Maze with a Michelin star and seen by many as one of the best places to eat in London. The waiters knew nothing about the food, to them their job was to carry some random stuff on a plate or cocktail glass to some random bloke on a table over there somewhere. We started testing one or two as to what certain garnishes were to which only one young waitresses knew the answers the rest went off in a daze and asked her. We thought it was awful and if this was going for it's second star (which i was informed by the only waitress with a clue) then i hope the guide states clearly thats it only has it for the people in the kitchen and the sommelier. However like i said the food was tremendous and id happily go back for seconds.

ratatouille is an awesome film. gets my vote. waiting is goodish though the follow is the typical follow up and has crushed my opinion of the first one. sideways is a wine film but got to love it, its quality stuff. i cant believe no ones mentioned spanglish food done by Thomas Keller (same with ratatouille) really good film. well i enjoyed it anyway.

ive had a few reports back from friends (2 of whom are chefs in michelin starred restaurants) and they felt he was trying far too hard. by this they meant 20 garnishes on a plate! 1 of them did like it but did feel the amount of different jellies and foams were off putting and would rather eat a meal where u can taste and enjoy each ingredient for at least more than one mouthful. i was dead set on going there but i keep hearing the same thing. nonetheless i do read a couple of good reviews about the place. i wont be rushing there before he leaves.

staff calling in sick. the best is calling in sick after you know they have been out the night before or would rather put their herbs in a rizla (or zig zig) rather than a dish. ive never taken a day off sick in my life and i see no reason to. 'uh ive got a cold' so has half the rest of the world some time in the year. this isnt like working for the government or working in a office, people actually require you to come to work. most of the time when these regular 'not coming in today chef/manager' people call in for being sick its a pathetic line like 'i've been up all night being sick, i've hardly left the bathroom' or 'i just feel so weak, like i cant walk or even get up' next day, they're in work. what a miraculous recovery! ive worked with a chef in the past whose best friend was a doctor at a nearby village practice and on more than one occasion he has asked her to go see how his terribly ill employee is. i dont think being caught shagging the girl from last night counts as being ill!!

in the 'lovely' city of Bristol on saturday, may see if i can pop in for some lunch before i man a friend's merchandise stall at a gig he is doing there. Will keep my mind working as i attempt to flog CDs and T-shirts. the only bad thing ive heard about it (from both Jay Rayner and also a friend who went there recently) was the defacing of Tiramisu. fingers crossed ill have the time to go there as its definitely on my (long) list of places to go.

The Talbot at Knightwick in Herefordshire i believe but dont take my word on that one. brew their own beers behind the pub with hops from behind the brewery! Have pigs and chickens which they use for meat and eggs (respectively!!) The mother and daughter who own it take local produce to a different level, i met a chef there one and he says hardly anything comes from further a field then Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The décor is very much old english pub, something getting rarer and rarer as the pubs who once served good beer now claim to serve good food in their snazzy new pub restaurant. hops hang from ceilings, muddy boots that have some story about a local beater are nailed to the beams, the chairs and bar stools made by the owners nephew who is a blacksmith. The kitchen garden grows an array of ingredients used in the kitchen widely im told. I very much enjoyed what i stumbled across on my walk! never knw such a place existed round those parts.

please let us know how Beast was, I've been told if you are to have only one meal in Oregon it should be there. Im hopefully going to Oregon (and the rest of the west coast) in January for the first time ever so will have to book myself in if i hear anything else as positive.

Hi all, wonderful pictures Josh! I have to totally and utterly agree with the problem of hype in restaurants of such calibre. i have a hatred for hype, something that has been built up inside of me through various let downs. I feel hype is created by people who eat at the restaurants, work at the restaurants and own the restaurants and the owners case its the worst possible thing to do. You arrive with such expectation that your mind is playing tricks on you before you even sit down. When i ate The Fat Duck (i'm sure i do not need to be another person telling you to go lesliec!) on Feb 13th 2007 i went in a car with three friends harking on about 'ohh what's the bread going to be like i bet its some right random flavours' (it was a very pleasing question by the one young girl just serving bread...'white or granary?') or 'i cant wait to experience this sound of the sea dish' they were sucked in by the hype of it all. I refused to be and i was the one who left the happiest even though my share of the bill took me over my overdraft and the cost of that was another £70 extra, thank you Lloyds TSB. They left disappointed which disappointed me in a way. I thoroughly believe hype is the single worst thing about high end restaurants, although most of the time unavoidable it never does anyone any good. nevertheless i continue to gawk and Josh's photos and read endless reviews. I will also try for the 3rd time to get a table for me and my friend at the ever changing El Bulli.