Suzi Edwards

Garret's cheese and caramel popcorn. By the bucketload. Until my fingers go yellow. I swear they lace it with opium IT IS SO MOORISH. *kills self over lack of Garret's popcorn in London*

Clearly I haven't been eating enough pizza, I've been ill all week so sorry for the delay on the roundup. Normal service will be resumed on Monday. First up, Fi's recipes; Proof in the pudding - Mark Hix uses up liqueurs Get soupercalifragilistic with Gordon! Thre-e-e from Jill Dupleix No links to the Sunday Times I'm afraid, they're a week out of date. Bellinis from Xanthe Clay Matthew Fort is Cap'n Birdseye - how to survive the festive kitchen Roll up, roll up - alternative festive puddings from Nigel Slater And finally, here is the main link to The Observer Food Monthly. Includes the great Christmas taste test with Angela Hartnett; and, surprise surprise! a misprint from the Grauniad? Whatever next! And now the restaurants: Jay Rayner eats on the GNER Restaurant Car Now you can eat Anchor and Hope food on your way to Anthony's. No review from VPL this week. Sadly. Terry Durack goes to Floridita in W1 the restaurant formerly known as Mezzo. Tracey MacLeod enjoys The Hind's Head in Bray but shock! horror! the roast potatoes aren't up to much. Giles Coren sees a tastevin in action at Mirabelle in the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne AA Gill hates Thyme but Jan Moir loves JoJo's in Whitstable Right, I'm off to watch Little Britain.

Stumbled past here today. Looks much more like a bar than a restaurant and the menu posted outside was very short (maybe 15 dishes at most, certainly no more)Will try and go over the weekend, but can't say I was hugely inspired. Looks like Rodizio Rico has opened.

It;s been a while since I ate there and I thought that it was a solid one star then. This thread has made me realise that I don't really know what the differences would be between 1-2 and 2-3 so I'm going to start a thread here

I was just reading a post in the Edinburgh thread about Martin Wishart maybe going for 2 stars and it struck me that I don't really know how one "goes" for more stars. I'm not a seasoned enough eater to be able to compare meals I've had at the same restaurant when it has had a different number of stars. But I'm sure I know some people who can! Any comments?

wow. i'm having a horrible day as it is but am tempted to leave my desk and go and hunt down ben the twat and punch him in the face.

*coughs* Pluton at number three *splutters* I had a meal of such amateurish service there I could barely believe it. Boring food, boring room, terrible service. The saving grace of my meal there was when another diner in the restaurant sent me a glass of wine. I think they could see that I was really struggling to keep smiling inspite of service that wouldn't have been out of place in an episode of "Fawlty Towers" Clearly Moto should be at number one. No question. I went back and had the GTM there again during my trip but never posted about it as I got really, truly terribly drunk and didn't take any notes. 2005 will be the year of Alinea and Moto. Avenues cannot be mentioned in the same breath if you're talking about creativity. It's like comparing apples with oranges. I'm surprised that Le Lan is at number two, despite the fact that I really enjoyed both of my visits. I do need to go back, probably when I'm over at Christmas and see how they have settled in. I also really want to return to Green Zebra. I had one of the meals of my trip there and have recommended it to many people, all of whom have loved it. My top five Chicago places in 2004: 1. Trio, for making me completely revaluate what food is all about 2. Moto, for making me laugh and eat paper 3. Green Zebra, for the carrots with black truffles 4. Spring, for the heart of palm salad 5. Trio Atelier, for making me think that moving to Chicago is a good idea My bottom four Chicago places in 2004 (I'm on a deadline and can't think of 5): 1. Pluton, for not having the first idea of what service is actually about 2. Tru, for cruelty to goldfish 3. Wow Bao. because all of them taste the same 4. De Cero, because you do't know how to make a margarita

i'm having my 30th birthday party here next week so i hope that BLH caught them on a bad night. on a sort of spanish theme, has anyone been to the brindisa tapas bar yet?

Here's a link to Jan Moir's review

First up VPL finds little to write home about in Kenneth Williams' favourite restaurant Biagi's in W1 while Jay Rayner makes the startling discovery that £45 is not £23.50 when he visits Thyme in Covent Garden He enjoys it, but Fay Maschler has a very different view of Thyme in the Evening Standard. Terry Durak wonders if Anthony Flinn is the saviour of British cooking at Anthony's in Leeds You can talk about this review here No review from Tracy MacLeod, but I though you might enjoy this article about water in recompense. As predicted by Andy "Mystic Meg" Lynes, Oliver Peyton reviews The Real Eating Co in Hove but there's no review from AA Gill this week. Finally, Jan Moir finds little to praise at Pomino and Osteria dell'Arancio two new Italians in London. On the recipe front Fi has some good news for us...it's at the bottom. First past the roast - Mark Hix's winter warmers Gordon Ramsay on 12-step programme! How to be organized for Christmas Thr-e-e-e from Jill Dupleix Xanthe Clay makes mince pies Matthew Fort cooks birthday dinner for his 16-year old - duck salad, roast pork, blackberry + apple crumble Vegging out with Nigel Slater And finally, rejoice! Pizza is good for you - official!

Don't know how I missed this before. Does David still have a burger van?

LMAO. Really? That's the funniest thing I've heard in ages.

Occasionally, there arrives a Chef of such startling originality that you’re forced to recalibrate what fine dining is all about. Graham Eliot Bowles isn’t that Chef. Comparisons with Achatz, Cantu, Dufresne and Blumental aside, Bowles cooks good food, but comments about wild and daring originality are very wide of the mark. He says on his website “One must seek out new ingredients and techniques with an almost frightening zeal” however he obviously forgot to utilise any of these when I ate there last week. I admit, I had high expectations and I left very disappointed. With hindsight I’ve come to realise that the food at Avenues is good, some even excellent. In the same way that the food at Tru is good. But there was certainly very little innovation, playfulness or reinvention in evidence in the “Chef’s Whim” tasting menu that I ate. We gave the kitchen some reasonably loose guidance about what we wanted (my dining companion eats no meat at all, I just don’t eat any red meat) but we were treated to a progression of fish dishes that mean we know what Chef Bowles can do with a fish, but not a huge amount else. A chiaroscuro of the sea, if you like. Compared to the structured progressions that I have come to expect from fine dining, the meal lacked pace, depth and contrast. Some dishes do remain in the memory. “lobster, potato, chamomile, consommé” is a reinterpretation of pot au feu. It was playful dish with the sweetness of the lobster and the carrot echoing each other very well. However, the components of the dish lacked contrast and it came hot on the heels of a lobster with white truffle dish at ADNY a couple of days before that has probably ruined lobster for me for the next 6 months. So I can’t really blame Chef Bowles for that…”Chestnut, pear, brioche, sage” was a silken chestnut soup that did inject a little variety into the meal. This, along with “risotto, truffle, parsley, sage” were welcome counterpoints to the rest of the fish. But where were the frog's legs as advertised on the ALC? They were well within my dietary guidelines. Outstanding dish of the night? “scallop, eggnog, endive, pumpkin” was live scallop supported by lots of autumnal flavours. I found it utterly charming, a true new American dish and an exciting fusing of warming and sweet flavours with a squeaking fresh scallop. Paired with a Tokay Pinot Gris Domaine Weinbach this was the food and wine pairing of the evening. Chef Bowles says on his website “The cook must never take for granted the fact that someone is putting their trust in you” I did that by ordering the tasting menu, and feel that I didn’t really get to experience what his vision is about. Cooking at this level is all about detail and commitment. Our menu lacked detail in the progression and it felt like Chef Bowles became bored of sending food to us and just moved us through to desert. A desert of such unspeakable horror (something to do with gingerbread and cherries) that he decided to not mention it on the menu I was given as I left. Which was another detail that rankled. The (signed!!!!!) menus we were given wasn’t what we ate. Mine didn’t even have the right date on it. If Chef Bowles really is “looking to surpass every guests expectations” (sic) he needs to get things like this right. He might also want to make sure that his waitstaff pick up on when people are left handed, make sure that people are given water without ice if that’s what they order and get back to any queries that guests have. The current incarnation of the service (wine excepted) does not match the intentions of the food. I think I will go back. But it’s not a destination restaurant for me at the moment. Maybe Chef Bowles needs some more to get settled. Maybe he needs to think a little more about his voice and vision. Because it feels to me like his website talks about things that his restaurant just doesn’t deliver on.

There have been a few more changes in Islington. Tried Gufaa a few weeks ago, went for the thali on a Sunday afternoon but I found little to make me ever want to go back. Noticed that the vegetarian Indian place on St John Street has been replaced with "Vojan - contempory Indian food" and has had a complete refit but if the delivery menu that plopped through my door is anything to go by it's little more than the standard CTM and pappadoms. I still can't believe that Tuk Tuk has closed and that the Vietnamese three doors up is still trading. I was once served a plate of cat food in there and vowed never to return. Tuk Tuk was OK, if only because they served a mean Laab. "Nicks" on Upper Street has become "The Green" and they are currently offering either 10% off or a free glass of prosecco while they bed in. I thought the menu looked very thin, but then realised that most of the dishes can be served either as a starter or a main (small or large plate might more in the their spirit). I had thought it was going to be a new British type of place when I saw that "faggots with gravy" was the first item on the menu, but then it seemed to descend into the realm of the "Caesar Salad" I will try it out though. The brazillian place doesn't seem to have opened yet but Flamin' Noras has. Flamin Noras is such a place of terribleness that I felt it deserved a thread to itself Just finally, the Gill Wing empire continues to expand with a new chocolate shop where the flower shop used to be. I had a sneeky peek and it looked quite nice but the girl I chatted with hadn't been given her crib sheet yet and suggested I pop back to find out who the choclatiers on offer are.

Sorry, I don't understand. What do you mean "changes take time to acclimate, no?"? Could be the good old US-UK translation isn't working, but I really don't get what you're trying to say.

Book a table for six and then turn up with seven people and see what the Wolesley does? Tell one of your friends they can't come? I hear the Browns is very good and sent some friends there earlier this year. I really want to go to Claridges, the chinaware is beautiful.

three reasons in that sentence alone why i won't be buying this magazine

i believe they will pair for the 4 course...i just get the feeling you're in good hands with aaron.

what andy failed to add was that tracy emin and oliver reed were on the guest list as well...

Sorry, just want to clarify that Aaron was the real redeeming thing about my trip to Avenues. The wine pairings were fantastic, a real treat and I'm glad to report that the cellar has improved dramatically since the restaurants last incarnation. BTW, Suzy, what was the special occasion? Care to share? ← Isn't me being in Chicago always a special occasion??

Apologies possums for the dearth of media links recently. However, normal service is resumed today... First off, Fi rounds up the recipes... Mark Hix gets his roots done - includes mutton + root veg broth and scallops w Jerusalem artichokes + bacon Donna Kebab - interview + recipes from Donna Hay's new book, The Instant Cook Supper from the storecupboard courtesy of Gordon Ramsay Thre-e-e from Jill Dupleix - quite liking the sound of salmon, bacon + wilted sprout tops It's Canape-tastic! Spam, spam, spam, spam! The Telegraph has lost its mind. Real food suppliers + suggestions for appetizers from Tamasin Day-Lewis Matthew Fort cooks for Thanksgiving It's not often we get 'The Fat Duck' and 'turkey dinosaur shapes' in the same paragraph - but The Guardian has managed it. Mmmm - m-m-methyl-cellulose! Nigel Slater's chicken pie

so was my trip there :-(

i had the tasting menu last week. i'm still sorting my thoughts but if price is your concern then i wouldn't suggest you do it. the food didn't deliver at the price and i got the impression that the chef got bored of cooking and basically suddenly stopped sending food and whizzed us through desert. i'll write more later this week (and would have photos for you but the waiter never got back to us to let us know if we could take them....so we didn't) so, the food wasn't all bad but the service (apart from the wine) was inconsistent. i can think of several other ways to spend $450 in chicago.

*blushes* i'm there on saturday night. if only we'd been able to organise diaries....i'll look out for that desert.

isn't it funny how people's internet personas can be so misleading? i'd had you pegged as the debonaire gentleman type.