Suzi Edwards

I'll second Paul. I have done some one on one training with him which was just fantastic. Might be worth thinking about if you want to tailor what you learn. Paul is a great teacher and he has a very cute doggy.

Can anyone confirm the cost of the 7 course carnivore menu here for me?

I've taken to getting a few bits and bobs from fresh and wild. I'm still trying to decide if this is profoundly unethical of me (unethical in terms of my boycott supermarkets, smash the state, power to the people principals) Any ideas?

You're not familiar with Fresh & Wild?Standard practise among American corporations entering the UK market is to identify the main players ('benchmarking') and to position themselves in direct competition. The strategy is to divert existing customers by offering a superior product/service, cheaper, and thereby to undermine the established rival business (which may be complacent or unprepared for a direct commercial challenge). An example of this practise is the strategy adopted by Blockbuster video, which opened its first UK store in Walworth Road, a dozen doors down from Star Video, which was one of, if not the very first video lending library in the UK. Star responded with hand lettered signs saying "we've got more movies and we're cheaper than that big shop down the road" and has survived the onslaught, whereas most independently owned video rental operations in the UK have not. ← Doesn't Whole Foods own Fresh & Wild? ← They do. Purchased in 2004 for $38m so I'm not sure the "benchmarking" theory (although a recognised business practice) is in play here. It will be interesting to see if all of the Fresh and Wild stores are now rebranded. I believe WFM has been thinking very carefully about whether or not the US brand will work here.

Thanks for this Paul. A bout of food poisoning from a restaurant that I shall not name saw me laid low for the weekend, so no romantic mini break for me, but I shall get to Whitstable and its environs before I die.

Just been doing on beavering around to find places to eat (and stay) near Whitstable this weekend. The Sportsman now has a sister restaurant, the Granville, on the Hythe Road near Canterbury which we're booked into as everyelse is busy. We're staying in Romney Marsh. Can anyone recommend anywhere here for supper on Sunday night?

Am I right in thinking that the Chef who staged at El Bulli has now moved on and this place is no longer interesting?

I think it's more common in the US than the UK. I took a slab of beers to a restaurant I'd been looking forward to visiting and the chef, while pleased, seemed totally stunned.

Is Roxy still on the show?

Pizza Express on Exmouth Market has closed so there's a HUGE space there just waiting for a new restaurant....

I've blanked it from my memory, but I might go back if you liked it. When were you there last Circe? This may be news to brighten the day- looks like Seraphim has closed. Can anyone else confirm this? Great review of Isarn in Time Out this week BTW. Turns out it's owned by Allan Yau's sister. I've been a couple of times and it's really very good. The soft shell crab is still my favourite.

It's a Pavlovian response with you, isn't it Dirk?

The kidney was served to us in an earlier course. The coxcomb was amazing, proudly priapic on the plate, really uncompromising and rather saucy.

Tomatillo alert...just found some very nice specimins at the Islington Farmer's Market. It's the stall that sells tomatoes, I think they may also be at Borough. Anyways, they have a WHOLE GREENHOUSE of tomatillos. *makes salsa*

Tried to go here for champagne yesterday (after a very lovely afternoon tea at Sketch) but they don't have a bar licence. I was really surprised. Surely they're missing a trick?

I couldn't believe how busy Moto was on Saturday night. They were turning table and, I believe, about to seat people in the new, smaller private dining room downstairs. I'm guessing they did about 70 covers which really impressed me as the first time I ate there (January last year?) I was one of about 8 people in the place on a Tuesday night.

Don't, whatever you do, send him to Brick Lane. Send him to New Tayyabs which is just round the corner. There's a huge thread about it on here. If he's close to Spitalfields he might fancy trying St John Bread and Wine. Not ethnic, British food. Don't miss deserts.

Chicory- is this the breakthrough ingredient of the summer? I was served a very good chicory cheesecake with chicory ripple icecream at The Champignon Sauvage last weekend. Hadn't seen chicory for ages (I remember instant coffee with chicory from the Co-Op when I was young) and now another mention...

Thank you all!

Does anyone have a number for this place? I have tried googling and international directory enquiries but they have nothing. However, I have seen so many spellings I'm not sure they were looking for the right thing.

It was my first visit to New Tayyabs too and I just came away wishing that I'd gone before. I actually feel like a bit of an imposter having never eaten there before. I was very excited Jen- I'm just not very good at showing it!

I've decided that a good rule of thumb is to avoid the fishcakes in all thai restaurants. How do they get them so rubbery?

The word on the street is that Fishworks is opening here soon. Anyone know where exactly? Isarn, new thai place on Upper Street is worth a look.

The Barnsbury has recently had a new chef so I will go back soon. My last meal there was dismal. You might want to check out the thread "what's new and exciting in Islington" for a fairly comprehensive view of Upper Street and around. For what it's worth, Almeida is good, Ottolenghi was appalling on my last evening visit but I still like it for lunch and pastries, Fig is just horrible, horrible, horrible but the new Thai place Isarn on Upper Street warrants a second visit from me. Delicious soft shell crab with chilli and garlic, but I'd avoid the fish cakes. I really should get back to Lolas. Fredericks is just perfect for a summer evening.

Apart from the fact that the Saturday review sounded like a digest of all the stuff that has ever been written on here about Tayyabs that is ;-)