Lord Michael Lewis

Does anyone think there may be a connection, between the proscription of certain animals as food and their unsuitability as sexual partners?

When you talk about "my religion", would that be "my religion" Macrosanic Abridged Judaism; or Classic Judaism?

I'm a non-Christian Roman Catholic.

It's said that a posteriori, refers to a momentous game of Twister played against a bow-legged Armenian, at his forty-seventh birthday party.

After your 'improvements' to your inherited religion, do you still consider yourself to be a Jew? Isn't religion about dogma? Can you remain a Jew if you take such liberties with that which defines you as such?

So could a Jew justify eating bacon by citing a dangerous depression caused by the denial of pork products?

If this is genuinely the case, and not your trademark backpedalling, then you must be profoundly religious. If I understood your premise or your parenthetical reference or your conclusion, I would reply It's just that whenever someone bangs on about their faith, that's usually the moment to mentally file them under 'strange' and subsequently make sure they don't corner you on social occasions.

Perhaps I have my terminology confused, but I distinctly remember this guy named Kant saying that things like causation are a priori (synthetic a priori?) and just sort of have to be accepted as the prerequisites for the rest of the discussion. I also am under the impression that the term "a priori" is used in literate adult discourse to mean, "it just is that way," as in, "murder is a priori wrong and we all have to agree on that before we can discuss ethics in any meaningful way." This is woefully off-topic. Can someone call a moderator?

There are socio-cultural taboos on food other than the literally religious. Eating horsemeat is revolting to most Britons. It doesn't come down to any 'belief', rather a powerful and pragmatic suspicion of the unfamiliar. Regarding Semitic eating habits, I remember reading that a lot of what is forbidden is not prohibited on health grounds, but on an ancient system of taxonomy of the animal kingdom. For the same reasons Jews are supposed to avoid Pork they are also forbidden camel-meat. This has something to do with hooves I think.

If this is genuinely the case, and not your trademark backpedalling, then you must be profoundly religious.

Squid in its ink.

Whatever happened to hamburger-loving director John Landis?

On the subject of food, John Malkovich is an actor whose work I particularly detest, in fact the only thing I detest more is John Malkovich in person. Still, what can you expect from someone who is rumoured to drink pork pies in vinegar?

In fact this scene precedes dinner, which is postponed be their prolonged and energetic coupling, so one imagines they are quite hungry by the time they actually eat, especially as if memory serves me right the hotel restaurant then turns out to be closed. Sutherland's character licks the toothpaste off the corner of his mouth, which probably acts like an amuse and stimulates his appetite. Indeed, the toothpaste may have been fake movie toothpaste and the peanuts were certainly fake movie peanuts as was the entire bedroom, but rumour has it that Christie and Sutherland used their own genitalia in that scene. Rumour also has it that throughout the filming of the movie the director Nic Roeg and many of the cast and crew were sitting down to three square meals a day.

There is a major shagging scene in this movie where Christie and Sutherland's veins bulge threateningly. And if one looks very carefully you can just get a glimpse of a small dish of salty looking peanuts on the bedside table.

That's an interesting way of recycling. Most people just throw their used paper towels away.

16 hours a day! Is this legal?

Succesful crack dealers.

It's only just opened, there's been one review and you haven't been there, so how can you say it's going to close?

Here's something I wrote about Zuberoa. There would seem to be mutual consistence. Here's some more.

LML -- That is actually the reason. Berasategui probably had menus in English too, but I did not inquire. The Berasategui dining room team that assisted me was not particularly versed in English or French, except for the sommelier who was kind enough to have assisted in describing many of the dishes. Chef Berasategui was fully versed in French. Arzak had menus only in Spanish and English. Dining room team members were slightly better with French, but not by much except for supervisory personnel. Elena Arzak spoke good English, and her father spoke fluent French. Zuberoa had the most linguistically competent dining room members. Cabrales, when are you going to post about my personal favourite, Zuberoa? Did you go to Mugaritz? I think this has to be the most upcoming restaurant of the moment.

I think it's a touch fanciful to put this down to politics, rather, like most good restaurants, there would be menus available in several languages and Cabrales, known for her Francophilia, would have asked for one in French.

Berasategui's restaurant is less than half an hour from the border. Weekday lunchtimes see the dining room full of French enjoying what, due to the comparative expense of France, is a three star bargain.

I think you're probably right. But the point is that if you don't court the press you get zero publicity. This is unfair and demonstrates that journalists are not really interested in food but rather in easy copy.

It certainly isn't unreasonable to say this. But, bearing in mind that it has 2 Michelin stars and features in the top ten restaurants in all the guidebooks, the reason for its relative obscurity is of interest. It can only lie with those who make it their business to report on these places, the press.