Scott

yes I do, mostly by referring to experiences of others I know who have been there, plus critics I respect. and yes, I do think you were inferring, rather explicitly that the food cannot be top notch. that's my only real issue. well seeing as the river cafe is more expensive, not sure how you can see it is justified and their perogative, when the bloke behind it all these years charges less in his custom built environs. His kitchen is bigger than the river cafe dining area! lol really - are you sure? http://www.theorandall.com/menu/dinner_menu.html the most expensive antipasti is £10 the most expensive pasta is £9 the most expensive main is £26 the most expensive dessert is £8 which is the same menu I ate from, which makes the maximum 4 course option £53 - so you'll forgive me if i'm a little unsure about your recollections. I'm sure you meant the room does not do the food any justice... which is fine, but originally it seemed as if you were saying the room somehow affected the quality of the food, as opposed to your enjoyment of it.

no, you were using him because he corresponded with your view. nothing wrong with that. your example, again fails to make a link between the room and the food. in your example, if you had a draft you most certainly would not enjoy the food as much - but of course you have realised that is not the fault of the food? no, I disagree on all levels. the food was not underwhelming in my opinion at all, far from it. the prices were very reasonable for the offering, I gather you've not been to the river cafe? £50 for 4 courses with that sort of ingredient and technical proficiency is not excessive in any shape or form. the room wasn't ideal, I grant you - but it wasn't a car crash either. for me the problem is that room does not match the food: which is a rustic, homely cuisine, executed flawlessly in a dark, sharp, modern setting. the room is not, of itself, a great problem rather it is inappropriate. that would be fine, if there was agreement that all other elements did fall into second place.

personally, I disagree vermently!! I thought the food was bloody brilliant. the room less so, but the food was great. how on earth can the room ruin what Randall is capable of? how does the room, impact on the quality of ingredient or the technique in execution? the room is not full, because they have not yet opened it all. they are taking a maximum of 60 covers, when the room can hold 140. apparently they are heavily in soft opening mode still. waiting until the brigade is fully up-to-snuff. nor do I think the prices are too high. £25 for a perfect piece of turbot, nothing wrong there. besides, when AA Gill become a food writer?

sometime after the second bottle

btw, love your new signature

Dear Matthew I do agree were not cheap, and thats why we offer the cheaper brasserrie aswell I m intrested in your opinions on Limpsfield, because it is one of the most affluent areas in Surrey and we are surrounded by money Also your shock at the price of Scallops do you know how expensive hand dived scallops are? Maybe i need to offer more explanation on the tasting menu as its more like 10 course you would get Yep we do need to get some reviews and i had a michelin star before i went to work in Shanghai so hopefully one will come next year, all the brigade have got michlen experience, 2 of them 3 star and the restaurant manager who starts tuesday, fingers crosssed (dont get me on to restaurant managers) is ex manoir, waterside and Ducasse, so hopefully we have got things in place to move forward I am also looking at the pricing to put on a couple of cheaper starters ← Sorry Simon, I hope you do really well, but I am also of the opinion that the prices are far too high to begin with. imo, a softer opening might have been the way to go because at those prices you need to be spot on from the off. you're a neighbourhood restaurant with west end prices, and if everything goes to plan this will soon be overlooked - just doesn't seem like you've got much margin for error. I do hope it works out though.

I give without making a fuss. I do not go showing my friends etc, copies of my bank statements containing my charitable direct debits. ← So why mention it now? I appreciate you're hardly making a fuss, but you're certainly bringing to peoples attention and using the fact you never mention it to make yourself seem different to the rest of the world, but you're hardly defying human nature, rather exemplifying it. ← I didn't read it like that at all

isn't it the job of a media production company to find material to, erm, produce? that was the purpose, and the sheer momentum of a media bandwagon determined to beatify the efforts of St Jamie brought the project new light and acclaim. not a bad thing, he's not hurting anyone - other than the more money than sense - punter at the restaurant.

Gary, I hear what you're saying and I think to some extent you're obviously right, but by the same token you can extend this all the way to the Bill Gates/Steve Jobs corollary. they do what they do, because that is what they do. Jamie Oliver (whom I have never heard a bad word about on a personal level, great bloke by all accounts) is a media production exec. much of it is very cynical, but that's the name of the media game in Britain circa 21st century. He's looking to do, what he does, which is to play the role of the great social protector. hell, when someone tells me why the Hoxton Apprentice is not a zillion times more worthy than 'Fifteen', then I might start believing it. He does no harm, and is at least moderately (probably more) well intentioned - but that does not change anything. derivative or cynical exercises in the arena of public perceptions and personality creation. Geez, anyone would think he didn't spend more than 6 months looking for derelict schools, rejecting many along the way as 'too good' or 'too normal' before finally, belatedly coming across a suitably shite school in SE London with which to make a TV program about the state of school dinners in schools. lets just accept Jamie as a media creation, smart enough to take control of the production aspects, and now he creates media presentations. if we're lucky we might enjoy the consumption of such.

I'll supply the lump of wood

Really? I thought it was one of the best restaurants I've been to in ages.

that's a fairly controversial view, especially seeing as how well documented the erratic nature of italian "starred" restaurants is. were there any in particular you were thinking of?

Good luck to Arbutus, you play the cards as they come. for me, as much as I like the place, having a michelin star says too much about michelin and not enough about the restaurant itself. can someone tell me what petrus have done differently in the 12 months? I can't see much change myself.

may as well throw my hat in the ring: new * Theo Randall (? early I know) Atelier Joel Robuchon Arbutus - no way. nor should it even want one. ** Vineyard at StockCross not Tom Aikens - he's a 2 star chef, but he doesn't turn out 2 star food consistently enough. and it's gotten worse this year. no new *** demotions, waterside down to ** perhaps. Yuatcha to lose?

that's the same as how that wacked out con-woman Gillian McKeith is still allowed to call herself a doctor in some outlets - despite an Independent journalist registering his dead dog with the same "online doctorate" that she is claiming. She has been debunked and some mediums won't let her use Dr, but others do. personally I think she should be shot, and then shot again. as long as people read/watch/get sucked in, then the facts become secondary.

thanks for the review, it made me laugh more than once too!

FWIW Joel was working in the kitchen at Atelier about 4 weeks ago.

perhaps you'd care to lay out your credentials? hmmm?

Perhaps you've got this the wrong way around. Where would Veyrat, Adria and Gagnaire be without treading the trail blazed by goodly Heston of the gleaming probe (thermometer)? ← perhaps Heston doesn't need a mindless shill, and might find it a tad embarassing? dunno, what do you think?

Nice post Tim.

I agree with Tim. The FD still gets much of its press from snail porridge and egg/bacon ice cream because that's its USP for the global audience. Sure, those in the know appreciate that HB is a superb chef whose talents run far deeper than the sum of his menu but at the end of the day its a business run to a specific model and if this were to change then you can bet your bottom dollar that it would have an impact on the custom base and subsequently turnover. Until FD has an empty table for dinner i dont think it will ever really change. Fair enough too. IMO there's more chance of HB opening up a new place like he did with Hinds Head that will enable him to diversify than try to mess with the FD model On a personal level the two most recent times i've been there have been little extras here and there - everyone gets that - its a thinly veiled attempt to make you feel special and to keep your interest from waning because the truth is once you've seen the spectacle its never the same again. FD fact: over 80% of the diners at FD have the tasting menu. Anyone who has had it will tell you. It's not something you'd keep going back for time and time again which makes a nod towards Tims culinary tourists theory ← Phillip again, your getting caught up in the FD is not like anywhere else idea - it's a nonsence. it is EXACTLY like a number of other places - and whilst I tend to agree with the food tourist idea as far as I think that's what happens - then it should grouped with the others like Veyrat & Adria, just as a food tourist would. one of the things that keeps Adria so busy, so in demand, is that the menu does change every year and people want to see what happens this season. you'll note I don't quibble over the interest and quality of his existing dishes, I think they're very good - but it is plain crazy to suggest that he needs to stay the same, when this is not the normative approach how ever you choose to group his customers - food tourists, or affluent locals. His snail porridge et al is easy copy for lazy journalists, surely someone as exalted shouldn't be resting his laurels? His business model has nothing to do with a single menu that never changes.

If you mean Monkey Island then I'd say that its more traditional menu means that it can guarantee bums on seats from the wealthy of Berkshire and its hotel means that the dirty weekend (sorry, Mr & Mrs Jones/Hip Hotel/City Break) brigade can make an impressive destination of it. With neither an accessible menu nor a hotel, Blumenthal has to draw from a wider and more complicated universe of potential customers. I still maintain that the best way to do that is to keep the favourites on the menu as long as possible. ← Tim, you're not surely suggesting that an innovative restaurant, not innovate as a strategic approach? I appreciate it was an oversight only to not think of the waterside, but aren't you really falling into an increasingly common trap of thinking that the Fat Duck operates in a vacuum? It doesn't, and the food tourist idea doesn't hold because of this. there are regulars, there are people who know food, and there is precious little reason for a regular to return. Is there another rational reason for a stunting of innovation or development other than a lack of ideas and perhaps he just doesn't know how? could it be he is the culinary Tarantino who only knows how to make one movie

Or perhaps Scott meant the Waterside Inn? ← Perhaps

Tim, have you forgotten the other place in Bray, which does just nicely without food tourists and has quite a following of regulars? after all berkshire is not exactly a destitute locale.

very true, and you make a good point. what separates this situation for me, is that it is of it's very nature an 'innovative' restaurant - which negates the consistency election. If Veyrat & Adria can change their menu's so can this guy, or give up the pretense of walking with the kings.