Scott

Not fussed. Have strong preference for dinner over lunch.

how did I get left off the list?

One thing has got me beat. The suggestion that you need age and experience to appreciate the finer things in life. in MY experience, you need both to be able to afford the finer things...

Sorry to pick out this one line, but geez: how could one person be so wrong? normally i would think a focus group of at least 7 people would be needed. Accept an experience for what it is, not mould it to your expectations? This is fabulous the customer is always wrong stuff. At this rate I may never be dissatisfied with anything in my life, ever again. Think of the therapy costs saved, all that is at issue is my expectations were pitched at the wrong frequency. The kid is funny, I'm only half way through, but he is funny. So he sacrifices a little detail in his account for a few laughs - big deal. I'll bet if the food was better (in his opinion) he'd forgive a lot more, but this has exacerbated everything 10 fold. I have experienced this in past - and so have you, all of you. Elements are magnified or blurred based on the reaction to another. Why should we fault him for wanting wow food, not getting it, and poking fun at whole ritual. Primarily because now he suspects the emperor is in a state of undress. Now that may or may not be the case, but he is deeply unsatisfied with his experience and chooses to express this with a little humour - where's the harm?

Jellybean, that's not what I said or think. I think it is an excellent restaurant, I had one dish that was vastly superior in concept and execution to a similar one I had at Lucas Carton. It is not trying to be a truly great restaurant, and I do not think it to be better than many of the great institutions, I do however think it is very good and at times there is a little of the old magic.

Matthew, be fair there is a clearly a polemic dichotomy between what one group of egulleteers prefer, over another. witness PDT vs Putney Bridge.

Lucas Carton, Le Cinq, Laurent & Le Regalade in the space of 3 days. unneccessary inference

I'm so in for that. in fact, I wonder if I shall ever extricate myself!

I walked past Shumi with a mate last night, staggered actually but that's another story. Anyway I muttered that it was supposed to be some sort of japanese meets italian place. In a garbled response, my friend retorted "what the f*** is that all about?" I didn't know. Wonder how many people will have thought the same...

so the rumours are true!!

Hurrah

The maitre d' told us when we were there a couple of weeks ago that the "complementary" meal would be paid for by the restaurant's staff. why? the restaurant is still the one that made £500 profit on a dodgy bottle of dead claret. It's also the one that needs to repair it's image. I doubt this is even legal, in fact I'm sure it's not.

? wonder if it was the same one I went to, or if somehow you were teleported to a parallel universe? L'Atelier Joel Robuchon was a highlight of my last trip. So good I had the gazpacho twice, the pigeon and foie steamed in cabbage is a 3* dish, and a host of other items. certainly some items are just 'tastes' but this is explained by the staff. The setting is a like a sushi bar in the matrix. Would certainly recommend in a heartbeat. It's doing so badly, he is opening another in London later this year.

Hurrah! uk pedant club anyone?

well for one club gascon has been spiralling downhill for the last year imo, on an ice luge I'd say.

I have eaten at bouley just once. I was there on valentines day, and they were rammed. Many reasons why I went there, but a leading reason was I wanted damn fine food. A friend of mine, a former head chef of Pierre Gagniere & Pierre Koffmann explained to me, that in their opinion Bouley was a genius, and that I must go there. short: service could have been better, there was no carte, just the one menu (which I wasn't told about), and the best damned meal I have had this year. I would consider myself certainly acquainted with fine dining, and the food was otherworldly.

they are insane.

Lee, I agree if you put the 75% in those terms, but relative to everyone, new economies etc. I stil count that as stable. line it up across other regions etc. I think the results will confirm that. Very happy that you enjoyed your Cotes du Beaune's but I have to disagree. We were very unimpressed with the showing this year. We bring in Montille & Lafarge, and generally the skin tannins are too coarse, the fruit profile lacks a dimension, and just down in concentration. Prices rose 5 - 10% above 2000 also which was odd.

it's a big and rich ole style red. meat is the name of the game here. well cooked, big flavour meat dishes. Lamb Stew?

Lee, not sure I would agree that's inflated, I think the basic time/value of money principal would account for a lot of that increase. As a region burgundy's prices have remained fairly stable, certainly the profile and prices of individual producers have increased in some cases, but generally I think the region is fairly stable price wise. High in some cases, but stable. I would be a little suspect about the 2001's on the cotes du beaune - terrible year. Whereas last year (2000) they also had hail, but they dodged the bullet. 2001 they weren't so lucky.

what happened! Capital is my favourite restaurant (foor, not decor) - I am now very worried & haven't been recently as I don't want to exhaust its appeal. Maybe that wa the night one of Jamie Oliver's thugs was doing a stint... On PT - recently went through toptable in a moment of faux budgettery restraint - not very good meal. Left feeling very hungry & dissapointed. Had the teasting menu mid-summer which I enjoyed. I also loved the amuses - particularly the foie gras sarnie & beef blob The Capital is one of my very favourites, Chavot is god. hmmm... must listen more to my therapist whne discussing tendency to exaggerate. Just a poor meal, they have been great many times, but this time was a bit flat. Ate on my own, which I rarely do, and somehow I felt the maitre'd was sneering at me for occupying a table. Just lot's of little things, am putting it down to a bad night. will go back, and will be surprised if it's not great.

Andy, you're right I have thought it's been on fire recently. But who knows what explains these things, is it variability or just different tastes. I hate St John, so gee what do I know The sea bass I had there is one of the best I have ever had, and the peppered tuna is my best dish of the year so far. I have tended to steer away from the more classical french dishes, which seem to be the ones that disappointed you most. No reason in my thinking, but perhaps these style dishes are not what they do best? Couldn't say. What I find interesting is the 4 little canapes which, for me, rock my world. I LOVE the foie sandwich, and the little beef bourgogne - these have always been sensational to my taste. I note that you found these, basically average, maybe the tenor is set there. The flavours at PDT I find very clear, but rich and strong. this appeals to me, and maybe differences in preference and style account for varying reactions. I agree the room sucks, but they have a great burgundy wine list, some at fair prices. Mind you given the quality of a meal I had at the capital recently, perhaps 2 stars ain't what it used to be!

Re: wine. they may allow BYO, as they have at Morgan's last 2 restaurants.

agreed.

Andy, couldn't agree more, it was bang on. The point I was making was that it was a single michelin starred restaurant, performing well, that probably doesn't even want anything more. An excellent restaurant realising their potential fully. I don't think they are plotting a raid on the second star off the michelin shelf, which is a virtue in many ways. I have a lot of time for those restaurants whose potential and output seem closely matched - I find less variability.