MobyP

Hi sgfrank. RHR is usually pretty busy for dinners, but lunches are usually attainable. Either way, the more heads up you give them, the better. I don't know what the lead time is on opening the books for dinners. Menu has had a lot of mixed reviews. If you wanted two exceptional but different high gourmet meals, you couldn't do much better than RHR and Fat Duck.

That was in his Nancy Reagan Young Fidelity Boy Scouts days. He was saying no to everything, but we've turned him around. Scott, I would suggest you don't know which side your foie is pan-seared on! Or are you just having a grump?

:laugh:

You have to be careful about freezing them, because you could damage the cell walls, and release too much starch (See Jackal10's Potato Primer). What you can do is prepare them, cook them until they float, drain, and refresh in ice water, drain again, and drizzle with a little oil. You can hold these for a few hours. Then you can reheat just before serving (in the sauce, preferably). For a recipe, you want approximately 150g flour to every 500g potato (cooked and squeezed through a ricer. When relatively cool, mix in an egg, a handfull of parmagiano, some salt. The dough should be just damp, but not sticky. Add flour to moderate. Roll into logs, about half an inch thick, and cut into sections. These you can roll off a fork for the traditional shape, or leave as is - or sauté in a non-stick pan for fantastic crispy gnocchi.

Sure - You're hired. You're fired!

The Irish sommelier (I've never met the other one) is apparently very well thought of, and I wouldn't be concerned.

Wine in the UK Press If you know of any other sources for good wine journalism, post them! Tim Atkin - Technocrat or not, Aussie Brian Croser's wine wisdom has a lot of bottle. Anthony Rose - A cultural revolution in Chinatown. Cellar notes #30: Mourvèdre. Andrew Catchpole - Dukes of Burgundy. Super plonk. Sauce: Joanna Simon.

Thanks. I think many people tend towards the durum wheat flours for the extruder type machines as it makes a slightly sturdier dough - I don't know if you had any difficulties with tearing etc. Hope you get your hands on a roller sometime soon - and let us know how it turns out.

I do take something of that point. I recently moved to a place within five minutes walk of 4-6 pubs, none of which I would enter. But I'm not sure I ever would have. And the same is true for the journalist. These places represent an aspect of the community that I've never been a part of. As you must have seen from having lived here so long, it probably comes down to class. There's no perjorative there. The question is - whether the pubs mentioned by Michael Hann could ever have represented him.

Gary - thanks! But I think your wallet should register seperately - a sort of Good Gary/Evil Gary duo - so we always know who's posting.

Well here's a sentence I never thought I'd write on eGullet (or maybe I've just been saving it): that man clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. [Edit to add] Which is to say: indict a bad restaurant for being a bad restaurant, and bad furniture for being poorly made - but to accuse the catagory of pubs for homogeneity is ludicrous - either he's being ingenuous, or he knows little about food. My top four or five favourite gastro pubs share nothing in simularity. That's the whole point. There's a generation of young chefs who are learning how to cook. They want their own premises without heaving over half a million quid. And they're certainly not made from th same stamp.

I had the menu prestige, but substituted half of it. It was glorious. But it is a quantity of food. I think if you're above a medium on the glutton scale, you should manage. Medium and below, go with alc. Gary, would you care to share with us why exactly you returned twice in two days? (And you're still denying that you're a Michelin man? Hah!) Long live gluttony. I'm pretty sure he's a member.

I expected GR to be much harder on the young fella. I kept thinking he was pulling his punches. But as GR himself has said: "you can only give the real bollockings to those you love. Otherwise it doesn't mean anything."

Please note : some of these links may require free or paid registration to view. This week's selection comes from: The Times The Independent The Guardian The Observer The Telegraph This is London Restaurants Jay Rayner - 6 go mad at The Old Passage Inn, Arlingham, Gloucestershire. Terry Durack - Chapter Two, Blackheath Village, London SE3. Tracey MacLeod - The West House, Biddenden, Kent. Jan Moir - One Paston Place. Giles Coren - Mosaica, N17. Matthew Fort Mar i Terra, London India Knight: Yauatcha Features How far would you go for a good meal? The rise of the 'gastrotourist'. It's not just the chef or the maitr d' who makes for a fine fine-dining experience, as more and more restaurants hire very expensive designers to set the tone. Food Nigel Slater - posh lunch. Mark Hix has spring in his sights. More recipes you granny is glad she forgot from Gordon Ramsey 3 more recipes your great-granny is glad she forgot from Jill Dupleix. Heston Blumenthal - broccoli. Kate and Rory Gibson - Viva Mexico! Wine Tim Atkin - Technocrat or not, Aussie Brian Croser's wine wisdom has a lot of bottle. Anthony Rose - A cultural revolution in Chinatown. Cellar notes #30: Mourvèdre. Andrew Catchpole - Dukes of Burgundy. Super plonk. Sauce: Joanna Simon.

I have never had anything less than superb service at Aikens. Some of the plates appeal to me more than others, but I thought the full on dinner experience with amuse etc was really exceptional. I wouldn't hesitate to recomend.

Now we need someone who can sous vide an entire rib roast, and cook it for three days...

Tom Aikens has been running a series in the Sunday Telegraph but I haven't been able to find a link - does anyone know where I should look?

Hi Brioboy - what's a simac? Never heard of it before. Otherwise I'm all for electricity. Oh, and the Swiss. And toasters. [Edit to add] You mean one of these? They're also known as extruders. I've had pasta made from them a few times - including at Jamie Olivers place - but it's really never been to my taste. What mix of flours are you using?

Heston, at the recent Manoir even, said that he's taken to using a dessicator to dry out the chips before frying. He said it kept the end result crispy for longer (and made Pierre Troisgros wince from the hearing).

Please note : some of these links may require free or paid registration to view. This week's selection comes from: The Times The Independent The Guardian The Observer The Telegraph This is London Restaurants Terry Durack - Levantine, London W2. Marina O'Loughlin - 2 Wiseass Wozzas. Richard Johnson - Number 10, London W10. Giles Coren - Brunello and Mirto. Matthew Fort - Effings, Totnes, Devon. Jay Rayner - Anthony's, Leeds. Features Andrew Catchpole - The first Welsh whisky for 100 years. Get your raw ingredients from the same place as the Ivy. The thrilling cuisine of neighbouring Laos that could well be the next big thing. Food Nigel Slater - no cook can manage without a wedge of Parmesan. Kate Hawkings - The British don't eat Bunny! Mark Hix - Parmesan: The big cheese. Gordon Ramsay - Kitchen Heaven Heston Blumenthal - Monster mash. Wine and Spirits Tim Atkin - The best Cape wines are less than a decade old. Four top-flight wines from the Rainbow Nation. Richard Ehrlich - "The glug-net though still lags behind in the development of a specialised on-line forum to match www.eGullet.com" Anthony Rose - A first taste of the class of '03. Cellar notes #29: Pick of Bordeaux 2003. 2003 Douglas Green Cinsaut Pinotage 2002; Saint Véran Blason de Bourgogne 2003; Villa Maria Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Super plonk. Joanna Simon Chardonnay is out — sauvignon blanc is in.

Wine in the UK Press If you know of any other sources for good wine journalism, post them! Tim Atkin - The best Cape wines are less than a decade old. Four top-flight wines from the Rainbow Nation. Richard Ehrlich - "The glug-net though still lags behind in the development of a specialised on-line forum to match www.eGullet.com Where eGulleteers pile in on an hourly basis, the letstalkwine crowd don't seem to visit very often. If you want to talk about drinks on-line, eGullet's "Beverages and Libations" pages offer more to mull on." Anthony Rose - A first taste of the class of '03. Cellar notes #29: Pick of Bordeaux 2003. 2003 Douglas Green Cinsaut Pinotage 2002; Saint Véran Blason de Bourgogne 2003; Villa Maria Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Super plonk. Joanna Simon Chardonnay is out — sauvignon blanc is in.

I think in terms of world gastronomy, only the Fat Duck makes sense as an addition - in terms of its importance to cuisine. Guy Savoy is a bit of a surprise too. I would imagine him along with Ramsey in the second ten. Maybe. Nobu London is surely among the least significant of the chain. Wherever the man himself is cooking could probably be safely labled as having that kind of importance.

Andy - where can we find the complete list? And do we know what Gary's 'Hot Picks' were? Obviously it's a little anglocentric - were it French or Spanish (or possibly American), I'd be surprised to find eith Ramsey or L'Atelier or Nobu in the top ten.

Thanks Gary. Do you do a full Leeds Culinary Package, with a reduced rate 'Anthony's and a swift pint' tour for the soft southerners?

Gary - I do hope you'll write it for us though. C'mon, you could do one course per day!