MobyP

And a slightly different perspective from the Financial Times (www.ft.com)

The River Café books by Rogers and Grey have cavalo nero recipes - black cabbage, to be accurate. You need to remove the leaf from the ribs, and blanch them for a minute or two - squeeze - then either sauté in some good oil and garlic, or use for ravioli filling with parmagiano, ricotta, etc.

Wouldn't the fish hook have made some damage? A hole in the gills, or mouth? A bit scary, but not surprising.

Sorry Jonathan - I was actually agreeing with you (I think). The point is, at that level, walking into that room with many preconceptions - as she so clearly did, and you so clearly pointed out - was going to be an act of ego that could only get in the way of a fair evaluation.

Okay, time for one of those posts that BLH hates. The penultimate issue faced by any critic of any craft or art or artisanship is: Why, and for whom, do they do what they do? The ultimate issue is how they then execute the answer. It is my - probably minority - view, that any critic who goes believing themselves to represent the consumer of the work in question, will never be able to address artisanship, or craft, or art, at the highest level - because primarily they will see their role as one of consumption. That, imo, is Moir's problem. If all you can do is hold up your experience and expectations as the high water mark to be reached, you'll never know when they've been surpassed. More importantly, you will never admit that any work is greater than your ability to perceive it, because that goes against your fundamental precept that as a consumer, you are there to be pleased.

I think the headline is fine. The article's bloody awful though. Jan Moir at the Telegraph on the Fat Duck. I thought this in particular was cute: It reminded me of people who feel it necessary to declare they have a good "bullshit detector," when actually it makes you think they have nothing of the kind, other than another undiagnosed neurosis.

Well, as Busboy mentioned with philippics, from Athens on down, the two have never been mutually exclusive. In fact you could say that historically, civilization has been defined by the very bitchiness - whether against restaurants or in the hands of Demosthenes - that you hold to be uncivilised. Having said that, A A Gill from the Times (who you mention) has few friends in my neighborhood.

Here's a Map with the station.

Gary - how difficult is it to get a reservation? After reading your review, I might try to make it up on the 6th of feb weekend.

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 Harlem, London Allium, London Ginny Dougary - Hotel du Vin & Bistro Matthew Fort - Whatley Manor. Wilts. Jay Rayner delves into Undershaw's. AA Gill: man of the pipple: The Goring Hotel. Luscious Lithe O'Loughlin on Food for Lovers! then Magnificent Marina examines the bright future of Mehek. Fay Maschler - Mirto. Features The great and Glorious Nicky Perry, of Tea and Sympathy on Greenwich Ave in NYC. Terry Durack - on the perils of eating for a living (it's called fatbastarditis). The long and winding road of Women and Food. The irredeemably 'orrible Michael Winner. Food Gordon Ramsay's One-pot wonders. Mark Hix reveals the boozy secrets of the saucy cook. 3 from Tamasin Day-Lewis. Feeling like a Winter Picnic, and - well - generally mad? Kate Hawkings! 3 From Jill Dupleix Nigel Slater on battering his squid. Wine and Spirits Cellar notes #17: Vintage value. Super plonk. Tim Atkin The Pfalz. Rioja is finally moving with the times. Adam Edwards - the best of British pubs: North Yorkshire.

Be warned. I bought an Artisinal hand-made knife from the Japanese Knife Company - it was blissfully sharp, but incredibly brittle. Chips were snapping off the blade's edge regularly. I took it back, and they replaced it, but the new one still chips (and despite how it sounds, I was treating it far more gently than my usual wusthof).

Ahem (clears throat) MY MACHINE WAS STOLEN - OH YES - THE POLICE ARE ON THEIR WAY (how much money d'you want?)...

That's really, really funny. Say, can I be your dog?

Fantastic review. Made me incredibly jealous. Though this is what I'll be dreaming of tonight.

In today's This is London (subscription required) it's reported that Shepherds Restaurant is taking unbrage at a recent review by Mathew Norman in the Sunday Telegraph (no link available), describing his article as "vituperative diatribe" containing "wrong, unfair and defamatory allegations". They are now considering taking Norman to court. This is London goes on to report Norman as writing: "The decor was "fake, dreary, cheap and pompous"; the vinaigrette with his cold asparagus was "an insipid, feckless mayonnaise" that made him wish he had had Hellman's; and the crab and brandy soup reminded him of one of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction ("When I say... that were it found in a canister buried in the Iraqi desert, it would save Tony Blair's skin, I exaggerate only slightly"). It was, he concluded, the "eighth circle of hell"." What do we think? Can critics go too far? Should restaurants have the ability to seek renumeration?

I believe entirely that sexism exists (simultaneously finding it extremely difficult to believe that it still can do). And it goes both ways. I'm just not sure that what she (or the editor in shaping her piece) is alluding to, the majority of the time, is about sex. Rather, it's about control (or lack of), experience (or lack of), and respect (or lack of). Her womanhood is not in doubt; her victimhood his. I think it is actually more degrading to the political issue to have placed her difficulties under the umbrella of sexism (and I don't say it was necessarily her), rather than the standard powerlessness and humiliations that stagieres and commis have to deal with. Bourdain wrote about male line-cooks getting their genitals groped by other men, with sexual references included - but this is about power, not sexism. I think I would be more offended by her accusation that all women who thrived in that environment were "butch, tattooed, lesbians;" were I a successful female chef. [edit: to syntax my correct.]

Gosh we're a sensitive bunch. Most of the complaints seem against the struggles of a hard-core kitchen, and not accusations of sexism (other than your food being prepared by "a spotty adolescent... fantasising about Jordan's tits" - which is clearly misanthropic against said spotty adolescent). And the only damaging accusation against Chavot: "this is a man so pasionate and hungry for fine food that he once shot off two of his own toes while out game hunting." Presumably this was after the rabbit had run, quivering, under the Chavot's boot, and blinded by delerium and his own saliva, he took a shot.

Does not compute. Head hurts. Pain. Ow.

is it at all possible the price could be a factor? And as Scott pointed out, the prices aren't out of the league of its French cousins. Only its English ones.

As I'm always tearing out reviews of different restaurants, and my unimpeachable filing system consists of shoving them in whatever book I'm reading at the time, meaning to follow them up later, I keep coming across these things months after the fact. The latest, a very good review of William Cooper's food at the Lonsdale (48 Lonsdale Rd, W11) - from July 2003 no less. It mentions also that he was former sous-chef to Pierre Koffman, which strikes me as a notable achievement. Has anyone been there? Any reports of injury or ecstasy?

How would you cure them - and then how would you use them?

Thanks, Jack, Adam, and GG!

Of course. Now back to our scheduled programming. PSB - have you ever bought any braising cuts from Ginger Pig?

It says also on the attached recipe to use 'preserving sugar' for marmalade - what is this? Does it contain pectin? I love the idea of drying skin for future braises. The citron tart, as well. That's definitely on the cards.

Gloucester Road - Kensington. But the packaging is Waitrose, so if there's one near you, should call. They should have them. It says on the packet "do not eat uncooked."