Matthew Grant

So thats baked and grilled tomatoes not fried?

Did Horridge used to be obese or have a major health scare? I'm trying to think why else he would preach so much. The guy is a first class dick. I guess he hasn't got too many friends and spends weekends alone in a dark room crying whilst wolfing down vast quantities of sugar and cream. Probably beats himself up using sugar canes afterwards by way of punishment.

Dinner at Arby on Thursday night, good Asparagus with Joselito and Parmesan, I was force fed a soft boiled egg (I hate eggs but have recently been trying to get to grips with them) served with a mushroom veloute and smoked duck breast and once I'd got my head around eating the white (I love the yolks) I found it surprisingly enjoyable The restaurant is taking part in the Kerasma promotion at the moment so there are a few greek influenced dishes and wines. The Chicken was rolled and stuffed with Greek herbs, lemon and the chicken offal. However a dessert of Loukamades took me back instantly to backpacking around Turkey where I would gleefully eat as many Lokma as I could afford. The Loukamades reminded me of that completely, served warm with Aiegina pistachios, wild honey and Lemon Thyme ice cream. Fantastic. A couple of interesting Greek wines as well though unfortuantely I forget the names, The White from Santorini was very good and the sweet red smelt so much of raisins and reminded me of Christmas pudding.

Asparagus soup with Morels and Joselito Reserve: Saddlle of Pyrennean milk-fed lamb, Courgette flowers stuffed with goats curd, PIquilo pepper stuffed with crushed jersey royals and braised lamb neck with oregano.

That would help wouldn't it! Bens D'Avall

Seems an apprpriate time to post this (although more appropriate would have been while it wa happening ) Caterer Chef Conference

My memory is a little vague as to the details Snacks (included an interesting prawn soup) Majorcan red “grilled Prawns – the “grilled” was in inverted commas as they clearly hadn’t been grilled, beautiful sweet prawns barely warmed through and smoked lightly. Fantastic, though Rachel who is a huge prawn fan thought they were the worst prawns ever tasted so you’ll have to take your pick as to whose flavours match yours the closest. Spring Soup with Majorcan vegetables, farm egg. Duck Foie Gras Marinated and caramelized, apple, Beetroot, Maltobrioche – A good foie presentation the foie topped with a sugar glaze, two pieces of apple one infused with cranberry (as far as I could tell). Maltobrioche was a cube that turned virtually to powder in the mouth providing an interesting contrast though the sample was too small to really get to grips with its core flavours. From what I could tell it was a deconstructed brioche made using maltodextrin. Spring rice “Arroz Brut” was with lovely plump snails, well cooked rice. Fish Fillet of the day, Artichoke “ Macaron” Cured Bacon Sweet Lemon Sauce, Spicy Black olive puree. The fish was hake and it was perfectly cooked, I still don’t get the Spanish love of Hake but as Hake goes this was pretty good. The Macaron element came from the artichoke which looked liked it was pureed and then sandwiched between the top and bottom of the artichoke. The Lemon sauce combined well with the black olive though I didn’t detect the spicy element. Majorcan Lamb shoulder, French beans, peas terrine and Sobrasada, Spring Onion COnfit and Majorcan Apricot – this was the description though what we received was a little different. A lovely lamb chop and also a piece of shoulder that could have done with a little more cooking, my guess is that it had been cooked sous-vide but not at a high enough temperature to break the connecting tissue. Bean and peas terrine was neat, a slice pf peas and beans bound together with a good mint element. The Majorcan Countryside: Fresh Cheese, Strawberries, Apricots and Basil. Plated Cheese desserts, why bother, crappy Strawberries, even worse cheese. The Fresh cheese element was a little better being formed into what Rachel described as a cheese cake. The least Successful dish of the day. Ensaimada with Chocolate. Overall a very pleasant experience, well recommended if you are in the area, easily one star cooking, not sure why it hasn’t got one already?

Rachel always says that you shouldn't eat anything that still has its eyes attached so you can find her eating the legs of chiperones quite happily but the rest of them is another matter

Surely not real at that price? I forget what they use as fake elvers but why would you sell something that just cost you hundreds of pounds a kilo for just a few quid?

Also stash some meat back at your hotel, you'll feel a huge desire to chew on something properly once you have left.

Yeah, cancel your reservation and eat at Rafa twice, at least that's what I wish I had done.

And this week we have a Irelands latest camp comedy duo masquerading as chefs with a a schoolboy sense of humour "Ooooh, those are a lovely pair of breasts" (cue canned laughter). Dire, I don't think I can bare to watch this week. Are they for real?

What time are you leaving Bath? Its not that far surely? Anyway on the whole I find Devon and Cornwall to be extremely poor if your looking for good food. Something akin to Croydon spread over two coutnies. Sure you have the odd discrepancy such as Nathan Outlaw and Padstein and Oliver but beyond that it is shockingly poor in terms of culinary achievement considering the access they should have to good ingredients. Right, I'm off to put my crash helmet and body armour on......

That's right, it is the perfect restaurant, never a fault. I can honestly say that was the best meal I've had at Wild Honey

When did it have three stars?

I ate at Wild Honey with friends for the first time in a while on Saturday. Good to see the restaurant heaving at 20:30 with even the bar spaces filled with diners. This was possibly my best meal at Wild Honey, that’s not to say others haven’t been good but I left feeling very content indeed despite my own poor ordering (two red meat courses). The food is simple, I know that is a restaurant cliché today, but what is written on the menu tends to be what you get on the plate. Slow cooked Elwy valley lamb breast, Heritage burgundy potatoes and Spring onions was exactly that . a slice of rolled lamb breast accompanied by highland burgundies and spring onions anda a hefty dose of garlic. For mains I couldn’t help ordering the Roast Limousin veal, soft polenta with Parmesan. A better description wouldn’t go amiss on this dish as it is a beautiful hunk of Veal Loin perfectly cooked served with good polenta richly flavoured with cheese. Desserts are always a strong point here in my opinion and today mine excelled. POire William ‘Baba’, Garaguette strawberries, chantily cream. A delicious combinations some of the best strawberries I have had in this country, they were exceptional which unfortunately meant I had to give some of them away to my dining companions. The “baba” was light and wonderfully moist, the pear shining through without any overpowering alcohol. Other dishes I tried a couple of spoons of were a starter of Fresh sheep’s ricotta, purple sprouting broccoli and hazelnuts accompanied by a bright green sauce in a separate jug which was described as broccoli but for the dominant flavour was of nuts and very good it was too. The others all had the same main course, milk fed Pyrenean lamb, gratin dauphinoise, garlic and Rosemary. Thin slice s of the leg and a great Dauphinoise served in a large dish for everybody to share. Overall an excellent meal and for me representing excellent value for money.

Manresa was in it a couple of years ago!

Good to see White Park beef on the menu, if its well hung it is one of the best.

Thanks for that

Lucky I'm already booked then

The Wagyu is Australian from Selfridges, you can also get it in Harrods where I have also seen other Japanese beef (no Kobe though).

Pig Cheek form the Ginger Pig, order in advance.

I'm not sure it does make sense, how can something taste more like itself than the real thing? Surely when we start talking about something having the "true essence of olive" it can only be "true" up to the point it tastes like the olive, after that it must become an artificial flavour that no longer tastes like an olive?

Thats Maldon Sea Salt, well spotted Thanks, the Purple Sprouting Broccoli is grown in the UK, its coming to the end of the season now, although it sings dpring it is more of a winter vegetable. JSMeeker, the quail were quickly panfried in butter before resting and taking off the bone. The couscous was simply mixed with finely chopped red onion, roasted red pepper, coriander and mint once it was cooked along with some butter. The sauce was in this instance 250ml chicken stock mixed with the juice of one orange and a teaspoon of crushed coriander seed. This was added to a pan in which I had made a caramel with a little sugar and Forum Cabernet sauvignon vinegar. This was simmered until it was a decent consistency then a mixed in the zest of an orange and around a inch cubed of chopped ginger. At this point you need to be quick, taste the sauce after a few seconds (you don't want it getting to gingery), strain through muslin and it is ready to serve. Pretty much a classic orange sauce with a few additions, good stock is essential, it'll never work very well with stuff out of a bottle or cube. Veal stock works very well

Quail, Couscous, Orange and Ginger Sauce: Wagyu Ribeye, Asparagus, Jersey Royals, Purple Sprouting Broccolli: