Matthew Grant

I love Racine, excellent service, good, unpretentious, gutsy food. Nothing special to look at.

I agree with Naebody, lose the "paint" and other flowery descriptions. How's the beef coming out? I'd be concerned with the 60 degree sirloin, I appreciate that you are trying to break down the fat a little but it still seems a little warm to me i.e in the realms of getting on for well cooked. Blumenthal (who I understand you are not) likes the slow cooking process to produce meat that is rare but without the usual bloody characteristics that traditional cooking might produce, I personally think that a low temp sirloin at that temperature might go against the possible benefits of cooking sirloin in this way. For what its worth I think Sirloin is a poor cut to choose for this method. Are you generating any maillard reaction in that dish at all?

Still no blue veins in the ice cream I see

Good news! I'm there next week, booked prior to his new TV show I hasten to add

I presume this is the chocolate place? Barbero It's gone on my list. Swiss Chef are reservations essential at Piazza Duomo?

Ricers are good, I pass the potato through mine twice sometimes for extra smooth results, not as good as pushing through a sieve though which is what I suspect Robuchon does.

It's easy to run up a bill for one like that - if you have five starters, two main courses, a £33 bottle fine, aperitif and digestif. My price estimate is based on a (reasonably sized) meal for two, plus a bottle from the lower reaches of the list and a bottle of water. Take off Gary's champagne and calvados, drop the price of the wine and you are well within my £150 top out. All of which means I think Matthew's six to ten plates each is completely excessive. And I don't think I coudl ever be accused of having a bird like appetitie. ← Sorry Jay, I meant to say 6 - 10 small plates, not mains. Some of those small plates are pretty light, 6 plates of Langoustines (12 Langoustines in total) would be easy to manage and you would already have spent £120

It happened at Aubergine when Ramsay left. Luckily Sylvan has the most amazing memory and whent they moved to RHR he remembered everyone.

8 dishes plus drinks, some of those dishes are the more substantial ones. I don't think what you ate was unreasonable, if you ate half of that then I reckon you would be pretty hungry, and the bill would have been approximately what the critics are suggesting for 2 people.

If its the same stuff that we get from Neal's Yard in London it is Colston Bassett Stilton, the best Stilton you can find. Their own website suggests that it can be frozen successfully. Personally I wouldn't be able to stop myself from eating the stuff. Colston Bassett

I've no idea how some of the reviewers are managing to eat so cheaply. Depending on what you ordered 6 - 10 plates at around a tenner a plate would not be excessive for one person IMO.

Well Charlie O you're so yesterday. This is Hoxton don't you know, I was fashionably early on Sunday, the plebs hopefully arrived on Tuesday, by yesterday it must have been close to turning itself into a gallery? Good price point, some interesting combinations, not all succesfull but perhaps restaurant to watch over the coming months as it settles in. I'd like to see less emphasis on the sous vide aspect, beneficial in some areas but not in others IMO. Nice guys, hope they succeed.

just noticed that he also did the third review - The Lobster Pot - a restaurant which comes complete with the sound of piped seagulls and tropical fish behind portholes in the wall. Good to see Robuchon given due respect

That's a bit of a kick in the teeth for L'Atelier. It doesn't get a star rating because it was reviewed by Nick Curtis instead of Maschler! The fact that he doesn't seem to undeerstand why a single diner can order the tasting menu while a table of four all have to order it and that he notices no condiments on the table, i'd suggest he wasn't the best person to carry out the review. A further kick in the teeth is that next to it he reviews the Spaghetti House.

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I'm not sure if I'm going to bring one back or not, occasionally I buy one in London to cook with but I will have had access to truffle dishes for 8 days so I'm not sure whether I will feel the need to bring one back with me. I can't see there being any problems bringing them into EU airports, not sure abou the rest of the world. Probably best not to liquidise them before packing though

With the help of google translator I think the first white truffles are in. Small amounts so far with a price tag of €2500/kg. It seems that the harvest is late this year and truffles are not at there best. Somebody might want to confirm that though

balquihidder mushrooms? I see girolles/chanterelles, is this some strange Scottish term for them?

I'm certainly not writing it off, I would recommend going for ALC over Tasting menu though.

I agree its hardly revolutionary food but because of this I have in the past found the Square solid at its level as well as reliable and on this occasion this is what we wanted. I haven't been to Petrus in a while, the reason being the last time I visited I thought the food hadn't moved on a notch since the first weekend it opened in St. James. Have things changed?

Opted for the tasting menu on Saturday night: Sweet Basil Jelly with a Red Pepper Cream, Tomato Confit and Gazpacho Vinaigrette - A Good start, more like an amuse than a course on its own. Roast Scallops with a Lightly Curried Celeriac Purée and a Pomegranate, Raisin and Lime Dressing. Half a scallop which I thought a bit measly, excellent puree with a touch more than a hint of curry powder, the pomegranate adding a good textural contrast, couldn't detect too much of the lime. Tortellini of Crab with a Cappuccino of Shellfish and Basil. A weak tortellini, the basil was nicely balanced with the crab but the shellfish sauce wasn't prominent enough although others at our table disagreed. Terrine of Smoked Foie Gras with Summer Truffle, Pickled Girolles and an Apricot, Camomile and Honey Jelly. Very lightly smoked Foie but undistinguished foie gras which was a touch cold, lovely girolles, served with a toasted slice of "country bread" which was Pain Poilane Persillade of Brill with Girolles. Again great girolles, the brill nicely cooked but the dish was dominated by uncooked garlic which I believe came from the persillade. I forget the puree accompanying. Additional roasted clove of garlic was unneccesary given the coting on the fish. Sweet and Sour Pigeon from Bresse with Croustillant of Cherries, Figs and Pistachio. Nice rare pigeon that wasn't to our friends taste with a cherry sauce. Nice Croustillant with leg meat, figs and pistachio. Passion Fruit Soufflé with Lime Ice Cream. I only had a brief taste of this as I opted for disappointing cheese as a replacement. Lovely flavour/texture which is exactly what you want from a souffle. Service was efficient and I felt a little pressure from the Sommellier after telling him that we weren't looking for a special bottle he reccommended a £120 and then an £82 Riesling . It would have been nice to have had a properly considered options by the glass for the tasting menu. Overall a reasonable meal but not excelling itself as much as when I have eaten ALC. I thought the portions were rather small as well.

Closed on Sunday's? That's surprising!

I find the red stars increasingly bizarre, last years edition contained red stars for restaurants with indifferent write ups and restaurants with seemingly fantastic reviews and no stars at all.

Not seen it either.

Better get her name right if she is to be your culinary hero. Joan not Jean "Its a faceplate in the form of Jeeesus"