Matthew Grant

I have a couple of friends that like to try and find out of the way places that nobody has discovered before and wonder why I tend to go on recommendations. Aside form the difficulty in trying to find an out of the way gem my reply is why would you go to restaurant X with no reviews when Restaurant Y has lots of excellent reviews next door? Restaurants without reviews tend not to have them for a reason. Anyway my friends continue on their quest, especially in Paris and London, they always think that they have discovered somewhere that nobody else has and come back recommending this place and that. They have never once been able to give me the name of a restaurant that I can't find a review/opinion of within 5 minutes and always look amazed when I can tell them details such as specialities, name of chef etc. What amazes me is how amazed they are!

Yes. I suppose some people might watch Masterchef to get in the mood for a romantic evening, but... ← I caught my first episode of the new series. I see that they still have the appalling table manners - is it necessary for them to make a lot of noise when they eat? Is it to show the public that they really are eating it, why are they always licking the back of the fork, why does the cutlery always have to be shoved in their mouths at great speed causing it to crash against their teeth? Ahhhhhhgggggggghhhhhh Greg and John, you eat like badly behaved kids trying to antagonise their parents. Apart from that, still bloody awful toe curling entertainment. The judges have no idea what they really want, and are constantly critical before they have even seen, let alone tasted the dish. Last night we get a winner who burnt a key component of her dish and couldn't serve it so she was left with Kidneys and mash potato. Rubbish. What I also find astonishing is the poor quality of the majority of contestants. I love the line "Now you are going to cook the best plates of food you have ever cooked in your life. You have one hour." Jeez, I can knock up something pretty decent in an hour but it certainly won't be the best plate of food I have produced in my life.

I heard mythical things about buccleugh beef when I first came to the UK. Having now consumed at least 2 steers worth, I can't see what the fuss was over. ← Agreed, what a disappointing breed. As Stevie Wonder might say "So what the Fuss?"

Northfield Farm - Borough Market - fantastic rare breed beef and lamb. Lidgates - Holland Park. Old school Butchers, great Lamb, beef, pies and sausages, in fact this is a real feel good shop, everything looks fantastic and everything i have tried is very good. Portwines in Covent Garden for decent game. Moby, I beleive that the Ginger Pig has stopped doing the French Fowl

????Chapter One has a star, are you saying it doesn't deserve one or deserves two?

Torquay - the new Ludlow, who would have guessed?! On a negative front, if Mello in Beckenham gets a bib Gourmand, then KFC deserves a star.

Hopefully the press release will be found here first thing tomorrow: http://www.michelin.co.uk/travel/

After Cake, beer, swimming and massages I'll die happy and am happy to butchered for short ribs. Just checked the route - 162 miles from my house, unfortunately I think I'll have to go mail order.

If I drive up for a swim will you feed me cake and beer as well?

Where did you get your short ribs Moby?

I saw Short ribs on the product list for Wild Harvest, they are listed as "Beef Jacobs Ladder (short ribs)" Craig more interesting than the Kobe beef is the availability of Kurobuta Pork! I've been looking for this for ages! If it becomes more popular (it should as anybody who's tasted it will know) will the price come down? I can't help noticing that it is very expensive when compared to another quality product such as that from the Ginger Pig

No - and I've got my Girlfriemd pestering me to take her to Cape Town!

I'm curious why you want to eat South African food in London? The city isn't exactly renowned for it.

I can't find my report on this restaurant from a few years ago - it seems to have been deleted? (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=9112) They often run deals like this. I had a very similar meal including caviar, Foie Gras, Lobster, Oysters etc. I always wondered how they manage it, recently they were offering unlimited champagne

I talk myself out if it every 5 minutes, one day it'll get the better of me.

£185k ,a touch over 8 years on the lease

What's happening in Padstow Adrian, everybody selling up? The Ebb The Olde Graine Store

Yes I was spreading gossip last year as well. I've learnt to take all rumours regarding Michelin with a pinch of salt wherever they come from

I'll definitely be trying to get to L'Atelier in the opening days in the hope that Robuchon will be there. Hoping to be one of the first to AD and Will Smiths new place in xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I'll also be going to The Capital, Bond's and am hoping to explore more Italian and ethnic eateries. Return visits to the Fat Duck and Maze are also on the cards. Andy, W'Sens is an interesting one, when it first opened I had a reservation which I cancelled after hearing a few bad things. Since then the restaurant seems to have fallen off the radar, I keep thinking about booking but something puts me off, are there even any reports on EG?

Feverish gossip will fly for three days before that, most of which will be cobblers. Some, on the monkeys and typewriters principle, will turn out to be true. ← I've already heard that there is going to be a new 3 star (Capital or LMQS?) and a new London 2 star which will be an Italian.

I called Wild Harvest earlier this week and they had Perigord Truffles at £1100/kg but they shut at 10am. I got an Italian Black truffle from Borough earlier today, some of them smelt very good and are were "only" £750/kg. Earlier in the week I was told very firmly by a French sounding assistant at Princesse D'Isenbourg et Cie that Perigord Truffles weren't available yet, they only had Italian Autumn Truffles at £350/kg or White truffles. They might want to tell that to Aubergine who were dishing up great Perigord truffle before Christmas. I think she may have been confused, it might be worth ringing to see if they have now got stocks in.

What surprised me about the F Word was how old the dishes that they were cooking were .These were dishes that Ramsay served at Aubergine!!!! Other than that the celebrity (I use the word lightly) element was annoying but some of tyhe cooking sequences were OK. Gordon, stop being so "touchy, feely" with the women guests, it's not pretty!

I think I'm right in saying that the best porcinis are gone for the year, we're left with South African ones as far as I am aware and they don't quite live up to the promise expecations we might have

They were too scared to charge you much for it you'd ordered so much! Did you notice special forces following you home?

For £35 you've got a whole myriad of restaurants you can try. You wouldn't go far wrong with Chez Bruce, Michelin starred and regularly voted one of the top restaurants in London.