Matthew Grant

Started with a Ratatouille Ravioli with Balsamic reduction and Parmesan Air: This was the thinnest pasta I had manged to make, I've been craving the ability to make pasta like this since eating a Langoustine Ravioli at La Tante Claire when it was at Royal Hospital Road! Great balance to the dish even if I do say so myself Moved onto Muscovy duck breast with a Madeira and Star Anise sauce, gnocchi and wild garlic:

She was just on Saturday Kitchen and said she is starting working in a restaurant in Richmond from May, but is off to Mexico first. And publishing a book of soup recipes. And there may have been other things I forgot... ← She wouldn't reveal which restaurant! Seems very low key, what decent restaurants are there in Richmond?

Did anybody go to the dinner at the Waterside Inn the following day (Click here for details Without blowing my own trumpet did Andre Garret steal my dish? ANDRE GARRET COURSE Roast langoustine, cep marmalade, sherry jelly and cep veloute Matthew Grant course Code with a Cep sauce, Sherry jelly and Iberico Ham (Here!) Wonder whether I can get a stint at next years dinner

If your name is Shaun Hill - one

The awards are on ITV tonight at 23:00 Incidentally I knew the awards were over when the Fat Lady sang - G4 were there to close the show

Is that your alias Andy?

I saw Thomasina at the Tio Pepe London ITV food awards on Monday night. I couldn't get a word as she was surrounded by well wishers (I think). I noticed on the guest list that she was listed as working for Harpers and Queen? The BBC website say that she is in "negotiations to cook in a professional kitchen" Click Here

On arrival at the Tio Pepe ITV London restaurant awards 2005 I was glad to note that in the press room we had been provided with waiters who poured Tio Pepe Extra Dry Fine into half pint glasses which they nearly filled to the top. Same went for the Hardy’s Nottage Hill Cabernet Shiraz 2003 and the Hardy’s Nottage Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2004. I was amused to notice that the guests had exactly the same to drink, however I imagine the guests weren’t so amused considering they had paid around £180 a ticket, even the nominees didn’t get in free! Still these were the wines that the sponsors had provided so we made do. Milling around before the awards started I spotted Jean Christophe Novelli who certainly looks better in a dinner Jacket compared to a leotard. They say that TV adds pounds to you, well TV has been kind to Ross Burden who looks about 20 pounds heavier and a lot redder in the flesh, a sort of bloated James Bond figure. Mary Nightingale was hosting the awards and had got into the spirit of things by agreeing to wear a dress made from extra thick cooking foil, I jest, she looked very fetching in a sequinned silver gown It was hardly the world of food and drink press in the press room, a freelance writer who sometimes worked for Toptable (the tales I could tell), a crew from Fuji TV filming the awards for UK Jack, a program shown in Japan about all things British, apparently the Japanese just love this stuff. Fortunately we did have a couple of journalists from the nationals, those well known food columnists from the Sun and Daily Express were there but seemed more intent on interviewing the stars presenting the awards than the award winners. Jamie Oliver and Laila Rouass (Amber from Footballers wives) seemed popular targets of their affections. Down below in the main auditorium sat most of the judging panel Fay Maschler M.B.E, Charles Campion, Tracey Macleod , Matthew Norman, Tim Atkin. Jay Rayner and Terry Durack appeared to be absent from the proceedings, no doubt protecting their anonymity. Dinner looked an impressive affair from the balcony above (we weren’t allowed on the floor). Around a thousand diners served 3 courses, coffee and petit fours in 90 minutes straight. Pretty impressive. I can’t comment on the quality of the food but they ate Mixed Asparagus Salad with Romesco Sauce. Plain and Herb Ciabatta and Green Olive Rustica was provided by the Bakehouse. A main courseof Fillet of Wild Seabass with Crushed Jersey Royals and Spring Vegetables. Dessert of Wild Strawberry and Elderflower Jelly with Jersey Cream. The awards proper opened with Tara Blaze singing her latest single. In the press room we looked at each other all hoping that one of us would know who she was, and the ITV press officer ran around asking who wanted to interview her, we all remained steadfastly in our seats apart from UK Jack who pounced for an interview, I wonder if they know that she’s actually Irish? Mike Gatting presented the British Restaurant of the Year award to The Goring, Executive chef Derek Quelch put their success down to the relaxed environment and friendly service. It seemed that Mike Gattings damaged nose had not affected his taste buds too much and proclaimed a preference for British restaurants although checking on his favourite local restaurant in Enfield, The Norfolk , it would appear to be British only in a 1970’s sort of way! Gastropub went to The Fox who overcame everybody’s favourite the Anchor and Hope. Sayed Jaffrey presented the award for Best Indian to Rasoi Vineet Bhatia who sounded genuinely thrilled with his award and told me that leaving Zaika and setting up on his own “was the best thing I have ever done”. His outposts In Dubai and at the wonderful Le Tousserok in Mauritius are both doing well. Possibly the best-deserved award of the night. Ronnie Corbett got one of the biggest cheers of the night presenting French Restaurant of the year although for what reason I am unsure as the press room was rather crowded by this time and it was impossible to hear the live feed. I realised that Racine had won when Henry Harris walked in. Henry is still spending plenty of time in the kitchen but he surprised me when he told me that one of his favourite places to eat was Gourmet Burger Kitchen because it was simple food well done, his general preference for a restaurant. One of Rick Steins favourite restaurants is Racine (along with Chez Bruce, J Sheekey and Fishworks). He presented the award for Fish Restaurant of the year to Fishworks who got possibly the loudest cheer of the night when the award was announced, helped no doubt by the two tables that they occupied. I’ve no idea if Rick was influenced by Andy Lynes in his choice of favourite restaurants but he had apparently spent the afternoon being pestered by him at the Roux Scholarship (Andy gets all the best gigs). He assures me that he thinks Margot’s is the second best restaurant in Padstow and asked me to let Adrian know that he promises to visit for the first time in the next month. The London Restaurant Academy Award of Excellence went to Nobu. The Academy is made up of previous award winners, an impressive list including individuals such as Gordon Ramsay, Giorgio Locatelli, Fay Maschler, Dan Lepard, Cyrus Todiwala, Alan Yau, Pierre Koffman, Phillip Britten and a long list of the capitals favourite restaurants. Undoubtedly nice to be recognised by your peers. Lisa Maxwell presented the award for Outstanding Front of House Team which went to Le Gavroche. Michel Roux had heard of EG “Heard of it? The only trouble with eGullet…” I was getting a little worried at this point, “…is that once you start looking at it you can’t get off it! My wife starts getting very annoyed”. “Yep, its threatening to destroy my relationship as well” was the sympathetic reply. A quick mention about Jamie Oliver who I have sometimes griped about in the past. He spoke very proudly about the project and what it would appear to have achieved so far. He is especially generous to Nora the dinner lady, He claims the project would have been impossible without her. The award for best Italian was rather predictable when he turned up, it went of course to Passione. The main award of the night, the Tio Pepe ITV London Restaurant of the year went to Amaya, a popular choice and making it the most successful restaurant of the night following its award for New Restaurant of the Year although I still struggle to see how it can be the best restaurant of the year if it can’t beat Rasoi Vineet Bhatia in the Category of Best Indian Restaurant? The awards in full including nominations (winners in Bold) Tio Pepe ITV Restaurant of the Year Amaya London Chef of the Year Tong Chee Hwee - Hakkasan Tom Aikens Rainer Becker Vineet Bhatia Shane Osborn New Restaurant of the Year Amaya Cipriani Inn the Park Rasoi Vineet Bhatia Roka Yauatcha Gastropub of the year The Fox The Anchor and Hope The Gun The Hartley The Havelock The White Swan British Restaurant of the Year The Goring Bluebird Dining Rooms Franklins Inn the Park Rivington Grill St John French Restaurant of the Year Racine Morgan M Le Petit Max Pied A Terre Le Roussillon Tom Aikens Italian Restaurant of the Year Passione Al Duca Assaggi Enoteca Turi Locanda Locatelli Riva Indian Restaurant of the Year Rasoi Vineet Bhatia Amaya Cinnamon Club Five Hot Chillies Madhu’s Painted Heron Oriental Restaurant of the Year Roka Cay Tre Hakkasan Royal China Sushi-Say Yauatcha Outstanding Front of House Team Le Gavroche Clarke’s Frankie’s Menu at the Connaught Racine Savoy Grill Fish restaurant of the Year Fishworks J Sheekey One-O-One Rasa Samudra Le Suquet Sweetings The Evening Standard London Tonight Award Ma Cuisine Ark Fish Brahms Little Bay Mela Miraggio Most Exceptional Winelist Enoteca Turi Bleeding Hert Chez Bruce Fino The Greehouse Putney Bridge London Restaurant Academy Award of Excellence Nobu Cambo De Tercio Fino Racine St John Tom Aikens Outstanding Contribution Alan Crompton-Batt

thought about doing that but worried i'll spend 3 weeks washing dishes and chopping vegetables ← I wouldn't worry too much about washing dishes but everybody has to chop. You won't get treated so well in the kitchen if you go in there with grand ideas about cooking straight away. Remember, the chefs working in whatever restaurant you choose have probably worked in the trade for a few years, why should some wannabe be able to come along and jump straight in at the top and start prepping signature dishes? Having said that if you spend some time there they will soon allow you do do more exciting things if they think you are up to it and aren't getting in their way. Ask a restaurant if you can spend a couple of days in the kitchen, its very enjoyable and a big eye opener.

Just imagine if they got Laura Aikens to be the Maitre D'!? How about Gary Rhodes in there as well?

I read an article in the NYTimes about closed restaurants auctioning of their used gear. Does anyone know of this sort of thing in the uk? ← There's a selection of stuff on Ebay under the business section but you need to trawl through it a bit to find the decent stuff.(Click Here)

I thought it looked really good! ← Only joking! It made me gag looking at it!

I thought it looked really good!

Where can I get pré-salé or Pauillac lamb/agneau de lait in London. I want those little critters (like you get in France) that have been whipped away from their bleating Mothers shortly after birth and are as pale as the last drink of milk that they took

18k a year for a 12 hour day - sign me up! You'd be lucky to earn that or work so few hours as a commis chef, you might get it as a Chef de Partie. Plenty of kitchens start at 07:30 and don't finish until midnight. Some of them have split shifts so you get a couple of hours off in the afternoon but that still leaves you doing around 14 hours. A really hard life.

I think the format is wofully inadequate. Too much gimmickry. What's the ready steady cook stuff all about. Do they really think that chefs get a box of random ingredients and then think what to make with them? What does cooking on a ship for 600 people prove - forget the teamwork thing, it proved absolutely nothing except that Mark doesn't have a clue about cooking fish. I hate to say it but I feel that he is just hitting a lucky streak, if I hear him gripe again about not having the experience of the other 2 I'll scream, he's mentioning it so much that I'm getting suspicious. Why does the voiceover keep going on about him being a self taught cook - who taught the others? I'm beginning to find him rather arrogant. That voice over is really getting on my tits as well "exceptional cook" "incredibly gifted". "Amazing technically" Who? What? Where? I couldn't agree more with Greg Wallace tonight - Mark's plate of food looked nothing like a typical Michelin starred dish, poorly presented and an ugly looking sauce - not saying it tasted bad but I guess that hundreds of enthusiastic home chefs are producing food that looks and tastes better than that every weekend. Fair play to Caroline who's dish looked and sounded nice Is anybody else fed up with hearing John Torode's fork hitting his teeth every time he takes a bite of food? I think Andy mentioned before about the prize of a job in a kitchen. Well I guess they aren't going to be taking you on as a sous chef so it#'s not really much cop. If you show some enthusiasm plenty of kitchens will take you on. Whether you can take the crappy hours an pay is another matter. I'll be interested to see how long the winer sticks their new role out. Anyway, glad I got that off my chest, guess I won't be going to SOS for steak again. Incidentally I can't stop watching it - what's the cure?

The end is coming a week sooner than first thought. Putney Bridge will close it doors for the final time this Sunday!!!!! I hate to say it but if you haven't been I think it may be too late.

I wonder if recent reviews and in particular, Egon Ronay and Gault Millau have given Godon a little kick. I regularly visited Ramsay's restaurants from the days of Aubergine to RHR when he first received 3 stars but over the last 4 or 5 years I haven't been because I too felt that the food had stood still and become rather formulaic. I recently heard a rumour that he had been shocked into action by the bad reviews and that he had stepped up a gear including "dabbling" a liitle. Your report would seem to confirm this, one more good report and I'm going back. However much people are willing to knock him, Ramsay is a great chef and some of my favourite meals were from the days when he was aspiring to 3 stars, I hope that he can regain a little of that excitement.

As suggested above, Booths at Borough MArket have morels and fresh(wet) garlic, I don't think I have seen wild garlic yet but it is available at borough market when it is in season.

Anyway, back to Masterchef.... ...I was interested to fin out that the Corrs had dined at the worlds best restaurants. Next time I see them I'll be sure to ask them about Gagnaire, Bras,. Veyrat, Adria. I couldn't help noticing that the voiceover said that Christopher was doing badly after Thomisina fucked up the vol au vent cases - why does that reflect badly on Christopher, he was only preparing the filling? Graham R, please feel free to PM me with your theory. In confidence of course!

Sounds to me like they are setting you up! I imagine that they will choose the person they believe has the least social etiquette and put them in your group. As for not changing your menu, I assure you people scored badly because they didn't take into account allergies!

Masterchef goes large is getting on my tits now. I couldn't help feeling that the insinuation tonight was that the aristocracy have the finest pallets. I felt sorry for Christopher when they criticised the dish he had cooked, the fact that the chicken mousse was overpowered was hardly his fault - he didn't conceive the dish. Overall I can't stop watching this but I don't think the judges know what they want, they seem to be making it up as they go along. People get criticised for making things too simple, then criticised for being too ambitious and then they'll praise the next person for keeping it simple?!?!? I also can't help feeling that the standard is nowhere near as good as the original masterchef. How long did they all cook that mallard for? Overall there has barely been a person that has been able to cook a piece of meat to a decent standard.

oh no!! Son of a heifer!! and I thought it was serious! ho hum! guess i just go a long for the ride then and I was planning such a nice meal. ← I actually enjoyed that show. It was funny to see the mix of people they selected and the different ways that they all entertained in their home. Some people went completely over the top, hiring a personal chef, and others did the deed of packaged food. The key to that show is that you need to plan a meal that is accessable to your guests. You have to cater to the fact that they might not be into strictly-authenic asian dishes. Much like your judges at Chef vs Britain. You also have to be an entertainer in your home, not just a chef. ← :( bummer it means i have to cook safe/boring! but even then lets say i cook lamb, I like mine rare others would like medium and some well done and what happens if they are like allergic to lamb? or don't eat meat??!! you're buggerd aren't you? oh and the entertaining part? whati have to perform magic tricks or do my impression of elvis ← Don't plan your meal until you have met your guests, some people scored poorly because they had a vegetarian and didn't cater to them, other people expressed dislikes/allergies of certain ingredients only for people to serve them the next night. Result - nil points. I do agree that the show is entertaining but not in a serious foodie sort of way. I actually felt sorry for the people who could cook because it obviously counted for so little. The winner was always the person with the personality acceptable to the most people - only occasionally was that the person with the best food.

Is "Come dine with me" the one with 5 people all having dinner parties on consecutive nights that is on Channel 4 in the afternoon? To call most of them foodies is a vast exaggeration. A lot of them rely on their sparkling wit (not) to get them through and they even serve complete dinners of pre-packaged food. The idea of the programme is to provide the best evening - not the best food. Looks bloody awful to me but essential viewing if you are home from work in time to see it. ← is it? bollocks!! Its on at 4.30pm so I haven't seen the program at all. How bad is it? Yeah I heard about the fact that some of the contestants bought prepackaged food. its knobby but the one that did that actually won !! The thing I want to know is, if it isn't on the food how do they score each other? looks? wit and humour ? dress sense? interior design? personal hygiene? ← They score each other on how entertaining the evening has been. In some cases they have been impressed because they have had belly dancers as entertainment, I've also seen people moaning about "poncy" food. A lot of the food looks like slop on a plate. It really is just a bitch-fest. If they don't like you, however good your food is you will score poorly.

Is "Come dine with me" the one with 5 people all having dinner parties on consecutive nights that is on Channel 4 in the afternoon? To call most of them foodies is a vast exaggeration. A lot of them rely on their sparkling wit (not) to get them through and they even serve complete dinners of pre-packaged food. The idea of the programme is to provide the best evening - not the best food. Looks bloody awful to me but essential viewing if you are home from work in time to see it.