Matthew Grant

I think he was probably promoting his book, I seem to remember an almost identical incident happening in Australia. All good publicity!

I posted this on another thread. The website includes 5000 recipes from Raymond Blanc as well as sample menus from Le Manoir, details of the rooms available and his cookery courses as well. http://www.blanc.co.uk/

Just read last years Time Out Guide. It liked the food, but thought it way too expensive and finished with these prophetic words: "But spectacular as it is, this cooking ain't cheap, and with so many haute cuisine restaurants dumbing down their acts, Neat feels like a beautiful but endangered species" Who says that Time Out don't know what they are talking about?

Steve, the restaurant was run by Richard Neat who, I believe, split his time between London and his restaurant in Cannes. Couldn't agree more about the publicity aspect. The restaurant is in a poor location for eating out, most people in that area are tourists and will probably go to the top of the Oxo tower for the view if they want to eat. When it opened it had a great review from Fay Maschler (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/html/food/ea...top_direct.html) then disappeared into an abyss. I only wish I had got there before it closed!

"Hello Kitty" obviously looks better than the dualit and scores a massive 4.5 out of 5 for style. The guys writing on this website obviously know a thing or two about the latest trends, can we expect to see any other "Hello Kitty products"? How about a Hello Kitty stainless steel fridge, black iron frying pan, potato ricer or and Industrial extractor bearing the cute little kitty logo? As for rust on the Dualit - is he storing it in his kitchen sink?

I have the Dulait model that you have pictured. Of course it doesn't make toast any different from any other toaster. The advantages are that a) it is designed as an industrial toaster and can handle large a amounts of toast (a 4 slice dualit can do 130 slices an hour). b) It is very reliable, most toasters I've had in the past tend to burn out after a couple of years, I've had this one for 5 years no problems at all. c) It looks so cool! Happy toasting!

Anybody know of any good restaurants in Prague? I will be visiting in March and am interested (as always) to eat in the best places in town. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Surely that would mean that there would be no list left after 4 months?

Cabrales, The food at Nahm was very different to your normal sort of Thai cuisine, I think its fair to say that it is very authentic. I also think it is fair to say that it isn't Haute Cuisine as we know it. Once you get past the sweetness and heat of the dishes I think they meld well together. You need to visit this restaurant with an open mind. If you come thinking it is going to be like your average high street Thai (all lemongrass and granulated sugar) but a bit better you may be disappointed, if you come looking for a new experience then you will leave with a smile on your face. One thing I did forget to mention: the desserts were in my opinion awful - exactly as I remember them in Thailand. This is one area that doesn't seem to excite western palates and David Thompson might do well to rethink the final dish.

My experience at Nahm was really good. Food was very different to the normal Thai food served in London. Service was average, 3 different waiters during our meal, they were so confused that we had our starters twice (they were happy to let us eat the erronous dish and we were happy to do so). As is traditional, all the dishes were served at the same time with the exception of the starters. Flavours were distinct and everything tasted remarkably fresh. The prices are very high but I think that this will be the next Asian restaurant (following Zaika and Tamarind) to win Michelin stars and my prediction is that it will win 2! :-) A quick note for Gavin (below) Manatanah was a superb restaurant, I was disturbed to find that Tym Yeoh and her husband have now left. I was talking to the new owners and they semed to have no idea how good this restaurant had once been, they hadn't learnt the dishes and I was proudly told that they were going to make the dishes 'more English'. If anybody has any details on where the previous owners have moved to, please let us know :-(

In response to all the negative comments regarding GR at Claridges, we ate there on the second Saturday of opening. I have Followed GR's cooking since Aubergine and ultimately think he deserves his 3 stars. Our meal at Claridges was superb AND excellent value for money, cooking like this will not be around at these prices for long. Unfortunately Service was embarassingly bad and it took over 30 minutes to get our bill. We weren't offered liqueurs/Brandy etc. It was difficult to attract the attention of the wine waiter and even more difficult to understand him. We put this down to teething problems and friends that have been since said that the service was fantastic. Perhaps they need to get Jean-Claude or Christophe in to smooth things over. GR was in attendance on the night, perhaps it might be better to go on a Saturday when Royal Hospital Road is shut, I imagine that you will have a better chance of GR being in the kitchen (this isn't an excuse for poor food on other nights). Why do we build up all the big chefs and then knock them down again? To say that Gordon Ramsay asked for and got 3 stars is nonsense, in my mind he was deserving of 3 long before he got them and, by his own admission, probably ruined his chances by making Boiling Point. I would like to reiterate Andy's point that his brigade are all loyal to Gordon Ramsay, this is because they know that ultimately he looks after them and can give them the breaks if they are good enough. As for Pierre Koffman and Michel Roux Jnr. I have visited both kitchens and both were a model of peace and quiet!