Great British Menu 3

[Andy Lynes]

Has anyone been watching this? Although the thought of seeing Matthew Fort bomb around the UK stuffing his face in posh restaurants at the expense of the licence fee payer was less than appetising, I've actually quite enjoyed it this week. The most fun has been guessing which two chefs would go through to the cook offs although I think its been pretty obvious so far, given the criteria to find the most cutting edge chefs.

Given that in the last series we were promised a banquet attending by the top gourmets in France and then Mick Hucknell and Andrew Marr turned up, who will Heston be able to corral into the gherkin for the grand finale this time? Jim Kerr and Jeremy Vine?

[fisherman]

Really enjoyed it so far, as you say it is pretty predictable. Looking forward to tonights, Anthony Flinn is on isn't he? and as we're going there this weekend I'll be getting a taster of what's to come.........

[ajnicholls]

What Michelin have consistently got wrong, Matthew Fort got right. Enjoy your meal; my first meal at Anthony's is one of the most memorable dining experiences I have ever had in this country.

Adam

[Gary Marshall]

I was just about to start this very thread andy, i wondered if the programme had slipped under the radar, i didn't realise it was on until after the first episode had aired.

Everyone at anthonys was very excited about the show tonight and tony i think fair to say a little apprehensive about how he'd come across in the editing as he's pretty uncompromising in his outlook but i think he came across well.

Thought they did justice to the food as well which looked pretty spectacular and matthew fort seemed to love it. looking forward to the weeks worth of shows with nigel howarth and tony, expect to see some techniques you won't see everyday in the UK.

Edited March 20, 2008 by Gary Marshall (log)

[YKL]

... i wondered if the programme had slipped under the radar, i didn't realise it was on until after the first episode had aired.

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same here - so hurrah for BBC iplayer! Delighted for Tony Flinn of course, and was actually quite impressed by the Nigel Haworth performance, which was not my view after my meal a couple of years ago. As Gary says, the week of the North will be essential viewing here.

Think the Sat Bains and Glyn Purnell week looks pretty promising too.

But does make me regret not having got organised for lunch at Anthony's again ... may be more difficult to get in now! Still - such success would be richly deserved

[adey73]

Am off to Northcote tomorrow for lunch, I hope those dishes will be on.

[Prawncrackers]

Purnells' restaurant is amazing and i'm so glad he's got through, proper brummie lad! Cheesy pineapple is a signature dish but i think that it's his desserts that are consistently top-drawer, can't wait to see him in action against Sat Bains.

[ajnicholls]

When I went to Sat Bains in December, he was really excited about competing against Glyn; they're good mates who go back a long way. The whole concept of this year's series seems miles better than previous. Acknowleging the progression of modern British cookery is a great step. Having Heston to compere the event is showing how serious both the BBC and Heston see how our culinary landscape is changing. And good for both of them!

[Andy Lynes]

Everyone at anthonys was very excited about the show tonight..

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I was surprised not to see you at table with Mr Fort, or at least on the table of punters.

I thought Anthony's food looked great, very polished and precise. I was slightly surprised that Micheal Wignall didn't get through. Although Nigel Haworth's dishes looked excellent and sounded delicous, Wignall's style appeared to meet the modernist criteria more closely.

[adey73]

Just come back from Northcote, the front of house fella Craig Bancroft was doing a leghorn foghorn routine about it. It was cringe worthy. Great food though, but in no way modernist.

Edited March 21, 2008 by adey73 (log)

[Magnus Lindgren]

i have not watched tv cooking in a long time but this is actually a really interesting show well worthy of 28min of my life (iplayer after work of course). the london heat looks interesting. Matthew is aswell one of the few critics liked and respected among chefs.

my favourite has to be glynn purnell he has a vision, a bit crazy, not everything is perfect but hey it is aboutn modern british not a bloody smoked salomon and capers.

[CalumC]

Quite simply much better than previous series. Actually seeing some decent restaurants in action is much preferable to just them being in the kitchen for the main programme. Shame they've still got Bond on there though, there must be someone better for the job

[wackychef]

Having now caught up and watched all 4 episodes on iplayer ,the one thing that struck me is the difference in cuisine over the border? The 2 England heats(Central,North) looked so advanced in cooking techniques and presentation.Not slating the scottish chefs effort ,as i'd have gladly tucked in to what hey had produced.But does anybody else agree about the presentation/techniques??

[BRIGHTON CHEF]

Having now caught up and watched all 4 episodes on iplayer ,the one thing that struck me is the difference in cuisine over the border? The 2 England heats(Central,North) looked so advanced in cooking techniques and presentation.Not slating the scottish chefs effort ,as i'd have gladly tucked in to what hey had produced.But does anybody else agree about the presentation/techniques??

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Why did they not pick 2 of the chefs who are at the forefront of cooking in Scotland,

In my opinion Martin Wishart and Andrew Fairlie.

I know tom very well, most of his training has been classical french and tony serving up smoked salmon..... I know he has been getting slated for it by so many chefs in Scotland and the local paper.........

So to judge the level of cooking in Scotland ---"over the border" on these guys dishes is a bit harsh.

Scotland has still got a fair bit to go....but no way the difference is that great.

Remember only 5.5 million people in Scotland. 7.2 million just in the center of London!!!!!!

[nikkib]

I ate at Kitchin last month and found it to be far far far superior to many of the one starred establishments i have dined in in london - posted about it on the edinburgh lunch recs thread..

[wackychef]

To reply to both comments above......I really think serving up a plate of smoked salmon "garnished " as a modern plate of food on a national tv programme is signing your own death warrant,and as to compare London to Scotland (restaurant scene) I think there both as bad as each other.I truly think you can have a better meal outside the capital nowadays.I think they all copy and try to out do each other ,more original food is cooked outside the the capital.Seeing the programme would love to give Toms Kitchen a go it looks very good , I just think Scotland could have been represented better.

[torres]

Having now caught up and watched all 4 episodes on iplayer ,the one thing that struck me is the difference in cuisine over the border? The 2 England heats(Central,North) looked so advanced in cooking techniques and presentation.Not slating the scottish chefs effort ,as i'd have gladly tucked in to what hey had produced.But does anybody else agree about the presentation/techniques??

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Why did they not pick 2 of the chefs who are at the forefront of cooking in Scotland,

In my opinion Martin Wishart and Andrew Fairlie.

I know tom very well, most of his training has been classical french and tony serving up smoked salmon..... I know he has been getting slated for it by so many chefs in Scotland and the local paper.........

So to judge the level of cooking in Scotland ---"over the border" on these guys dishes is a bit harsh.

Scotland has still got a fair bit to go....but no way the difference is that great.

Remember only 5.5 million people in Scotland. 7.2 million just in the center of London!!!!!!

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surely the population doesent determain the standard of food??

[wackychef]

Having now caught up and watched all 4 episodes on iplayer ,the one thing that struck me is the difference in cuisine over the border? The 2 England heats(Central,North) looked so advanced in cooking techniques and presentation.Not slating the scottish chefs effort ,as i'd have gladly tucked in to what hey had produced.But does anybody else agree about the presentation/techniques??

←

Why did they not pick 2 of the chefs who are at the forefront of cooking in Scotland,

In my opinion Martin Wishart and Andrew Fairlie.

I know tom very well, most of his training has been classical french and tony serving up smoked salmon..... I know he has been getting slated for it by so many chefs in Scotland and the local paper.........

So to judge the level of cooking in Scotland ---"over the border" on these guys dishes is a bit harsh.

Scotland has still got a fair bit to go....but no way the difference is that great.

Remember only 5.5 million people in Scotland. 7.2 million just in the center of London!!!!!!

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surely the population doesent determain the standard of food??

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Very good point

[BRIGHTON CHEF]

I just think Scotland could have been represented better.

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I totally agree.........

[Gary Marshall]

I would suspect that andrew fairlie & martin wishart etc haven't been 'overlooked' they probably turned it down, and some of the chefs on there are pushed into it by their employers so don't have a choice.

Apparently it's viagra for the reservation book so you can be sure that's why they're on it.

[Gary Marshall]

Everyone at anthonys was very excited about the show tonight..

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I was surprised not to see you at table with Mr Fort, or at least on the table of punters.

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I agree, it's an outrage

I have seen elaine lemm in there before so she is at least a genuine fan, though locally robert cockroft from the yorkshire post gives them more column inches.

[BertieWooster]

Enjoyed the northern episode (though I'm stll a little baffled why they used our place just to do the final judging announcement), but initial reaction was 'they've managed to make an interminable programme even longer' with this pre-selection round.

Though, now Mr Wignall is down south, it would have been something of a tragedy if he'd got through (and Dev Arms cooking was hardly modern(ist)).

People get iplayer to work? Wow...

[Gary Marshall]

Enjoyed the northern episode (though I'm stll a little baffled why they used our place just to do the final judging announcement)

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'cos it's modern like, and this is about modern cooking innit?

[BertieWooster]

Ah, but that was before the name was known.

I just think the production crew wanted to see if Mr Fort could carry off the tension...'and the first winner issssssssssssssss....'[shot of bored chefs taken earlier in the day] 'issssssssssssssss..........' [more shots of bored chefs picking their noses...]

The answer being that as a gameshow host he's no Henry Kelly. Mind, Henry Kelly isn't much of a restaurant reviewers.

[BRIGHTON CHEF]

I would suspect that andrew fairlie & martin wishart etc haven't been 'overlooked' they probably turned it down

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I know for a fact, that Martin wasn`t asked.

He has just opened a cook school round the corner from his restaurant, so he is into abit of self-promotion just now