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Great British Menu 3


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surely you have to believe you're the mutts nuts to open a cutting edge restaurant in leeds at the age of 23?!

Think it's fair to say tony is not a 'people person' he doesn't go round his restaurant before, during or after service saying hello and he genuinely is very serious about what he does. A chef who's just interested in cooking - who knew :laugh:

you don't win friends with salad

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Think it's fair to say tony is not a 'people person'

We were watching this last night, with our recent meal at Anthonys fresh in our minds, and Jo said to me 'I think it's just that Anthony isn't really a people person, he just seems to want to get on with the cooking'

I'll commend her on her insight and perception soon as she gets home from work :)

I must say I much prefer Anthonys serious side to Nigels outdated fat northern chump approach, and speaking as a fat northern chump I feel I'm ideally placed to make that observation. I'm not interested in Nigels bemused face as he totally fails to understand the 21st century.

GBM only really seems to work when Sat or Atul are on, Anthony is a welcome addition to that list, with Sat you get top notch modern cooking and a genuine sense of humour, Anthony may come up short on the latter, but the former is there for all to see.

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I think it is very definitely a battle of traditional vs modern!

It is interesting to see the two approaches. I disagree that it is traditional versus modern, instead we are seeing two branches of modern food. Nigel's is simple but interesting, Anthony's is complex, and challenging. Both seem a million miles away from British cooking of 10 years ago.

I would be very happy to try both sets of dishes. My guess is that I will enjoy them both equally but for different reasons. I think this round is going to be a tricky call. Both producing great food.

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I think it is very definitely a battle of traditional vs modern!

It is interesting to see the two approaches. I disagree that it is traditional versus modern, instead we are seeing two branches of modern food. ...

I couldn't agree more. Combining cod, pigs trotters and tripe isn't traditional, it is very cutting edge modern. It is a pity both of these chefs can't continue to the final.

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Definitely check out this weeks competition for some seriously interesting cooking by Anthony Flinn and Nigel Haworth. They play it like it is new (Flinn) vs traditional(Haworth) cooking, but that doesn't seem true at all. Haworth eg did his lamb sous vide without any comment at all.

no he steamed it and fried his sweetbreads.

...

Ok, thought it looked like the lamb was coming out of a vaccum bag. Regardless, today's cod was defintely taking a swim in the computer controlled water bath...

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I think "balloon boy" might have cracked a smile last night, and he was very courteous about Haworth's dish, so he's gone up in my estimation (gosh, I bet he's relieved about that).

My problem is that I don't really understand the whole cooking-as-contact-sport mentality you so often find in professional kitchens e.g. my knife's sharper than yours, I can fillet this box of fish quicker than you, my plating is sharper than yours, my ingredients are more obscure than yours. I think we're seeing some of that in this week's programmes. It's got absolutely nothing to do with creativity or hospitality and everything to do with the testosterone-fueled ego-driven need to be "the best".

Edited by Andy Lynes (log)
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I couldn't agree more. Combining cod, pigs trotters and tripe isn't traditional, it is very cutting edge modern. It is a pity both of these chefs can't continue to the final.

Yes, I thought both of last night's dishes looked very strong. Really enjoyed it.

My problem is that I don't really understand the whole cooking-as-contact-sport mentality you so often find in professional kitchens e.g. my knife's sharper than yours, I can fillet this box of fish quicker than you, my plating is sharper than yours, my ingredients are more obscure than yours. I think we're seeing some of that in this week's programmes. It's got absolutely nothing to do with creativity or hospitality and everything to do with the testosterone-fueled ego-driven need to be "the best".

Probably got something to do with it being a competition. :biggrin:

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Probably got something to do with it being a competition.  :biggrin:

Actually, I don't think the fact that its a formal competition makes any difference at all. I've seen an exactly similar attitude in restaurant kitchens around the world. It's certainly not being exhibited by Haworth. It comes down to the difference between calm self assurance and unwarranted arrogance and more importantly the gap between having the technical ability required to acquit yourself at the highest levels in a professional kitchen and the next step which is being a bloody good cook.

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I think "balloon boy" might have cracked a smile last night, and he was very courteous about Haworth's dish, so he's gone up in my estimation (gosh, I bet he's relieved about that).

not seen it yet but tony did say the production team kept trying to get him to criticise haworth's dishes but he said he wouldn't, if he liked it he'd say so.

you don't win friends with salad

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I think "balloon boy" might have cracked a smile last night, and he was very courteous about Haworth's dish, so he's gone up in my estimation (gosh, I bet he's relieved about that).

My problem is that I don't really understand the whole cooking-as-contact-sport mentality you so often find in professional kitchens e.g. my knife's sharper than yours, I can fillet this box of fish quicker than you, my plating is sharper than yours, my ingredients are more obscure than yours. I think we're seeing some of that in this week's programmes. It's got absolutely nothing to do with creativity or hospitality and everything to do with the testosterone-fueled ego-driven need to be "the best".

A trait occasionally shared with food writers and discussion board posters!

I love animals.

They are delicious.

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A trait occasionally shared with food writers and discussion board posters!

I can't imagine what you're getting at but anyway, my post was much better than yours - and I bet I can fillet a box of fish quicker than you as well. Ner ner ner-ner, and in addition, ner.

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Surely people with ambition strive to be the best at what they do, wether it be in a kitchen or not, i know i do,

This week is a totally differnet league to last week, maybe they can both go through at the expense of steve terry

there is now something modern adn exciting going on from both guys

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I liked the main part of the dishes but I do think they look terribly busy. I wonder whether he may calm his dishes down a little with age and experience (that's not to say that he hasn't got good experience at the moment)?

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

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