1880, Bentley Hotel

[Conor]

i think its the halibut he needs to worry about

We had already identified the halibut as a dish that was not at the level of other dishes on the menu, but i am suprised at the "rubbery" taste.

[jimbob]

Thanks for the reply conor, I suspected as much, makes you think how Petrus manage to sell by the glass (albeit at £90 a glass)

[MobyP]

Conor - you're a star for fielding these issues online. I'm very glad you feel comfortable enough to do so. Could I ask - how long have you been working there? Is Turner open to outside input, and do you find you can make a contibution, or does it tend to be a select few?

And if it's not being entirely cheeky, could I ask: Is the brigade a large one, and what's the staff turnover like? Indeed, what sort of places/countries are the staff coming from, and what is there former experience - or does Chef Turner prefer to train from scratch? (Feel free to ignore all questions if you'd rather a cup of tea!)

[tony h]

i think its the halibut he needs to worry about

We had already identified the halibut as a dish that was not at the level of other dishes on the menu, but i am suprised at the "rubbery" taste.

I actually meant slight rubbery aroma - but not to worry now

also - echoing moby - thanks for fielding these questions openly

cheers

tony

Edited July 9, 2004 by blind lemon higgins (log)

[ginger chef]

i worked with chef turner as an apprentice at hanbury manor and he has been a great help and friend to me since. from what i can tell most of his team from browns are with him now and his level of staff turnover is relatively low. he is a great trainer of chefs and spends alot of his time one on one with all levels of the brigade.

[Jon Tseng]

Hey Conor

Thx for all the chat

Just out of interest, are you the chap who was at Gousse D'Ail in Oxford, and then Browns?

If so do you know what's happened to Jonathan Wright?

cheerio

J

[oldschooltie]

The room was odd – and after close inspection during the evening our conclusion was that it would fit in seamlessly in Las Vegas – a bit too much white a gold plus those marble pillars topped with clam shells is a place even changing rooms wouldn't go.

has there ever been an egullet "themed dinner"?

I like this place and the decor could make it the perfect venue for a "Rat Pack Reunion"

(bagsy I'm Dean Martin)

[tony h]

with high last minute drop rates - perhaps "Rat Fink Reunion" would be more appropriate

[endless autumn]

do you know what's happened to Jonathan Wright?

I think that Mr Wright (if he's the chef from La Gousse d'Ail) has exhausted most of his culinary friends in the UK and is to be found in Hawaii.

I don't think he enjoys a very good reputation among employers, but I could be wrong.

[Conor]

Hi Moby,

sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I took a rare long weekend off for an engagement party!

In answer to your questions,I opened the restaurant back in October and sadly missed yopurself and Andy when you came in. Andrew and I do work closely together, he is very keen to hear feedback and we have changed dishes accordingly every so often.

The brigade here is smaller than many other restaurants with and without michelin stars, and who are also responsible for the banqueting, room service and brasserie cooking in the hotel.

Andrew's staff turnover is very low and indeed virtually all the team here came from Brown's with him. They are mostly English, with some Europeans and he tends to train them himself, instead of hiring positions he would rather train then promote.

Jon, I'm afraid i wasn't associated with Brown's or the Gousse D'Ail.

Hope that answers all the questions!!

[Andy Lynes]

I think that Mr Wright (if he's the chef from La Gousse d'Ail) has exhausted most of his culinary friends in the UK and is to be found in Hawaii.

If the website is still up to date then he is in New Orleans .

[zerlinetta]

*steps forward nervously*

Just thought some of you might like to know that, prompted mostly by this thread, I am going to 1880 this Thursday (birthday!) and will report back if anyone's interested.

The decision to go was made extra-easy by the fact that lastminute.com are doing a special offer of the seven-course grazing menu for the amazingly bargainous price of just £22.50 during August (that's 50% off, boys and girls). Sounded too good to miss... There are still tables available but most are quite early in the evening.

Am now going to go and polish my most vertiginous pair of heels in preparation...

[MobyP]

Yeah!!! Welcome to eGullet! Have a great meal.

[Andy Lynes]

Zerlinetta, welcome to egullet. I'll be interested to hear how the meal goes, which at that price has got to be the bargain of the moment in London.

[Marlyn4k]

Went to 1880 four times in eight weeks earlier in the year, having been a big fan of Andrew Turner at 1837.

Likes:-

Grazing menus (fab as ever)

Tables well spaced and large

Conor O'Leary (Hi Conor) and Elizabeth Valls, the latter being kind enough to pamper my ego by remembering me from 1837

Grandeur of setting (Ok Vagasesque ostentation but adds to the sense of occasion).

Dis-Likes:-

Wine list - many wines not good enough, not enough selection by the glass, some mark-ups too high. (The 1837 policy with wines by the glass was stand -out good and Benoit Gueret was a charming Sommelier)

Aggressive pouring water/wine.

Basement setting makes appropriate lighting difficult

Must be close to a Michelin Star in January and I'd guess 6/10 in next month's 2005 GFG (which is one better than 1837 received).

Edited August 27, 2004 by Marlyn4k (log)

[Conor]

Just thought I'd follow up to a few af the recent posts regarding 1880.

Zerlinetta - It was good to meet you in the restaurant recently, hope you enjoyed your birthday meal. Please report back its good to get feedback, both complimentary and critical.

Marilyn4k - thanks for your report, i'm pleased i made it into the likes rather than the dislikes!

In response to one or two of your dislikes, in terms of wines by the glass, we offer 150 from a list of 270 bins in total. I don't think we can do much more than this and i don't know of many places with a better percentage of wines by the glass. In terms of of the wine list in general, it is a little unfair to compare the list to Browns who had built it up over a period of five years to get to that size where as we have had only 10 months. In fact we only had 3 weeks before opening to compile the list. The wine list was also nominated for list of the year in the Tatler restaurant awards.

The list is ever evolving and expanding and in September/October we hope to launch a new list taking it to the next stage. I would like to find out which wines you believe are marked up too much as this is definately not our policy. Agressive water/wine pouring, we try not too - must try harder!

Lighting, yes i agree, but we are looking at ways to improve this and September should see an improvement, it has taken me this long to find candles to fit into the slightly maximilist (!!!!!) surroundings.

Hopefully that sheds a bit more light, it really is good to have the feedback, i hope you all dont mind the response as well!

[MobyP]

Dis-Likes:-

Basement setting makes appropriate lighting difficult

Quite the opposite. To a lighting designer, it gives very precise control over exactly the style, focus and dynamic of lighting - changeable according to the time of day or customer preferred or area of room.

A great lighting designer could split the room up into regions, give each table a sense of isolation or connection, lead the eye to some things, and very much away from others, and in general completely define the topography of the place. The problem at the moment, or was when I was there, is how homogenous and flat the lighting is. The eye isn't lead anywhere, it's presented by everything simultaneously. Too much.

[oldschooltie]

had an excellent meal here this week; conception, content and execution very high level.

was impressed by the service, which dealt with change of table (Mrs O had forgotten her ear trumpet, so needed to be further away from the sound of the piano in the bar) and balancing the delivery of tasting menus to tables of 2, 4 or 6 with a mass influx of a party of about 20 all starting dinner at 8. wine/water filling OK by my standards.

good to hear wine list being revamped. we had a good guado al tasso vermentino 2002 to start, followed by 2001 beaune greves from bernard morey, but I felt that there could have been more in the £35 -£50 range from classic french regions and a better representation of french country wines. generally thought the prices fair throughout the list.

agree with moby about lighting.

[Scott]

Conor,

I think I know where Marlyn might be coming from. might that is.

I went with a table of 6 about 4 months ago, roughly and we had one of the tasting menu's matched with wines by the glass. The wines chosen were frankly, not very good. Not great matches either, I think there was a maury/banyuls/rasteau sweet red (I hope my memory is correct) matched with Foie that I thought was a terrible match. enough sweetness, but not the complexity or firmness to support and enhance the dish.

I am sure there is enough talent to sort this out, probably by now, but at the time I was not impressed with the paired selections.

[Conor]

Some of wine pairings were gorgeous, particularly the pinot blanc with the lobster and the Mas Amiel with the foie gras.

The maury in question is a mas amiel which we regularly match with our foie gras dishes, especially a foie gras marinated in port.

Obviously we can't please all people all of the time, we just try our best. Wine matching can often be a very subjective issue, but i do take on board your comments. Its up to you if you take on the Gastronome Andy Lynes!!!

Edited August 27, 2004 by Conor (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Its up to you if you take on the Gastronome Andy Lynes!!!

Having met Scott several times, I can confirm that he knows a hell of a lot more about wine than I do, but I would stand by my comment on the Maury and foie. I seem to recall it was producing an involuntary "wow that's great" reaction from me and stopped me from blathering on about whatever the hell I was boring Moby with for a moment or so.

[Conor]

I'm suprised Moby didn't order you another portion!

[Marlyn4k]

The last time I went was early April...and in fact the only reason I haven't been back since was the quality of wines that came with the Grazing menu...on each of the four occassions I really didn't think they were good at all.

I also agree with the lack of standard French wines on offer (as at that time)

[MobyP]

I'm suprised Moby didn't order you another portion!

Dear oh dear - my reputation's in tatters.

[endless autumn]

I think I'm in the minority about 1880: I very much enjoyed the place but thought the food was uninspiring.

Service was everything you could hope it to be (and a little bit more than you wanted); the wine list was dull; the decor was wonderfully OTT.

The highlight of the meal was a little cup of leek and potato soup: simple but packed with flavour. What disappointed me was: the dullness of the Seabass with mussels and chive cream sauce; the random, poorly chopped, poorly cooked wild mushrooms with the surprisingly fishy salmon; the so-what-ness of the first little dessert (lemon drink with popping candy and a floaty bit of sorbet/ice cream).

The mark-up on the wine wasn't too objectionable - it was c. 3 times high street price - but the selection under £40 was lamentable and I didn't feel the sommelier was much help. (If I set an upper limit on a wine, I am not likely to nearly double it just because a more expensive bottle is 'very good'.) A few of the wines towards the bottom of the list seem to have sold out too: it might be an idea to replace them.

Water was poured characteristically aggressively: must get another bottle down them asap! We were given a second bottle without asking, which I suppose is standard in many places, but I don't see the harm in asking whether we would actually like one. We also had the fun of having our wine glasses repositioned whenever we moved them; this didn't irritate me - I just find it baffling, but when there are enough staff to employ (at least) two people as human tables, they have to find something to do.

In the restaurant, the staff are clearly very well-drilled and everything runs like clockwork, but the people in the bar are almost useless. They didn't know if they had any eaux de vie and if they did how much they were. I was happy with a coffee and an embarrassing conversation with the smooooooth pianist.

Sorry - this sounds like a massive moan. I had a good time at 1880, but I thought the food would be central to my memory of the place and it is anything but. I was interested to see how the formula of several small courses would compare to places I have been abroad with the same approach, but in the end I found myself trying to forget the food, and merely drinking revelling in the embroidered tiger cushions, gilt-swan chairs and gloriously overattentive service.