Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road

[Rian]

Hmmm. Some mixed reports setting in. After a decade at the top is the RHR crown beginning to slip, or is it still the haut pooch ? Can’t have this kind of confusion on the e-gullet board, so I’ve booked in for lunch next Thursday to resolve the matter. Dulce et decorum est.

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Thanks for suffering for us all, Gareth. I look forward to your thoughts. Are you planning on going Lunch, ALC, or Prestige?

[tomcbell]

Since I was one of Andy’s companions on this visit, the photographs (should he get succeed in getting them up)

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Might this happen any time soon?

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I keep encountering problems with this. The pictures were taken with an 8MP camera and I think the files may be too big to upload. Very irritating, since we got some good shots. Will keep trying.

Does anyone know whether there is a maximum file upload size?

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Wouldn't it be easier simply to compress the photos? Especially considering their likely file size at 8MP! I'm definitely eager to see them.

Tom.

[Rian]

Ok, will give that a try later today, since I don't have the photographs on this computer. Hopefully will have them up later this evening.

[Rian]

OK all, here are the photograph's of last week's tasting menu, as promised. Thanks to tomcbell for the heads up on compressing them.

I've reposted my comments, this time with pictures alongside, to avoid having to scroll back up for descriptions.

Since I was one of Andy’s companions on this visit, the photographs (should he get succeed in getting them up) in his post are of the same meal I had. I’ll forgo any comments about the room and the service, since these have been adequately covered previously. To the food…

Thursday was my first visit to RHR. We booked a month in advanced. We trained hard, slogging through 1 and 2 star spots to prepare ourselves for Gordon’s golden goose. I took the day off work. This should have been big. This should have been something. This could have been a contender. I digress. Despite the flippancy of our coin toss, it was time to get serious.

An amuse bouche of pumpkin and parmesan soup arrived with a cute spoon-shaped biscuit. The soup was, well, pumpkin and parmesan soup – no more, no less. A swirl of truffle oil. A smattering of soggy mushrooms. Truffled butter.

I forwent the long-standing mosaique of foie gras for a pressed terrine of pig’s trotter and ham hock. The terrine was moist and delicate, with the smoky backdrop of pork. The ubiquitous streaks of which Andy spoke were hollandaise and balsamic vinegar reductions, both of which were sharp enough to lend structure to the softness of the terrine. The accompanying croque was unremarkable, for two reasons. Firstly, despite the vividness of the photograph, the yolk was a little bland, not the liquid sunshine I was expecting. Secondly, a slice of unadvertised black truffle was rubbery and virtually tasteless.

I also sampled the foie gras, which I felt was unsuccessful. I see the point – the hoi sin accompaniment taking the place of the usual sweetness in a foie preparation. But the whole slab was slick and wet, glistening to the extent that I thought it might slide off the plate into our companion’s lap. I like my foie gras served with relative simplicity. As Keller says, the great thing about foie gras is that it’s foie gras. If it’s good, then there should be no messing around: ‘your job is to try to make it show what it really is’. Here, the foie gras was given no chance to shine.

I swapped out again here in order to try the signature dish of langoustine ravioli. Technically faultless, I felt it lacked a little punch. The centre of the ravioli was almost too delicate – the texture of the crustaceans was there, but I wanted to taste the sweetness of their shells and the clean saltiness of the sea. Casing was textbook – perfectly al dente. Lobster bisque was reduced to the extent that I almost had to peel it off the plate, a recurring theme. Perhaps a result of too much time at the pass? Nonetheless, this had the intensity of flavour missing from the ravioli itself.

Scallops w/smoked salmon and horseradish

Next was fillet of turbot with tagliatelle, coriander and citrus veloute. The outstanding dish of the afternoon, and the only one that added up to more than the sum of its parts. Turbot was moist, delicate, and punchy at the same time, the surface of the slick, bright flesh burnished to the colour of buttered toast. Atop this rested a few crunchy juliennes of mange tout. The base of the dish was a coil of coriander tagliatelle and sweet strands of carrot. The pasta resisted the tooth and was lightly fragranced with coriander. Veloute, poured at the table, elevated the dish: smooth in texture, sharp in taste, and lingering with candied citrus fruit, it harmonised the disparate tones of the dish.

All of us plumped for the fillet of Angus beef with braised cheeks and Barolo sauce. Another signature dish, I was eager for it to justify its long-standing inclusion on the menu prestige. The pictures you see are of my beef, which I ordered blue, and felt was a hair overdone, but no more. The flesh was tasty enough, but would have been unremarkable in the absence of a bed of treacle-sweet confit onions muddled with spinach. Braised cheeks were as rich and soft as expected, but their fragrance had been overplayed by too much star anise. Mash was, well, mash. This accompanying tower carried a lid of further unadvertised slices of black truffle, as redundant as those thrown in with the terrine. As with the veloute, stocky gravy was poured at the table, spiced with Barolo.

Creme Brulee Pre-dessert

At this stage Andy and I opted for cheese in place of a pre-dessert of crème brulee. Cheeses were from Premier Cheese. Our server was excellent – knowledgeable, and with decent recommendations. Although, when I quizzed her about the age of the Comte, she informed me that ‘you can’t really say’. It’s true, you can’t say if you don’t know.

Our palate cleansing first dessert was chanterais melon with fromage frais and mint, served in a champagne flute with a cute glass straw. This was a Ronseal dish – it did exactly what it said on the tin, and was all the better for it. The essence of melon was there; the taste of the sun.

My excitement was piqued by the offer of tarte tatin as an alternative dessert, to be shared amongst 3 of us. It was served with the requisite theatre, entering on a trolley and sliced at the table. The moment of slicing sowed the seeds of suspicion – the pastry crumbled too easily and hunks of fruit dismounted from their base. In addition we each received a scoop of vanilla ice cream peppered with black dust. As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for hot and cold combinations in desserts, so this appealed to me. But the tart was simply disappointing. Chunks of apple lacked caramelisation and texture, and the pastry collapsed, dry and chalky. Vanilla ice cream was ok, but missing a depth of vanilla flavour.

By this time the staff were beginning to iron the tablecloths for dinner service, so we moved to the seating area to take coffee. Andy’s aforementioned ‘orgasm balls’ were indeed quite moreish, though I was more turned on by the light discs of chocolate laced with passion fruit from L’Artisan.

The pics are also saved in my albums. Hope this illuminates my comments.

[muichoi]

I think it's time to abolish 'plating'. Bring back silver service!

[Gavin Convery]

These thoughts are exactly the ones I had when I went about a year and a half ago to RHR. This was my first and only visit coming off the back of at least 4 visits to Aubergine when Ramsay was actually cooking and the overwhelming feeling was one of a lack of excitement. You could never say that about Aubergine - that was a man at the top of his game and that moment will never be regained. Ah well time to move on...there will be other Gordon Ramsays in the future - it's just a matter of catching them in their early days...and that's what we have Egullet for!

[Gareth]

Lunch at Gordon Ramsay earlier today. A really, really classy affair.

Food was as follows (from the ALC):

Amuse: Salmon tartar topped with a new potato salad (concasse, really), jacket potato jelly and brown bread foam. This was light and rich at the same time, with some distinct flavours to it. However, alongside arrived a little edible cheese-straw/pastry spoon on which nestled a mouthful of goats cheese, truffle and bacon. No more than a bite’s worth, really but what a mouthful. The flavours kicked in a just kept going, real length to it.

Starters: Jessica had Fois Gras (duck) done two ways. First was a roast lobe on a bed of lentils. Almost ethereal in texture, a sensation of flavour that was picked up and echoed in the lentils. Alongside was a ballotine wrapped in cured beef. In concept much like the pressed fois gras that commonly forms that intermediate level between pate and the freshly cooked, except this was much more liquid and unctuous; the point of the cured beef revealed itself in the extra touch of solidity and structure it added.

I had frogs legs with wild mushroom pasta. The frogs legs were served separately in tempura on a (mushroom ?) salsa/sauce. The wild mushrooms were chopped and whipped in goats cheese wrapped in cannelloni and served with an artichoke sauce, a beetroot reduction and pine-nut salsa. The star of all of this was the mushroom canellonni, and God, was it but good ! The pasta was thinner than an Italian election majority but still held bite and that slight savour of egg yolks. The mushroom and goats cheese filling was light yet with a real spiralling depth of flavour. Sensational stuff.

Entrees: For J, Fillets of John Dory on tomato, crab and sweetcorn with herb sauce and caviar. Spring had certainly arrived with this dish. Individual elements were particularly good and brought some surprising new interpretations: the caviar came in mini tortellini which seemed to seal in that essence of fragrent brine-y-ness; a wafer slice of crisp chichory came with a built-in time delay - 5 seconds lulling sweetness (set your watch by them…) before – pow ! – that bitter joy; and the tomato was almost like a cold confit , certainly holding the essence, punch and even texture that pepper would normally provide in this role, whilst doing so in a way that was satisfied to be a complimentary second violin to the fish without some of the intrusiveness that red pepper would have risked. But most of all the dish combined to offer a synergistic experience: each ingredient contributing to a well-choreographed whole.

I was meanwhile suffering with a curl of pork belly that had spent the last 40 hours in a 60 degree oven. I think I’ll stop here. I mean, I could talk about the playful baby langoustine or the counter-pointing pork fillet, or the wafer crackling. But, bugger it, that wasn’t the point. The point was getting to eat this little bit of piggy-heaven that had spent 40 hours transforming itself into the sticky and sublime. You could accuse the dish of being a one-trick pony. But only in the same kind of way that it would be fair to criticise Joseph Heller for not having produced anything to stand alongside Catch-22 or feel cheated because Maria Callas never really branched out into Country and Western…

Pre-Dessert: Was an echo of the Amuse with a concasse of apple in a yoghurt foam (subtle stuff and with the yoghurt transcending its dairy substance to be detectable just in the offsetting sourness it brought) and a bright little button of apple granita.

Desserts: J had Lime mousse in a panelled box of honeycomb crackling surrounded by four little chocolate squares, each barely clinging to a dab of melon sorbet. This dish really managed to run a riff: the tangy zing of the lime zest being echoed in the lighter citrusness of the mouse being reflected in the not-citrus-but-related freshness of the melon with enough chocolate bitter and honeycomb sweet to still feel like indulgence rather than worthiness.

I had a bitter chocolate tube filled with chocolate sponge, coffee granite and ginger foam. Chocolate, coffee and ginger combined; how can you go wrong ? Well you can’t so just dive on in and wallow in those favourite flavours and, only if you're in the mood to intellectualise it, will you start to notice how each flavour arrives with it own separate and distinct texture and temperature to provide that unforced demarcation that allows this to be a dish constructed from logical components rather than just a mixing together of nice things.

O.K. so while we're having coffee and orgasm balls (great name BTW, Rian….!) let me pull this together.

I’m really impressed by this lunch and it’s coming through. Every now and then as I’m writing I take pause and think, hang on Rian, Gavin, Gastrochick are all introducing notes of, if not disappointment, then certainly a more critical perspective. Does this all sound too gushy ?

But then I think, no – the meal I’ve just had deserves this level of praise. It was genuinely exceptional.

I could certainly identify imperfections: some of the elements in some of the dishes didn’t relate to one-another properly. The cheese-straw spoons were lovely but at only one mouthful they couldn’t really be said to be accompanying the salmon/potato amuse. My frogs legs, whilst nice, were pretty redundant to the dish – and the pine salsa didn’t add much in my book. The plate of cheese we shared was nothing to write home about (so I haven’t – BTW if you love cheese, proceed to Tom Aiken immediately, do not pass Go…) and the after dinner choccies not really up to scratch. For the first time ever service slipped to A-, rather than A+. J-C was as seductive as always, and the communication between the crew was superb (measure the amount of silent eye-contact they make to ensure co-ordination) but the cheese waiter faltered a bit; one of the two sommeliers didn’t really inspire confidence; I got to the toilet and back without my napkin being re-folded (I really don’t care, but I really do notice…)

I was interested in Gavin’s comments that maybe it had lost it’s innovation echoed in some of what Gastrochick was saying and Rian, particularly about the long-standing dishes.

I’ve been lucky enough to eat here once a year, pretty much since it opened. Within the UK I’ve been able to compare it to Pied a Terre; Capital; Square; Manoir; Aiken; Gidleigh etc but not Waterside or Fat Duck. My sense was that it started well ahead but slowly the generality of top-end British cooking raised its game. A year or two (three) ago there may well have been a questioning of how do we protect our Third Star whilst evolving to avoid being caught ? One year back some of that, I think, was reflected in the introduction of more orientalism (pickled ginger/rhubard; white radish; sashi-like elements). Tasty and technically accomplished novelity but a little uneasy with the ‘terroir’ of the place (echoes here still in the misfiring fois gras/hoisin described by Rian ?).

This year was different. For me, the menu had moved on and brought a sense of measured innovation and modernity without losing touch with the classical traditions in which it is rooted. There was thought and subtlety in many of the combinations. But if there was a theme that came through for me today it was about the length of the dishes; the many ways they evolved on the palette and the time they stayed. There was clear blue water between this and anything else I have eaten in the UK; and, for the first time in my experience, lunch at a London multi-Michelin was playing consistently and seriously in the same league as the Savoys, Gagnaires and Pacauds of Paris.

OK, then. Maybe not Pacaud. But perhaps that’s what looking forward to next year is for !

[Rian]

Great review Gareth - thanks for going back to do a recce for us. I'm glad you had such an impressive lunch. I think it would be useful to go back and take ALC - the dishes you describe certainly sound a lot more interesting than those we had on the menu prestige. In fact, many of them sound new. Interesting that you feel RHR to be way ahead of anything else in the UK. I ate the tasting menu at Aikens last week (report to follow!) and it totally outstripped RHR. That said, historically you have a lot more experience of RHR than I do: I have only taken prestige.

An ALC trip is in order.

Incidentally, a note on the cheese. Both RHR and Aikens now share the same cheese supplier, Premier cheese. I've had the cheese at both in the past few weeks and was largely unimpressed by both (a truffled brillat savarin excepted). Has Aikens changed its supplier fairly recently? I've read a couple of posts referring to their 'historic' cheeseboard in the past. Personally I love both the Capital and Gavroche boards and am consistently informed that the Greenhouse has something special going on.

Amuse: Salmon tartar topped with a new potato salad (concasse, really), jacket potato jelly and brown bread foam.

At last! When we went into the kitchen a couple of weeks ago I spotted a container labelled 'jacket potato consomme'. Now I know what that was for!

Your pork belly sounds fantastic. One question: did anything blow you away at RHR today?

Edited April 14, 2006 by Rian (log)

[Gareth]

First: Aikens and the Aikens cheeseboard. Je suis desole ! I last went to Aikens about a year ago. The guy who was doing the cheeseboard then was a tsunami of enthusiasm. He had real knowledge and passion and delivered an impression that he was trying to put the cheese serving thing, right up there in interest and consideration with the whole sommellier thing. As a result he had a real range: at least five different Epoisses several of which had been washed in other spirits to the traditional Marc de Borgogne. Several differnt Bries, one of which was infused with saffron. etc, etc. Each classical cheese seemed to be represented in a traditional form and then presented with a variation or two on the theme. And you got to taste a real range before you selected. I got 8 cheeses on my plate and probably tatsted 15 to get there. Probably explains why he's gone, come to think of it !

As for the meal at Aikens, please don't get me wrong. I thought it was absolutely knockout. I can still remember the pea soup I had. Hell, I can virtually still taste the pea soup I had. It was an explosion of flavour in a tangle of shoots and herbs which were bursting with freshness. The whole meal was fun and fireworks. For my money it wasn't as accomplished as Ramsay in much the same way that a jazz band can never quite acheive the emotional impact of an orchestra, but it was a completely different style based on reducing, foaming, jellying and teasing ingredients to make them present notes of pure flavour in incredible ways. And long may London be able to accommodate a range of top restaurants which do individual things, rather than echo each other (here, Paris might take note...).

If one thing blew me away at yesterday's lunch it was the canellonni with the wild mushrooms. Sometimes you have great meals that you know will stay in your mind for any number of reasons (the service...that sunset...the hidden gem you found...the fact a hated Aunt suffered a myocardial infarction over pudding...), and sometimes I can pick out a dish that I know is just going to stay a long, long time in my personal top ten. And that cannelloni was definitely doing it for me !

I hope you do go back to the treches sometime and give us a view about the ALC. If it chimed for you, I'd be delighted. But even if you still had a different view, that's part of what I love about these boards. The subjectivity of food maintains the freshness of the experience.

[Andy Lynes]

in much the same way that a jazz band can never quite acheive the emotional impact of an orchestra

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As this is a food and drink board I don't want to start a big debate about this but listen to "Chelsea Bridge" by Ben Webster and Gerry Mulligan (there's a snatch of it here) for jazz with emotional impact.

Edited April 14, 2006 by Andy Lynes (log)

[Vadouvan]

I have to say that the food in the pictures seems and looks rather boring and unimaginative for a 3 star restaurant.

Balsamic reduction, cmon......seriously ?

I hope he Re-arranges his ducks before he tries to serve that food in NYC, he might be in for a rude awakening.

[Rian]

Not quite ALC, but back again for lunch yesterday. Called first thing in the morning and managed to swing a 1.30pm table. FYI – if you are flexible with time, this is a decent bet for a last-minute table.

Andy Fenn was with me and I'm sure he'll add his thoughts on what he had.

Canapes: truffled cream cheese and aubergine caviar with crisps and toast. Pretty good. Spicy aubergine caviar with (I think) some sun-dried tomato.

Amuse: more of a selection of tit-bits than a single taster. Lettuce puree with lobster consommé; a single split langoustine; a halved cherry tomato filled with mozzarella; a slice of deep-fried basil. On the side, two thin parmesan grissini of sorts, ends wrapped in parma ham. All of this worked as a delicate opening to the meal. Perhaps a touch too delicate for me, but I’m probably splitting hairs.

Morel pappardelle with braised baby gem lettuce, parmesan shavings and julienne of spring truffle: big pile of pasta atop the lettuce, flanked by morel, halved and stuffed with artichoke and truffle. A morel veloute poured over at the table. The best dish of the day. Good bite to the pasta, dressed with shaved spring truffles. I love morels, and the veloute gave a fantastic woody aroma to the whole dish. Sole complaint was that there was only one (admittedly large) morel. Good start.

Roast label Anglaise chicken breast with nut butter creamed potatoes, baby spinach and a Perigord truffle sauce: the breast had been scored and stuffed with shavings of spring truffle. Underneath, the spinach and mash, encircled by a selection of caramelised baby veg, including onions and carrots. This was pretty good, but not great. I couldn’t taste anything Perigordian in the sauce, and the truffles themselves, as per my last visit, were simply redundant. I’m aware of the mildness of spring truffles but these had imparted no flavour at all to the chicken breast, and were almost rubbery in texture. I thought last time was a one-off, but apparently not. I’d really rather they didn’t use these at all.

The chicken was beautifully cooked, moist and with a great crisp skin. Didn’t taste too much nut butter in the mash but I think my palate was suffering from bombardment at Arbutus and Aikens on consecutive days. Mash was creamy though. Baby veg solid.

Pear tatin with gorgonzola ice cream and walnut foam: a slice of imagination here, with a riff on a classic savoury combination. Walnut foam was a touch heavy, but that apart, this was fantastic. Really good pastry in the tart (much, much better than last time), and nice sticky pears. The real winner was the ice cream – salty, creamy, and rich with a touch of sweetness. Very, very good. In fact, I could have eaten a dish of this on its own.

L’Artisan chocolate discs: white w/blackcurrant; milk(why?)w/passionfruit. The former very good, latter just ok. They now serve the ‘orgasm balls’ (strawberry sorbet coated in white chocolate) in a small, clear pot. In the bottom is a quantity of dry ice, with the balls placed on raised layer above. The lid is removed at the table and milky smoke spills out (a la the Duck), slowly revealing the chocolate. According to Nicolas the pot itself (or maybe just the lid) is an item they use in the restaurant in Japan. It’s gone down well so they’ve shipped it over. In all it’s a decent visual touch but it doesn’t add anything to the food itself.

Overall, I left much more satisfied than last time. However, I would say that I had no more than a very 'nice' lunch, in the most anodyne sense. Nothing particularly exciting (gorgonzola ice cream apart), nothing reaching the highest heights. This was pretty much a solid 1-star meal with 2-star moments, at a restaurant running on autopilot. Staff are perfectly pleasant but remain at a distance, allowing little real engagement. It’s really not the kind of place you ‘connect’ with as a diner, if that makes sense. I’m glad I came back for another stab, but there’s little to compel me to return again, even if I wasn’t footing the bill. Was off the booze yesterday so got out for £45, inc. service.

I’d sooner go to Aikens.

[Andy Fenn]

To add my penny's worth to Rian's review. First, I thought this was a lot better than last time. The food was more interesting and had more of a personality. I think I probably rate it slightly higher than Rian did, despite his choices of starter and main being better than mine. Bastard.

The amuse was superb. The lobster consomme was jellied, sat atop some lettuce puree. The split langoustine which sat on top was barely cooked, almost raw in the middle, which is just how I like it. However, the best compenent of the dish for me was the tiny ball of mozarella nestled in the tomato half. I have never tasted mozarella like it; wonderful texture and subtle yet lasting flavour. Miles better than the pumpkin veloute we had last time.

My starter was Ballottine of foie gras with Bayonne ham, prune, quince and calvados puree. A thick slice of foie gras was stuffed with a sweet apply jelly. Round the outside of the plate were tiny blobs of quince puree, fig puree (unadvertised) and pickled girolles, in repeating patterns. The foie was delicate, and I liked the fig puree especially. It was a clean tasting dish, but it failed to excite my palate as much as Rian's morels.

For main, I opted for the fillet of organic Scottish salmon with braised lentils, black olives, baby cos lettuce and fennel veloute. The salmon had been cooked 45 minutes sous vide, as is the vogue at the moment. But it delivered superb results. The flakes of tender flesh required the lightest of touches before yielding to my fork. The fish was surrounded by unadvertised white asparagus and three mounds of celeriac puree - two of my favourite things which couldn't fail to satisfy. The lentils were excellent, especially as I don't usually have a lot of time for them. And the fennel veloute added a subtle aniseed sweet note. I do think Ramsay's saucing is one of his strong points. Superb depth of flavour, yet still light. And I'm a sucker for the waiters pouring it at the table. I know, I know, I'm fickle. My one criticism of this dish, however, was that the salmon had been stuffed with black olives and sun dried tomato. Obviously strong flavours, and it tended to overwhelm the delicate fish when put together. There was very little stuffing, but it was powerful stuff, and I think the dish would have been better without it.

My dessert was the best thing I chose. Prune puree, vanilla and armagnac pannacotta, candy floss, raspberry macaroons, chocolate brownie and chocolate sauce. This came in a martini glass, prune puree at the bottom, with a thick layer of pannacotta, with five tiny macaroons sat on top. A large ball of candy floss floated above it all. The chocolate sauce was poured at the table, which made the floss disappear. A cute trick. And the brownies rested against the stem of the glass. This was an excellent marriage of flavours, which had been handled with a light touch. Interesting combination of textures and beautifully presented. Rian's dessert also excelled. Their pastry chef is clearly on top form.

The third choice of dessert also appealed - raspberry and lemon millefeuille - as a light end to the meal. We asked how much it would be to share a portion on top of our single desserts. After a couple of visits to the kitchen and a summit by the waiters' table, our waitress returned with disappointing news - the supplement would be £15. So we passed. Out of a £40 menu, I think £15 overestimated the value of the dessert. Shame, because I wanted to try another of the pastry department's creations.

I was pleased that orgasm balls and chocs came despite not ordering coffee. And I liked the theatre of the new dry ice presentation. It reminded me of school discos! However, any passion fruit chocolate I have these days pales in comparison with the version sold by Paul Young up in Islington. Astonishingly good.

I agree with Rian's comments about the ambiance. We had a good view of the waiters' table and the whole operation was extremely professional. But there was little genuine passion from the front of house. Jean Claude is great fun, and a charmer, but I don't feel you could have a proper chat about the food with him. Other members of staff will talk for a minute, then feel the need to rush off. All a little soulless. Front of house at the Ledbury and Aikens don't suffer from this problem.

So all in all, I would say yesterday was a two star performance. It demonstrated a superb lightness of touch and subtlety, with more individuality and imagination than the stale tasting menu we had a while back. It still wasn't up to the standards of the good old days, which I keep harping on about, but it restored a little of my faith in the place. I'll be back, but not for a while.

And yes, I would rather go to Aikens.

[seanw]

Funny, i too was comparing the Pacaud pics with RHR , L'Ambrosie just has more vibrancy to my eyes. Sorry if this has been covered before but i believe the exec has changed from Mark Askey to somebody else-anybody know?? I still have the well worn newspaper article from when Ramsay was at Aubergine, beautiful recipes & excellent wine suggestions(with explanation), really a very informative piece of food journalism(it's great listening to professionals explain their craft- especially when they are good at it!). I believe ,without looking, it was the Telegraph who published the series- no mention of failed footballer(who cares) . Im still miffed about not going to L'Ambrosie, i too believe that such moments are fleeting- but it kinda depends on the man/woman ??? Nice reviews. Where is Ramsay these days- i think another hell's kitchen was made!!

I'm not sure i would want to go to Aikens, another visit to Hibiscus in autumn this time.

[Rian]

Sorry if this has been covered before but i believe the exec has changed from Mark Askey to somebody else-anybody know??

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Simone Zanoni is now heading up the kitchen at RHR, following Askew.

Any reason you wouldn't try Aikens?

[Gary Marshall]

I still have the well worn newspaper article from when Ramsay was at Aubergine, beautiful recipes & excellent wine suggestions(with explanation), really a very informative piece of food journalism(it's great listening to professionals explain their craft- especially when they are good at it!). I believe ,without looking, it was the Telegraph who published the series- no mention of failed footballer(who cares) .

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there certainly was a series in the telegraph, for some reason i remember a poached chicken recipe, it was in my file of recipes for ages too. No doubt it got binned in some indiscriminate clear out.

[seanw]

Rian,

Mostly a case of insufficient funds to try everything(i'm an infrequent visitor to the UK) & well i dont think it was cool what he did, you know....that hot poker thing. Life's too short & other countries invite with their talent. cheers.

[Pweaver1984]

Does anyone know the exact dates RHR will be shut? Can't seem to find them and trying to plan a meal here.

Prior thanks,

Paul

[Stephen W]

Does anyone know the exact dates RHR will be shut? Can't seem to find them and trying to plan a meal here.

Prior thanks,

Paul

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According to the message on their reservation line it is now closed until 5th September 2006.

[coquille]

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[babern38]

this may have been discussed earlier in this thread, but I didn't have time to look back through all nine pages.

I was just wondering if anyone knows if the kitchen could create a menu prestige for my wife who is a vegetarian? Their website menu doesn't mention any vegetarian dishes. I'd hate to think I'd have to miss out of eating here next time we get to London. Thanks.

P.S. I'm also cusious about Petrus' ability to do the same.

Edited July 20, 2006 by babern38 (log)

[Scott]

this may have been discussed earlier in this thread, but I didn't have time to look back through all nine pages. 

I was just wondering if anyone knows if the kitchen could create a menu prestige for my wife who is a vegetarian?  Their website menu doesn't mention any vegetarian dishes.  I'd hate to think I'd have to miss out of eating here next time we get to London.  Thanks.

P.S.  I'm also cusious about Petrus' ability to do the same.

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dude,

virtually any serious restaurant will do this with advance warning. I am certain GR@RHR and Petrus would have no worries with this.

relax, and remember you're the customer. this is a useful thing to do, in case they forget

[Matthew Tomkinson]

In my experience they usually do forget

[Gary Marshall]

If they're closed until the 5th, how should I go about trying to get a reservation for the 9th?

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try the claridges number, i get the impression the calls are routed through to ramsays office hq rather than the individual restaurants, i'm sure they'll be able to help

[hannnah]

I called a week or so ago and got a reservation for Sept 12, so their reservation line is open at the moment even if the restaurant isn't.