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Observer Food Monthly

Tim Hayward
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Corinna Dunne

Corinna Dunne

Posted
Posted
If anybody here finds anything of interest in any edition of OFM I will, naturally enough, be thoroughly dissapointed.

Sorry to disappoint you further... it looked very good to me too!!!

Unfortunately I forgot to buy a copy and am making do with reading it online.

In fairness, picking on a Christmas issue to criticise is a bit of an easy target.

Corinna Hardgrave aka "Corinna Dunne"

CorinaHardgrave Twitter

https://corinnahardgrave.wordpress.com/

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TheBacchus

TheBacchus

Posted
Posted (edited)

Bit difficult for me to post anything for obvious reasons but i feel compelled to make the following points:

1. The whole issue of OFM was, in my opinion, well researched, well written and perfectly targeted at its audience. Modernist cooking, and in particular, the scientific element to it means that its difficult to find an approach that is relevant, fresh, engaging and interesting. OFM achieved it and convincingly so. It is also the first major publication in the UK to attempt it and i think its a feather in the cap for them

2. The package that has been put together shows the different levels that a modernist approach in cooking can engage. OFM did a great job of appealing to different people on different levels whilst keeping on track with the concept of 'future food'. Whilst i love them dearly, my family know precisely zero about food, to be honest so far they have been more impressed with my swimming badges than the reviews or write-ups about the restaurant. Yesterday evening i received more than one phone call from family who'd had the 'Eureka' moment after reading OFM and proclaimed that 'they got it'. At last! To me this is indicative of where food and the understanding of food is headed in the UK - as far as the definition of your typical 'punter' and personally i think its bloody great

3. I think the decision to make an issue on the future of food was brave for such a widespread publication but the choice to do so is a compelling arguement for the state of the British palate, or at least i hope it is. I assume (and Jay feel free to correct me here) that the decision to write this issue was based on a belief that there is an interest in new types of cooking and new styles of cooking but the important thing to get across for me is that the modernist approach is not going to replace anything we have currently. In fact it is going to improve it and there will be a place for everything; sous-vide is not going to replace roasting, gelees will not replace jus etc etc and within the confines of this board i think most people know that. The great thing is that this was communicated to the public as it would have been very easy to sensationalise everything which would only have increased the misunderstanding of modernist cooking and would have served little purpose

The exciting thing is that the massive buzz that is happening at this time is centred around development in understanding of food and this development will be used for the benefit of all cooking no matter what style or nationality it is and my hat is off to OFM for being a part of that

Edited by TheBacchus (log)

<a href='http://www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk' target='_blank'>www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk</a>

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Corinna Dunne

Corinna Dunne

Posted
Posted
Modernist cooking, and in particular, the scientific element to it means that its difficult to find an approach that is relevant, fresh, engaging and interesting.

Modernist cooking... is this the new term? I noticed that Jay Rayner used it in his piece. From what I understand, Adria, Blumenthal and McGee were unable to find a suitable term to replace molecular gastronomy. Is the search now over?

Corinna Hardgrave aka "Corinna Dunne"

CorinaHardgrave Twitter

https://corinnahardgrave.wordpress.com/

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jayrayner

jayrayner

Posted
Posted
I assume (and Jay feel free to correct me here) that the decision to write this issue was based on a belief that there is an interest in new types of cooking

That, and the fact we could run some fab pics with the features.

Also - and it was so low-key you could easily have missed it - we had teamed up with Audi who wanted to do a larger scale sponsorship job (ie bigger than spot advertising) around the notion of science and food (playing to their own perceived strengths as technological innovators). They had no say on the editorial, but it got us thinking and we decided to go well beyond the 16 pages which were part of the deal and dedicate the whole issue to the subject.

Re everything else you said, Pipp dear boy, the cheque's in the post.

Jay

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dallardice

dallardice

Posted
Posted
I agree it was a very interesting issue but has Polly Vernon been reading this forum as she really sounds like she's trying to wind us up on the last page...

Well I love Polly Vernon and I have to say my meal at the Reindeer last Friday was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, food was good but overpriced, but I decided not to review it because I knew no-one else would be able to get in... so she made me feel good about myself :)

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TheBacchus

TheBacchus

Posted
Posted
I assume (and Jay feel free to correct me here) that the decision to write this issue was based on a belief that there is an interest in new types of cooking

That, and the fact we could run some fab pics with the features.

Also - and it was so low-key you could easily have missed it - we had teamed up with Audi who wanted to do a larger scale sponsorship job (ie bigger than spot advertising) around the notion of science and food (playing to their own perceived strengths as technological innovators). They had no say on the editorial, but it got us thinking and we decided to go well beyond the 16 pages which were part of the deal and dedicate the whole issue to the subject.

Re everything else you said, Pipp dear boy, the cheque's in the post.

Ahh yes - Audi - to be fair (and i know its been a tricky balancing act) it has worked and it doesnt threaten the integrity of the work.

The wheels very nearly came off for us doing the film when they tried to get Nuno in an A6 - the poor chap was horrified. You have to bear in mind for those who dont know Nuno he's 33 years old and rides to work on his BMX! Funniest thing i've seen all year :laugh:

Your right about the pictures too. Working with John Reardon was nothing short of mental - the guy is absolutely BRILLIANT. Completely off the wall and to be as good as he is i dont think he could be any other way. That was indeed a privilage and we all agreed on that.

<a href='http://www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk' target='_blank'>www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk</a>

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fisherman

fisherman

Posted
Posted
Also - and it was so low-key you could easily have missed it - we had teamed up with Audi who wanted to do a larger scale sponsorship job

So low key I thought 'Fuck me, not Audi again,' someone in the Press department there obviously likes food. The first time I saw them on a food program was on French Leave with the delightful JBR and his even more delightful wife enjoying a free A4 soft top, then more recently Gordo ploughing his own furrow in Kitchen Nightmares in the latest uber-wagon the Q8.

Always seemed a strange pairing, the teutons and the foodies?

I love food but hate Audis, so if anyone at Audi wants to lend me a Q8 for a while, to make me change my mind, well, if you give me a petrol card too, I'll even pretend to like it!

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muichoi

muichoi

Posted
Posted
Anyone remember Marinetti?

What? The man who came up with porco eccittato, a cooked salami placed vertically on the plate with coffee sauce mixed with eau de cologne.

Pure genius :laugh:

That's the chap! the last person to explicitly define his cuisine as modernist. He would have adored sous-vide.

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Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

Posted
Posted (edited)

I happened to be browsing through my collection of foodie cuttings last night and came across a string of articles from Caterer and Hotelkeeper in 2000. They included interviews with Jason Atherton, then head chef at Anis, John Campbell, then at Lords of The Manor, Heston Blumenthal and a feature on a press trip to el Bulli with Blumenthal, Ramsay, Paul Merrett (then at The Greenhouse lest we forget) Simon Shaw, Kevin Mangeolles, and last but not least Sat Bains, who also got his own Caterer interview in November of that year.

Given that his current menu includes the likes of "Duck egg 62oC, chervil tubers, fried bread" and "Cumbrian lamb 'sous - vide', parsnip - maple - smoked roe, lemon confit, lamb gravy" you could argue that he would have been in good company in the pages of the latest OFM.

Edited by Andy Lynes (log)
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Tim Hayward

Tim Hayward

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Given the derison with which the november OFM was greeted in some parts does this months not deserve some credit?

Flinn, rogan, blumenthal, adria, this etc

surely enough to keep the most obsessive foodie quiet for a while, no?

Bollocks! I missed it.

Now I'll have to go and beg at the corner shop in the hope they haven't returned them yet. Arse.

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

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jayrayner

jayrayner

Posted
Posted
Given the derison with which the november OFM was greeted in some parts does this months not deserve some credit?

Flinn, rogan, blumenthal, adria, this etc

surely enough to keep the most obsessive foodie quiet for a while, no?

Bollocks! I missed it.

Now I'll have to go and beg at the corner shop in the hope they haven't returned them yet. Arse.

Sadly, Tim, you are banned from reading OFM. All retailers have been sent your image with warnings that you are not, on any account, to be allowed access to the mag.

Jay

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ravelda

ravelda

Posted
Posted

I am so annoyed that I missed OFM this month as well - the trouble with being ill and having a wife who thinks there are other things more important than food and wine - I mean really! I have tried about 8 newsagents so far to see if anyone can get me a back-issue to no avail - don't suppose you are full of Chanukah spirit and can help at all Jay?

If a man makes a statement and a woman is not around to witness it, is he still wrong?

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

Posted
Posted
Given that his current menu includes the likes of "Duck egg 62oC, chervil tubers, fried bread" and "Cumbrian lamb 'sous - vide', parsnip - maple - smoked roe, lemon confit, lamb gravy" you could argue that he would have been in good company in the pages of the latest OFM.

Andy, Remind us where he is cooking :-) No...ignore that I did a Google. Looks interesting.....now how can I fit that in to my trip to Newcastle....!

anyone been...couldn't find any substantive reviews on Egullet

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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Waterzoy

Waterzoy

Posted
Posted
I am so annoyed that I missed OFM this month as well - the trouble with being ill and having a wife who thinks there are other things more important than food and wine - I mean really!  I have tried about 8 newsagents so far to see if anyone can get me a back-issue to no avail - don't suppose you are full of Chanukah spirit and can help at all Jay?

Ravelda, all the back issues are listed down the left hand side of the OFM website at

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/

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RDB

RDB

Posted
Posted
Given that his current menu includes the likes of "Duck egg 62oC, chervil tubers, fried bread" and "Cumbrian lamb 'sous - vide', parsnip - maple - smoked roe, lemon confit, lamb gravy" you could argue that he would have been in good company in the pages of the latest OFM.

Andy, Remind us where he is cooking :-) No...ignore that I did a Google. Looks interesting.....now how can I fit that in to my trip to Newcastle....!

anyone been...couldn't find any substantive reviews on Egullet

Absolutely fantastic restaurant, which to my surprise has not been reviewed to much. I went over the summer and had the tasting menu. I have a copy somewhere so may do a review. Great beer list too. It is very hard to find and in a strange location.

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

Posted
Posted
Given that his current menu includes the likes of "Duck egg 62oC, chervil tubers, fried bread" and "Cumbrian lamb 'sous - vide', parsnip - maple - smoked roe, lemon confit, lamb gravy" you could argue that he would have been in good company in the pages of the latest OFM.

Andy, Remind us where he is cooking :-) No...ignore that I did a Google. Looks interesting.....now how can I fit that in to my trip to Newcastle....!

anyone been...couldn't find any substantive reviews on Egullet

Absolutely fantastic restaurant, which to my surprise has not been reviewed to much. I went over the summer and had the tasting menu. I have a copy somewhere so may do a review. Great beer list too. It is very hard to find and in a strange location.

Hasn't Gary Marshall been - it's sort of up northish (well Midlands if you come from Newcastle ;-)).

RDB, I think we need a review... ;-)

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall

Posted
Posted

afraid not, i did mention it as a potential venue for a boys lunch but alas they don't open for lunch and i'm not allowed out past 6pm anymore :laugh:

although andy hasn't been to anthony's, anthony's have been to sat bains and reckoned it is well worth a visit, especially given the room/meal deals.

you don't win friends with salad

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BertieWooster

BertieWooster

Posted
Posted
Andy, Remind us where he is cooking :-) No...ignore that I did a Google. Looks interesting.....now how can I fit that in to my trip to Newcastle....!

He's in Nottingham by the way: website! Haven't been yet - still haven't even been to Anthony's come to think of it(oh the shame).

which reminds me--why are restaurant websites so badly designed? They mostly seem to ignore basic usability in favour of too much flash and slow animation.

Course, that's when there's any content at all, unlike that for Bacchus...; - )

It no longer exists, but it was lovely.

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