Alexanders at Limpsfield

[Matthew Grant]

Following the Critics and Food Writersthread Simon Attridge got a bit of a mauling over his pricing at recently opened Alexanders at Limpsfield, it was all pretty constructive stuff but the overwhelming feeling was that prices were too high. This was possibly a little unfair as none of us had eaten at the restaurant but the feeling is that without reviews or accolades charging £68 (its now been downgraded to £65) for a tasting menu and £17 for a scallop starter was optimistic.

After the exchange on that thread Simon invited me to eat at the restaurant. I’ll disclose right now that I didn’t pay full price for this meal and I hesitated over accepting the invitation because of this but a quick look at the train times made me realise that I could be in Limpsfield in 20 minutes from East Croydon station and a short £3 taxi ride from there, after that it felt rude not to accept and with a little negotiation Simon agreed to cook us an 8 course tasting menu while those around us tucked into roast dinner. All the dishes were taken from the a la carte menu and had matching wines.

Our journey from East Croydon was effortless, unfortunately when we got to Oxted the taxi rank was empty “you hardly see any on a Sunday” advised the stationmaster and the newsagent. The taxi office was closed and a call to the local minicab firm told me that she only had two cars working and they were both miles away. There is no bus service on a Sunday. Fortunately, after prowling around for 20 minutes or so, working out what we were going to do, a taxi did turn up and helped us on our merry way, he wouldn’t be working when we finished though but we decided to worry about that later. On a more positive note the taxi ride was short – short enough that you could probably walk it in fifteen minutes or so.

A glass of champagne in the more modern bistro to start before the main event. The main room is a serious looking place courtesy of its wood panelling which reminded me of Hibiscus but on a larger scale.

An ameuse of bouillabaisse soup was outstanding. Powerful and silky smooth, strong with red mullet – this was wonderful, I’m advised that it is also served as a sauce alongside the Halibut on the a la carte, I would happily eaten a bowl of this with a plate of crusty bread.

Seared Scallop, pain d’epices crumble, poached pear, celery, spiced red wine reduction. This was the dish that jumped of the page on the original thread due to its £17 price tag as a starter. The dish worked very well indeed. The reduction suitably spicy with cinnamon the predominant flavour, the pear having been poached in the wine and thin slices of celery. The celery didn’t produce such a peppery element as I would have expected, the scallop was the principle of the dish, lightly browned on the outside, barely cooked through. I would have preferred the pear to not be quite as soft as it was but overall this was a really good, well balanced dish, one of the best scallop dishes I have tried in a long time. This was paired with a 2006 Original Unwooded Chenin Blanc, Raats Family which went well with the spiced elements of the sauce and the sweetness of the scallop. (It should be noted at this point that my wine expertise is limited)

Ham Hock and Foie Gras Terrine, Apple Jelly, beetroot syrup. This could have been very good if it wasn’t for the seasoning, sea salt was sprinkled on top but the hock was salty enough without requiring the extra seasoning. Aside form that the apple jelly worked very well, as did the beetroot syrup. Alongside this we had a 2001 Bodegas Lan Rioja Crianza, that was light and easy drinking, it could perhaps have been a little bolder against the hock but was pleasant enough.

Macaroni of Pork, Roasted Langoustine, Langoustine Bisque, Seaweed Tartare. This just sounds wrong but is so right. The smell of Langoustine dominated before tasting, and it tasted like the sea. A lovely rustic sort of dish that exhibited elegance as well. It really was all thrown together in a little copper saucepan but the combination of small pieces of pork, Langoustine, a slightly creamy bisque and small macaroni. Sensational. That it doesn’t fly off the menu doesn’t surprise me, perhaps it needs renaming? A great dish, well recommended. Alongside we had a Marie Demets Rose Champagne Brut. Probably the best match of the meal, it was soft and fruity, the dish could have probably taken something a little more robust but this was great.

Wild seabass, ceps, bone marrow, Serrano ham, new Meuniere sauce, Coriander. The Jury’s out on this dish (I still lapped it up though) The Seabass was good and well cooked (seabass being one of the worst offenders if you overcook it IMO). The ceps added little for me, presumably South African, they lacked in proper cep flavour, the Bone marrow was mixed through the base with the New Meuniere sauce (I forgot to ask what was new about it) and unadvertised croutons. A couple of sprigs of Coriander on top. I didn’t notice the Serrano ham in the dish but if it wasn’t there it should remain deleted. Overall the buttery sauce and marrow dominated flavourwise, the sauce perhaps needing a little more acidity to lift the dish and the coriander was unnecessary. The croutons were an element to far. Not a bad dish but probably the it needs work, It all tasted a little one dimensional. A 2005 West Brook Pinot Noir accompanied, kept light deliberately with a Foie Gras dish coming up.

Roasted Foie Gras, Pistachio Nuts, Griottine Cherries, yogurt. Hmmmm….I’m not sure about this. For me it could work but needs some adjustments, a thicker, richer yoghurt, perhaps with touch of acidity and a little more salt. The cherries worked well as you would expect. Not sure on the quality of the Foie either. Having said all this, Rachel enjoyed the fact the dish was relatively light and almost palette cleansing ,though I’m not sure that this is the point of foie. 2002 Domaine Noble, Loupiac. This was not too sweet and had a lot of minerality and honey with sulphur developing towards the end (do I sound like wine buff yet?)

Red wine Marinated Balmoral Estate venison, Clonakilty Black Pudding, Chorizo, apple puree. This was lovely, thin slices of venison cooked rare with a slice of black pudding and pieces of chorizo through the dish. The sauce was well balanced with mint and tarragon (I think). The apple puree worked fine but the initial taste was of lemon, nothing major but something to be careful of. I would lose the chorizo, it works OK but probably doesn’t do anything to improve the dish. The venison is good enough on its own, I often find chorizo can lift a dish (especially a poor one) but it is often too powerful for the other flavours and suddenly become the main element. The wine was a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Andes Peaks from Chile.

Rump of Cornish Lamb, Root vegetables, puy lentils, Raspberry Vinegar. Very classic, similarly presented to the venison. Decent quality lamb, lovely sauce port based, with a slight sweetness from the raspberry vinegar. Nothing overly complicated here, solid, decent cooking resulting in a very good dish. 2001 Amarone La Marega, La Salette, Veneto. This almost had a fortified edge to it, 14 or 15% alcohol which was well hidden, smooth with lots of dark fruit and a hint of chocolate, great length (I think I could get into this wine descriptive stuff). It worked well with the Raspberry vinegar.

A pre Dessert of Rhubarb Compote and ginger cream was next stem ginger (?) utilised for the cream and topped with the now obligatory popping candy.

Valrhona Hot Chocolate Fondant, Salted caramel, Caramel foam. Not being one for chocolate desserts I wolfed this down over a couple of glorious minutes. I think others might think that the salted caramel was too salty but for me it worked fantastically. Chocolate Fondant is Chocolate fondant, a good example but they rarely stand out on their own IMO. The Caramel foam was another great element, slight toffee flavour but beautifully light. 1928 Solera Maury, Maury always seems to work well with chocolate and this one did the trick, coffee and chocolate sprung to mind.

Overall a very good meal. The Scallop and Macaroni were, for me, possible 2* dishes, I’m undecided by the seabass and Foie though, not that they were bad dishes but they didn’t excite me in the same. The Venison/Lamb and fondant were solid Michelin pleasing dishes and I have little doubt that Alexander’s can win a star in the (near) future. I believe that the venison dish was an addition to the normal tasting menu. Perhaps in the interests of balance one of the Foie Gras dishes should be removed from the degustation

The debate will continue with regard to the price. My personal opinion would be that the tasting menu should be knocked back to 5 dishes (plus ameuse) and the price lowered to £50. The Scallop dish was fantastic but without having tasted it I would still hesitate to order it, the lamb and Venison dishes, while very good are possibly overpriced on the ALC (£22 and £25 respectively). I hope the prices on the website don’t put people of visiting because the cooking here is very good indeed and I will return.

[Scottf]

Hmm, as I'm only about 15 mins away you could have tempted me to give it a try.

[ravelda]

Nice review Matthew - you are making Oz Clark blush!

[Matthew Grant]

Nice review Matthew - you are making Oz Clark blush!

←

Blush? I always presumed that was a warm glow from the alcohol

Edited February 19, 2007 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Matthew Grant]

I should also mention the excellent service, wine matches were served at the same time as the food, something that is sometimes amiss in restaurants. Warm and friendly.

One gripe - the bloody music, I don't mind some background music but once Chris De Burgh starts playing you know something has gone awry. I realise that you are never going to please everybody but some background MOR, easy listening type music would be preferable

[RDB]

Good review Matthew. I always thought the menu read really well and good to see that it transpires into reality. The macaroni dish sounds amazing. Its good to hear a first hand account of what looks like a very skilled chef, running a great restaurant with a very exciting menu.

I like the idea of nutella sorbet, very interesting.......................

[PoppySeedBagel]

I haven't been to Alexanders yet - but I did eat at Drakes on the Pond when Simon was there and had a truly excellent meal.

[sunbeam]

Hey don't you go dissing Chris da Berk.

S

[Infrasonic]

One gripe - the bloody music, I don't mind some background music but once Chris De Burgh starts playing you know something has gone awry. I realise that you are never going to please everybody but some background MOR, easy listening type music would be preferable

Or could it be a post modernist, Blumenthalesque masterstroke? Create the tension before being cocooned by the food....

On second thoughts, no-one has thought about the music..but at least I got Heston into the thread again

It is amazing what some places play though. Happy hardcore and fine dining won't ever be comfortable bedfellows I fear, but it doesn't appear to stop some people trying

I

[Basildog]

I stopped playing music about 18 months ago, after reading lots of people's opinions about it.Nobody complains that there was no music in a restaurant, only about the music that is played .also, major factor was the license for playing music went up alot

[chefsimon]

The Website is also up and running a lot better than a couple of weeks ago will give people a much better idea of the place

[sunbeam]

I dont like my sea bass ovecooked either but I do insist on a well-seared skin. Otherwise the texture and taste just aren't there for me

S

[Matthew Grant]

Sunbeam, you'll be pleased to know that it had a perfectly seared skin, nice and crispy.

[sunbeam]

Sunbeam, you'll be pleased to know that it had a perfectly seared skin, nice and crispy.

←

Glad to hear it, I've had some as limp as Graham Norton's handshake, yuk

s

Edited February 21, 2007 by sunbeam (log)

[beepop]

Nice review....all in the line of duty.

So do you think Matthew, that this establishment can make it without a national review?

Or is its concept, cooking and overal appeal not enough to stand out enough to get people talking about it in the area, which is where their cashflow is going to come from?

Did you feel all your attention was on the food and expection?

Do you think the reviewers will be unfairly harsh given the high prices which are obviously there to cover the high cost of delivering something of this nature as well as the whole conceptualisation of what they are doing? I mean, Jay is already lighting his barbaque because of the extra rock salt on the ham hock, cheesy muzik and original thred.

I don't mean to be an asshole chefSimon, but with the high start-up cost, the salaries that are being paid, the track record you have and the obvious belief in what you are doing why a) did you not wish to use a PR agncey as it could have been factored in to cost and b) why did you feel the need to pose the question you did on the original thred? I get the feeling you are seeking more than the adualtion that will come from locals - sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole.

[chefsimon]

Nice review....all in the line of duty.

So do you think Matthew, that this establishment can make it without a national review?

Or is its concept, cooking and overal appeal not enough to stand out enough to get people talking about it in the area, which is where their cashflow is going to come from?

Of course people are talking about it in the area, word of mouth takes time to get around

Did you feel all your attention was on the food and expection?

Do you think the reviewers will be unfairly harsh given the high prices which are obviously there to cover the high cost of delivering something of this nature as well as the whole conceptualisation of what they are doing?

I do not get things cheaper just because i m a new start up restaurant

If you look on the a la carte there are a number of options where you can have a three course meal, amuse, pre dessert for £33, or yes you could spend £55 or

£65 on taster including coffee

A question for you now how many bog standard pub/old restaurant can you go in and spend £33 on just 3 courses, i could name about 10 in a ten mile radius?

And you definatly wouldnt get what were offerring here

Also there is the cheaper brasserrie offerring, have you looked on website beepop

I mean, Jay is already lighting his barbaque because of the extra rock salt on the ham hock, cheesy muzik and original thred.

Yep somebody put the wrong music on i can admit that, but believe me it wont be happenning again!

I don't mean to be an asshole chefSimon, but with the high start-up cost, the salaries that are being paid,

Are you my accountant now?

the track record you have and the obvious belief in what you are doing why a) did you not wish to use a PR agncey as it could have been factored in to cost and b) why did you feel the need to pose the question you did on the original thred? I get the feeling you are seeking more than the adualtion that will come from locals - sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole.

←

a) Do you know how much the majority of Pr companies cost? and what the majority of there conditions are, i ve got nothing against pr companies and some are very good, in fact i ve actually got one now Victus PR, who are very good reasonable and flexible to the needs of a new start up restaurant

b)Look at the response i ve got a lot of people are talking about it now on Egullet, We all know Jay has been in, Matthew has been in for a meal, there is also another guy coming in next week and i have now got a Pr company, thats not bad for starts

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out i was going to get people talking about Alexanders and i ve had some good positive advice from a number of people and also a lot of people want to be negative, like yourself out of matthews review you can only pick up the negative points

do you know me, who are you to say i want more adulation that will come from just the locals, believe me if it was a successful business i didnt need any awards or any reviews and nobody knew who i was and every customer every night was from Limpsfield High Street, the food and service was good i d be happy with that, but as thats not going to happen we need to go out to a wider field.

Of course myself and the team want to be recognised for the fifteen,sixteen seventeen hour days we do and work and passion we put into it but adulation, definatly the wrong word to describe it

On that note

[Laibach]

Nice review....all in the line of duty.

So do you think Matthew, that this establishment can make it without a national review?

Or is its concept, cooking and overal appeal not enough to stand out enough to get people talking about it in the area, which is where their cashflow is going to come from?

Did you feel all your attention was on the food and expection?

Do you think the reviewers will be unfairly harsh given the high prices which are obviously there to cover the high cost of delivering something of this nature as well as the whole conceptualisation of what they are doing? I mean, Jay is already lighting his barbaque because of the extra rock salt on the ham hock, cheesy muzik and original thred.

I don't mean to be an asshole chefSimon, but with the high start-up cost, the salaries that are being paid, the track record you have and the obvious belief in what you are doing why a) did you not wish to use a PR agncey as it could have been factored in to cost and b) why did you feel the need to pose the question you did on the original thred? I get the feeling you are seeking more than the adualtion that will come from locals - sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole.

←

Ambition, belief and standards. Good luck Simon.

[Zoticus]

i ve had some good positive advice from a number of people and also a lot of people want to be negative, like yourself out of matthews review you can only pick up the negative points

←

If you ask for advice you should expect advice. If all you wanted was merely confirmation of your own pre-existng beliefs, then that's what you should have requested.

As far as I can tell, most of the advice on this thread has been constructive, even if it isn't always what you wanted to hear.

[sunbeam]

Never ask for advice in my experience, unless it's to do with something practical.

Most artists ignore it anyway, and quite right too.

Critics seldom agree, there is no objective truth, only opinions. No one 'knows' except with hindsight

The only true judge is your till!

S

[beepop]

Of course people are talking about it in the area, word of mouth takes time to get around

←

And so they should, what you are doing, where you are doing it is going to get people talking. And it is going to take time for people to venture out for it other than Friday or Saturday night.

I do not get things cheaper just because i m a new start up restaurant

If you look on the a la carte there are a number of options where you can have a three course meal, amuse, pre dessert for £33, or yes you could spend £55 or

£65 on taster including coffee

A question for you now how many bog standard pub/old restaurant can you go in and spend £33 on just 3 courses, i could name about 10 in a ten mile radius?

And you definatly wouldnt get what were offerring here

←

You are nowhere near comparable with pub/old style restaurants. A dining experience with you is going to cost a certain amount whatever you have as there are obviously a lot of people involved in getting it right. The bog standard punter does not take this into account. They just look at one thing and thing ' £33-£65 to eat in this place, bloody hell.'

Also there is the cheaper brasserrie offerring, have you looked on website beepop

←

Yes I have and three courses (salmon, steak, side of brocoli & salad and pud is £41 - Tasting menu £65, a la carte £64 (scallops, beef, pud, cheese) obviously you hope that is going to help with cashflow in delivery the 2* dishes Matthew mentioned accross the whole menu.

Are you my accountant now?

←

I wish....I am simply saying that with the obvious high start up costs and ongoing costs, why was there not an amount allocated to PR. In your original thred you said,

This is without using a PR agency as they are ridiculously priced!!

←

Yet you are now using one, you have done a deal to get Matthew to post about you and the original thred of yours got Jay down there quicker than a scallop diver on a comission of £1.60 a scallop.

a) Do you know how much the majority of Pr companies cost? and what the majority of there conditions are, i ve got nothing against pr companies and some are very good, in fact i ve actually got one now Victus PR, who are very good reasonable and flexible to the needs of a new start up restaurant

←

See above

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out i was going to get people talking about Alexanders

←

You and your food are your best PR, I just don't think you needed to get them talking with the thred you did.

also a lot of people want to be negative, like yourself out of matthews review you can only pick up the negative points

Alexanders

←

I have not been negative about Matthew's review, I am simply pointing out that thre two negative points he did mention were potentially enough to get Jay lighting his barbaque given what he said in your original thred.....IF i was to come to your place and, at those prices, found a single fault, I would put you over the spit and bbq you.

To the average punter, those two minor minor minor points are hardley going to be a reason for them not to return or reccomend. But for a food critic of a national, and not one that rewrites the menu, we'll see.

who are you to say i want more adulation that will come from just the locals, believe me if it was a successful business i didnt need any awards or any reviews and nobody knew who i was and every customer every night was from Limpsfield High Street, the food and service was good i d be happy with that, but as thats not going to happen we need to go out to a wider field.

Of course myself and the team want to be recognised for the fifteen,sixteen seventeen hour days we do and work and passion we put into it but adulation, definatly the wrong word to describe it

←

Maybe it is the wrong word, but something does not add up given the weight of posting you are generating about everything other than the food.

I look forward to dining at Alexanders, wish you the best of luck and look forward to reading the Observer Magainze.

[RDB]

Beebop, please excuse if I am misunderstanding your argument but I am just wondering what is your real concern? Is it because ChefSimon has not hired a PR company? Or is it because he has started a thread about his restaurant on Egullet?

If it is the former I think it is very noble of you to show such concern.

If it is the latter he would not be the first to do it. If I was running a business which I am sure costs a great deal to start up, I would advertise wherever possible, preferably free of charge. That's business......

Also, as it already has been mentioned (and hope I do not get spit roasted for this ), Jay gets a few of his venues for review from this very website. And why not? I doubt there is anywhere better to find out whats new and up and coming.

Maybe it is the wrong word, but something does not add up given the weight of posting you are generating about everything other than the food

Just one additional point if I may? Do things need to add up? I would find it slightly strange if chef simon continually talked about how wonderful his food was. Surely that is the job for the punters, critics and people on this board??

[Matthew Grant]

Nice review....all in the line of duty.

So do you think Matthew, that this establishment can make it without a national review?

Or is its concept, cooking and overal appeal not enough to stand out enough to get people talking about it in the area, which is where their cashflow is going to come from?

Did you feel all your attention was on the food and expection?

Do you think the reviewers will be unfairly harsh given the high prices which are obviously there to cover the high cost of delivering something of this nature as well as the whole conceptualisation of what they are doing? I mean, Jay is already lighting his barbaque because of the extra rock salt on the ham hock, cheesy muzik and original thred.

I don't mean to be an asshole chefSimon, but with the high start-up cost, the salaries that are being paid, the track record you have and the obvious belief in what you are doing why a) did you not wish to use a PR agncey as it could have been factored in to cost and b) why did you feel the need to pose the question you did on the original thred? I get the feeling you are seeking more than the adualtion that will come from locals - sorry, I don't mean to be an asshole.

←

I'd like to think that the restaurant could make it without a National review but the type of food Simon is serving deserves a wider audience than the Limpsfield locals (not that they don't deserve him) and National coverage will definitely help.

The rock salt on the ham and cheesy music were, on the grand scale of the meal, minor things. Sure If I was having three courses the salt might have got me a bit miffed but the rest of the meal made up for a couple of relatively minor errors.

As for getting foodies attention then eGullet has to be one of the best places to start, fair play to Simon for highlighting his restaurant here and thanks for inviting me to the restaurant to discuss both negatives and positives with him.

As mentioned , I hesitated to accept his offer at first and after the first couple of courses I started to sweat a bit in case I couldn't find any fault. In all honesty I'm glad there were a couple of errors otherwise I may have hesitated to write about it on EG. I should stress that at no point did Simon ask me to write up my meal on EG (though I guess he may have been disappointed if I didn't).

Incidentally my other half said the sebass was one of her favourite dishes along with the Foie so don't be put off. Simon assures me the music issue is being addressed

Edited February 24, 2007 by Matthew Grant (log)

[chefsimon]

Of course people are talking about it in the area, word of mouth takes time to get around

←

And so they should, what you are doing, where you are doing it is going to get people talking. And it is going to take time for people to venture out for it other than Friday or Saturday night.

I do not get things cheaper just because i m a new start up restaurant

If you look on the a la carte there are a number of options where you can have a three course meal, amuse, pre dessert for £33, or yes you could spend £55 or

£65 on taster including coffee

A question for you now how many bog standard pub/old restaurant can you go in and spend £33 on just 3 courses, i could name about 10 in a ten mile radius?

And you definatly wouldnt get what were offerring here

←

You are nowhere near comparable with pub/old style restaurants. A dining experience with you is going to cost a certain amount whatever you have as there are obviously a lot of people involved in getting it right. The bog standard punter does not take this into account. They just look at one thing and thing ' £33-£65 to eat in this place, bloody hell.'

Also there is the cheaper brasserrie offerring, have you looked on website beepop

←

Yes I have and three courses (salmon, steak, side of brocoli & salad and pud is £41 - Tasting menu £65, a la carte £64 (scallops, beef, pud, cheese) obviously you hope that is going to help with cashflow in delivery the 2* dishes Matthew mentioned accross the whole menu.

Are you my accountant now?

←

I wish....I am simply saying that with the obvious high start up costs and ongoing costs, why was there not an amount allocated to PR. In your original thred you said,

This is without using a PR agency as they are ridiculously priced!!

←

Yet you are now using one, you have done a deal to get Matthew to post about you and the original thred of yours got Jay down there quicker than a scallop diver on a comission of £1.60 a scallop.

a) Do you know how much the majority of Pr companies cost? and what the majority of there conditions are, i ve got nothing against pr companies and some are very good, in fact i ve actually got one now Victus PR, who are very good reasonable and flexible to the needs of a new start up restaurant

←

See above

It doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out i was going to get people talking about Alexanders

←

You and your food are your best PR, I just don't think you needed to get them talking with the thred you did.

also a lot of people want to be negative, like yourself out of matthews review you can only pick up the negative points

Alexanders

←

I have not been negative about Matthew's review, I am simply pointing out that thre two negative points he did mention were potentially enough to get Jay lighting his barbaque given what he said in your original thred.....IF i was to come to your place and, at those prices, found a single fault, I would put you over the spit and bbq you.

To the average punter, those two minor minor minor points are hardley going to be a reason for them not to return or reccomend. But for a food critic of a national, and not one that rewrites the menu, we'll see.

who are you to say i want more adulation that will come from just the locals, believe me if it was a successful business i didnt need any awards or any reviews and nobody knew who i was and every customer every night was from Limpsfield High Street, the food and service was good i d be happy with that, but as thats not going to happen we need to go out to a wider field.

Of course myself and the team want to be recognised for the fifteen,sixteen seventeen hour days we do and work and passion we put into it but adulation, definatly the wrong word to describe it

←

Maybe it is the wrong word, but something does not add up given the weight of posting you are generating about everything other than the food.

I look forward to dining at Alexanders, wish you the best of luck and look forward to reading the Observer Magainze.

←

A couple of things for you i definatly did not do a deal with matthew about writing on here, i invited him down and made it clear i wanted no bias but would be intrested in his feedback. both positive and negative as there are clearly people on here worth listening to and people not worth listening to.

Now your say myself and the the food are the best pr which totally contradicts what your saying about me looking for some kind of ADULATION

yes i want people to get out my way when i walk doen the street, i dont think

About the brasserrie again you mention expensive things you dont mention you can have 3 courses for £23 and if you order a side of broccoli and a salad, very strange, do you have a food intrest or you just here to be negative about people trying to do good food in a nice environment

Not everybody goes out and has 4 course or the 4 most expensive items on menu again you getting on your band wagon with your blinkered view

Could you tell me what doesnt add up. give me the sum? Also what shall i do come on here and say this this and this is great my food is fantastic all come and try it !again i dont think so !!!

Do you not think this site is a good place to get intrest in a new venture?

Please tell me what was so bad about the food critic thread it cant be that bad as your fine self has obviously taken such an intrest and spent some of your mighty valuble time writing on the subject

[BertieWooster]

<wanders in>

Simon, you need to edit a bit, that gave me a headache---there's a sticky thread on how to use quotes at the top of the message board.

<wanders out>

[beepop]

chefsimon

As I have said elsewhere, tone and intimation are difficult to convey on this format of communication. Maybe the debate we are having deserves to be on your original thred 'Critics and Food Writers' or given the responses I have drawn from some, a new thred altogther.

I do not wish to be negative or aggressive and I am sorry if what I say is coming accross as that. Posting after a busy day is probably a bad idea!

I respect what you are doing and trying to achieve and the effort and skill that goes into it. You clearly have an impressive track record. There is nothing wrong with drawing attention to your establishment in any medium. There is nothing wrong with charging £17 for a scallop starter if its great and you can get it and get it again and again.

I noted some of your previous posts on threds - the bath priory? and some other topics - and you clearly have a high and exacting standard for restaurants and food. You also hinted before your Critics and Food Writers thred of having a new place but not wanting to draw attention to it until you had it right......which is compltely fair given what you are pitching.

You make it clear you're seeking to widen your customer base through posting, reviews and maybe Michelin and again, I don't see anything wrong with that. As Matthew's posting proved, you clearly have something worth shouting about which made me think the Food Critics and Writers thred was about something else. .......and I thought thinking was what this forum was intended for.

Peace