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16
July 2008: MARCO PIERRE RED WHITE AND BLUE
During
his thirty year career, Marco Pierre White has been
famous for many things. In the 80's it was for throwing
customers out of his seminal Harvey's restaurant;
in the 90's, for being the youngest British chef to
win three Michelin stars and then "handing them
back" and prematurely retiring from the stove;
and in the 21st century for his unlikely business
partnership with jockey Frankie Dettori, a messy divorce
and the revelation in his autobiography that he made
Gordon Ramsay cry.
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
25
June 2008: THE SCORES ARE ON THE DOORS, BUT ARE THEY
RIGHT?
In
the late 70's, "the scores on the doors"
decided if a contestant on the BBC's Generation Game
TV show got their moment of glory behind the famous
conveyor belt filled with electric teasmades, fondue
sets and cuddly toys. These days however, if you're
a restaurateur, or a restaurant customer for that
matter, it means something far more serious.
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
4
June 2008 : WINE-ING ABOUT MARK UPS
In
this world nothing can be said to be certain, except
death, taxes and shock horror newspaper stories about
restaurant wine mark ups. The latest appeared in the
24 May 2008 edition of the Telegraph under the headline
"Top restaurants accused of greed for wine price
mark-ups" (www.telegraph.co.uk).
The article claimed that consumer watchdogs and wine
experts had accused Raymond Blanc, Heston Blumenthal
and Jamie Oliver of "greed" and said that
"high prices could deter customers from dining
out."
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
26
May 2008 : THE PLOT THICKENS
Despite
Heston Blumenthal's attempt a while back to announce
its passing, molecular gastronomy remains a hot topic
of debate in the hospitality industry. Talk to any
chef for long enough and the question of whether foams
and jellies constitute real cooking or if they're
just so much culinary smoke and mirrors will inevitably
arise. In my experience however, no one has ever said
that cutting edge food could actually be bad for you
– until now that is.
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
14
May 2008 : THE SUN DOESN'T ALWAYS SHINE ON TV RESTAURANTS
You
might be forgiven for thinking that a restaurant opened
off the back of an eight part, prime time BBC 2 series
fronted by one of the UK's most well known chefs would
be a guaranteed success. So the news last week that
Eight at the Thatch in Thame in Oxfordshire run by
the winners of Raymond Blanc's The Restaurant had
closed after just seven months trading came as something
of a surprise.
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
6
May 2008 : A REAL DOWNER?
The
French television viewing public are soon to have
the dubious pleasure of watching yours truly stuff
his face with slow roast belly pork, mash and Bramley
apple sauce. I don't think I've ever felt more self
conscious, or uncomfortable than during that seemingly
endless 20 minutes in the packed bar of Roast restaurant
in London's famous Borough Market, eating in front
of a travel show film crew and a bunch of curious
rubberneckers.
.
. . read more at BigHospitality.co.uk
21
March 2008 : YOUR CHEATING ART
Last
month, I was asked to take part in a short debate
on the Saturday morning BBC Breakfast show to talk
about Delia Smith's comeback book How to Cheat at
Cooking. While I have no wish to turn into yet another
rent-a-gob, appearing on four hour-long "I Love
Five Minutes Ago" programmes on Channel 4 waxing
lyrical about Olde English Spangles and Smash adverts,
I was happy to give my opinion on the sainted Delia.
. . . read more
7
March 2008 : RAMSAY ROULETTE
Let's
spin the wheel for a game of Ramsay Roulette. Just
go to gordonramsay.com, click on "UK Restaurants"
and place a virtual chip on which restaurant name
you expect to disappear the next time you visit the
site. The smart money had been on the recently closed
La Noisette as far back as November last year when
rumours of the imminent departure of chef Bjorn Van
Der Horst began to circulate. The only people surprised
by the closure in late February appeared to be Ramsay's
central reservation service, who described it as "unexpected",
and the British press who ran their stories on 5 March,
five days after I posted about the closure on egullet.org
. . . read more
10
November 2007 : FOOD FUNDAMENTALISTS
In
a recent review, Tracey Macleod of the Independent
said that "All restaurant critics love St John.
It's a requirement of the job." Fergus Henderson's
style of stripped back, bare (marrow) bones cooking
is becoming increasingly popular and influential as
his acolytes open their own restaurants around the
capital
. . . read more
25
October 2007 : MASHED
I
got totally mashed yesterday. No, I'm not having to
resort to alcohol because of the pressures of work.
I was asked judge the Mash Challenge organised by
the British Potato Council (BPC) at the Ealing, Hammersmith
and West London College. It's true - I lead a life
of unrelenting glamour and I'll be damned if I'm going
to apologise for it
. . . read more
16
October 2007 : MUZZLED CRITICS
It's
not often that I can say I've been upstaged by a 140
pound tuna. And especially not at the Restaurant Show,
where my annual visits are typified by a stroll around
the exhibits punctuated by chance meetings and the
odd chef demo. This year was different, and not just
because the show had moved to its new home at Earls
Court 2 where all the action was on one floor rather
than the split level arrangement at Olympia, last
year's venue
. . . read more
5
July 2007 : HERE COMES THE JUDGE
I
can't complain. No, I mean I really can't complain.
Being a professional food writer is a dream job for
any foodie. Moaning about what a hard life it is just
isn't on. But the work has its downsides, just like
any profession. Punishing deadlines, long hours and
weekends chained to the desk being a few. At times
it can be a lonely existence with just an accusingly
blank Word document and some old punk tunes on Last.fm
for company
. . . read more
22
June 2007 : FEAR OF DESSERTS
"People
are afraid of soufflés." I've lost count
of the times I've heard that deathless phrase fall
from the lips of a TV chef. But how do they know home
cooks are cowering in mortal fear of a roux base combined
with whipped egg whites and an additional flavouring?
Has a survey on the most terrifying baked puddings
been conducted by the Department of Health? Did I
miss the Jerry Springer "My Egg-Based Dessert
Hell" special? Or is it simply that telly cooks
are desperately trying to preserve their position
of influence by appearing more knowledgeable and confident
than their viewers
. . . read more
13
June 2007 : AN AWARD WINNING NIGHT
You
know there's way too many awards ceremonies when they
start handing out trophies for "sexiest male"
in a soap opera. But some are worth taking seriously.
The Guild of Food Writers held its annual awards this
week at London in order to recognize "outstanding
achievement in all areas in which food writers work
and have influence." That translates as books,
magazine and newspaper articles worth reading and
TV and radio programmes worth tuning in for
. . . read more
6
June 2007 : D&D DAY
Whenever
the subject of food and eating out crops up in conversation
- and with me that's pretty much every time I open
my mouth to speak - I'm inevitably asked "What's
you're favourite restaurant." It's a question
that I find fiendishly difficult to answer. As a food
writer, the nature of my job means I'm always visiting
new restaurants and as a consequence never get the
opportunity to become a genuine regular anywhere.
So after years of stammering "Well, um, I don't
know, I uh really couldn't say" I now simply
reply "The next one."
. . . read more
31
May 2007 : FOOD HEDONIST IN RESIDENCE
As
a food and travel writer, I have been seriously spoilt.
I've feasted on sweet, juicy black pineapple cut straight
from the ground with the Antiguan sun on my back;
sipped Clos-Vougeot Grand Cru 1959 in the courtyard
of a Burgundian chateau while a Michelin starred chef
prepared dinner at the table side (do you hate me
yet?) and eaten a two dozen course lunch at The French
Laundry in the Napa Valley, one of the best restaurants
on the planet.
. . .
read more
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