The Daily Telegraph, 16 February
Mark Palmer visits 60 Hope Street, Liverpool
There's a feisty rivalry being played out on Merseyside and it has nothing to do with Liverpool and Everton football clubs. The battlefield is Hope Street, where The London Carriage Works and 60 Hope Street (Grade II listed) sit almost side by side in the Capital of Culture 2008 and, to be honest, we can't quite decide which one should receive our custom.
60 Hope Street – review in full >>
The Independent, 16 February
Tracey MacLeod visits The Walnut Tree Inn, Llandewi Skirrid, Abergavenny
The last time I had lunch in The Walnut Tree Inn, I was sitting opposite a man with a tiny video camera hidden in his spectacles who was recording everything I said. Not that I am given to paranoid delusions, you understand; the filming was for one of the first episodes of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and I had agreed to go deep undercover, in a strand that was swiftly and sensibly found to be superfluous to the format.
The Walnut Tree Inn – review in full >>
The Sunday Telegraph, 17 February
Zoe Williams visits Dinings, London W1
Dinings is a tiny basement space, done out in the smooth-concrete/brutalist-solid-wood combo that speaks of very determined thrift. It's possible that the chef, Tomonari Chiba, is trying to pull away from his Nobu beginnings, by being actively unposh. Or maybe he is reflecting the spirit of the times with a new global-recession chic. B tells me that for all their spanking-fresh, low-fat reputation, most Japanese people's favourite food is actually curry rice, which is rice and a load of curry sauce on top.
Dinings – review in full >>
The Sunday Times, 17 February
AA Gill visits Foxtrot Oscar, London SW3
Long before French Connection sniggered itself into the acrimonious FCUK, there was Foxtrot Oscar, a restaurant that used the international alphabet of radio operators to tell its customers exactly where they could go. There wasn’t even a double entendre. It isn’t anyone’s initials; it didn’t mean “Food’s Outstanding”; it was simply the name you come up with after a drunken lunch. “Hey, why don’t we call the place F*** Off?” “F*** Off?” “Yah, F*** Off!” “You can’t call a restaurant F*** Off!” “Yes, you can.” “FO? That’s Foreign Office.” “Yah, okay. Foxtrot Oscar, then.” “What about Foxtrot Oscar See You Next Tuesday?” “That’s bloody tasteless, and it won’t fit on the chequebook.”
Foxtrot Oscar – review in full >>
areyourreadytoorder.co.uk
Jan Moir visits The Warrington, London W9
In Gordon Ramsay’s new pub, The Warrington, Goosnargh duck rillettes are potted into individual, rubber-lipped jars. Silverside onions and gherkins are served on the side, sourdough toast comes separately. When it arrives at the table, it is a little mini-event all of its own. The potted duck is tender and flavourful, studded with pistachio and served at the right temperature. The jar sits on a disc of steadying paper, the unfettered pickled items do not leak vinegar all over the plate, and the toast is hot. An everyday £6.75 starter, yes, but it still shows tremendous attention to detail; the careful, professional consideration that has brought this dish from concept to table without a hitch
The Warrington – areyoureadytoorder.co.uk review in full >>
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