What's on the menu 12/01/09
The Daily Telegraph, 10 January
Jasper Gerard visits detoxretox at Harvey Nichols, London SW1, and Leon (branches across London)
Kate Moss was recently on holiday in Thailand, where tabloids allege she was caught ingesting unfamiliar substances: industrial quantities of so-called "carrot juice" and a sinister new fix pushers call "kiwi fruit". Concerned friends, including the renowned heroin aficionado Pete Doherty, fear this is another sign the troubled supermodel has fallen on the wagon. This follows reports that the "heroin chic" model has become hooked on a sinister drug known as "detoxification". Unless Moss refutes allegations she is now in with a crowd of tofu addicts, industry experts warn she could lose lucrative modelling contracts. "No fashion house," said one, "wants their brand contaminated by anyone whose lifestyle is, like, boring."
The Guardian, 10 January
Matthew Norman visits Corrigan's Mayfair, London W1 When it comes to cooks, I'm with Julius Caesar (as sampled by Shakespeare): "Let me have chefs about me that are fat; Sleek-headed men and such as sleep at nights." Yond' Ramsay may not have a lean and hungry look (you'll forgive me for tinkering with the Bard on this one; there's not one of us who can't be improved by a little temperate subbing), but nor is he a lardbucket, and such men, as Tana will verily agree, are dangerous.No, just as you can't put too much faith in a bald barber or in a psychiatrist whose jacket does up from the back, so you cannot fully trust a professional cook with a Body Mass Index anywhere near whatever nonsense the powers that be classify as "normal".
Corrigan's Mayfair - review in full>>
The Independent, 10 January
Tracey MacLeod visits Bob Bob Richard, London W1 If restaurants were as rigorously market-researched as movies, would Bob Bob Ricard ever have made it through the testing process? The concept is fine - a Wolseley-style brasserie open from breakfast to 3am is a welcome addition to the Soho scene. But that name - what were they thinking? The "Ricard" would just about have worked on its own; the feel of the place is French, and Ricard is the pastis of choice in French brasseries. But the food is trad Brit with a twist, which is presumably why they chucked in that demotic double Bob. It doesn't work. Since I visited BBR, I've recommended it to several people, and each time been met with incomprehension, not helped by the fact that it's impossible to say the word Ricard without putting on a comedy French accent.
Bob Bob Ricard - review in full>>
The Independent on Sunday, 11 January
Terry Durack visits Goodman, London W1
This is a review of an American steakhouse concept brought to London by Russian owners. It's a bit of a struggle to make it interesting, to be honest, because I have just told you all you need to know. I can, of course, go on about the menu, prices, service, and ambience. But I don't think I can make it any more interesting, because it isn't. There was a hint of promise in my mind as I pushed open the doors opposite the elegant Hibiscus just off Regent Street - but that was before I disturbed the girl on reception from her reading. And before I realised they have named the restaurant chain after Benny Goodman, a perfectly pleasant, 1930s-1940s big-band leader and jazz clarinettist, but somewhat below Mingus, Miles or Dizzy in the Tower of Song. And before I realised that they were playing nothing but Bob Dylan anyway.
Goodman - review in full>>
The Sunday Times, 11 January
AA Gill visits Bob Bob Ricard, London W1
Some of you have been complaining that the season of goodwill had somehow leached into this column, that the reviews have been far too nice. One star was good enough for Jesus, you told me. So here is a little new-year treat. Bob Bob Ricard manages to nose the tape as the worst new restaurant of 2008. BBR is a stupid name. Rob Rob Ricard would have been better, but still stupid. But it's a name that fits, because this is a stupid concept. Not just stupid, but Bob Bob Gloriously Chronically Unfixably Misbegotten. Who thought of opening this place? Was it Bob? Or Bob? Or Ricard? Maybe it was Bob and Bob, after finishing a bottle of Ricard.
Bob Bob Ricard - review in full>>
By Janet Harmer
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