It's not often that you go to bed saying good night to the perfect day. But my day at the French Laundry was just that, perfect in every way.

As journalists we all have our icons - the one person who tops the list of people we want to interview. Thomas Keller has been on the top of my list for years and not only did I get to interview the legendary US chef at his flagship restaurant, I was invited into his kitchen and dining room alongside an equal culinary great, Michel Roux.

The reason for our visit to Napa Valley, California, was to catch up with Hrishikesh Desai, the 2009 Roux Scholar who chose to spend the three-month stage he won as part of his scholarship at the French Laundry. He is the first scholar, in the 27-year history of the competition, to work at a three-Michelin-starred restaurant outside Europe.

Desai chose to work with a chef whose culinary ethos is one of product and execution. It's all about a celebration of the highest quality produce and a drive towards perfection. His style is deeply influenced by the great chefs of France.

Keller epitomises respect - respect for the ingredients, respect for the people who prepare them. Each and every day he wants to be better than the day before. He inspires the people he works with by leading them in a way that makes them want to succeed, never disappoint. There is a sense of calm, a peacefulness in his kitchen that is unique. Every chef in his brigade forms part of a puzzle, there's no room for egos here.

Above the pass in the French Laundry kitchen is a sign featuring the definition of finesse: "Refinement and delicacy of performance, execution or artisanship." What goes beyond the pass is as close to perfection as you can get: a menu so refined it moves you on more than just a culinary level, it's an emotional experience to eat his food.  

Thomas Keller is a gentle giant. A true professional, a leader in his industry and a chef who practises the art of gastronomy at its very best.

Following a devasting fire that gutted the kitchens at two-Michelin-starred restaurant Mugaritz, its chef Andoni Luis Aduriz is seeking help from his fellow chefs in finding out what the perfect kitchen should be like.

According to a report on Spanish website eitb.com, Aduriz has now set up a team to help him create his new kitchen.

"The burnt kitchen had two main drawbacks," explains Aduriz told the website. "The cooks had to work in cramped conditions and the cleaning area was next to the dining room so the clank of plates and cutlery interrupted the peaceful atmosphere of that area. We have begun thinking about what was lacking from the old kitchen; the brainstorming hasn't stopped..."

In his blog entitled: "Ideas for a new kitchen", Aduriz is seeking advice and tips from anyone who has any good ideas for designing kitchens.

So, if you want to help one of the world's most prestigious chef create his perfect kitchen log on and leave a message. You can also follow the restaurant's progress on Twitter @Mugaritz.

Despite a limited wine list and an extortionate bill at £115.10 for two at lunch, Jasper Gerard enjoys the Japanese tapas style menu at ex-Nobu chef Tomonari Chiba's restaurant Dinings in London. 

"The chef is uncompromising in his use of quality ingredients (truffle, bass, lobster, oyster, crab, duck)," the The Daily Telegraph's food critic says as he tucks into a wide selection of dishes.

In Glasgow, Tracey MacLeod of The Independent visits Crabshakk and finds that a pleasingly mixed clientele, crisp but friendly service and decent prices make the seafood restaurant a winning operation.

Meanwhile other reviewers are not so fortunate in their choice of restaurant. Giles Coren, writing in The Times, describes Babbo in London as "one of the new breed of Italian restaurants in Mayfair (Cipriani set the trend, Dolada followed most recently) that serve competent food at ridiculous prices and make you feel ill to the bottom of your mortal soul".

And in Manchester, The Observer's Jay Rayner finds that Glamorous, a Chinese restaurant with a seating capacity of 600 set in a business centre next to a multi-storey car park, is anything but glamorous. While he admits the experience at times is entertaining, the food itself is either odd or weird.

The Guardian's Matthew Norman is forced to have lunch twice after ending up at the wrong restaurant but is impressed with the food and service at Chinese restaurant Ba Shan in London in the end.

Last week, Italian chef Francesco Mazzei, co-owner of L'Anima in the City of London (which is closing for an extension this summer), went on a mission to find the perfect potato for gnocchi.

Mazzei and his team of chefs set out to test three different varieties of potatoes to see which one would make the best base for the Italian staple, with iconic French chef Pierre Koffmann testing the final product.

The varieties of potatoes on the menu were: Markies, Ramos and Sierra Gold which were supplied by QV Foods.

After boiling, peeling and ricing the potatoes, the chefs added flower and egg yolk to make the gnocchi dough, which they rolled out into strips, cut into pieces and shaped with a ridged, wooden gnocchi board.

First up was the Markies potato, which Mazzei mixed with dried spinach to give the gnocchi a vivid green colour. Markies are the new rival of the ever popular Maris Piper; they are a good all-round kitchen potato with a floury texture and mild flavour.

Mazzei served the Markies gnocchi with basil pesto and the result was a bright green plate of food made up of gorgeous, light and fluffy gnocchi perfectly balanced by the sweet basil sauce. "A definite winner," judge Koffmann declared.  

Middle-class supermarket Waitrose has followed in the footsteps of its less glamorous competitors Sainsbury's and Aldi by enlisting the help of celebrity chefs to boost sales.

But where Sainsbury's long-running partnership with Jamie Oliver and Aldi's ad campaign featuring Phil Vickery rely on just one famous face, Waitrose has outdone them both by appointing two celebrities.

And an unlikely pair they are: domestic goddess Delia Smith and culinary wizard and three-Michelin-starred super chef Heston Blumenthal.

The pair has been appointed as "food ambassadors for the Waitrose brand, sharing their expertise and showcasing recipes". Which basically means that, over the next three years, they will appear in TV and print ads enthusing about Waitrose's range of products.

In a first for British TV, Waitrose will broadcast a new advert every week for the rest of the year demonstrating a new recipe, which will run for the entire length of the ad break. The campaign will kick off on 15 March. 

The partnership, a first for Waitrose which has never before used celebrity chefs, may come as a surprise to hardcore Delia fans who will no doubt remember her rant against celebrities endorsing products. 

The deal also comes just months after a leaked BBC report alleged Delia had "limited appeal" relegating her to the "occasional sparkle" category.

Two-Michelin-starred chef Phil Howard's latest restaurant, Kitchen W8 in London, is a must-consider for anyone in Kensington with something to celebrate, says restaurant critic John Walsh.

Writing in The Independent, Walsh is impressed by both the food and the service at Kitchen W8, which is a joint venture between Howard and restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas.

However, he is less keen on the prices. "With most starters costing £8.50 and main courses mostly north of £15 (rib-eye steak is £19.50) it's hardly snack territory," he says.

Meanwhile, The Guardian's Matthew Norman is effusive in his review of the Dean Street Townhouse, which is the first new joint offering from Nick Jones' Soho House Group and Richard Caring, owner of Caprice Holdings.  

"It mingles the bustle and slickness of the grand, all-day Parisian brasserie with a determinedly anti-Michelin English menu and a room cunningly designed (distressed mirrors, grand bar, wood panelling) for that ultra-voguish, modern media Soho clubland feel," Norman says. 

Meanwhile the new head chef at Gilpin Lodge in Windemere, Cumbria, received the seal of approval from Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph. Despite fearing the place might be all cream teas and doilies, he is delighted to find that, as well as being friendly, informal and full, the food prepared by Russell Plowman is top notch.

In The Times, Giles Coren says his visit to new Japanese restaurant Aqua Kyoto atop the former Dickins & Jones building on London's Regent Street, was a fun experience. As well as consuming great cocktails and good sushi, he also enjoys the stunning night views.

Jay Rayner of The Observer finds a far better-than-average local restaurant in Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk. Efficient, friendly service and perfectly judged fish cookery makes the town "a very nice place to be".

Rose Gray, the founder of the acclaimed River Café in London, with partner Ruthie Rogers, died yesterday aged 71 after a prolonged battle with cancer.

The restaurant, which has held a Michelin star since 1998 and has been the launch pad for the careers of Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Theo Randall among other chefs, is closed today as a mark of respect.

Gray and Rogers were recently awarded MBEs in the 2010 New year's Honours List and Gray was bowled over by the news. "It's really fantastic. We love the fact that we head the women's honour's list," she told Caterer in January.

Gray was a keen home cook and a designer before launching the River Café with Rogers in Hammersmith in 1987. It immediately hit the headlines as being the place to find beautifully prepared simple, seasonal and carefully sourced Italian food - a total antidote to the nouvelle cuisine that was still prevalent throughout London at the time.

The River Café has spawned a host of imitators, but Gray and Rogers were never tempted to expand elsewhere. They became known as always being personally devoted to the restaurant.

In her last interview with Caterer, she said that it was always her intention to make the restaurant more special and even more interesting

"It's a restaurant run by two women and we're always there. That gives us the chance to make sure our personal vision is integrated into all we do. I think that's what makes the River Café so special."

Everybody loves Raymond Blanc but his latest tirade has left even one of his biggest fans (moi) slightly bewildered.

To grab a few headlines and promote his latest cookery show, Raymond Blanc's Kitchen Secrets which kicked off on the BBC last night, the French chef has lashed out at the TV industry for sensationalising food.

The two-Michelin-starred chef patron of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire said he had refused offers to appear on reality TV shows including ITV's Hell's Kitchen and the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.

"I did a lot of shows in the 1980s, but I chose to stop because TV started sensationalising food," he told the TV Times.

"I don't want to be remembered as a prima ballerina; nor do I want to beat people around the head. That's not cuisine - it's sensationalism!"

Raymond clearly has a point here but has he forgotten his very own TV show The Restaurant which gives people with absolutely no hospitality training or experience the chance to run their own restaurant?

Isn't that just a tiny bit of sensationalism too?

Raymond Blanc's The Restaurant winners JJ and James unpopular choice

Top Spanish chef Andoni Luis Aduriz's restaurant has been destroyed by a kitchen fire.

According to reports, a fire broke out at around 2am due to a short-circuit in an area of the kitchen.

Andoni Luis Aduriz told journalists the blaze quickly destroyed the entire cooking area of the award-winning Mugaritz restaurant, in the Basque region on Sunday night.

It took two hours to put out the fire at the two-Michelin-starred restaurant, and neighbouring house had to be evacuated.

You can read more on the fire and watch a video here >>

 

MasterChef presenter Gregg Wallace's debut as a restaurateur with the opening of Wallace & Co in south London wouldn't even make to the first round of the BBC programme, says Matthew Norman.

While The Guardian's food critic praises the service at the Putney-based café for being willing, he slams the food for being rough and amateurish.  

"It was ­amateur hour this lunchtime," Norman says. "In fact, it was closer to amateur two hours, what with the ­delay between ordering drinks and receiving them nudging 20 minutes. And the service, patchy but willing, was the clear highlight."

Meanwhile John Walsh of The Independent pays a return visit to Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall, and was delighted to find that a refurbishment has refreshed the place and some new exotic dishes give breadth to the menu. However, Walsh describes the prices as "idiotic", with local cod and chips at £17.50 being the cheapest dishes on the menu.

The Observer's Jay Rayner says his experience of The Goring's menu, which is currently reflecting the hotel's centenary, is disappointing. He says the dishes are not of a standard he would expect from such a grand hotel.

AA Gill of The Sunday Times also experiences a bygone age when dining at the French Horn in Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire. He describes the location as a classy spot for a really poignant, leering date and the food as "Frenchish, francophilic".

Writing for the Daily Telegraph Zoe Williams finds a restaurant of real pedigree in the Soho House Group's latest venture, Dean Street Town House, and is impressed with its classic British menu. 

Giles Coren of The Times says Terroirs is the French equivalent of Polpo, Barrafina and Bocca di Lupo, serving first class food in small sharing plates.