Blumenthal?

[chymaera]

Starred restaurants in France are just as expensive IME. Its just that the cheap end isnt dominated by KFC, Maccies and other poor excuses for food shops.

I would not use a stupidly expensive restaurant in France either.
To celebrate out 30th wedding anniversary we had an excellent meal out in Brittany. 48 Euros each which included a glass of wine reccomended for each of the 5 courses. (That was far more than we normally pay.)

 

[Cloud]

I'm glad you wrote this thread.

Tbh it's just an expansion of expensive dining out marketing.

We had jamie in the 90's and his swagger and now to suit the current breed of nobheads we has thins guy who relates intelligence to cooking in a new twist.

I did pretty fuckin well at food science in catering college. The guy is a TV show promoting his own interests as all those fucking celebrity chefs.

I'm stupid as fuck but can cook you up something out of this world and I ain't selling nothin. I learnt a great deal from my great grandmother rather than catering college.

 

[Xanadu]

Experimenting with food is fine, I do it all the time, I try to create new recipes with ingredients that go well together, as I cook and have done for two decades I find it a bit daft when people try to alter traditional dishes too much, that's all i mean really

If people didn't alter traditional dishes, there'd be so much we'd be missing out on. We'd probably just eat raw meat and raw veg...

 

[Geri]

Stick to the KFC, then.

Inverted snobs rule, right?

There's nothing wrong with a Bargain Bucket every now and again.

I also eat McDonalds, so shoot me now.

 

[Xanadu]

I also eat McDonalds, so shoot me now.

*loads shotgun*

 

[Athos]

It's expensive compared to beans on toast, but there are only three 3-star Michelin restaurants in the UK, afaik

Are thwe other two Gordon Ramsey and Le Manoir? I'd say they're both better than the Fat Duck, for my money.

 

[Herbsman.]

perhaps for such a price some of his mind should be on the plate

Now THAT is an interesting idea.

One which he will probably capitalise on.

He would have a tiny bit (obviously a bit that he doesn't need) of his brain removed, sauteed with truffles and served up in some poncey sauce made from the most expensive ingredients. The ultimate Heston Blumenthal experience, limited to one order only, £600,000 maybe?

 

[Athos]

Ive never eaten at the restaurant mentioned in this thread , i would if i had the chance/money to . While on the subject of expensive meals the most ive payed was £110 for 2 (only couple of beers and cokes in that price ) it was very nice top notch food .....But there is a pub i know in bedfordshire were the bloke who runs it prepare everything himself ie steak and ale pie made from scratch lasange from scratch all veg fresh ect ect you get my drift , Well i would put his food up against any for taste and presentation and his prices are very good . Proper food made from the heart tastes good in my book wether its steak and ale pie roast spuds and veg or the food from Mr blumenthal .

Which pub? Is it The Knife and Cleaver in Houghton Conquest? The food there's great!

 

[G. Fieendish]

Apparently, there's a U.S version/clone/knockoff (Delete as Applicable) of Heston Blumenthal called Dave Arnold....
The U.S technology/science mag Popular Science did a profile on him in their November issue....
(His party piece is making clear lime juice, using a Leebig condenser costing some $3000 new...)

 

[Wookey]

Are thwe other two Gordon Ramsey and Le Manoir? I'd say they're both better than the Fat Duck, for my money.

Yup. Given a choice I'd go with the French fella too.

 

[Athos]

Yup. Given a choice I'd go with the French fella too.

For me, it's Ramsey, Blanc, then Blumenthal - in that order.

 

[subversplat]

For me, it's Ramsey, Blanc, then Blumenthal - in that order.

Gordon Ramsay doesn't actually chef at Gordon Ramsay @ that hospital place though

Anyway, these top chef sorts are all tossers the way they talk about veggies and vegans, imo

 

[Athos]

Gordon Ramsay doesn't actually chef at Gordon Ramsay @ that hospital place though

Anyway, these top chef sorts are all tossers the way they talk about veggies and vegans, imo

He does cook there. I've seen him come out of the kitchen in his whites.

 

[Athos]

Anyway, these top chef sorts are all tossers the way they talk about veggies and vegans, imo

I agree. There's no need to be rude about veggies and vegans. After all, some people love food, and some people love animals - horses for courses (or not, as the case may be), innit? I don't see why it upsets chefs so much.

 

[chymaera]

There's no need to be rude about veggies and vegans.

Perhaps not a need.

 

[mrsfran]

Lots of people do though.

What they don't do is emerge thinking they've been conned, innit. You can see quite plainly why the taster menu is £115, and the a la carte not much less.

It's expensive compared to beans on toast, but there are only three 3-star Michelin restaurants in the UK, afaik - you are getting a unique experience, aren't you?

So it's worth the money, then? Because it's a unique experience? Is this the same Wookey who claims that people who spend more than £250 on a wedding are selfish, fat, greedy maggots?

 

[Herbsman.]

So it's worth the money, then? Because it's a unique experience? Is this the same Wookey who claims that people who spend more than £250 on a wedding are selfish, fat, greedy maggots?

Wookey is very precious about the food industry.

 

[Dhimmi]

perhaps for such a price some of his mind should be on the plate

But some of his mind is on the plate,

/North London flounce impersonation

 

[Wookey]

So it's worth the money, then? Because it's a unique experience? Is this the same Wookey who claims that people who spend more than £250 on a wedding are selfish, fat, greedy maggots?

Where did I say that, love?

I said people who spent 20 grand on a wedding were stupid dickheads. Just as if someone spent 20 grand on a meal.

But if you think 100 quid on a 14 course meal from Blumenthal is expensive then you don't understand what you're eating, imo. Of course it's worth the money.

 

[stretchy18]

I'm watching his first series on dodgy sattelite, he seems mega young in it but incredibly keen on what he does. Weird thing is every time I watch an episode I fall asleep on the couch. I've yet to get to the end of an episode, his delivery must be hypnotizing me, very wierd

 

[Cloud]

I can go into town and piss £200 up the wall buying any old crap and feel good about it. It's called retail therapy.

If you think spending £200 on something to eat is a buzz worth having then I guess it's just the same.

Personally speaking the best food I have ever eaten was cooked by moi and eaten at home. I'm 50-50 happy with most of the food I eat out.

 

[mrsfran]

Where did I say that, love?

I said people who spent 20 grand on a wedding were stupid dickheads. Just as if someone spent 20 grand on a meal.

But if you think 100 quid on a 14 course meal from Blumenthal is expensive then you don't understand what you're eating, imo. Of course it's worth the money.

Fromn this thread:

Not all weddings are cheap and tacky. The ones which cost more than a few hundred pounds certainly are in my eyes.

and here

You could have done that for a few hundred quid. My mum did. Made her own dress, made her own buffet, made her own flowers - and when she got the pressies, she got her first fridge and her first set of pans. That is not the way things are done nowadays, and the reliance on other people to provide you with YOUR special day makes me very sad.

I particularly like this one:

Of course if they invited me to the wedding ceremony I would be glad to go, as long as it wasn't in a church. But then, I have no religious friends either, so that's not likely.

But a 100 pound-a-head dinner, or a 600-string reception? Count me out.

Of course, all my friends know exactly what I'm like, so the chances of them asking me to take-part in a costly love-fest are slim.

It might suprise you to learn that spending money needlessly, and treating people who don't need treats, might actually be as unnerving and distressing for me as it is pleasurable for you.

It's the root cause of so many problems. If only you could let go your cosy assumptions, and fight back once in a while.

Spending money needlessly and treating people who don't need treats hurts you Wookey, don't you remember?

As it happens, I agree with you entirely re: Blumenthal. If I could afford it, I'd absolutely pay £115 fo a tasting menu and think it was good value. But I haven't previously insulted those who spend money on unnecessary things.

 

[Cloud]

I think my wedding cost around £800 and I even regret that although i didnt pay for it myself. I've been to a few status weddings and they can be like a pit of snakes.

tbh the most romantic thing for me would be just you and your partner and nobody else in gretna green.

Can you still get remarried there?

 

[Wookey]

Various quotes n stuff

But where did I say that people who spend over £250 quid on a wedding are selfish, fat, greedy maggots? (I didn't, if that's any help ).

The price for a Blumenthal meal is not expensive once you understand what goes into it.

We are used to falsely deflated food prices, we are used to getting a three-course meal for a tenner - and most three-course meals for a tenner are mass-produced frozen shite. But £100 for an evening out is akin to a night at the opera, or a good concert ticket, or a night in a mid-range hotel. Paying £100 for yourself, or £200 for you and a lover is not the same as paying £100 a head for 500 people - and the actual food is incomparable - It's not 20 grand on a party, and you look a bit daft trying to draw parallels there, if you don't mind me saying. One could be done much cheaper, and no less nicely. The other simply could not get cheaper and remain the same experience.

(And I've never advocated sackcloth and ashes anyway, as you seem to imply, I've merely objected to hyper-expensive weddings and the jealousy and status-chasing these cause young couples.)

 

[Wookey]

Can you still get remarried there?

As far as know you can.

 

[eoin_k]

I was taken to the Fat Duck for my 30th a couple of years ago and it is a meal I won't forget in a hurry.

I found the decor a bit odd. But this might be because it is quite bright and I felt a bit self conscious. I remember my palms sweating as the wine waiter passed me a wine list that looked like a big old leather bound bible.

We both had the tasting menu which was a real pleasure and very playful. I remember laughing through large parts off the meal. It had a sort of Alice in Wonderland quality to it as tiny portions were delivered on plates with enormous rims, and the food itself was designed to play with your perceptions and expectations (snail porridge, bacon and egg ice cream etc..). I know this sounds really up itself and at times I remember thinking that they were taking the piss out of the customer's. Charging people through the nose, to eat a minute portion of frozen bacon & eggs, at the end of the meal, from a plate that takes up half the table but only has room for a two spoonful portion...

But the joke didn't feel like it was at the customer's expense, although we footed the bill. The whole experience was unlike any other meal I have had. It was more like theatre than food... Worth every penny - although I didn't actually pay myself, so that is easy to say.

The only down side was it ignited a little bit of the politics of envy in my belly. Not only was it exclusive, but even worse it was nice and I think more of us should be able to have those sort of experiences more often. I don't envy most of the trappings of wealth and privilege. I am glad I don't have a public school or Oxbridge education. Sports cars and gin palaces leave me cold and I could never feel comfortable in a Saville Row suit... But, were it within my means I could quite happily dine at the Fat Duck a couple of times a year.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I really must get round to organising a visit to the Fat Duck - my uncle used to be Hestons scientific advisor

 

[elevendayempire]

I've eaten at his other place, the Hinds Head. It's a more conservative menu - I think he takes the loony-tune innovations from the Fat Duck and applies them to traditional British food. Bloody nice, anyway:

http://www.thehindsheadhotel.com/

 

[Edie]

Me and the other half recently went to Anthony's in Leeds. Similar approach to Heston, maybe not quite the same number of Michelin stars. It was £60 a head, and we saved up/ birthday presented it.

It was amazing. I was a bit intimidated at first, not frequenting posh places. But after some wine, it was enormous fun. The food was absolutely the best I've ever eaten. Each mouthful was this crazy combination of flavours and textures that totally worked together.

Plus it was very, very funny. Absurd. A real adventure. Worth every pound Unfortunately we wont be doing it again for a while

 

[8ball]

I just like him cos he's a mentalist who looks like his own Spitting Image puppet and is doing something a little off the beaten track and doing it well.

Someone I know went to Fat Duck and had the tasting menu and took loads of photos and put them on the net and stuff. I wouldn't do it myself unless I had a huge pile of cash but I'd pop into that Hinds Head place if I was passing.