Straight from the Chef's Table

Knives at dawn! UJ restaurant moles report from the frontline of London's restaurant scene.

Overheards

Get those heels and that lippy out girls, and douse on the D&G boys: there's a whiff of Nineties nostalgia in the air as club-loving restaurateurs appear determined to bring flashy back. With the paintwork at Buddha Bar only just dry, Paul Daly's glitzy Vendome scarcely open, and the relaunch of Taman Gang on the Oct 16, things are getting decidedly WAGcentric. Pass us a shitake-foie gras skewer.

'Have pans, will travel' seems to be the motto of a growing number of chefs these days. If they're not setting up sister country kitchens to their London restos (like William Drabble of Aubergine, who has just launched at the Compleat Angler in Marlowe), they're casually dropping by the dining rooms of others (Andy Needham of Zafferano will be taking over the hot plates at Cotswold House in October). Don't forget your toothbrush.

And not content with nicking each others hobs, there's a bit of one-upmanship going on in the publishing world too. Having seen his 'friend' (yeah, right - arch rival, more like) Ferran Adria release A Day At El Bulli a couple of months back, Heston Blumenthal has decided to go one better. The Big Fat Duck Cookbook, out October 6, is bigger, flashier, more artsy, and costs a tasty £100. Now who's the sharper chef?

Spotted

The new butter-soft beef in everyone's mouths is McDuff. Reared in Scotland on the greenest grass, supplemented with Omega 3 oils and only the most crystal-clear water from the peaty Scottish burns, if you please, it's about as pure as you can get for a slab of bloody meat. Sink your teeth in at Prism .

What would The Dish be without an update on the Big Man, Marco Pierre White?  Although said to have become newly smitten with a lovely brunette New Yorker whilst filming Stateside, he's still managed to find time to launch his 96º Coffee Tin, which apparently keeps ground beans fresh for longer. You'd think he'd be happy with instant, being a Knorr man.

On Trend

Veggies are so hot right now. Vegan shrine Saf started the revolution, and now the next big legume is Tibits, a new gourmet vegetarian restaurant, bar and take-away on Heddon Street. Launching on October 2. Dress code: Swarowski-studded Birkenstocks.

Comments:

Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.