Hard to know where to start with this week’s post. It has been 7 days of; Meat Free week, a chef on Tripadvisor, deep fried food & food specific cafés. So we’ll crack on.
Meat Free Week & Tony Naylor
For those that don’t follow Tony Naylor on Twitter, you really should. He has that northern approach, ie no nonsense, to writing about food, which was in full flow when it came to ‘Meat Free Week’.
He writes:
It’s hard to fault the idealism of Meat Free Week – but a die-hard meat eater is a hard nut to crack. Better to drop the ethical propaganda and big up the positives of vegetables as a sexy, modern alternative.
and concludes with:
UK restaurants are now doing remarkably tasty things with vegetables, often giving them equal billing to the meat. Such reassessment of the protein element in dishes – smaller portions; using the meat as a flavouring or garnish; nose-to-tail utilisation etc – is influential among chefs, but such veg-centric cooking still needs a major PR push if it is to change how people cook at home.
Full story here: The Guardian
Want fries with that?
Our friends north of the border have often been mocked for their contribution to global cuisine, in the form of the deep fried Mars bar.
Now there will be a four day pop-up restaurant (April 2nd – 5th) where the entire menu will be deep fried, all one hundred items. Ranging from creme eggs to an entire cake, but the pièce de résistance is something chef Jim Thomlinson likes to call the Full Easter:
That’s: a whole fried lamb joint, roast potatoes, rosemary, carrots and sprouts. The heart attack inducing ‘Fully Fried Easter’ can serve up to six people and needs to be booked in advance.
Full details & story: Daily Telegraph
Hipster cafés
Following on from last weeks meme image of Hipster Chef. The neatly trimmed beard, tattooed twenty & thirty somethings are now infiltrating hospitality. First there was the cereal café, where you have the choice of over one hundred & twenty cereals, thirty different varieties of milk and twenty different toppings. Prices start from £3 for a small bowl of US varieties & £2.50 for UK versions.
Soon there will be an addition; The Melt room will only serve grilled cheese sandwiches. For those of a certain age, I’m sure you remember Breville machines, who’d have thought it would have turned into the basis of a business
Melt room
Give them a follow on Twitter, to keep up with developments: @melt_room
Full story: Time Out London
#Foodporn
I’ve had some especially pleasing pictures coming through my social media this week, have a look at these beauties:
Rhubarb and white chocolate from Tony Parkin on Instagram
Lemon Tart, salted milk ice cream – Barry Hargadon from The Greenhouse, Dublin
Elizabeth on Food: excellent lunch yesterday at 1-star FG Food Labs in Rotterdam.
And finally…
So many times Tripadvisor has had it systems pointed out a flawed, often to by the hospitality industry itself. So open to the manipulation, despite what the website say, one chef decided to use it to take down the opposition.
Chef Chris Gamack decided that he’d post negative reviews on surrounding establishments in Barnard Castle, County Durham.Valentines Restaurant, The Bengal Merchant, the Old Well Inn and Penny’s Tea Shop were among those who received a one-star rating from Mr Gamack, posting under the name Chris G Darlington.
Gamack was duly sack by his emplyer at Amen Café, who was horrified & shock at his chef’s actions. According to Gamack’s twitter feed, he’s now trying for a stage at Raymond Blanc’s 2Michelin star, Le Manoir.
Full story: Northern Echo