Depression by Johnnie Mountain.
In the two year history of ChefHermes.com nobody else has ever written or edited a post, that is until now. For those of you that have been watching the North West series of Great British Menu, you will have witnessed the roller-coaster of emotions that the chefs are put through. Today, Johnnie Mountain approached me: … Read more
Worlds 50 Best, The culinary version of Eurovision.
So it’s that time of year again & the Worlds 50 Best Restaurant list has been release. After starting the day watching tweets of the many being over hyped because they were having breakfast with Ferran Adria amongst others. The former 3Michelin starred chef & record winner of the 50 Best Restaurant was in … Read more
Are reality shows the future for discovering new talent?
Quite recently, the BBC launched the applications for Masterchef: The Professionals and this week saw the final of Masterchef for amateurs. It got me thinking, is the catering industry attempting to go down the same road as pop music, or Simon Cowell’s version of it? Is it trying to discover the next big talent via … Read more
Showing how flawed Jonathan Meades was in the Daily Telegraph.
Towards the tail end of February, the former Times restaurant critic penned an article for the Daily Telegraph, entitled “Blinded by the Michelin stars in their eyes”. Having had plenty of experience with the impact of the little red book, I thought it might be worth a read. Maybe I, along with Mr Meades, shouldn’t … Read more
Just one question for Alex James. WHY?
As with quite alot of posts, this one originates from Twitter. Alex James, the former bass player with Blur, has written a column for The Sun newspaper. Normally the tabloid rag wouldn’t get column inches on this blog, being a Liverpool Football Club supporter of over 35 years Hillsborough it is a constant reminder. But … Read more
Latest additions to the 2012 AA Guide.
Here are the latest additions to the 2012 AA Restaurant Guide. Why we now have to go through this ritual is quite frankly beyond me, but we do. As I’ve pointed out in a previous post, the irony of the AA dishing out awards twice in a year when possibly only inspecting some establishments once … Read more
2012, A Guide to foodie festivals.
The idea for the this post was spawned sometime early last year. When I can, I watch my twitter feed of approx 700 or so people update itself and enjoy the banter of 140 characters. There are times when various foodies, journalists, writers & chefs will ask for help, in one form or another, and … Read more
2011, A year in review
2011 was a landmark year for Chefhermes.com, it’s the first full twelve month period that the blog has been going and after a long hiatus I finally moved to hosting. As with most things IT related there are the usual hiccups but nothing major. The advantage of this is that I now have full control … Read more
Cheaper Eats: Pollen Street Social, Jason Atherton
Many moons ago, the news broke that Jason Atherton was leaving Maze and the apparent safety of the Gordon Ramsay empire. A few questioned the decision at the time, but it was an itch that Mr Atherton had been yearning to scratch for a number of years. His first eatery was in a somewhat surprising … Read more
A Review of Michelin UK & Ireland 2012
So with the 2nd Michelin guide of the year released, the first one to be under the full stewardship of new editor Rebecca Burr, many were expecting more of the same banality that was the 2011 guide in January. Normally in the lead up to the release of AA & more relevantly Michelin, there is … Read more
