tobyyoung.co.uk

Coping With the Loss of My Column

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:00:00 +0000

The Fat Badger

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The most striking thing about the Fat Badger -- a new gastropub at the wrong end of the Portobello Road -- is the red-and-white wallpaper. At first glance, it looks as though it has a traditional, toile de jouy pattern, with various rustics engaging in rural pastimes. But on closer inspection the figures turn out to be members of the urban underclass. In one scene, for instance, a group of hoodies are drinking at a park bench, while in another a man is mugging a woman at gunpoint.

The Winter Garden

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The phrase "undiscovered gem" is tossed around a lot in my profession. When I first took up this job five years ago, a veteran critic took me out to lunch and said, "You only need to know three things in this business: never order fish on a Monday, never return to a kitchen you've been rude about and never describe a place as an 'undiscovered gem'. If a place is 'undiscovered' there's usually a very good reason."

Kensington Place

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

It didn't surprise me to discover that David Cameron took his wife to Kensington Place on their first date. Not only is it a "result" restaurant -- after shelling out on some of Rowley Leigh's famous griddled foie gras and sweetcorn pancakes you're guaranteed a snog at the very least -- it is also the London media's favourite canteen and David Cameron is nothing if not media-friendly.

I remember very clearly the day I realised just how many of the regulars at Kensington Place are journalists.

Tom's Kitchen

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

If I was Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea football manager, I'd be a little concerned about Tom's Kitchen. On the day I visited, Frank Lampard was sitting behind me and, according to the maitre 'd, both John Terry and Jo Cole had been in the previous week. The problem is that Tom's Kitchen is so popular, and the waiters are so run off their feet, there's a real chance that members of the Chelsea football squad might miss a game while they're waiting to be served.

Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Let me begin by saying I'm a huge fan of Richard Corrigan, the barrel-chested Irishman who owns Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill. Last week, another Irish chef--Kevin Thornton--took him to task for participating in the BBC's Great British Menu series in which various chefs competed for the chance to cook for the Queen on her 80th birthday--but it would take more than a bit of forelock-tugging to turn Corrigan into an honorary Englishman. He's a one-man Celtic Tiger.

The Real Greek

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I've been wanting to go to the Real Greek for years. I've had a high opinion of Greek food ever since I started visiting the islands as a student, and this restaurant, started in 1999 by Theodore Kyriakou, is renowned for serving the best souvlaki in London. One of my fellow critics was so impressed, he ended up ghost-writing Kyriakou's best-selling recipe book. By all accounts, he's the Greek Gordon Ramsay.

Carluccio's

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

In a few months time, I'll be in the unenviable position of having three children under four. Not surprisingly, my wife expects me to pick up the slack at the weekends and, as a consequence, I now spend every Sunday hunting for somewhere to have brunch that is (a) reasonably priced, (b) kiddie-friendly and (c) easy on the palate. It isn't easy. The River Caf�, for instance, satisfies the last two requirements, but falls down on the first, whereas the local branch of Giraffe satisfies the first two, but falls down on the last.

YMing

Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Sunday is the first day of the Chinese New Year and if you're thinking of celebrating in the traditional style, i.e., a slap up Chinese meal, it might be an idea to stay out of Chinatown. It's not just the firecrackers and dragon costumes--the food, too, is worth avoiding. When it comes to choosing a Chinese restaurant, a good rule of thumb is not to go south of Shaftsbury Avenue.

Scott's

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Some restaurants are cursed and however much effort is made to transform them into thriving businesses they are--and forever will be--doomed.

I used to think that Scott's, the famous British seafood restaurant, fell into this category. Founded in 1851, it was originally located in Haymarket, but moved to Mount Street in 1968.

Acorn House

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Something like a schism has occurred in the church of fine dining in the last 12 months. On the one hand, are the Eco-Puritans who insist that all food served in restaurants should be locally-sourced, seasonal and, if possible, organic; on the other, are the Epicureans who believe that a restaurateur's first loyalty should be to the food and the way it tastes, with environmental considerations being secondary.

Bumpkin

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

It's very rare for a food critic to discover a completely new concept in fine dining, but this week I think I've found one: an upmarket theme restaurant. Normally, anywhere with a theme--the Hard Rock Caf�, Planet Hollywood, Ed's Diner--is only one step removed from McDonald's. But Bumpkin is different. It undoubtedly has a theme--it's for "city folk who like a little country living", apparently--yet it's pitched at a sophisticated, metropolitan demographic. What on earth's going on?

The Quiet Revolution

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I have to confess, I was a little nervous about taking one of my most red-blooded male friends to the Quiet Revolution. It wasn't simply that it's a health-food restaurant, serving strictly organic fare. It was also the fact that it's situated in the back of the Aveda Environmental Lifestyle Store on Marylebone High Street, a shop that sells hair and beauty products. How would he feel about being the only other man in a restaurant otherwise populated by smart young women?

The Gate

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

For five years now, I've been dragging my wife to one fancy restaurant after another without ever making allowances for the fact that she's a vegetarian. I have dined on some of the best dishes in the world, meticulously prepared by award-winning chefs, while she has had to make do with yet another plate of grilled vegetables. Consequently, I thought it was high time that I took Caroline to somewhere healthy and meat-free. Not only would it be a treat for her, it would enable me to make amends for all the sausages I'd eaten over Christmas.

10 Best Restaurants in 2006

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

You'd expect an expensive new restaurant fronted by a Michelin-starred chef in the West End to be incredibly stuffy--particularly as the chef in question is a Frenchman. In fact, it's enormous fun. One of the most exciting additions to the London restaurant scene since the Wolseley.

Quirinale

Finally, a decent restaurant within walking distance of the House of Commons.

The Pigalle Club

Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

I have to confess, I wasn't looking forward to my visit to The Pigalle Club. To begin with, there's the location. The Pigalle is at the wrong end of Piccadilly in what used to be an adult cinema. How many decent nightclubs, let alone restaurants, are within spitting distance of Leicester Square? Generally speaking, two kinds of people hang out in this part of town: drunks and tourists. I imagined an X-rated Planet Hollywood.

The Savoy Grill

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

When celebrity chef Marcus Wareing took over at the Grill Room at the Savoy in 2003 he announced that he wanted to bring theatre back to the hotel. Had I been the manager of the 125-year-old Savoy Theatre, which is located less than 100 yards from the restaurant, I would have fell slightly aggrieved by that remark. How would Mr Wareing feel, I wonder, if the theatre manager said he wanted to bring fine dining back to the Savoy by introducing hot snacks during the interval?

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

As a food-lover, you haven't really lost your virginity until you've been to a Joel Robuchon restaurant. He's the 61-year-old French chef who earned three Michelin stars in 1984, was declared "Cook of the Century" by the Gault Millau Guide in 1990, retired in 1996, then re-emerged to open a string of restaurants called "L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon" in 2003. Having already established beachheads in New York, Paris, Tokyo and Las Vegas, he opened his first London restaurant in September.

The Collection

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

For my wife and I, it was destined to be the most glamorous night of the year. To begin with, we'd be picked up at our house by a chauffer-driven Range Rover. Then we'd be ferried to The Collection, the famous Knightsbridge destination restaurant, where I'd booked a table for two. Finally, we'd be taken to the Tatler Little Black Book Party at 24 Kingly Street where we would dance the night away before being driven back home.

The Collection first opened in 1997 and was an immediate hit.

The Cow

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Tom Conran is generally held to be a pioneer of the gastropub phenomenon and, on the face of it, he deserves that accolade. Admittedly, he didn't actually come up with the word "gastropub"--it was coined by David Eyre and Mike Belben in 1991 to describe The Eagle, their establishment in Clerkenwell--but Conran was quick to embrace the new phenomenon, opening The Cow in Notting Hill Gate in 1995.