Chronicles Of Consumption

New BYO Wine Club In London

Well at last! Maybe the idea of BYO will finally catch on in the sometimes-very-stuffy city of London, where this type of thing has been ignored for far too long. The rest of the civilised world has taken to this concept quite readily, but not the most civilised city, or indeed country, of them all. No, for far too long BYO has been looked down upon in the UK, and even now someone has to try to make some money out of it. Everyone knows that you can take a special bottle of wine to pretty much any top restaurant, as long as you make the arrangement in advance, and as long as the bottle you take isn't on the restaurant's wine list. And it helps if you know the restaurant, and/or you are famous. O yes, and the bottle you bring really should be very special too.

And you know what? You don't need to pay a membership fee to a club in order to be able to do this either!

I suppose, however, that in a city where the restaurant industry can be pretty change-resistant this is at least a step in the right direction...

Here is a link to the story in Decanter:

http://www.decanter.com/news/299036.html

I'm Back!!

Here I am, I have returned once again to furnish you with tales of consumption... I must apologise for being absent, but I have been distracted by the minor issue of making a house purchase, obtaining a mortgage (not easy) and then moving into said house. Anyway, along with these piddling little trifles has come a few bottles of some relatively pleasant wines to celebrate and to help ease the stress of the transition - among others a NV Vilmart et Cie Cuvee Rubis (rose), 2002 Launois Pere et Fils Special Club Selection, 2001 Monbousquet, 2001 Destieux, and several others. In fact I have also discovered, rather shockingly, a taste for cheap Portuguese Vinho Verde as a pleasant low-alcohol tipple for the hot weather that has recently engulfed us. What else have I been drinking? Hmm, a 1997 Brunello (can't remember the name, will have to find out as it was very good), and a bit more of my favourite South of France white, the 2007 Ermitage du Pic St Loup Cuvee St Agnes Blanc. 

O yes, and there was also an excellent little tasting yesterday of superb Austrians and Barolos at The Chicago Wine Company.

As I appear to be ever so mildly inebriated after consuming some of the aforementioned Vinho Verde, a bottle of the 2004 Au Bon Climat Nuits-Blanches Au Bouge, and perhaps a little soupcon of the Bodegas Tradicion 30 year Palo Cortado, I think I will leave it until tomorrow to post a few reviews - I do, after all, need to leave anyone who cares to read this salivating for more.

Until manana amigos...

DRC - Blackmail And Extortion Plot...

Dear me, it seems that some fellow has tried to blackmail one of the most famous domaines in all of world wine, and has unsurprisingly failed! Here is a link to the story from Decanter:

http://www.decanter.com/news/297784.html

I don't understand how these people think that they will succeed with a scheme like this to be honest... Anyway, I'll leave you to ponder it.

Major Consumption...

I need to inform you of the fact that there was much consumption last week with my parents. I will regale you of all the details imminently my friends...

Bonsoiree - A Soupcon...

And lo, verily we sallied forth, taking with us the parents of Fatboy, and they did voyage with us unto that most holy of places beknownst to us only as Bonsoiree; and hence it was proclaimed by us to have effectuated that most sacred of results: an orotund and emphatic triumph. And we proclaimed it thus.

I will author a critique presently...

Sorry for the bollocks, we really enjoyed it!

Bonsoiree, And The Arrival Of My Folks

Tomorrow sees the arrival of my parents from England (not sure if I should call them Fatmum and Fatdad, I don't think they would be too thrilled...) and to celebrate we will be going to one of the best BYOBs that Chicago has to offer, Bonsoiree, which is out towards Logan Square on Armitage. We went there once before and it was splendid, so we are very excited. I will report back forthwith...

British chefs are the best - follow up

Just a quick follow up  on your post 'The British are better chefs' I would like to illustrate my comment on this with a quick review of a 'classic British sunday roast' I had recently at a pub in a fashionable-ish area of London - The Defectors Weld in Sheperds Bush - packed most nights its a blend of traditional looking wood flooring comfy booths and open fire thats undergone a successful refit with modern furnishings - a decent pint and good tunes can be found along with a 'traditional' pub menu boasting organic this, handmade that and locally sourced environmentally friendly yadda yadda. Just because its written doesn't make it so - 3 choices of sunday roast were available - one beef one pork and one vege option - we opted for the delicious sounding pork belly, only to be told they had run out, so to the beef option. What arrived was an abomination. While the roast potatoes and carrots were acceptable enough, the addition of curly cale sounded cool but was uninspiring, the cubes of swede were uniformally undercooked and the meagre offering of gravy was thin and insipid. The meat however was spectacularly bad, apart from the fact what we received were actually steaks and not cut from a roast at all - it was grey, grisly, tasteless and tough, bad cuts of meat cooked badly. At least they were consistent in that all 3 plates for the group were identical. Awful!

Now I would normally reserve such vitriol for bad food served in a venue with loftier pretensions, (at least in bothering to write about it) but the point here is that that this is standard fare served in a popular venue in trendy central London, and the place is packed with 20-30 somethings with clean plates. Contrast this to my meal at the kitsch little eatery of Restaurant Pirate in Champagnole which is loosely comparable, simple food of beef chips and mushroom sauce in a cheap setting but cooked really well and we see an essential difference between mainstream food in the 2 countries. If that rubbish was served in France they would be throwing it around the room - here? no complaints. Though its funny to see anything that winds the French up concerning their superiority in the food world, I think we've still got a long way to go before we can get too smug

The British Are Better Chefs Than The French - It's Official!

Ha ha ha! Check this out, it is quite funny indeed! I suspected so all along...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/22/british-cook-better-than-french?CMP=AFCYAH

Actually I don't believe it for a second - I believe that we may spend more time cooking than the French, but I am certain that they are better technically than we are; and also they may go out to restaurants more because the standard of cooking in their local eateries is probably much higher than a lot of the crap you'll find in a small-town, local British restaurant - unless you happen to live in Bray. Splendid, and amusing bit of propaganda though!

Tasting Notes Link - Almost Here

Everyone knows that the anticipation of a great event is almost more exciting than the event itself... Patience Nahthern you churlish milk-livered malt-worm, all good things come to those who wait... Probably tomorrow in fact.

Tasting notes link

The world is waiting with baited breath - come on Fatboy et al