Words from Yannis

Let me tell you a little story.

Last Christmas we were trying to choose a restaurant for our team Christmas do at work. We had a few ideas going around: Japanese, French, Italian, Mexican. After talking about them we decide it to put it to a vote in order to choose which one, but postponed the vote until a couple of team members were back from vacation.

Now, when the Christmas do is approaching, that’s mostly all you can talk about and people were expressing their preferences. Some people had a first and second favourite, some people had a particular favourite that they really wanted and didn’t care about the rest, some people passionately disliked one of the choices (not everyone fancies sushi for their Christmas meal!). The poor guy organising the vote started to get bombarded with all sorts of requests to change the voting system to accommodate all these preferences. Someone wanted to have a preference order on all options, someone didn’t want to have to do that but was happy with a first and second option and someone else wanted to be able to put a negative vote on the option he really hated as well as the positive one for the one he really wanted.

So we settled in the end to put a preference order on the 4 options. We would count the votes, take out the least preferred option, recount with the second preferences for those votes, and so on until there was a majority for a restaurant.

Now a couple of people realised that this would make it harder for them to get their choice. The Japanese fans were probably more likely to get their way if all the ones really wanting to avoid Japanese were split amongst other restaurants. A couple of them muttered something about it not being worth the effort and time to do a complicated vote like that. But for the most part it was obvious to everyone that this way we would choose what made most people most happy, and everyone was fine with that state of things. And the Christmas do was loads of fun.

Just something to think about ahead of the AV referendum.

No Comments »

What nice little gem of a restaurant this is. Portobello Organic Kitchen, as the name implies, uses only organic ingredients to prepare its dishes, and there are a couple of organic wines as well. I don’t know if it’s the organic ingredients or the chef’s skill, but the food tastes fantastic. The place is small, making it quite intimate, and the staff are extremely friendly, making you feel like you’re a visitor in their living room.

We popped in for a quick meal before our film at the Electric Cinema nearby (comfy armchairs, footrest, bar at the back, well worth the cost by the way) and only had time for mains, but they were great; the pork belly with braised cabbage and celeriac puree was perfectly balanced and full of flavour (the braised cabbage was without a doubt the best I’ve ever tasted, and I’m not even much of a fan of it), while the roasted chicken breast with porcini mushroom risotto was fresh and tasty, with succulent meat and the risotto packing a punch. Our side of mixed salad was also good and very fresh.

This place serves beautiful food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and the fact that it’s all organic makes it all the better (probably partly why it tastes so good!). I can’t wait to be back for the full three course meal.

No Comments »

Mennula is an Italian restaurant with Sicilian roots, located in Charlotte Street just north of Oxford Street, a street brimming with restaurants and bars. It recently featured on TV (Gordon Ramsay’s best UK restaurants or something along those lines) and seemed to produce great food, so we thought we should pay them a visit.

And great food it was. The evening started with an unimpressive bread selection, which on the other hand was served with excellent Italian olive oil, while the starters of scallops with pancetta and lentils and buffalo mozarella with aubergine caviar and grilled courgettes were fresh tasting and mouthwatering. The mains were the highlight: a lamb shank with root vegetable puree and balsamic sauce was tender and packed full of strong flavours and the beef with mushrooms, winter truffle and celeriac mash was a great combination while still allowing the beef to shine through.

The deserts turned out to be the chef’s chance to display excellent customer service. While the chocolate cake with pistachio semi-fredo was the chocolate punch we expected, the traditional Sicilian cannoli (pastry filled with sweet ewe’s cheese) came out tasting not at all sweet, almost salty. However, the chef (who was in and out of the kitchen chatting to patrons often) noticed me shaking my head on the first bite of it, went to the kitchen, tried the filling himself and came out to apologise for it and to offer to bring me another one prepared just right! The second one really did taste much better and the chef’s effort was well appreciated.

Service on the whole was friendly if a little slow, the waiters seemed a bit rushed with a full house. The only other complaint would be the cramped space, as the place is quite small, resulting in small tables, uncomfortable sofas and feeling slightly crowded.

Overall, this restaurant has great food and a genuine desire to ensure customers leave fully satisfied. A more comfortable venue would probably make it that bit better for both customers and staff.

No Comments »

The Wolseley, being a bit of an icon amongst London restaurants, made for a perfect special occasion Sunday lunch. The elegant environment, smartly dressed staff and being full to the brim made for a very buzzing atmosphere - yet intimate and cosy with its brasserie-style decoration (well, it is one) and the impressive building features.

The food choices were the ones you’d expect at a brasserie, and well executed. Our steak frittes was spot on and the 7 hour lamb bursting with taste, while the starters of chicken soup with dumplings and polenta cream with gorgonzola and mushrooms were tasty, if perhaps not particularly exciting. The meal ended on a high with a moreish vanilla cheesecake, reminiscent of the kind you’d find in a New York deli, and a gorgeous crème brûlée.

The wine list has reasonable choices by the glass, and good ones if our Pinot Blanc from Alsace was anything to go by. Service was friendly and competent, but tended to be on the slow side, which perhaps can be forgiven since the place was full.

Overall, this is a good restaurant to have a bit of a treat in, with afternoon tea and brunch looking like equally attractive options on the menu. Be sure to book in advance.

No Comments »

Tom’s Kitchen is Tom Aikens’ casual eaterie, round the corner from his fine dining restaurant. With a variety of brunch options (such as English breakfast or pancakes) to pub lunch favourites (fish and chips, sausage and mash, pies), there’s always something good to choose for a lazy Saturday or Sunday meal.

We opted for the fish and chips on our visit and were impressed with the result. The batter was delicious, the fish tender and flavoursome, the tartar souce thick, sharp and tangy and the chunky chips perfect. Attention to detail was evident with a very tasty and well seasoned salad accompannying the fish and homemade mayonnaise and ketchup for the chips. There is also a decent selection of wines as well as a single stout on drought.

I believe it might just be the best fish and chips I’ve ever had - mind you, at £19.50, it’s also the most expensive one. The brunch ordered by others also looked delicious, and we will definitely be back to try it.

If this is what Tom’s casual cooking tastes like, I can’t wait to try the fine dining version.

No Comments »

At the Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte, you will only be asked one question: Rare, medium rare, or well done? This is French steakhouse at its best. The décor strives to give a Paris atmosphere and does a good job according to the French colleague along for the meal - the fact that the first of them was opened in Paris is definitely a good sign. The restaurant does not take bookings, but had a queue out the door during Friday lunchtime, a testament to its popularity.

On to the food. We were first brought a green leaf salad with walnuts, drenched in strong mustardy vinaigrette - as good tasting as green leaf salad gets. Then followed a plate of perfectly cooked entrecôte steak, sliced and so tender that a steak knife would have been unnecessary. It was accompanied by a mustard sauce and a mountain of fantastic thin fries. And when you’re through with that, the staff tops up the plate for you with a second helping - no need to ask, that’s the standard portion size (i.e. huge). We did not have the capacity for desert on our visit, but must definitely try them next time. The wine list is not big and our wine was unexciting, although we definitely share some of the blame for that for choosing an ‘02 £22 Bordeaux.

This restaurant does only French steak and chips, but gets it absolutely perfectly. And for £20 for the meal described here, with desert and drinks being extra, it’s a bargain. A must-go.

No Comments »

What an outstanding restaurant. Locanda Locatelli is a very successful combination of wholesome Italian food and a fine dining experience. The first good sign were the two middle-aged Italian men waiting at the (small) bar area for their table - it’s always a good sign when people from the country the cuisine originates from frequent the restaurant.

The meal started with a basket of various types of bread (about 5 different ones) and olive oil, along with some bread sticks. The starters and mains were fantastic. A risotto with Castelmagno cheese and Barolo sauce was absolutely spot on - bursting with flavour, the cheesiness prominent but not overpowering, just about perfect - while the starter of scallops and celeriac puree really brought out the freshness and sea-flavours. A main of lamb with polenta and sweet peppers achieved a perfect balance of the savouriness of the melt-in-the-mouth meat and the sweetness of the peppers, and the beef special of the day came with a tender and flavoursome medium fillet. The only let-down was in the deserts - although the chocolate tasting dish was all you’d expect it to be and delivered a powerful kick of cocoa, the tiramisu was disappointing. Delivered in a cocktail glass, the light texture didn’t make up for the lack of taste and flavour. Some petit-four with the coffee rounded of the meal.

The drinks and wines lists are also extensive. The wine list resembles an encyclopaedia, the somellier was helpful and informative and our Barbaresco was truly marvellous - while the after dinner drinks catalogue was also extensive and included a full page with grappa, two pages with whiskey, another one for rum, and so on.

This is a really fantastic Italian restaurant - the food is fantastic, the choice of wine and drinks is massive and the service is efficient and attentive without intruding. Of course the price tag reflects all that, which makes it more ideal for special occasions. Definitely recommended.

2 Comments »

Loads of websites and web startups are all about the users, and how many of them they can get. Especially the ones that do some sort of matchmaking between a consumer and provider (landlords and tenants, sellers and buyers, employers and employees) always try to get to a point where they can boast a large number of participants of either side, so that they can lure more of them in. And how do you get there? Well, a great website that’s got something new and unique is a good start. Marketing helps too.

But there’s a new twist to this. Twitter’s success means there’s now a new way to go about it. Tweetalondoncab have come up with a smart way of harnessing Twitter to help match taxis with the people who need them. As they explain on their blog, you send a DM (direct message) to their Twitter account, which gets seen by all the participating taxi drivers. If there’s one available for the specified time and route, they give you a call, introduce themselves, arrange where exactly to pick you up, and give you their licence-plate number so that you know it’s them when they arrive.

That costs nothing to the users, and virtually nothing to the taxi drivers (apart from a bit of Twitter admin and working out the system). But, had they tried to come up with their own service for this from scratch, even after all the development effort, they would have had a hard time getting people on it. How do you find out about them? How do you contact them when you need them? Twitter on the other hand, gives them an existing messaging channel already used and recognised by all its members, and allows them to tap into the massive pool of Twitter users. And via the very nature of Twitter, word of mouth is quick and effective.

In short, the tables are reversed. Instead of coming up with a new website that tries to draw users to it and thus increase its people-centric value, one can tap into an existing community of users. It must be done with caution though, any sign of abuse, or lack of respect for Twitter’s main function in people’s daily communication, will send the brand’s karma plummeting.

Note: I used tweetalondoncab here merely as an example, but I must say that I have used them and they do provide a very good service. Worth a try!

No Comments »

Microsoft have announced that they will be supporting IE6 until 2014 as opposed to 2010 which was the original plan. This has caused a bit of a stir, especially amongst web developers who are sick and tired of spending a disproportional amount of their time debugging and making customisations for IE6. An example of these opinions, is the folks over at http://www.ie6nomore.com/.

So why is it still around? Phil Hawksworth makes a good point that it’s all about the enterprise. Large enterprises need to have their users locked in one browser, and they have a whole suite of applications that are developed, tested and supported for that browser only. I work in one: on-line training, performance management, supplies ordering, travel bookings, expenses system, time sheets, promotions, the list goes on and on: they’re all browser based, they’re all mandatory and they’re all supported for IE6 only. And guess what: a lot of them do actually break on other browsers (although IE7 is close enough, and Firefox isn’t far behind). Throw in dodgy ways of getting old and new systems to talk to each other and dodgy software built by vendors interested in delivering in the least amount of time possible, and you get a hell of a software soup. Moving to a different supported browser would have a massive cost, not including the cost of any of these not working well for any amount of time.

So am I surprised that companies in that situation aren’t supporting other browsers? No, even though that means they can’t upgrade up from Windows XP either (and for a while, the only thing to upgrade to was Vista anyway). I think they should be planning for it of course - there are systems slowly being upgraded and changed all the time, and if in this day and age the person responsible is not making damn sure that their product works in the latest versions of all popular browsers (as well as the still necessary IE6), then they’re doing a crap job and their company a disservice.

But I have to admit that people whinging at Microsoft for extending their support seems unnecessary and childish. Changes like this can only come from the people. And by that, I don’t only mean the users changing browsers, but also websites and online tools ceasing their support of IE6.

So, are you building a website or online tool and you’re sick of spending so much time customising for IE? Don’t. Put a note saying “we support IE7, IE8, FF 3.x, Safari, Opera, … We DON’T support IE6″. Or detect the browser being IE6 and give them a more basic version of the website, or even an HTTP 400 code and a message “Here’s what your missing - get a decent browser”. Do something. Make a stand. Microsoft are not producing dangerous drugs or guns, they’re not accountable in that way for IE6 still being around. It’s just a browser and as long as it’s being used and it makes sense for them to support it they will; and they should. If you want a change, make it happen.

1 Comment »

Another restaurant in Westfield shopping centre, Ciao Baby Cucina is a great place to have big, hearty helpings of italian food. No elaborate and delicate combinations of unusual ingredients here - the dishes are familiar and favourite dishes, and the portion sizes are as exaggerated as the amount and richness of some of the ingredients. The pasta section gives the option of pasta and sauces separately, so you can make you own combination, although there are suggestions as to which goes best with which.

A starter of fried mushrooms with polenta, was packed with flavour and would be called a main in most other italian restuarants I’ve been to, while a plate of antipasti and a caprese salad were both sizeable and tasty. We already felt full after some bread with olive oil and the starters, but we had the mains to wrestle with: linguine with bolognese sauce was flavoursome and came with parmesan shavings on top, the chicken lasagna was massive and packed with cheesy tomato flavour (but the chicken was mostly lost) and the grilled chicken was also a big tasty helping. There was little room for desert after that, but we managed a refreshing affogato.

The flavours and dishes in this place are as full on as they get, and the dishes are drenched to the brim with some ingredient or other (cheese, tomato sauce, olive oil, etc.). Although I happen to like that kind of food (any restaurant that leaves a pot of parmesan on the table, instead of sprinkling a single spoonfull and taking it away has got to be a favourite for me), it wasn’t to everyone’s liking, and it was described as over-the-top in some aspects. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would gladly go back. If you’re in those parts and you’re looking to indulge a bit on italian food, it’s a great one to visit - just make sure you’re really hungry!

No Comments »