What i'm up to....

Errr apols for not gettting too many posts out of late. But! i aim to make up for that as now have wee bit more time (and BT have finally got the internet going again).

anyway thought i might stick down a quick post on what i've got planned in terms of restaurant experience...

i have been doing bunch of dinner parties and ad hoc food stuff (recipes, photography, getting a website going etc) which has been fun and really good for my cooking. However! The main objective for me has always been to get as much experience as i can in pro kitchens, and ones which cook food that flicks my switch if you know what i mean.

I've done quite a lot of thinking about which type of restaurant is right for me, and decided that the real high end multi-michelin fine dining type of place probably isnt what i wanna go for; as much as i love high end posh food i get most excited by places with a real buzz and a love for quite simple but top quality, interesting & gutsy food.

I've talked it through with a few really helpful people and that defo helped e.g i met John Torode recently to get his take on this and he was like "the Michelin chasing thing isn't for you, go for great food you love". I'm sure he's right and i feel good about going for that angle, i think it's really important to chase the essence of what you love about food, not go for someone else's idea of what's best.

Sooooo... i went about making a list of london places which do the food and have the kind of style & vibe i love, so these are the places i'm planning to work in:

• Bocca di Lupo (google it and check out the raving reviews e.g this one) - i start a 4 day stint there on Tuesday.
• The Modern Pantry looks i'll be heading there the week after next
  
• Moro - quality Spanish - North African place which, i guess, be the restaurant i know that most embodies my style of food. I ate there again 2 days ago and i'm really excited to spend some time in the kitchens there (not fixed a date yet am arranging it at the mo), it also won OFM Best Restaurant award just the other week. Never a bad sign.
  
• Nobu - doesnt need an intro this place, i dont actually know much about Japanese food but recon few days here you'd learn so much (hadnt planned to go there but met one of the owners the other day and thought i'd be crazy not to ask!).
• Brindisa - cool tapas and deli places (again no date fixed yet).

Also looks like i'm going to spend week or 10 days in Bristol working at Bordeaux Quay's restaurant, bakery and possibly cookery school and a place called The Lido in Clifton.

There may be other places too, but as i'm mainly offering to work for free it cant last forever, so plan is to take full time cooking job at one of them or somewhere similar in perhaps a month or 6 weeks. In the meantime i've got to be Frugal McDoogal because the bills still gotta be paid!

More recipes to come v.soon!

Andy