Well we have dug up some yummy memories.
When I worked in Bombay lunch came to the office from my Gujarati Jain colleagues' homes via daba wallah & it was always fabulous. Occasional Chennai cooking too, dosas etc as one of the bosses was from there - so varied esp the Jain cooking as there are lists of things you can eat on certain days & things which can't go together for ayurvedic reasons (or something similar). I also have VERY fond memories of the bhelpuri shacks on Chowpatty beach, all those snacky things, too wonderful. Mind you falafel made with fava beans stuffed in a bit of puffy flat bread with a few chunks of onion & tomato are fabulous (& light & green inside & not a bit like the horrid hard dry chick pea ones), the best I ever had were in Alexandria.
I'm going to stop adding things I like eating to this discussion now as it would go on too long, I'm just a complete pig, clearly.
Wimbledon Village - apart from the Crooked Billet and Hand in Hand pubs, there ain't no grub on the common. The Lawn is not that good. The duck with cherries was so greasy that I commented and was told that that is how people like it. It was as bad as the awful confit de canard here. The dessert was very ordinary ice cream with a posh name, bit of sponge and a very sweet, slightly alcoholic sauce. very disappointing. My sister and niece both had a beef stroganoff type thing that was heavy but saved by being a stingy small portion. Other locals have said that it is popular for the name and Harveys being kind of local it is a reference to that. Friends told me that Harveys has none of the 1980s verve any longer but is still expensive without justification.
Getting back...briefly to Wandsworth and the restaurant which was
Marcos first reign....was to be chefed by Alan.....who left UK for Canada.
Nigel Platts -Martin of Wimbledon common went on to open a few restaurants which gained Michelin Stars...Chez Bruce was one...the Glasshouse at Kew another.
True enough Daavid, I serve up indian bites like samosas & bahjees and the like for french people at aperitif time and the general consensus is good. This can be their initiation into the world of indian food. Just remembered another tasty indian resto in the centre of Montauban in the Place Royale. Definitely worth the kilometers for a good nosh and in such a lovely town centre too.
http://www.meteosun.com/fiche/photos/montauban-FRXX0067/page-12
Oh yes, the food in Pondicherry, or Puducherry as it is now, is great. The hybrid French/Indian food has never made it here, which is such a surprise once tried. Karikal and Yanaon are similar from what I have heard. Mahé is Malabar Coast, too much coconut for me, but I only know that from a Delhi restaurant anyway. Chandernagor just above Calcutta, Kolkata, in Bengal will also not be to my taste entirely I imagine. Bongong is all too curry paste, sweet or rice based and too little fresh vegetables, but for those who simply like chilli dishes quite fabulous.
I would not DREAM of holding myself up to be as good as a professional chef in any style! However we eat well, from a variety of places. My wife is from SE Asia so we have plenty of Asian food but she comes from the Philippines where the food is not very spicy. We have French, Italian, British, some Spanish, a little American, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Philippines. Even had some haggis on Burns' night!
As an architect, now retired, I only wish I could say that people in the UK appreciated professional designers (and paid them appropriately) more than they do now. The process of arriving at building concepts has been sublimated to cost engineers and other like minded people. It's like asking a chef to go easy on the cream in Norman cooking, or on the spices in Indian cooking. Please refrain from shaving more than a tiny sprinkling of truffle over my omelette. Why use fresh products, locally sourced, when you can buy boil in the bag made in Brazil? You see the same tick box architecture all over the UK, where have the regional character, materials and detailing gone? They will be knocking down today's sheds in 25 years.
I am sure you get lots of compliments.
But for me the Indians are the masters.
A nice restaurant in Bergerac is Villas Leticia
It is a pretty restaurant serving pretty food.
Very acceptable in quality and price....in the old town.
We all liked it.
The Bretons tend to really dislike the idea of proper Indian food. They wrinkle their noses and murmur "epice" and seem to have forgotten that the French had colonies in India too. I import most of my ingredients from the UK and have found that this place has a good range at sensible prices and an efficient and good value delivery service. From time to time I even order vegetables which come quick enough (as part of a larger order). Those Bretons that actually try Indian food seem to like it enough and when I provide some Indian nibbles as part of a "bring a plate" evening my stuff also seems to go quick enough and I have received plenty of compliments!
I am in touch with a few but they are not so easily persuaded.
The caterer and Hotel keeper has a really nice editor...It would be
a great platform.
The hotel which I mentioned is struggling.
Has a lot of good points but the restaurant is not in good hands.
Lobster meets banana and pineapple is dressed with steak and
almost all the dishes are bazaar with their match of flavours and textures.
A pop up situation would be wonderful
Plus real ritz style afternoon teas on the terrace for the tourists and local
chateau owners alike.
We had discussed cocktails in the past...they are fun in summer.
What would I get out of it? I would love to see it happen for everyone.
We have several sets of friends who would enjoy and spread the word, knowing the real McCoy from India, but we need a good start, certainly well beyond Bergerac's lamentable offering. Bordeaux has a couple of 'acceptable' but not brilliant places. So perhaps we ought to plot to tempt UK people of Indian origin who are restaurateurs/chefs to take the step over the moat, southern India or Gujarati rather than standard UK type stuff. Both are 'cuisine' so would be far more likely to score a decent niche.
Does anybody know a food journalist who could plump an article in the right place?
Yes Brian it was vegan food at Sharuna.
The rooms were an insult to the word hotel.
I once took a client to see a room and was bitterly ashamed when I
discovered the low standard. Trip advisor would have a field day.
The Indian restaurant in Bergerac well. They are the lady chef is not Indian.
David if you go to London try to get to Indian Zing in Hammersmith lovely,
light and delicious cooking.
I wanted to bring them here to this region for a food festival but I was met with all
sorts of negativity from ex pats mainly who were more interested in judging my motives than wanting to join in on the fun. It could be amazing. Yes I would need to pay for the
chef to come over and we were discussing the matter. in the past we had always enjoyed talking about the possibility of a visit to us in France to do something together.
But my place is not big enough for the event....needs to be a place like Chateau du Sanse
or Chateau du Pitray both just near me and great venues.
Once upon a time I would confidently go ahead and put the words into motion....
but there is obstruction.....lack of support
It will come Brian but it will take time. The french are generally ignorant of such cuisine so the overall profile is very low. We have some very good (and some pretty foul) Indian restos in SW France and the only way is up. Indian or Pakistani restos I can thoroughly recommend can be found in Pau, Mont de Marsan, Poitiers & Limoges as well as other towns in the south-west. It's a start tho' and maybe the only way for this cuisine to grow is by us 'old hands' educating the french public. I've taken french friends and neighbours to such restos and they are now confirmed lovers of such cuisine.
Indian restaurants her in Brittany are very uninspiring. Two Brits have set up a sort of Indian traiteurs which is better than anything local but not classic. I am going to the UK in a couple of weeks and will insist on visiting at least one pukka place!
Ah, the Sharuna Hotel and India Coffee House in Great Russell Street. The first place I ever had vegan food, let alone vegetarian, fabulous place, fantastic food.
Sree Krishna, Tooting High Street, still going strong. Visit before last to London I went with my sister and a couple of other people.
If only France, given the large number of French tourists now going to India, would develop its own Indian food market. The one in Bergerac is an insult to the palate, which I am sure Barbara will confirm.
I suppose that Sharuna played its part in the history of Indian restaurants in London.
I left the kitchen of Andre Duetch just along the street to cook western style vegetarian
cuisine in the spicy kitchen amongst the Dosas and bell purries, IN the evening I cooked
at Mckredies club in Theatre Land.
Sree Krishna used to be really great. South Indian food. Near St George's so lots of medics.
Sounds like they are/were related to the Stockpot in Basil St SW3 and there was one in the King's Rd SW3 as well. I am talking late 60's!!!!!! You could have a two course meal for 50p! They had some rather strange sauces which used to be applied to a variety of dishes. Fine dining? NO but it kept the cold out!
I have very special memories of a restaurant in the Chilterns somewhere.
I say somewhere because the friends who I went with lived not too far away and
drove across country....and took all the tiny roads on the way back in order to
avoid being discovered by the police.
Sometimes we would wait for our table outside in the field on the grass sipping the
champagne......which was on tap! I have no idea how they achieved this?
It was always a sunday lunchtime when our restaurants were closed.
The time would witter away....
We talked about all sorts but lots about food and cooking and other restaurants.
We were young, motivated and having great fun at The Sir Charles Napier.
Somewhere in Oxfordshire is Great Milton.
Not all life is in London!!!