Restaurants: Tramshed, London EC2 | Life and style | The Guardian

Mark Hix has had a good recession. No, scratch that: he’s had an amazing recession. The former head chef of the Caprice group opened the first restaurant of his own, Hix Oyster & Chop House, in April 2008. You’d have thought that was just about the worst time imaginable to start a new business, but Hix has had nothing but success and acclaim, and his business has grown at astonishing speed. Four years later, Hix has seven restaurants and a bar, all of them busy. That would be good going at any time, but in the face of the current headwinds it’s outstanding.

The most recent of these restaurants is Tramshed in Shoreditch. The building, built in 1905, was an electricity generating station for trams, and Hix has for some time had his eye on the place; an earlier attempt to buy it hit planning trouble, but he persevered. As soon as you walk in, you can see why: it’s a dramatic, high-ceilinged, open space, with a bar to one side and a gallery up above at the far end. Dominating it are two works by Damien Hirst: a vitrine of a cow with a chicken on its back at the front of the restaurant, and a painting of a cartoon cow and chicken at the back. They look expensive.

At this point, even the most casual walk-in customer may be starting to say to themselves: I wonder if this place has something to do with cows and chickens? The answer is yes. It has everything to do with cows and chickens. In fact, it has so much to do with cows and chickens that it has nothing to do with anything else. Roast chicken and steak are the only main courses on the menu. You can have a chicken to share between two of you, or a sirloin steak of 250g, 500g, 750g or 1kg. And that’s it, save for chicken or steak salad, for customers determined to be difficult. The bareness of this is pretty startling; it’s brave, I suppose, but it’s going out on quite a limb. What if you don’t feel like roast chicken or steak? You’re in the wrong restaurant, simple as that. Are people going to catch on to the idea? Hmm…

via Restaurants: Tramshed, London EC2 | Life and style | The Guardian.

Strange Random Steak Quote:

“My favorite animal is steak.” ― Fran Lebowitz

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Bon Jovi on His Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant, Stigmas, and Cucumbers — Grub Street New York

Cover of Bon Jovi

When he’s not rocking out, Jon Bon Jovi heads up the JBJ Soul Foundation, and today the charity group unveils its latest effort, the “pay-what-you-can” Soul Kitchen in Red Bank, New Jersey. The aim is to provide an alternative to fast food, with dishes like beet salad, gumbo, roast chicken, and barbecued salmon (full menu below); anyone who’s livin’ on a prayer and can’t make a cash donation can volunteer instead.

Is this really a restaurant for everyone?

Yes. Let me change your mind, because you’re imagining a tray service type of soup kitchen and it’s the opposite. Picture the coolest brasserie in your hometown, that’s what this is. It’s the hottest-looking restaurant in this town. We have to get rid of a few stigmas attached to the word volunteering and making a difference.

via Bon Jovi on His Pay-What-You-Can Restaurant, Stigmas, and Cucumbers — Grub Street New York.

Strange Random Restaurant Quote:

“The disparity between a restaurant’s price and food quality rises in direct proportion to the size of the pepper mill.” – Bryan Miller

 

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Scottish fish & chips the best – it’s official!

Many people would go a long way to get a good portion of fish & chips. Now it seems that they may have to, following the third consecutive victory of a Scottish “chippy” (fish & chip shop) in the National Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition. An added reason for celebration is that 2010 is also the 150th anniversary of the great British standard dish.

The winner was Giovanni Fionda of The Atlantic Fast Food chippy in Coatbridge, Glasgow. Although it was the first time he had entered the competition, his parents (seen here in the photo) have a long experience of running fish & chip shops. Second place went to Finnegan’s Fish Bar in Porthcawl, South Wales, with Midlands regional winner, The Great British Eatery in Birmingham coming in third place.

Entrants were judged not only on the quality of their product and restaurant, but also on other areas of business such as responsible sourcing, customer satisfaction or community spirit.

More information on the competition can be found at the organiser’s website – seafish.org

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Strange Random Fish Quote:

If I were to play somebody who ran a fish and chip shop, I would not work in a fish and chip shop for three months. Staring at chips is not going to help me in my performance – Ben Kingsley

A food-loving doctor’s view of Barcelona tapas

Image via Wikipedia

Found this rather honest review of several tapas bars and restaurants in Barcelona, part of a world tour blog written by a doctor whose real passion is cooking and food in general!

Tomo Style

The Great British Breakfast of Champions

Image by oosp via Flickr

From the New York Magazine via The Guardian.

The Great British fried breakfast, as found in London cafés, airport restaurants and English bars in tourist areas, is fast becoming the trendy way to start your day in New York, according to the New York Magazine. They describe it as a

classic full English breakfast, consisting of bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, and lots of toast

classic full English breakfast, consisting of bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, and lots of toast

 

Read more: The Full English Breakfast Has Become All the Rage — New York Magazine http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/61830/#ixzz0Wd7hfpT0

However, the UK newspaper The Guardian doesn’t agree:

Are New Yorkers traducing the name of our national breakfast? Can it be a fry-up without a fried slice, toast under the egg and a big plate of chips on the side?

We can only hope that Gordon Brown and Barack Obama manage to see eye to eye on such a delicate issue; perhaps a breakfast meeting is in order?

Original article

The Guardian food blog comment