DECANTER World Wine Awards

20-Apr-09 to 24-Apr-09 - Now, apparently the world's biggest wine competiton with more than 10,000 wines. There will be more later but not everything until the autumn when the full details are published in the magazine. But loads of old chums from the trade, and the great pleasure of working with the adorable Sarah Jane Evans.

Champagne Jacquart 'Rising Stars' final

15-Apr-09 - This is the piece which ran in YES CHEF! Magazine:

On the face of it, it seemed a simple task: candidate restaurants would put up a young chef and sommelier with a brief to create a three-course menu and to choose three appropriate wines to accompany each choice. Over the period of the competition the entrants were whittled down to five finalists, who were briefed to create a meal using any vegetable for the starter (this proved to be an asparagus-fest), lamb for the main course, and any fruit for the dessert. There was a tasting table of 28 wines, from dry to red to sweet, all presented blind, and while the chef was slaving in the kitchen, the sommelier had an interview with the panel and then selected his or her three wines from the table to match the food. Along with me, the other judges were Gérard Basset of Hotel Terravina, Charles Campion of the Evening Standard, Geoff Booth, head of hospitality at the college, Antonin Bonnet of the Greenhouse, James Doidge of The Wine Treasury and Jane Parkinson from The Drinks Business, which was the media partner for the competition.

The day kicked off at 09:00 with Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill in London, with sommelier Liam McCurry and chef Boguslaw Proch. Starter: asparagus, peas and broad-bean risotto; 2007 Domaine Rieflé Pinot Blanc, Alsace. Main: harrissa lamb kebab with couscous, smoked eggplant and tzatziki; 2007 J.Alberto Malbec, Patagonia, Argentina. Dessert: strawberry mess with Alfonso mango; 2005 Domaine Rieflé Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive.

Next up was the Manor House Hotel from Castle Combe, Bath, with sommelière Laetitia Levier and chef Thomas Citarella. Starter: salad of asparagus and chicory, poached quail's egg, hollandaise; 2002 Champagne Jacquart Blanc de Blancs. Main: roast rack of lamb with truffle creamed potatoes, wild garlic and lamb jus; 2004 Altos de Luzón, Jumilla. Dessert: passion fruit mousse with mango sauce; 2006 Viñedos de Ithaca Penelope Blanca, Priorat.

Judging in progress - Laetitia Levier, Gérard Basset, me, Charles Campion

Third finalist was the Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham, with sommelier Samuel Walker and chef John Freeman. Starter: asparagus raw and cooked, poached egg yolk, morels, pea shoots and candied hazelnuts; 2007 Florian Mollet Pouilly-Fumé l'Antique. Main: rump and shoulder, tomato courgette, goats' cheese, black olive caramel, lemon and mint; 2004 Altos de Luzón, Jumilla. Dessert: rhubarb with tarragon granita, Marshmallow and almond granola; 2008 La Spinetta Moscato Bricco Quaglia, Piemonte.

La Bécasse in Ludlow put up sommelier Nicolas Chesneau and chef Will Holland. Starter: celeriac and coconut royale, English asparagus, tomato essence and basil cress; 2007 Domaine Rieflé Pinot Blanc, Alsace. Main: new season lamb loin roasted with liquorice, rosti potato, wild garlic and anchovies; 2004 Arlewood Cabernet Sauvignon, Margaret River. Dessert: raspberry, elderflower and Champagne jelly, yoghourt sabayon and vanilla brioche croutons; 2004 Champagne Jacquart Cuvée Brut Rosé.

The final competitor was Harvey Nichols Forth Floor restaurant, Edinburgh, with sommelier Mickael Legras and chef Christopher Clark. Starter: tomato consommé and goats' cheese tortellini with green and white asparagus; 2007 Arlewood Sauvignon/Sémillon, Margaret River. Main: rack of borders lamb with Ayrshire potatoes, celeriac and apple purée and thyme-roasted potatoes; 2006 WillaKenzie Pinot Noir, Oregon. Dessert: blood-orange and chocolate 'jaffa' cake with caramelised oranges and candied zest; 2002 Champagne Jacquart Cuvée Blanc de Blanc.

There were some magnificent menus and bold pairings on show, and in the interviews the sommeliers acquitted themselves with style and confidence, but in the final judging there were two front-runners: Sat Bains and the Forth Floor and, in the event, the team from Sat Bains won the day. In the view of the judges the deciding factor was the Forth Floor dessert: citrus is notoriously difficult to match, and the Champagne was just too brut to make the marriage. We, the judges, were all encouraged, however, by the creativity and skill of the participants, all of whom are worthily described as 'rising stars'.

The winning team: sommelier Samuel Walker and chef John Freeman of Restaurant Sat Bains. They didn't stay for the celebratory dinner as they had to dash back to Nottingham in time for service - keen or what?

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Vinus Durii, Zamora and Finca Constancia, Otero

01-02-Apr-09 - ...Because I was heading north-west to Zamora for Vinus Durii, which is a joint festival organised by the wine authorities in the valley of the Duero in Spain and the Douro (as it becomes) in Portugal. This year it was in Zamora, and I had a leisurely start, catching the only daytime direct Madrid-Zamora train of the day from Chamartín. [Anorak alert - trains] The Talgo leaves Madrid at 14:20 and arrives in Zamora at 16:48, calling at Segovia and Medina del Campo on the way. It's not a high-speed train and proceeds at a stately pace (about 60 mph on average, end-to-end, which is actually quite fast compared with most trains in the UK - especially those from the south coast to London). It is, however, very comfortable (the Spanish gauge - 1,672 mm or 5 ft 5.83 in - leads to more space and stability than the standard gauge - 1,435 mm or 4 ft 8½ in). Interestingly, about half way through the journey I was in the bar having a large one and noticed through the window that we were now on a non-electrified line, although we'd left Chamartín under 25 kV overhead power. The stewardess (charming young woman) confirmed that at an intermediate stop (presumably Segovia) the train switches to diesel traction for the rest of its journey (which ends in A Coruña). The delay had been little more than that at Farringdon when the Thameslink switches from 25 kV to third-rail: very well organised. [End of anorak alert].

Anyway, the organisers (Marta Martín and Óscar Díez of ITACyL - an agency which promotes the produce of Castilla y León) met me at the station in Zamora and transported me to the Parador Condes de Alba y Aliste, a magnificent palace built in 1459. I have stayed here before - albeit in November 1988 as part of the 'Aranda to Zamora Rally' which is another story for another time - and it remains exactly as I remember it: magnificent staircases, suits of armour, tapestries, four-poster beds and a splendid central cloister. It's also very conveniently situated for the Hospital de la Encarnación (where the events were being held), which is just across the Plaza de Viriato and an easy stroll, even for me.

Plaza de Viriato, looking across to the Parador Condes de Alba y Aliste

Not quite so easy was the stroll to the Restaurante La Oronja on the town centre, but the walk was worth it. This is a smart, modern place run by Ricardo Campos and his wife Conchi, and very much in the avant-garde style of Spanish cookery. They had created a special menu for us on the two nights I was there, including some specially blended wines with a mix of Spanish and Portuguese grapes varieties to mark this joint venture between the two countries, so there were no familiar brand names. On the first night we kicked off with a Verdejo with a carpaccio of tuna with toast and tomatoes - a new take on the traditional pan con tomate - which worked extremely well with the wine. Next up was a rosado Tempranillo with prawns, sweetbreads and ginger: an interesting combination and I wrote in my notes "it works with the pinko, but would I order it? No." This was followed by hake in a filo-pastry case served on a plate with 'haiku' designs, and absolutely delicious. The red was served next - a commemorative blend of Touriga Nacional (which dominated the nose) and Tempranillo served with roast oxtail and wild mushrooms (fab) and puddings included ice cream with biscuits and chocolate. It looked beautiful but had a slightly salty character that didn't work for me.

The Plaza Mayor, Zamora

The following day, Thursday 02-Apr-09, was the gig, but we had the morning free as the event didn't start until 18:30, so I spent it exploring the old town (at my own pace!). Zamora is the most beautiful and unspoilt place and most of the city centre is paved, so traffic isn't a problem. I visited a couple of bars and had a bite to eat (there was an 'official' lunch at the Parador but I didn't want anything too heavy) before strolling back for a siesta.

Calle de Renova, Zamora

We met up with the others at the Parador at about 17:30. The chairman was Fernando Gurucharri Jarque, President of the Unión Española de Catadores, which was the sponsor of the event, and the other speakers apart from me were José Peñín, of the eponymous guide, Luis Ramos Lopes, of Revista de Vinhos magazine in Portugal, Pierre Casamayor from the University of Toulouse, and Luboš Bárta of Sommelier magazine in the Czech Republic. I've met Luboš and Pierre a number of times before, perhaps most notably at the Concours Mondial tasting Brazil in 2006. José, of course, I've met many times.

Fernando briefed us about the subject of the presentation. The title was 'The Importance of Prescriptors in the Wine Market." I had some trouble figuring our what 'prescriptors' meant, but apparently it's a catch-all term for people who recommend (i.e. 'prescribe') wines: writers, presenters, educators, et al. The questions were: 'do they listen to us? Or the producers? Do we talk about quality, or technical matters, or fashion in wines?' My own contribution was along the lines of "my job is to steer people towards wines they might not otherwise discover, present them with a list, with my comments, and then let them decide for themselves." They may agree or disagree with my own thoughts, but at least they have an opportunity to try something other than the ghastly monumental range of anonymous, cheap, bland Cabernet-Sauvignon and Chardonnay which burden the supermarket shelves.

The Hospital de la Encarnación had the look of a beautifully elegant former church (with wonderful acoustics) and the event ran precisely to time. The general consensus seemed to be that we need to concentrate on what we do well and hope that people will take advantage of it. I mentioned the Castilla y León trip (see post of 16-Mar-09) in which we were able to introduce members of the Circle of Wine Writers (in this case) to regions they'd never heard of, making wine from grape varieties they'd never heard of. It was very revealing.

There was a good turnout in the audience and I spoke to a number of friends and acquaintances including Fernando Luaces from ADE and Patxi Martínez from Bodegas La Setera, both of whom had been involved in that same trip. Zev Robinson (see post of 03-Mar-09) was also there shooting film (well, video I suppose) and no doubt a DVD will surface in due course.

And then it was off to dinner again at La Oronja, with mostly the same wines but a different menu: olive oil and ham ice-cream to start (it sounds a bit Fat Duckish but it worked), then a repeat of the carpaccio of tuna, then a 'longboat in a sea of olive oil' - a slice of chicory with mango, endives, herbs and nuts, including a macadamia nut, presumably representing the Viking captain (well, I said it was avant-garde). It also included cockles (allergy alert!) But the chef made a special one for me using bacalao instead, which is real service. Next up was sea-bass with aubergines ('a bit soggy' I wrote in my notes) which I didn't finish. The red wine was another cross-border blend made especially for the occasion and was as big as a house: powerful Touriga Nacional with lots of tannin but nevertheless splendid. If there's any left it should be magnificent in a couple of years. We drank it with a piece of steak (rather small but absolutely delicious) with a single asparagus spear, carrot and green beans. Pudding was peach soup with an apricot bonbon and soft pastries. On the whole the meal was a tour-de-force and uniformly excellent. By this time Óscar had spotted my slow progress in the walking department and arranged for a car to take me back to the parador - service, indeed.

And, once again, I didn't have an early start the following morning, as I was going back to Madrid with Pierre Casamayor and Zev Robinson. The organisers had provided us with generous gifts, but mainly of a fragile and liquid variety, so I had to leave them behind. I had no space in my luggage and, of course, you can't take them on board a flight as hand baggage - very sad.

We got to Madrid Terminal 4 around midday and Pierre caught his flight home, while Zev and I hit the nearest café-bar to prepare for our trip to Otero...

03-Apr-09 - ...Which is some 100 km west of Madrid. In fact, it's in the middle of the DO Méntrida in Castilla-La Mancha, although two of the biggest investors here, Osborne (Solaz) and González Byass (GB) (Altozano), both Sherry giants, have not joined the Consejo Regulador, but market their wines as VdlT de Castilla. This may be about to change, however, if GB achieves its objectives.

I last visited here in December 2005, but a great deal has changed since then. The vineyard (which supplies the grapes for Altozano) was planted in 2001, but the central and 'best' area has now been earmarked for a project called Finca Constancia (FC), and a magnificent, brand-new bodega was constructed from scratch, completed in 2006, with the first vintage made there in 2008. GB makes no bones about going for 'DO Pago' status (or whatever it will be called under the new EU regulations) at some point in the future. Castilla-La Mancha was the originator of the 'Pago' classification (thanks largely to the efforts of Carlos Falcó, Marqués de Griñón) and contains four of the seven existing 'Pago' estates.

The winemaker, César Fernández has worked in this area of Spain for 9 years and he told me that grapes for FC come from 6 specific plots within the 76 plots which make up the 190 ha estate, none more than 15-20 minutes away from the winery at harvest time. The vineyard has the latest trendy 'half dry root' irrigation system and the vines are subject to rigorous canopy management. César works with 2 universities (Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha) on viticultural practices, using satellite mapping and all that sort of hi-tech stuff, and the individual plots are referenced by the many different soil types. Anyway, that's enough technical business - what do the wines taste like? After a mercifully brief look at steel tanks we went into the restaurant area for the tasting. Zev was shooting yards of film all over the place while I got stuck in. We tasted the full Altozano range which includes a Verdejo (VdlT Castilla y León) and a pink Tempranillo, but it's the reds which offer the real value:

Altozano 2006 Tempranillo/Shiraz 70/30, 4-5 months oak, 14% abv - lotsa pepper and big fruit, structure and complexity. A little austere on the mid-palate, but very promising long finish. 17/20

Altozano 2006 Tempranillo/Cabernet 65/35, 4-5 months oak, 14% abv - blackcurrant spice, lotsa fruit, richness and power on mid, elegant length. 17/20

Altozano 2008 Tempranillo, 3 months oak, 5% abv, (bottled 1 week) - classic Tempranillo strawberry/raspberry fruit, lovely clean fruit on the mid with 'teeny tiny tannins' (sorry, but that's what I wrote), and a hint of praline (?) on the finish. 17/20

Altozano 2008 Tempranillo/Cabernet 50/50, 4-5 months oak (tank sample pre-bottling) - big dark fruit, spicy nose, noticeable tannins and a hint of praline again on the mid. Austere on the finish but shows great promise. Needs bottle age. 17/20

Altozano wines retail in the UK for £4.99 to £5.99.

Hard at work - César in the background

Then it was on to cask samples which will be blended later (César ages all the varieties separately before deciding on the final blend). As these wines are the 'ingredients' for future blends there's no point in giving them a mark at this stage, but they all meet or surpass the 17/20 standard:

2008 Cabernet-Franc (assigned to Finca Constancia) - leafy, fresh spicy, austere mid but lotsa structure, clean fruit, fresh acidity, and the fruit does come through on the finish.

2008 Petit-Verdot (not assigned) - 'freshly-cut hedgerow' with hints of toffee on the nose, lovely big, warm, rich fruit on the palate with hefty tannins at the moment.

2008 Cabernet-Sauvignon (not assigned) - spiky, brambly fruit, hot spice, very austere on the nose and a great deal of tannin. This really does need time but shows promise.

2008 Graciano (not assigned but probably Finca Constancia) - very spicy, spiky fruit, power, concentration with enormous structure on the palate, more of the powerful fruit and a finish that goes on for ever.

2008 Syrah (not assigned) - big, spicy warm nose, some 'green' fruit , with a clean 'botanical' style on the palate, and a crisp, spicy finish.

2008 Tempranillo (assigned to Finca Constancia) - big, warm spicy nose, good weight, warmth and 'chewy' fruit on the palate, lots of extraction and very long.

Work almost done

To conclude, we got to taste Finca Constancia itself, although the available vintages were not made at this particular bodega; The wine is aimed at the £9.99 price bracket:

Finca Constancia 2007 - Shiraz/Cabernet 40/40 plus Cabernet-Franc, Tempranillo and Graciano (6 weeks in bottle) - smoky, roasty, 'barbecue' nose, with big tannins on the palate, fruit bubbling under heroically. This needs at least two or three years. 17/20

Finca Constancia 2006 (the first vintage - not available UK) - full, ripe, aromatic fruit on the nose, excellent integration and lovely balance of fruit, oak and tannins on the palate, long and delicious finish. 18½/20

Lunch!

Then it was on to lunch - an excellent spread of tapas including bacalao, wild mushrooms, the obligatory chorizo and other spicy sausages, steak and peppers and, of course, we did our best to do justice to the remains of the wines tasted, as well as finishing off with Matúsalem and Noë from Jerez. It was a memorable - and educational - visit. GB very generously put me up in a hotel in Madrid for the night to avoid a very late flight home. Indeed, check-in time wasn't until 13:20 the following morning which allowed a very leisurely morning and ample time in the lounge at Terminal 1 to type the notes up before departure. This had been an excellent week's work.

"...And left poor Davy Crockett to do the washing up." Nice view over the vineyards, though.

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Salón de Gourmets, Madrid

30-Mar-09 - This was my first excursion with Air Comet, after I discovered that they still fly into Terminal 1 at Madrid, thereby avoiding the awfulness of Terminal 4. The flight was a comfortable 10:25 departure from LGW-north and I arrived in plenty of time. Which was just as well. There was no sign of the flight on the departure boards so I went to the information desk to ask why. The clerk looked through his flight sheets: "Ah, yes, they've been taken over by Air Europa." "Yes?" "And Air Europa (AE) fly from the south terminal." "When did this change happen?" He riffled through his papers. "Er, yesterday." I can pick 'em!

So I dragged my wheelie-bag on to the shuttle thing and down to the south terminal where, indeed the flight was listed and, having come this far, decided to eschew the lift on the milk float and tough it out to the gate under my own (albeit slow) steam.

A couple of large ones in the lounge helped to stiffen the sinews, and I managed to get on board without too much difficulty. AE is one of those airlines where you have to buy your own food and drink and, having been up since about 05:00 that morning, I was starving. A couple of baguettes, some wine and another large one set me back about €18 but at least all I had to do at Madrid was get a cab to the Hotel Wellington on the calle Velázquez. This is an astonishingly posh place - one of those where you probably couldn't afford the coffee if you were spending your own money - so I installed myself in the palatial room and turned to Google Street View for assistance. This gets a lot of stick in the press, but if you're in a strange part of town it's a great help to look up and down the street in your room and suss out where things are. I was looking for a pharmacy, a cashpoint and a tapas bar (the hotel, of course, has an elegant and opulent bar at five-star prices but I prefer to drink where the locals drink) and I found them all without difficulty, although the bar was round the corner on the calle Goya. So far so good.

I was in Madrid as a guest of the 23rd Club de Gourmets Annual Fair, and I was to speak at a wine forum on 'The New Wine Scene' alongside several other luminaries from the press and trade, from Spain, Russia, France, Portugal and Italy. This was not until 16:00 which gave me the opportunity to trawl round the exhibition stands to see what was new. I was not to be disappointed.

Without going into too much detail, these were some of the highlights:

Juvé i Camps (Cava) had an elegant pavilion where I tasted, amongst others, the Gran Juvé i Camps (classic real Cava - 18½/20) and their new Chardonnay. It was very good (17/20) but it does depress me to see Cava producers trying to make fake Champagne when their own product is so good.

Veiga Serantes Selección 2007, Rías Baixas has 5 months on the lees and no oak, and had an almost gooseberry freshness and acidity: lipsmacking. 17/20

Rayuelo 2006, Manchuela, is a new release from Pago Alto Landon (see the Manchuela tasting post on 26-Feb-09) with 50% Bobal and the rest Malbec and Monastrell from their vineyards at 1,100m altitude, with 8 months in French oak: lovely ripe fruit, gentle woody notes and silky tannins. 17/20.

L'Ame 2006 Malbec, another one from Alto Landon with 12 months in French oak: big, powerful, warm, lotsa tannin but big fruit and needs time. 18/20

Working hard: with AltoLandon winemaker Rosalía Molina

Montreaga Clásico 2004, Manchuela again, this time with 100% Syrah, 18 months in French oak vats and 12 in barrica: remarkably clean and crisp for a 14% abv wine, with good fruit working the tannins well, a bit austere on the finish - needs time. 17/20

Martinsancho 2008, Bodegas Ángel Rodríguez Vidal, Rueda. I deliberately sought this one out on the generic Rueda stand. Ángel Rodríguez is very traditional and has vines so ancient that universities come to take cuttings from them. He doesn't use modern technology and routinely turns out what is quite possibly the best wine in Rueda: the nose has that hint of 'wood-oil' which bespeaks old vines, and the fruit manages to be delicate and intense both at the same time, with a lovely, bone-dry finish. Delicious. 18½/20

I always look out for the Condado de Huelva as it's a sadly-neglected region making fortified wines which, in the bad old days, went down the road to Jerez. They've been experimenting with joven afrutado styles, but the Zalema grape is a bit neutral even at its best. I tasted a range from Bodegas Díaz, including their Pálido and Viejo fortified wines, which are very pleasant, and very cheap. The highlight was Daiz - a 100% Syrah joven (classified Vino de Mesa) which had delicious light, peppery fruit with a warm richness on the mid-palate and some power on the finish - and at 12.3% abv it could be what the 'lower-strength' market is looking for: it retails at €3 a bottle in Spain. 17/20. Perhaps the most interesting was Naranja - a mistela of Zalema which had been aged for a year on the skins of bitter Seville oranges. It was deliciously refreshing and very... Well, orangey.

Most Venenciadores are old blokes, but not at the Condado de Huelva

Valtiendas is one of the two remaining VCPRD areas, just south of Aranda de Duero in the province of Segovia. There are 5 bodegas and they were represented on a generic stand. The standard was good - mainly 15s and 16s, and there were a couple of interesting finds, both from Bodegas Zarraguilla, a small winery with 11 ha of vines in Sacramenia:

Vennur 2005 is 100% Tempranillo, aged in French oak: rather closed on the nose but powerful dark fruit on the palate, working tannins, heat and length. Retails at €4 in Spain. 17/20

Zeta 37 2005 is also Tempranillo fermented and with 12 months in French oak. Great big tannins, great big fruit, power, warmth, length. This needs time but will be a blockbuster. 17½/20

I came, I saw, I Cangas - this VdlT area is in Asturias and until recently was involved in purely domestic and local viniculture, but it has ambitions and was exhibiting at the show. For interest's sake, they grow the Verdejo Negro and Albarín Blanco, neither of which (honest, guv!) are related to their more famous (almost) namesakes, as well as Carrasquín. There are 6 bodegas, all of them very small, and the wines made a respectable 15-16/20 but the problem they have is that production is so small that the prices are a bit prohibitive. Examples:

2006 Monasterio de Corias Guilfa is made from Verdejo Negro, Mencía and Carrasquín with 8 months in French oak: smoky and light on the nose, good tannic 'grip', nice ripe fruit and soft tannins on the palate. Decent, honest wine, but at €11-€12 it's fighting in a tough market. 16/20

2006 Pesgos, Bodega del Narcea has the same grape mix as Guilfa but no oak: again a 'smoky' nose, but bright fruit (I asked if it was made my maceración carbonica but they said it wasn't), and a nice, crisp, smooth, light and fruity palate - uncomplicated, delicious. 16/20

Then it was off to the forum. My fellow speakers were David Cobbold (Eccevino), Jose Bento dos Santos (El Sentido del Gusto, Portugal). J. A. Mompó (Bodegas Domecq), Irina Kutkovskaya (Empire of Taste, Russia) and Francesco Arrigoni (Corriere della Sera). The subject was how Spanish wines generally were perceived in our respective countries. Unfortunately the translator had been brought in at the last minute and hadn't been briefed, so I did my bit in Spanish, much to the amusement of the audience. I like to think it's because my Spanish is witty, informed and full of jokes, bit I suspect that it's probably because my Spanish is crap, even though I've been speaking it for twenty years or more.

The presentation went very well and the Club de Gourmets were very generous - not only did I pick up a freebie copy of the 2009 Guía de Vinos Gourmets (one of my Spanish wine and food 'bibles') but they also took us to dinner at Coque, where the chef-patron is, of course, Mario Sandoval, my co-author of COOK ESPAÑA, DRINK ESPAÑA! We had a tasting of wines from Ricardo Benito and then the the umpteen-course tasting menu as well as a guided tour of the restaurant, and Mario arrived late from a consultancy job/TV appearance/booksigning or something or other and came over to welcome us. It was a splendid, if late evening, and I retired gratefully to the Hotel Wellington. It was extremely comfortable and, fortunately, I didn't have an early start the following morning...

The wine cellar at Coque

Mario Sandoval greets the guests

YES CHEF! Issue 9 put to bed

13-Mar-09 - The Milton Keynes Travelodge is really not at all bad. The room was big, the bed comfortable and the heating worked, and - not having had food of any kind all day - there was a halfway decent Indian Restaurant next door called The Silk Road, where I had polished off a chicken dansak and a bottle of something obscure (the wine list is not very adventurous) before heading back for a crash last night. There's no WiFi in the hotel but in the UK I have my O2 dongle which is slow but gets there in the end.

The final edit for YES CHEF! Issue 9 went very smoothly except that we lost a whole article: it had been a very optimistic review of a new restaurant launch in London full of ambition, pride and positivity... But the chef had walked out between writing the piece and publication date. We were, however, able to use the space for a big plug for our new website which is now all-singing and all-dancing... Well, at least it works.

I also sussed the mystery of the direct train from MKC to East Croydon. This had been mooted for months but never appeared on the timetables, and then, one day, I was on the way to Victoria and it overtook us. My thinking was twofold - to save money on a taxi between Victoria and Euston (and back) and not to have to change at Clapham Junction (where you have to be a marathon race-walker and there are no lifts).

This was a mistake. The direct train stops at every station between CLJ and ECR and engenders a three-minute change between several platforms at ECR (no lifts, no escalators). Indeed, I would have been better changing at CLJ which would only have involved two flights of stairs and two platforms. I shall know next time.