| clive bradbury |
10-15-08 04:10 PM |
At one time the criticism was fully justified. I grew up in a Britain where the idea of eating out was based around how full you could get for the cheapest price - 'all you can eat' carveries with grey meat and even greyer mushy vegetables.
Things have changed dramatically over the last 20 years - Britain now boasts a host of Michelin star restaurants, and some cutting-edge chefs and cuisine. Once they were limited to London, but now they have spread all over the country. Ludlow, a quiet Shropshire market town, now has several top restaurants competing against each other, for instance. Chefs found that rents are not as high outside the capital, and everyone has benefited. I recently ate at a Michelin star establishment in the quiet backwater of Portpatrick in south-west Scotland - miles from anywhere (Knockingham House), and some of the seafood in the Scottish ports is to die for (and not in a kebab-related way).
British cuisine is now being exported, and the recipient countries generally love it. One of the most successful restaurants in Paris is British, and Gordon Ramsey's New York eatery is highly praised. In fact his former general manager has now opened his own restaurant in NY, too, and critics rate it better than Ramsey's.
|
