2012: A Fish Odyssey

I was a little surprised by Grace Dent's recent drubbing of Forman's in the Evening Standard - but then I thought, well, it is a bit spendy, could do with a few more customers, completely out of the way, and the service could do with being taken up a notch or two, but the food is great (the eel is delicious as she says), the concept is pretty unique (it's in a smokerie) and the view of the Olympic stadium is completely unrivalled.

But this is a blog about chairs and the guys at Forman's do a good chair.

They're clearly influenced by Eames and/or Harry Bertoia, who both knew a thing or two about wire chairs, and en masse they contribute well to the airiness of the double height dining space.

Bet my Aunty Christine like these...

Good For Lunch, Bad for Chairs

Great post here from Goodforlunch.com comparing Ramsay's new Bread Street Kitchen with Jamie's Italian down the road in Threadneedle Street.

The big takeout from the piece - Gordon's got chair AND stool issues. Good grief.

Restaurant design's obviously a hot topic at the moment with this piece on the Observer's Food Monthly blog today, spurred on by a redesign at Gregg's of all places...

Platform One

This is Platform - a bar/restaurant in the arches under London Bridge station (Platform - geddit?!).

EVERYTHING in there is recycled or reclaimed, and the food is delish - as well as being ethically and locally sourced. They do a great line in cocktails too.

Tony, the owner, bought lots of chairs off me when he was fitting it out... they're now at home in the restaurant upstairs.