menu review: thanks a lot angela

we are one week into the new menu and it is gratifying to see that it has been well-received, at least by one person (http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186460-d1399993-Reviews-Canteen_on_Clifton_Street-Cardiff_Southern_Wales_Wales.html). As for me, i've found it a hard menu to prep and one that i'm not that happy with. the newsletter will have informed everyone that, for the first week, the gnocchi were not going to be made in house. this was the first time that we had gone down this route and it will probably be the last. i knew that we'd be under pressure on the first weekend, mainly because i was bicycling en famille in the new forest, so we decided to but in the gnocchi. we did so on the basis of a review of gnocchi by angela hartnett, of ramsay fame, but the product is in no way comparable with our own and i'll be making fresh this week.

at least one table did not enjoy the menu as much as i would have liked and for that i apologise. i shy away from pasta but in retrospect i should probably have put a pasta main course on the menu. this would have allowed more scope for getting the other mains just right. i'm pretty happy with the starters, especially the ravioli after we upped the broad bean content and the desserts are also very nice. i had a nightmare with pancakes for the crespelle, trying to make them all gluten free. this should not have been a problem because we had just come off a menu of gluten free galettes and the pan worked perfectly (analon). when i tried these, i'm not sure if it was the mix of flour that i was using but the pan would not behave, everything sticking. fortunately, leanne and tony pointed out that the menu said gluten free option and we tried some vegan pancakes with wheat flour and the pan started to behave again. why? i have no idea.

so this week we will aim to get everything to the proper standard. it's funny that the comment from the table that did not think that much of the food was that we should try the food at 'the gate' in london. two years ago when we were nominated in the vegetarian society awards we went to eat there because we were up against them in the best restaurant category. we didn't think that their food was as nice as our own but i guess that it's all down to taste; you can't please everybody but you have to try and be guided by what works for you.

cheers

wayne