tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post5641460116380936752..comments2023-10-08T20:53:14.164+11:00Comments on Deep Dish Dreams: John Torode - Hidden Agenda?stickyfingershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14861830835308131738noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-13346717297833666732007-10-23T12:05:00.000+10:002007-10-23T12:05:00.000+10:00Great post, stickyfingers - though I'd argue Torod...Great post, stickyfingers - though I'd argue Torodes has less of a hidden agenda, more of a pretty damn open agenda! Tosser. :)clairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17271464994614942315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-68816005075734350732007-10-04T17:22:00.000+10:002007-10-04T17:22:00.000+10:00Thanks Jack for your insight. I agree that to pull...Thanks Jack for your insight. I agree that to pull these comments out without supporting argument seems like a pointless filler on a slow news day. I was about to put all thoughts of it to bed when Jill Dupleix made some more comments yesterday. It's given me some more food for thought which I will post once I've done a bit of research.<BR/><BR/>The theme continues with Stephanie over at The Elegant Sufficiancy also expressing her opinion on the subject and about high end dining at the Crown Casino complex.stickyfingershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861830835308131738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-81349743368054303332007-10-03T22:51:00.000+10:002007-10-03T22:51:00.000+10:00This is an interesting play with the media and I h...This is an interesting play with the media and I hate to give it more attention than it possibly deserves, BUT unfortunately we don't seem to have all the info, where did he dine? What was the basis for the further quotes that are tacked onto the bottom of the SMH piece, they sound very bland. Jill Dupleix's quote is:<BR/>"Jill Dupleix, food writer: John is absolutely right. I feel sorry for Sydney. People are demanding cheaper and cheaper food so they are getting the scene they deserve."<BR/><BR/>This sounds like Jill talking about a topic at the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival earlier this year on a panel when select restauranteurs were trying to band together to influence prices up instead of down. I don't see this quote as being negative for the food industry, merely an observation of some of its difficulties.<BR/>Sounds like te SMH are trying to soup up a dull and uninformed series of quotes from a dull chef. <BR/>Lets stop talking about this man...<BR/>JackJackie Middletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16097430040613398754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-77877137505662482292007-10-02T20:24:00.000+10:002007-10-02T20:24:00.000+10:00Thanks Truffle & Duncan. I've been told that someo...Thanks Truffle & Duncan. I've been told that someone in the UK has been trawling search engines for responses to the article, and with my post being the only one to appear on the first page - under the article listings - I think they will be rather miffed - LOL!stickyfingershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861830835308131738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-42530933611962466122007-10-01T23:23:00.000+10:002007-10-01T23:23:00.000+10:00There isn't a lot of detailed public talk about th...There isn't a lot of detailed public talk about the flaws in the Oz restaurant scene(s), but Torode's criticisms seem thoroughly hollow -- has he elaborated beyond the liberal generalisations he managed to get into print? Probably not...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-24390831711551980252007-10-01T22:07:00.000+10:002007-10-01T22:07:00.000+10:00Fantastic post. I agree completely!Fantastic post. I agree completely!Trufflehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12045183484202678148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-59788274098417930072007-10-01T10:27:00.000+10:002007-10-01T10:27:00.000+10:00OMG Gobbler! Tsindos - I remember going there with...OMG Gobbler! Tsindos - I remember going there with my parents around the time that I was avidly devouring 'A La Carte' magazine. <BR/><BR/>Last year, Stephanie Wood described Torode thus in her blog - but then conceded that his recipes work:<BR/><BR/>"I met the chef John Torode once and, the circumstances being what they were, and with at least one glass of wine under my belt, I told him that I thought he was arrogant and rude. I was involved in a cooking demo he was giving and I also decided that he was a lightweight, a shallow celebrity chef who made his living cooking for rich Londoners and collecting a pay packet from Sir Terence Conran. (I didn't share these conclusions with him.)"<BR/><BR/>There are plenty more remarks of perhaps a more 'colourful' nature online from the British public, but to your point, his pursuit of rare breed and organic meat is commendable in a place where meat became awfully tasteless.<BR/><BR/>Ed - I agree. I think that the thrust of the articles was deliberately inflammatory and a waste of space, hence my theory about him seeking a media profile over here. The sweeping generalisations made me presume that he had spent his visit dining in the popular Sydney tourist spots and mainstream suburban restaurants and had not bothered to look any further. <BR/><BR/>The fact that Jill Dupleix agreed made me wonder why expat Aussies bother coming back, and then it dawned on me that it is for the additional publicity and tax benefits of mixing business with visiting family.stickyfingershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14861830835308131738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-9668152179684458012007-10-01T09:53:00.000+10:002007-10-01T09:53:00.000+10:00Let's face it, it's a bit like being savaged by Ai...Let's face it, it's a bit like being savaged by Ainsley Harriott. There is a grain of truth though about the fusion confusion thing. What Neil Perry did 15 years ago was innovative. Now it's the norm. Where do Ezard and Taxi stand in all this?Ed Charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00579789564673979283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7700505313257578551.post-63507510303752558232007-10-01T06:25:00.000+10:002007-10-01T06:25:00.000+10:00I think you are spot on with Torodes comments. Try...I think you are spot on with Torodes comments. Try as he may he will never be Germaine, Barry, Clive or Robert Hughes. He is a chef that is a product of his time & his menus reflect this. With the grab bag of favourites honed in the Conran stable & still clutching a rudimentry grasp of Asian cooking from his Aussie days, he opened SOS. <BR/>At the time to give credit where its due he was one of the first to source & name breeds & farms of origin on his menus.<BR/>I was a little surprised that Shannon Bennet commented in the paper as it appeared to me at least to portray that this was a bitchy, catty industry(perhaps it is but we dont need to perpetuate it!)Perhaps a more calculated response to his comments would have been be to starve them of the oxygen that they require.<BR/><BR/>ie:John Torode says, blah blah<BR/>response-Whatever!<BR/><BR/>P.S. I have a small connection, we were apprentices at the old Tsindos Bistrot in Burke Street years ago. I looked him up in London but he already had an English accent after being there two minutes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com