260122 Wed May 16 16:41:38 -0700 2001 1 26 International 0 1374783 IMPORTANT NOTICE. I also forgot to mention that Jamie Kim has temped for me a couple of times for about a month each time. The last being some three years ago. It now occurs to me that while he was at the restaurant, he put the chocolate coulant on the menu at The Fat Duck. This recipe he obtained while on a two week stage that I fixed for him at Michel Bras. I took this dish off of the menu as it was just a copy of a great dish. Particularly from a chef that I have great admiration for and one that I also happen to have a good relationship with! Wed May 16 16:41:38 -0700 2001 0 Heston Blumenthal 1 1374823 Heston, you say that for a time you had the chocolate coulant on your menu, you also say that you had arranged the stage for Mr Kimm. Forgive me but it sounds like you intentionally sent him there to gather dishes on your behalf. You say also that you took the dish off your menu. Because it was too well known? It doesn't really matter as now you have admitted that you do take dishes from others, in this case Michel Bras, and put them on your menu. The list is long; chocolate coulant, smoked eel & foie gras, bacon ice-cream with pain perdu & tomato confit, cuttlefish pasta, salted butter caramel, your whole El Bulli approach, etc. etc. No one would deny that these are all attention grabbing dishes, and this I would suggest is your intention. When one decides to copy another chef in a far away country one must weigh up the risks of discovery and in your case they have certainly paid off but don't forget there are a few who get out and about, see what's happening and don't like it. For this reason I shall decline your challenge to make contact in person or by e-mail as I feel this debate is more correctly conducted in a public forum such as Chowhound although it's easy to see why this is not your preference. You mention some 'unique' techniques which sound to me like yet more gimmicks to get your name in the press. The gimmickerey is however appealingly veiled in a gauze of cereal box scientific theory designed to add respectability to what sounds like a undergraduate joke. If this is your only contribution to gastronomy then perhaps it would be better to keep quiet about it. But to this I plan to devote another posting at a later date. Heston, you play the fame game and flirt with the press like an ambitious courtesan and you've done well by it, but it's good to remember that, sadly, we can't always have things our own way. Sat May 19 07:39:21 -0700 2001 1374783 0 Michael Lewis