Give me my fix, dammit, Blanc

Guillaume Rabillat from Bastille on the Lisburn Road tells me that Raymond Blanc is a fantastic guy. The manager of the Lisburn Road-based French restaurant had the good fortune to get chatting with Blanc at an event a while back and enjoyed a great evening with him (incidentally I had an interview with Guillaume in Monday’s paper, which you can read here).

Blanc is someone who, for some reason not even known to myself, I have largely ignored when it comes to TV and chefs. I have no idea why. I did manage to catch most of the last series of the Restaurant which warmed me to him. And when I noticed he was starting a new show last night and that the first episode covered chocolate I was hooked. There I was with my box of chocolates Mrs F had bought me for Valentine’s Day, a Boost and a glass of milk (well, the Boost was a safety net in case I’d already eaten all the good ones).

Even though at the end of the 30 minutes I’d scoffed enough chocolate to do a reasonable person for a week, I was craving it big time. I had the urge. I needed the drug. The main culprit, if you set aside Blanc’s famous Café crème (which looks like a good half a day’s work, but also looks like it would be worth it), was the Chocolate Delice. If ever there was pornography on a plate, this was it. I felt like licking the TV, just in case something leaked through. I needed the fix. Badly. If you’re a chocolate lover, you should definitely check out last night’s show (click here to watch on iPlayer). I am counting the minutes until I get my fix. Talking of drugs, you have to read a post by everyone’s favourite waiter Manuel.

What’s the world coming to? This article by Manuel had me shaking my head in disbelief this morning. I’ve seen some crazy shit in my time. In fact, I’ve probably done some crazy shit in my time, depending on what your take on crazy shit is. But this is, well, crazy. Have a read and find out for yourself.