Where Fay Maschler would spend her own money (if she had to)

A few years back a British member of parliament called Neil Hamilton got into hot water when it was alleged he accepted brown-paper envelopes stuffed with cash from Mohammed Fayed, a tycoon who wanted Mr Hamilton ask questions sympathetic to his interests in the House of Commons.

That was bad enough, but what did it for many people was the incidental disclosure that the then-MP and his wife had stayed at the Ritz in Paris (owned by Mr Fayed) for five days or so on an “FC” basis—shorthand in the trade for “fully complimentary”. They ate every meal at L’Espadon, the Ritz's two-star restaurant, aways with Champagne. I suppose this lack of imagination shocked me even more. Not that I don’t like L’Espadon, it is first-rate—but it showed the Hamiltons had zero interest in what Paris had to offer, apart from free bed and board.

Around that time I was travel editor for -----*. I almost wrote a letter to The Times saying that, whereas the Hamiltons had been lambasted for not paying a fat hotel bill, I, as travel editor of -----, would have been sacked if I had paid one.

Anyway, Fay Maschler, the Evening Standard’s reliable restaurant critic, has just produced her list of 50 London restaurants where she would happily spend her own money if required to. It is invaluable both for residents and visitors. It contains not only the usual expensive suspects, but also such gems as the Pakistani kebab place New Tayyabs in Whitechapel, and Patio, a charming Polish place in Shepherd’s Bush. It should be downloaded and carried about for ready reference.

* Here, Bruce names a well-known publication. I have expunged the name out of sheer timidity. (RC)

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