Restaurant Blogs: Hugh Wright's TwelvePointFivePercent

Readers of this blog have a great interest in restaurants, therefore I thought I would introduce you to some of my favourite food and restaurant blogs. Here’s the first Q&A session with Hugh Wright from TwelvePointFivePercent.

Name: Hugh Wright, TwelvePointFivePercent

How would you describe your blog? A wholly selfish endeavour which enables me to combine two of my very favourite pastimes, eating out and writing. That a (seemingly ever-increasing) number of people appear to enjoy reading the self-indulgently wordy results is a very welcome by-product indeed.

What’s your favourite restaurant in London, Hugh Wright? Such a difficult one but at the moment I would say it’s neck-and-neck between Cecconi’s and Dean Street Townhouse as both so perfectly combine all the things I look for in a restaurant (see next question for what that is!).

However I also absolutely love my local Mexican, Cafe Sol Dos in Clapham, as I have been eating there regularly for the last ten years and never, ever had a bad meal.

What makes the perfect restaurant for you? Eating out for me is all about the whole experience; food is a big part of that but not everything. I’m really not bothered about food being gourmet, or perfect, or innovative, as long as it’s good.

I can forgive so-so food if the room’s amazing, the service impeccable and there’s a great buzz (e.g Dean Street Townhouse), but if you served me the finest food in the world in a crappy space with no atmosphere and snooty staff I’d be miserable. Very, very few places get the mix exactly right.

What’s next on your hit list? I’m less interested in getting to new restaurants than I am in trying established places that are new to me but have great reputations: The Greenhouse, Pied A Terre and Galvin La Chapelle are all high on that list, I’m itching to get to L’Anima, and I am really hoping that one day a rich man (or woman!) will want to take me to Umu.

Of recent openings, I’m keen to get to Cassis Bistro as I’d like to see how it compares to Cigalon, which I loved.

Are you excited about any new openings during 2011? Honestly – no. While I do take a keen interest in restaurant news and what’s happening on the scene, I’m not generally ‘excited’ by it. I’m interested to see if Corbin & King bring anything new to the scene with their touted The Delaunay on Aldwych but that’s the only one that springs to mind.

What has been your worst restaurant experience? It was before I started blogging but I still remember Corrigan’s in Mayfair being a huge and expensive disappointment. I’d loved Richard Corrigan’s cooking at the Lindsay House (now Gauthier Soho) and had high hopes for his eponymous restaurant but was left completely underwhelmed by the food and particularly the disjointed, disinterested service.

I don’t feel bad about saying this either, because I gave the restaurant the opportunity to put things right at the time and they were completely apathetic.

If you could give a new restaurant advice before opening, what would it be? Don’t be over-ambitious. Be realistic about how many covers and sittings your kitchen, waiting staff and reservations team can handle to a high standard and stick to it.

Which of the newspaper reviewers do you like / hate? I love and revere Marina O’Loughlin (Metro) and Fay Maschler (Standard) and actively look forward to Wednesdays and Thursdays when their reviews appear.

The ladies’ occasional stand-ins Andy Lynes and Andrew Neathers are also very entertaining. Tracey Macleod in the Indy is fab, and I miss Terry Durack, ex of the Independent on Sunday who’s moved back down under.

I don’t ‘hate’ anyone but I do think that A.A.Gill’s Sunday Times reviews, the style of which hasn’t changed in all the years he’s been doing them, are now the oldest of old, old hat and he should be put out to pasture.

What’s your favourite post on your blog? I think my favourite one is always the one I’ve just written. I had lots of fun with my recent post on Hibiscus though it combined a bit of reportage about the London Restaurant Festival with the review of the restaurant, which was a bit of a departure for me.

What’s the future direction of your blog? More of the same to be honest; it really is just a hobby to me, not something I’m actively seeking to grow or develop but if time allows in 2011 I’d like to blog more regularly as it’s rather sporadic at the moment.

Which other blogs, food or otherwise, would you recommend? Other than yours of course, my favourite blogs are about one of my other loves, fashion. I absolutely love www.anastasia-duck.com for the wit, quality and originality of the writing and the often captivating photography.

Another great one is www.thedashempire.com which is as entertaining as it is informative. Food wise I generally tend to enjoy blogs about food more than other restaurant blogs; Luke Mackay makes me shriek with laughter sometimes and James Ramsden is just wonderful.

I’m in mourning still for Dave Knockles’ utterly obscene blog I Am The Client which sadly is no more. Lastly I love every single word that The Uncommon Client writes about luxury; I live vicariously through this exquisitely eloquent young man’s take on all things fine and fabulous.

Please note Cassis Bistro has since closed.

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