The bottom line, though, is that he's close to genius as a cook - I tend towards inverse snobbery when it comes to food, and don't know one end of a classy menu from the other, but when I've eaten at Claridges I've had no trouble recognising that I've moved into a different dimension.

Your comments are interesting Rusty Dobro. But it's just food, when it comes down to it. Do we need to get that excited about it? Yes, I've been for good meals (not at Ramsay's, but I've eaten in restaurants run by other good chefs such as Rick Stein, Robert Carrier, etc.) and appreciated them, but I think maybe you can go over the top with something as basic as cooking a meal.