1. Quite why they chose arm–wrestling when they had any number of weapons to hand – a carving knife or cr';me br$';lée blow torch, say I don‘t know, but there‘s an idea for Ramsay‘s next TV show.

2. But there was also fillet of beef with roasted root veg and horseradish, Irish smoked salmon with potato pancakes, potted shrimps with organic toast, spaghetti with bottarga and broccoli, steak and kidney pie, confit shoulder of Elwy lamb, cardamom rice pudding, cr';me br$';lée in short, the best of all possible foods from all over the best of all possible worlds, available now, and long may it last, in this best of all possible towns. 11 Abingdon Road 11 Abingdon Road, W8 (020–7'37 0120) Meat/fish: 8 Cooking: 7 Other: 7 Score: 7.33 Price: '0 for two with a moderate bottle or two–course set lunch for 12.50.

3. If you don‘t believe that, think about the waiters everywhere who approach your table with the inevitable question: ‘Are you still working on that?‘ They make it sound as if chewing pasta was an onerous job to complete." A columnist for Silicon Valley‘s Metroactive.com discovered that it took a trip to Italy to make her realize what she found wanting in restaurant service at home: "Why do waitresses, like some dentists, wait until your mouth is full to swoop by and suddenly ask whether ‘everything‘s all right‘? Nobody feels especially happy about having to smile and nod and respond, all while sitting across from someone he or she hopes to charm and impress, with a mouth full of gooey pasta or dripping with a froth of cr';me br$';lée." Heartening though I find it to have commiserators on the AYSWOT question, what really caught my attention in the Bennett interview was his larger point about a language and the society that speaks it.