But, what should I be blogging about? Do you want me to tell you how passionate we are about our business on a regular basis? Probably not, I hope you will take that as a given. On that note I do think the word ‘passionate’ is very overused anyway.

The subject of ‘diet’ is always in the news: a lot of it quite confusing and unnecessary. I liked Joanna Blyman’s  article in the Times though (March 17th). She talks about the plethora of food scares she has seen come and go in her 25 years as an investigative food journalist. Eggs fell out of favour in the Nineties, but we’re eating them again now. Red  meat is now threatening apparently; white meat is ‘meant’ to be healthier because it’s low in fat, but, in moderation, Joanna disputes whether fat is a bad thing anyway. Unless you drink gallons of milk, you are better off sticking to full-fat (note, this does not mean it is high-fat). A couple of glasses of wine (preferably from an individual grower) to wash your food down with will not do you any harm either (that’s me, not Joanna!). She then goes on to talk about butter v margarine and has a mini rant about artificial sweetners etc. Joanna talks a lot of sense … ought to buy her book: What to Eat (Fourth Estate).

This is just to let you know that in our restaurants we make no dietary statements whatsoever. We sell proper food, nothing is ‘low-fat’, nothing is artificial .. and, except for our bread, we make absolutely everything ourselves. We deal with first rate local suppliers who, as far as is practical, source their products locally. I’m sure we can expand on them and all sorts of other matters, but today I shall keep it quite short. Today our regular blog(well quite regular hopefully) sort of gets going .. and quite where it is going to go, well, at the moment, I have really no idea! Watch this space only if you want to!

Finally, the lion and the lion cub. What has that to do with this blog? er … absolutely nothing … it’s a photograph I took last month and I quite like it. Hope you do too! I will send a bottle of Pheasants Ridge Bacchus from our own vineyard (Silver Medal, English & Welsh Wines of the Year Competition 2011) to the first person to email me a very brief commentary about this blog by 5.00pm today (include your address) . I cannot believe anyone will read to the end of this blog by 5.00pm today, so I reckon I am quite safe on this one! (michael@gilbeygroup.com) . I’ll let you know if anyone replied in the next blog.

The nearest Windsor car parks are marked on the map and all but one are less than ten minutes walk away.

Gilbey’s Bar and Restaurant is located in Eton High Street just over the bridge from Windsor.

What does this year have in store for us? It is unheard of for us (and almost so for all other Northern hemisphere growers) to be looking back on no less than three good years in a row. We won silver medals for both our 2009 and 2010 bacchus (currently selling) and have high hopes for the 2011: the juice direct from the press was utterly delicious. The sugar and acid levels were bang on too.  Gold medal this year? Wait and see. Vince, our winemaker, doubts it … but he is always cautiously pessimistic, having been in the winemaking game for over twenty years now. Oh yes .. we also got a silver medal for our Brut sparkling from grapes grown in 2008.

We can take inspiration from our great great grandfathers who owned Chateau Loudenne in the Haut Medoc (Bordeaux). Part of an article from ‘Viticulture in France’ 1887: The French government grant annually in each department a Gold Medal for the best cultivated, and the most successful vineyard of the year, and it cannot but interest the scientific agriculturalist to learn that Messrs W & A Gilbey to improve the growth and character of the vine and arrest the progress of the phylloxera in the district of the Medoc have been so successful as to secure for them the award of the Gold Medal for the department of the Gironde, a department which includes the most celebrated claret producing vineyards of the world, such as Chateau Margaux, Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild etc . Inspiration indeed!

It’s January – and to beat the winter blues all we really want is cosseting with uncomplicated ‘comfort food’ and a cracking glass of wine.

At both restaurants to fulfill this need we have introduced a one course dish-of-the-day for only £12.00.   Have a look at our website for all our current menus.

We have also started shipping our own wines again in order to continue to offer you the best possible value.    The wine list is shorter but the wines therein have all fought for their place and we are sure you will enjoy them.  We would love to have your feedback.

Don’t forget we are of course running our ever popular and great-value Set Menus also -  two courses at £18.50 and three Courses at £24.00, together with our Sunday Lunch Set Menu which should not be missed – two  courses at £19.50 and three courses at £25.50.

Come and enjoy … …   We look forward to welcoming you.

Christmas closure: We shall be closed from Saturday 24th December and will re-open for lunch on Friday 30th December.

New Year’s Eve: We are fully booked at Old Amersham, but still have a few tables left at Eton.   Hurry, hurry, hurry.   We always have fun at New Year. Do give Emma a ring on 01753 854921 to book your table.

Sunday, 1st January: A gentle day for all!  Both restaurants will be open from midday, serving soothing comfort food and wine through to fairly early last orders in the evening.

Monday 2nd January: Back to normal – seven days a week!

Then come the delightful decorations, some of which may have seen better days.   So … it’s a trip back to Homebase to replenish the stock and then off for another exciting trip but this time to the recycling centre to discard the less than perfect.

Once up, everything looks very Christmasy – oh b …… er!  – a light has gone so we will have to rewire that section of Christmas lights.   I fear yet another trip to Homebase coming along.    What jolly fun!

Adam Whitlock, our Head Chef at Gilbey’s Restaurant, Old Amersham is the Guest Chef for Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen live on BBC Three Counties Radio 95.5fm/103.8 fm/104.5 fm this coming Saturday (29th October, between 12 noon – 2.00pm.).

Adam will be cooking a three course dinner with plenty of tricks and treats you can try over Halloween.   Top chefs, well-known food writers and authors, talented home cooks, passionate foodies and wine experts join Adam and Nick for a two hour lunch party with inspired food, lovely wine and brilliant company.   Recipe packs will be available on-line … so … tune in and get cooking! 

The Pheasants Ridge Vineyard Volunteers

If we get away without Spring frosts (which we did this year) … then Wimbledon fortnight is the next big challenge, because that is when flowering takes place in the vineyard.   If you remember, they needed that new roof over Centre Court quite a few times this year, which means the weather wasn’t great.   As a result our flowering and our fruit set wasn’t great either.   Many of the bunches are uneven, some with very few grapes that ripen much earlier than the others and which therefore go rotten before other bunches are ready to pick thus helping to spread disease.   The bacchus are almost ready to pick (for our still wine) but the faberrebe (for our sparkling wine) will not be ready till much later in October, if they haven’t all gone rotten by then that is.   So, these are some of the trials, tribulations and worries we go through to bring wine to your table … although we do have a lot of fun in the process.   Anyway, watch this space for further news!

Our fabulous Studio Apartment guest accommodation is fast becoming the ‘best kept secret in town’. We have recently discovered that once our guests have stayed with us they are reluctant to tell their friends about our hidden gem for fear of it being previously booked the next time they wish to visit.   So, if they are not prepared to tell you, then we will!

During the months of September, October and November from Sunday – Thursday night we are offering two consecutive night Autumn Breaks staying in our luxurious Studio Apartment. This offer is based on two people sharing the double room @ £175.00 per night (inc. VAT).

It includes Continental Breakfast left in your room and a £40.00 Gilbey’s Voucher for you to enjoy – maybe for lunch or dinner in our restaurant or to pre-order a chilled bottle of champagne to be in your room on your arrival.

Why not spoil yourself and come and enjoy all that there is to see and do in Eton, Windsor and the surrounding area.   Apart from the main attractions of Eton College,Windsor Castle, the Theatre Royal and fabulous shopping there are many more suggestions to help you enjoy your stay.   Do ask us or visit the Windsor Tourist Board

For reservations and any other enquiries please ring Emma on 01753 854921 or email eton@gilbeygroup.com