Bob_bones, who are you?

Just imagine having had a week battling with overflowing boilers from the flats above flooding our toilets - only to then find that SOMEONE HAS PUT US ONTO TRIP ADVISOR!

We love our customers, we love it even more when they tell their friends about us - and we're often told that they decide only to tell some of their friends...

It's our own fault. We should never have allowed ourselves to bask in the glory of our customers having decided to keep our little secret to some close friends - instead of sharing us with the entire chuffin' world!

Never mind. There's nothing we can do about it. There's work to be done, so it's time to move on.

No hard feelings Bob - we still love you.

Snap Happy

In the news this week - we have had a photo shoot for Beluga vodka (which is an extremely palatable premium Russian vodka), we've been perfecting a sticky toffee pudding dessert, we've come up with a warm fruit salad that uses heated sweet chilli sauce instead of orange juice, and we are turning our heads to the festive season - and all that it brings....

In other news....our steaks are as delicious as ever! (although we would be interested in growing our selection of mains for veggies from one to..more than one. As we're all big meaties we need some suggestions. Remember to think outside the box - it's no fun if it's like everywhere else.)

Hallowe'en

Don't get us wrong - Hallowe'en is great fun. But there's a time and a place...

This week we will instead be getting all excited about Cognac. We have some good stuff, some very good stuff, and some Louis XIII - at just £120 a shot.

We might not be getting involved with Hallowe'en - but just walking past the Louis XIII scares the crap out of us - let alone all that shaking of cocktails that we do just inches away....

Jack Daniel's Northampton Blend

JD is trying to cash in on the growing reputation of Northampton's cocktail culture by developing a Northampton Blend. It's rumoured that they are having trouble squeezing in the aromas of hops from Carlsberg, Galone's Rum and Raisin ice cream, Saul's of Spratton's black pudding, Brixworth Pate, and essence de Billing waterworks into a 700ml bottle - so they've rushed out a bottle of Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select instead.

We wont be stocking it at Haycock & Tailbar Associates because we think that we have some better options at a far more sensible price, but if you fancy a bottle you will find it online for around £150.

Also, we've selected Beluga Vodka as our new house-pour vodka. Albert is very, very excited - and with good reason. It's very good stuff.

Meat, Toni

With more and more people pre-ordering guest steaks when they book to eat supper - we've enlisted the help of our butcher, Toni, to expand the range. Kangaroo and Venison are proving popular, followed closely by wild boar, duck, and bison. Toni has now found us a reliable source of ostrich steaks, so happy, happy days.

Our favourites? All of them!

Martin has just bought a mincing machine and we're adding mini Marrakesh Meat Balls to our starter/cocktail nibbles list. Leading the charge so far are Camel balls, Alpaca balls, and Kangaroo balls.

As an aside, we're moving to 7.30pm opening on Friday and Saturday, we're working on a cigar-smoked old fashioned, and have responded to our mate Alex Proudfoot's (from world renowned cocktail bar Raouls in Oxford) suggestion to play with cold-infusion...

Finally - our buddies Mark and Graham at Wine Connection next door have got their pre-Christmas selection of port in this week. As 2011 has been declared a vintage there's no better time to snap up a fantastic drop of Krohn for under £30.

That will do for now - happy imbibing to you all.

Internet Prawn

Shell-on, shell-off. Which is best?

We took to the internet to find out - and found more than we bargained for.

The moral of the story is that when looking to try some of the better things in life, don't rely on the internet to tell you what to do. Instead, get out there, ring some bells, knock on some doors, meet some people - and try some new stuff. Why not be the person that knows from experience instead of the one who just asked Google??

Hope to make your acquaintance real soon...

Spiritual Spirits...and Nigella

Sam has just got back from an extensive trip/ pilgrimage to source some unusual spirits to further strengthen our line-up.

He's like a small boy in a sweet shop - but no ordinary sweet shop. This is the sweet shop that Willy Wonka built, stocked with the best things that he'd ever made, forgot to tell Charlie Bucket about, and was then left untouched for the next 60 years - before being discovered by Nigella Lawson while out looking for a secretive and illusive cocktail and supper lounge in Northampton.

Enough with the Willy Wonka analogy - you've probably already twigged that Sam has made some great finds...and we get to try them later!

How did Nigella find her way into this little story? Well, that's something I think that I should keep to myself....