Shortlist for that Mouton ‘96!

Jancis Robinson

Thursday 5 July 2012 • 3 min read

5 July – So, today I have great pleasure in announcing our shortlist of the top four reviews. (Bear in mind that it was decided on the basis of the reviews as submitted rather than on the edited versions that were actually published.) Tomorrow we will announce which of the following four reviewers, listed in alphabetical order, wins the bottle of Ch Mouton-Rothschild 1996.

Henry Jeffreys – Eating out with the aurally challenged (Giaconda)
Emma Read – Lest we forget (In de Wulf)
Dave Stenton – Four to try in Buenos Aires
Andrew Stevenson – Parkers Arms, Lancashire

12 June pm – All restaurant reviewing slots are now filled. Thank you, everyone who submitted a review. Feel free to email us to ask whether yours is scheduled for publication. We expect to announce the winner of the Mouton 96 in early July.

12 Jun am – We're back to cool, soggy London, and there is just one more slot to be filled before Nick's return on 7 July...

31 May – I’m delighted to say that Nick has been making such excellent post-operative progress that we are off for a celebration of his own personal Diamond Jubilee and to gather material so that from Saturday 7 July he can resume as weekly restaurant critic for JancisRobinson.com and The Financial Times. (At least, he’ll be eating and scribbling; I’ll just be dutifully eating and celebrating both the beginning of his seventh decade and his return to good health.)

Between now and then we will continue to publish your restaurant reviews on Wednesdays and Saturdays and there are still two or three free slots if you are interested in winning the bottle of Ch Mouton-Rothschild 1996 that will be sent to the author of the review I judge the best. Just read the rules below and get writing!

19 May – STOP PRESS. Nick is rapidly returning to full strength but will not be publishing his regular Saturday restaurant reviews until 7 July, so there are still slots of be filled by you with potentially winning articles before then. Keep those reviews coming in. I expect to announce the winner of the Mouton '96 early in the week beginning 9 July.

About a month ago in Mouton '96 to be won I explained that Nick would be out of commission as a restaurant reviewer for at least two months (he is making slow but steady progress after the operation on his gut and subsequent complications, thank you). I invited visitors to this site to take his place (temporarily) and submit restaurant reviews or articles about eating out, and offered to send a bottle of Ch Mouton Rothschild 1996 to the author of the review that I decided was the best of those published.

Since then, reviews have been coming in thick and fast. I'd like to thank all those who have sent, are sending and will send them. Not all of them are suitable for publication but we certainly have quite enough good ones to publish them at the rate of two a week, generally on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I hereby start a guide to all those published and would like to reiterate the ground rules:

my decision is final(!)
the reviews should not have been published elsewhere before
the restaurant(s) can be anywhere in the world
please disclose any connection you might have with the establishment(s) about which you write
there are no hard and fast rules about length but around 1,000 words is ideal
kindly also send at least one suitable copyright-free image of the subject of your review in JPG form, ideally 200 pixels square and
kindly add contact details of the establishment at the bottom of the article
text and image(s) should be sent to [email protected]

Thank you for giving us all so much pleasure.

The Box Tree, Ilkley, at 50
4 July by Tom Lewis

M...M...M...Genoa
30 June by Neville Blech

It's not just what's on the plate
27 June by Hannah Watt

Ravintola Lasipalatsi in Helsinki
23 June by Edward Parshotam

A new restaurant near Cairanne
20 June by Jonathan Bates

Heston's Dinner by an insider
16 June by Qin Xie

Four to try in Buenos Aires
13 June by Dave Stenton

Thai food in Le Marche
9 June by Matt Gladstone

Eating out with the aurally challenged
6 June by Henry Jeffreys

Bocuse – best in the world?
2 June by Richard Neville

Parkers Arms, Lancashire
26 May by Dr Andrew Stevenson