lizard

Have you looked at the Downtown Disney Restaurants? Naples & Catal would be good, and are still kid-oriented. They may be park concessions, but with Patina Group doing the food, it's quite good.

He must have done it for the inflight meals! ← You'll also be happy to know that Thomas Keller once cited in an interview that HE enjoyed chowing down on In n' Out Burgers from time to time.

OMG, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes! I'd also add A16 for local ingredients prepared to re-create the authentic cuisine of Campagnia. Terrific wine selections, too.

Robyn, Sorry to hear you had to change your plans. Below are just a few of my recommendations for "high-end" places. My short list: Gary Danko Masa's Fifth Floor (Melissa Perello is getting raves at her new post here) La Folie Jardiniere Michael Mina I'll be going to Michael Mina this weekend, so I'l send a report your way. I believe all but Danko are on opentable.com Others worth the trek: - Manresa - French Laundry (obviously) Best of luck, and enjoy your stay!

DesJardins vs. Batali ! I ran into Traci DesJardins at a WCR event after her return from filming an episode last month. It seems she will go toe-to-toe with Mario Batali in an episode airing in August. While she wouldn't reveal the outcome or the ingredient, that's a battle I can't wait to see!

FYI, straight from the restaurant (note: I am not the concierge): Enjoy! --Liz [Edited to clarify that I am not the concierge]

Remember: ALWAYS take Silverado Trail. Avoid highway 29 at all costs. Take the various "crosses" that connect 29 and Silverado trail, hitting your big wineries strategically. The stretch of 29 through St. Helena is the worst, with only 2 lanes of stop-and-go that can bog you down for an hour. The Pope Street cross can get you in and out of St. HELLena from the "back door", and on your way to the next stop quickly. Travelling from that side makes Napa so much more bearable, and some of the hidden gems are much more accessible from that side of the valley. Also, for wineries that are "family-friendly", check out this NY Times article: WEEKEND WITH THE KIDS: NAPA VALLEY [edited to add the NYT link]

Passionfish & Marinus at the Bernardus Lodge. Passionfish has amazing seafood with responsibly-caught fish prepared with innovative ingredients. The wine list is vast and very reasonably priced. http://www.passionfish.net/ Marinus is an amazing experience. It ranks right up there with Danko and The French Laundry, IMHO. http://carmelmonterey.citysearch.com/profile/820843/

Have you gone recently? http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=28188314 http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=28188469 http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=27843321 I'm just saying that given recent reviews, it would be a shame to come all the way to California, and NOT eat downstairs.

Don't do Chez Panisse Cafe, More Restaurants, & Great Website Resource: If you go to Chez Panisse, go all out and dine downstairs. Recent reviews of the cafe have been lukewarm at best. If you're coming all the way from BC, don't waste your trip to Berkeley. Additonal recommendations include: A16 restaurant - amazing authentic Campagnian cuisine with the best local ingredients Delfina - SF legend pioneered local ingredients with a Cal-ital flair. Other listings may be found here- it's for "organic & sustainable" restaurants, but many employ only local ingredients: http://www.omorganics.org/page.php?pageid=...=52#restaurants

Try the village of Cold Spring? Family just had a great Mother's Day brunch there. Lots of shops, cafes and casual-to-elegant restaurants can be found right there on the river across from the academy. Hudson House, Plumbush Inn & Cathryn's, are consistently highly-rated.

Public restaurant is closing for good. Web site says: "Due to the overwhelming request for private dinners and events nightly restaurant reservations will no longer be accepted." http://www.capitaleny.com/

Yes, they closed as of Oct 16. Word is, they wanted to focus on Pipa & Lucy, as the two concepts were outperforming Patria.

Robyn, here's a direct link to the search input. Just keep trying, as they throw their last-minute cancellations up there, too: http://www.opentable.com/single.asp?id=2783

Look for lunch slots. I was able to find an 11:30 lunch on October 22nd. Try searches for a party of two or a party of four only. They don't have spots for an odd number of diners.

MECCA - For a truly SF experience. Their "Sunday Supper" includes a prix-fixe meal, signature cocktails, wine pairings, and a DJ/light show. This is not your typical "dinner & a show" the food is excellent and their chef was voted a "Rising Star Chef" in the SF Chronicle this year. check it out: http://www.sfmecca.com/entertainment_liveEntertainment.htm (scroll down to "Southern Sunday Supper")

Hi all, I'll start off by outing myself as an OpenTable employee. I just wanted to give you "royal" diners a last heads-up: OpenTable is getting set to send their Restaurant Week email reminder to all 50,000 members tomorrow. If you haven't already made your reservations, you should do it by 9:30 Wednesday morning if you want to beat the crowd. You can do it the old-fashioned way and call, or get with the times and book your reservation online http://www.opentable.com/promo/dcrestweek.asp?ID=9 Cheers!

Pianeta in Truckee is a terrific Italian place that we love. Great wines and seasonal menus. Its always packed, so reservations are a must. Seriously, it rivals some meals we've had in our hometown of San Francisco.

Melissa Perello? If you take history into account, it seems like a logical next career step...

Have to also raise a hand to Tra Vigne being So Over. If you do manage to get in to TFL, skip Bouchon, as it's the "little sister" restaurant, and the preparations may be a bit redundant. In addition to the standouts of Terra & la Toque, try Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (Cindy Pawlcyn's newish place) or Martini house. Both would make great lunch stops. Bon appetit!

Mumm has the added appeal of the Ansel Adams photo gallery, and any changing exhibitions they may have at the time. Add to that the fact tha it's on The Best Road in the United States (Silverado Trail), and you have yourself a big winner. Your guests will love it.

My Experience... So we were visiting friends and they wanted us to pick a place, since I am so damn opinionated about restaurants. I picked Mercer, and had a great time. Food was great, fresh, and original. Wine list was a bit shallow with very few selections pre-dating 2002. Service was amateurish, but the food made up for it. Here's the best part: There was this couple sitting next to us, being very quiet--didn't even notice them until they got up. This giant leggy blonde was wearing a belly shirt, and we all noticed, because it was JANUARY, and it was 8 degrees out. So this idiot gets up and begins to wrap her belly with a scarf. We all had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. We all agreed she must be a stripper or something. Then the guy gets up, and we can tell he's quite a bit older, and not so handsome. My first thought is, "wow this guy must be a rock star or very wealthy to have such a hot (and fashion-conscious) girl with him." Het turns around; it was Howard Stern.

Called about an hour ago, and they had all sorts of availability--esp. at lunch. I asked for Saturday Lunch at 12:00, and she gave me a 12:15 on Saturday the 21st. I asked "of March?" and she replied, "No, THIS month." It was just too easy... ..Now I hafta go buy plane tickets.

Maggiano's won Citysearch's poll for #1 best "Italian" food in Chicago. Not to malign Chicago tastes, but this is about what you can expect - a midwestern interpretation of Italian-American food. You can do better at Cazuelas or Left Bank or Straits Cafe. They are all at Santana Row.

OMIGOD. And I thought it was just me! Our last meal was a service and atmospheric disaster as well. This was extremely disappointing after they won 2003 Beard award for service. Wrong plates were delivered, menu items mispronounced (waiters at the "French" Laundry should know how to pronounce French words), and the overall mood was, in a word--weird. There was an awkward exchange with the wine guy (the tall blond English chump) when we asked for recommendations, and his response was "they're all great wines." When we asked if they did wine flights to accompany the tasting menu, he tersely said "we don't do that here." This was long before the impending closure, so I don't know what their excuse was. I'm really not all that motivated to ever go back. I guess it doesn't matter now that Keller has his own line of china and a restaurant opening in Las Vegas. What a shame.