robyn

If you live in Paris - it is natural that you would want to try a variety of places - and eat well. After all - you are probably dining out more in a month in Paris than I - as a visitor - will do in a decade. As a visitor - I have a very specific goal - to eat excellent ---> great *French* food. If I want Asian - I will go to Asia. E.g., we had fantastic Japanese food in Japan - so I have no desire to find the best Japanese restaurants in France - much like I didn't even bother to try any French restaurants in Japan - although I'm sure some of them are quite excellent - the goal of eating in Japan was to learn about Japanese cuisine. Similarly - when at home - if I can find decent Chinese food - I'll eat it. If I waited to find excellent Chinese food here - I'd probably go 20 years between Chinese meals . As for ordering off a fixed menu - I always find it awkward - even at home. And don't like to do it when abroad. Robyn

That is a somewhat depressing statement about Paris. Sounds like things are kind of stagnant. We are actually considering spending a few days outside of Paris at the end of our trip - so I looked up Sa.qua.na. Best I can tell (my French isn't that terrific) - the restaurant only offers fixed menus. Is that correct? There are certain things I can't eat - so I prefer restaurants which also offer the option of a la carte. I realize he doesn't exactly fit into the category of this topic - but what about Nicolas Le Bec in Lyon (he is still pretty young - in his 30's I believe)? Or any other chef in the Lyon area for that matter. Robyn

For the average Parisian diner that I am, and for thousands of others like me, it is certainly not peanuts. And I'm not particularly in the underprivileged category. ← Let me rephrase what I said. 42 euros isn't peanuts - but it's peanuts for a really fine dining experience anywhere - even in Jacksonville FL ("hicksville" compared to Paris) - where one of our better restaurants will cost you $65 ++ (tax and tip). Perhaps one additional reason why Spring is relatively inexpensive is that it only serves a single menu to everyone - and it knows how many covers it will have on a given night. That way - it minimizes waste in terms of food costs. If you were to recommend a single up and coming chef for me to try in Paris - preferably the kind with one star who might be on his/her way to three - who would you recommend? Robyn

You don't think 42 euros - $63 USD is peanuts? Or perhaps I don't have the right numbers? Robyn

I haven't dined at Spring - so I can't comment on the food. But you take a *very small* restaurant with a cheap menu for Paris (it is cheaper than a couple of excellent restaurants we have here in the Jacksonville FL area) - combine it with a chef - and probably a staff - that speaks good English - and you have a recipe for a successful restaurant in Paris - no matter what the food is like - as long as it is "ok". Does anyone think this restaurant would be as successful if it charged $150/head for dinner - as opposed to $63? If not - then it is merely a good value - not an exceptional restaurant. I have looked at the pictures of the restaurant - and it reminds me a lot of York Street in Dallas - a James Beard nominee (a restaurant to try when in Dallas if you have a car (it is a bit out of the way) - but the food there is merely very pleasant - not exceptional or memorable - if one compares it to dining all over the world. BTW - being a reasonably good - but not excellent - "at home" chef - I agree with the "I can do that at home" test. If I can do it at home in terms of preparing things - a restaurant isn't worthy of a Michelin star. Note also that I don't necessarily give a restaurant "extra points" simply because it serves lots of luxury ingredients. I can buy fresh foie gras - sear it at home - and serve it with a nice sauce. I usually find the best preparations of less expensive ingredients are more interesting. Who was it who said that the best test of a chef is an excellent preparation of a simple fish dish? Note that since it is still 3 months since I'll be in Paris - I really haven't nailed down my dining schedule yet. But I will have to try at least one or two chefs who are up and coming (whether from no stars to one - or 2 stars to 3). Won't start figuring out who they are until August or so. Robyn

I think that is and has always been true - everywhere - that there are certain chefs who get a lot of buzz right away (that was true - like you mention - with Senderens - also with Robuchon). Sometimes the buzz is deserved IMO - sometimes it isn't (at least in terms of those places where I've dined). And sometimes the chef still gets a lot of positive buzz long after he or she has ceased to deserve it. As for decor - I think it's an important part of fine dining. For me at least - decor doesn't have to be super fancy or super expensive - but some attention should be paid to detail - and the venue should be clean and pleasant. Concerning the cost of things - when you take into account the rising cost of food - transportation - utilities - labor - well it's not surprising that fine dining is getting more expensive everywhere. So is dining anywhere for that matter - even at home (I just paid $15 for a pound of pine nuts that cost $10 perhaps 2 years ago). Robyn

Apparently the Homestead has reopened. Here's the link. Can't vouch for the food under new management - but the building is about as old and authentic as they come here. Robyn

If your 9 year old wants to see gators - there's a good gator exhibit at the zoo. The zoo is much much closer to the airport than St. Augustine - and there is a lot more to see/do there than at the Alligator Farm. I think they feed the gators once a day at the zoo - and that is the time to go there (in terms of gators). There's a wonderful new giraffe exhibit at the zoo that kids love. It's built on an elevated platform - and the kids get to feed the giraffes at certain times - or simply see them at "eye level". Note that "gator feeding" at the Alligator Farm is about 3 times a day. Check the schedule for the times. Unless they're being fed - gators generally aren't very interesting (they don't move around a whole lot). Also - the zoo is pretty close to downtown - where the Suns game is. There is a place here called Adventure Landing (on Beach Blvd. near the beaches). It is a second - perhaps third tier - type of amusement park - with water rides. I've never been there - but perhaps it might be a nice place to take a 9 year old (unless the 9 year old is jaded ). My favorite fried chicken really is at Golden Corral at lunch. Perhaps because there are usually a lot of people eating - and it's always coming out fresh - and there are lots of chicken legs (sometimes all you get is breasts - and I am a "dark meat person"). It is also a good place to eat with a child - because there are dozens of choices (children sometimes tend to be picky eaters). I will go through my memory banks and see if I can come up any other fried chicken places I've enjoyed. Come to think of it - there is a really old Jacksonville restaurant called the Homestead which is next to Adventure Landing which used to serve great fried chicken. It has been closed for a while (there's been a lot of construction on Beach Blvd. and it hurt a lot of businesses) - but I recall a recent article that said it was reopening under new management. Don't know when. If it is open with the old menu - special was always fried chicken and tradtional sides - might be worth a try. Check the Suns website for any specials they might be having the night when you go there (bat night - cap night - etc.). When will you be arriving? I have leftover entertainment book coupons for the zoo and the like that I can mail to you at home - or your hotel. Not sure with the holiday weekend that they will get to you on time (I'll be out all tomorrow - but could get them in the mail on Saturday). But I can try. PM or email me if you're interested. I will also try to check out the status of the Homestead Friday or Saturday. Robyn

Don't know whether the Suns game is a day or night game. If a day game - BE SURE TO GET A SEAT IN THE SHADE. The Suns games are fun. We go to a few every year. Before you go to the Alligator Farm - call the place and make sure that there are still some nesting birds (the alligators are really a bore but the place is a world class bird rookery - although mid-July is really pushing it in terms of end of bird season). It is an expensive ticket - about $20/person - and not worth it IMO just for the gators. OTOH - there are some interesting things to see in St. Augustine. Catch a tour of Flager College and the Tiffany windows if you can. The Lightner Museum is interesting too - more for the architecture and history than the collections. Ditto with the Fort - the Government Museum. The Entertainment Guide - available on line - has lots of 50% off - 2 for 1 tickets - for these things - and it is very cheap now too. Just don't know if you can get delivery by next week. Perhaps you can have one sent to your hotel? If the birds are gone from the Alligator Farm - I'd rather use the money and take a horse drawn carriage tour of St. Augustine (depending on your driver - you will hear one of the 20 versions of the history of the city ). A1A Aleworks is a decent lunch/dinner place in St. Augustine - a microbrewery with "Floribbean food" (although I think the beer is the main attraction). If the birds aren't nesting at the Alligator Farm - the Jacksonville Zoo is a much better bet in terms of animals (it isn't a world class zoo - I go to zoos everywhere I travel - but it's a pretty good one - the Jaguar exhibit which opened a couple of years ago won best the best new exhibit of any zoo in the US prize ). I have lived here for about 13 years now - and most of the "local flavor" food places are extremely overrated IMO. A lot are just plain bad. Grease that has been used too many times. Perhaps some of the places are "institutions" - but I think the food is generally poor - sometimes foul. We tried all of them once when we first moved here - and never went back. If I want a pulled pork sandwich - I make the pulled pork myself. There are a couple of good smoking guys who show up at local fairs - but it isn't fair season now. If you want some local flavor - try a place like Golden Corral or Piccadilly Cafeteria for lunch. I am not kidding. You can get fried everything and lots of southern veggies - all for about 7 bucks. We have some "meat and threes" we like - but they are in the Panhandle. I definitely recommend Opus 39 in St. Augustine for a big deal dinner with as much of a "locavore philosophy" as you can do here in summer (there's not much that grows well when it's 90 degrees+). Then there are the second tier places like Bistro Aix - bb's - Biscotti's - etc. All of which are pretty good IMO. Where will you be staying? This is a big metro area. Our golf club - TPC at Sawgrass out at the beaches - serves a very nice dinner in a beautiful setting. On July 11 - it is doing a big deal wine dinner with wines from Argentina (it does wine dinners about once a month). The menu looks terrific. If your hotel plans are up in the air - I can recommend the Marriott at Sawgrass (out in Ponte Vedra Beach - where we live - just south of Jax Beach). It isn't directly on the beach - but it has a private beach club - and the price is right (I'm doing a 90th birthday party for my father in 3 weeks - and have booked a lot of out-of-town guests there). The beaches are generally about 5 degrees or more cooler than places "in town". If you have any questions - feel free to ask here - or PM or email me. FWIW - I don't know why people who come to this area are always interested in eating frozen fish fried in old grease. I think it is a form of "gastronomic slumming" - and I don't think it would be very satisfying if I were doing it. Robyn

There are so many important issues not mentioned in this thread that it's hard to cover them. Want to grow a garden where I live? Great. Except we have water rationing - and it is considered unacceptable to use any kind of fertilizing agents or certain pesticides within X feet of wetlands (and many people - including me - live on the edge of wetlands). So do I cheat on the water and fertilizer and pesticide rules - or drive 2 miles to the grocery store? It is easy for city/country north/south people to fight about energy use. Yup - a lot of people in non-urban areas - especially in the southern part of the country - drive large distances and use large amounts of gas to do so. But people up north tend to live in harsh winter climates in frequently older not-so-well-insulated houses which need a lot of oil for winter heating. I've read some pretty terrible stories about this coming winter up north - where people with houses smaller than mine will spend more just for heating oil than I spend all year for all the energy I use in my house. In terms of being a "locavore" - my area is probably typical of most. A few crops - not much diversity - due to climate conditions - soil conditions - etc. I would not want to survive on what is grown within 200 miles of where I live. My point is that we're all in this together. There is no best way to live - we can't all live in the same place and in the same way - and we should all recognize that beating up on one another is not a reasonable way to solve energy and environmental problems- or to eat better in a more sustainable way either. Robyn

Just FWIW - where I live - NE Florida - there is a "tummy flu" going around now. Quite a few people affected - including my father - quite a few of his doctor's patients - and a couple of friends. Don't know how the bug is transmitted - my husband and I were with my father for quite a while - and neither of us got sick. So it might not be a "food poisoning" event in your case. Best way to proceed IMO is stay home - be miserable - remember to hydrate with relatively salty things - I like Campbell's chicken noodle soup - and start getting down simple solid foods when possible (think apple sauce - plain white rice - a little toast - etc.). Robyn

Since your whole pig fell through - and the meat locker doesn't look like it will be finished in the near future - I recommend doing pulled pork. There are lots of regional variations - and perhaps you could do it a few ways. No food safety issues - worrying about R values - etc. I make it all the time (almost always start with a Boston butt). It is usually a crowd pleaser. This will undoubtedly sound sexist - but sometimes guys are more into "process" than "result". And it's very hard to go wrong with pulled pork. Robyn

My husband is the "Mr. Language" person. I am not. One of the saving graces when he studied Japanese is that - at least for people who speak English - Japanese - like Spanish - is a phonetic language. You speak it like you spell it. Since this thread started - a not-so-great Japanese "buffet" place here in town (Jacksonville FL) - which was/is run by people from China - has turned into - among other things - a real dim sum place - complete with carts. The dim sum is fresh - prepared by a chef from Los Angeles. Like I wrote in a thread in the Florida forum - who would have thunk it? A large percentage of the clientele is Filipino (people who work at Mayport Naval base and our various health care facilities among other places). When we were there for lunch last Saturday - there was a (Filipino) birthday party for about 100 people. And who would have thunk that? Anyway - the really nice thing about dim sum with carts is it's "point and click". No need to worry about anything except how good the food is. And - at this place - it is good. Robyn

Just FYI - the legal season for scallops in Florida is only in the summer. Not much chance of eating them though - because commercial harvest is prohibited - and recreational harvest is very limited. Robyn

Why wait until you leave????? I don't think it is necessarily the best restaurant in Atlanta - but it is the one that - to me - most represents the birth of New Southern Cuisine in Atlanta. It is the restaurant I recommend to visitors who can have only one fine meal in Atlanta - and I would certainly recommend it for anyone who lives in the area - or is leaving Atlanta. Leave with memories of great southern food prepared with fresh local ingredients. BTW - I would do Bacchanalia instead of Quinones because I like the room better - and the menu is more varied (there is - I believe - only a single fixed menu at Quinones). Haven't dined there for about a year - but unless someone who has dined there more recently says it has gone downhill - that would be my choice. Robyn

We tried Five Guys once when it first opened in Jacksonville (it was supposed to be a "cult thing"). The burger was overpriced and mediocre. The setting was pedestrian - even by Jacksonville standards. The fries were limp and too salty. My golf club serves a burger dinner for $14 which is excellent (comes complete with beautiful carmelized onions). I will pay that much for a superior burger experience in a lovely setting - but not $5-7 for Five Guys. Note that I eat burgers and fries about once a month - they're a special treat for me. I suspect the average person who does fast food burgers multiple times a week will go to McDonald's or the like instead of Five Guys. Robyn

I am kind of a food safety nut. In the south in the summer - I think any makeshift solution runs the risk of poisoning your guests. I'd find out how big the pig will be - and buy a cheap refrigerator that will hold it. Keep it on ice until you can get it into the refrigerator. Or just buy the pig later. I don't know how you plan to cook the pig - but - if you don't have a large commercial grill/smoker (suspect you don't) - buy a La Caja China. Cubans in Miami roast pigs more than most people in the United States - and even the old guys who always said the only way to do it was in the ground are using La Caja China now because it produces consistent superior results. Robyn

This is probably not the most current information - but it basically says salmonella can be in the egg - as opposed to on the shell. I don't think the source of the eggs matters (at least that's the assumption I use when buying and cooking eggs). And even though I am a relatively healthy person - and not too old - and not too young - I have no particular desire to get sick - even if I am expected to recover. So I don't use raw eggs. For people who really want to use raw eggs in certain recipes - or for commercial users - you can buy pasteurized raw eggs. Robyn

I think there is a difference between cooking in a restaurant - particularly one that serves hundreds of people a night - and cooking in a competition. Some chefs might be good at one or the other - but not both. When I caught some episodes this year - I found myself wishing that Richard had cooked some of his competition dishes for me instead of what he actually cooked when I dined at one of his restaurants. I hope he uses the competition experience to produce consistently better meals in his restaurants. Robyn

We never smuggle anything. We live in a state where agriculture is a huge business - and I have no desire to introduce additional usually harmful exotic plants - pests - or diseases into our environment. FWIW - it is illegal for me to take/mail homegrown citrus out of state because I don't have an exporting license. Other reasons for food rules involve protecting the plant and animal environment (Hawaii has perhaps the strictest laws in the country in this regard because it has many unusual native species to protect). Or human safety. We may question the wisdom of some of the latter rules - and perhaps some are out of date - or seem "nanny-state" - but a 90 year old grandma or a 2 year old child can get sick from eating a product that isn't labeled like similar US products are labeled (as being potentially dangerous to the very old - the very young - or people who are sick). And even if the product you're smuggling is illegal but totally innocuous - isn't air travel hard enough these days without people screwing up waits at security lines for a piece of cheese? Robyn

I looked up "canner lobsters" (didn't know what they are). Apparently they are small lobsters which grow in particular relatively warm Canadian waters. A "chicken" lobster is basically a small lobster. So all "canners" would probably be "chicken lobsters" - but not all "chicken lobsters" would be "canners". In any event - the lobsters places like this serve are pretty small (although the taste doesn't suffer if they're cooked properly). Robyn

Add to this the fact that food in Britain and Europe is much more expensive than in the US. Superior product in France can be mind-bogglingly expensive by our standards. (Is that a word? ) ← Couldn't agree more. This is a bit OT - but I just saw "prime beef" in Costco today for $8.99/pound. It is frozen - and I am sure it is probably not the best "prime" beef in the world - but $8.99/pound? Perhaps the worst country I have ever seen in terms of normal food costs (as opposed to the kind of gift food items you see in places like Japan) was Norway. There are many cultural/political issues that give rise to both high food costs (like tariffs designed to a protect a country's food producers - and/or its self-sufficiency in terms of food) - or low food costs (like subsidizing the cost of the basic ingredients most people use every day to eat). With the world food production/distribution system going a little "haywire" these days - it is an important issue to follow. FWIW - that $125 Bresse chicken seems positively cheap compared to a melon that just sold in Japan this week for about $15,000! And if I had a goal to eat a Bresse chicken - or any other distinctly regional ingredient in France (or any other country) - I would make a point of going to the area of the country where that item is produced - and sample various versions of it at various places. I would also go at various times of the year - because many products are seasonal. My husband and I have done that in the past - when we liked to drive a whole lot more than we like to drive now. Robyn

Don't know how long you'll be together - or whether you will be in hotels - or live in the area - but one fun thing to do might be going down to the docks in the afternoon to see the charter boats coming in and seeing what they're selling. I think it's pompano and yellowtail season now - Florida lobster season soon. Every town with an inlet has docks with charter boats which sell fish - some are bigger and some are smaller. I am familiar with Hillsboro Inlet (near Pompano Beach - a little south of Boca) - but I would do a little research and investigate the others. Robyn

We used to have the $7.99 whole Maine lobster special at a hole in the wall on - if I recall correctly - Blue Road (or maybe it was Red Road) - north of Bird Road. Forget the name of the place. It was a great value - and a good lobster (especially if you had it whole and steamed - it is kind of hard to mess up a whole steamed lobster) - but it was hardly the best meal available in Miami (and I thought it was better than Tobacco Road - which has been around for ages - almost 100 years). I would consider it a sad commentary on Miami if Tobacco Road were the best restaurant in town - but - luckily - I don't share that opinion (although - at this point - I can only say what my favorite restaurant is on a particular trip - since I no longer live in Miami). BTW - I assume the lobsters at all places like this now are Canadian lobsters - which are considerably less expensive than Maine lobsters from the US. And that they are "chicken" lobsters. And FWIW - our favorite meal last trip was at the Four Seasons - trips before that - in no particular order - were Mosaico (chef no longer there - maybe restaurant is closed?) - dining room at the Ritz Carlton Coconut Grove (again - chef no longer there - lunch this trip was mediocre) - and Casa Tua (which I think - surprisingly - is pretty much the same). You get the point. Dining in Miami is very much a rapidly moving target. One thing I will say about Tobacco Road is it is consistent - which is more than you can say about most places in Miami. I have sometimes made reservations at new places in Miami which were closed before I even got to Miami 3 months later. Robyn

Huh? That seems improbable... Then again, my market sells (already cooked) shrimp by the 100 grams. 5,50 euros. Yep, $40 a pound. If I recall, from a recent trip to New York, the same bestioles go for about $5.99 a pound. ← There are shrimp - and then there are SHRIMP. I live in an area with a shrimp fleet (where fuel costs for the boats have tripled in the last couple of years) - and the cheapest fresh local wild caught shrimp of decent size uncooked heads on in a middle of the road supermarket are about $8/pound. And it is not hard to spend $20-25/pound in local non-gourmet grocery stores on certain meats - like veal chops. $15-20/pound for choice - not prime - higher end cuts of beef. We don't have Bresse chicken - except by mail order - so I don't know what it costs where it is easier to get. High quality ingredients are expensive these days - and I don't expect them to get cheaper anytime soon. Robyn