robyn

I think you'll enjoy Cafe Boulud. I went to Cafe L'Europe a couple of years ago. In my opinion - it was mediocre - and very old fashioned. If you like to eat the kind of "continental food" that restaurants used to serve 15 years ago - then you will probably enjoy it. By the way - it is an expensive restaurant - perhaps just a notch less expensive than L'Escalier. I'd check to see if L'Escalier has any special menus/tasting menus for the summer. Are you staying at the Breakers (I think you may be able to get a discount there if you are)? Robyn

Here is the most recent review of Mary Mac's. Guess dried out fried chicken "for the sake of nostalgia" isn't my thing (I could stay home and do that). I don't eat the kind of food they serve at the Varsity - but even Frank Bruni was there recently during his "junk food" trip of the US. Frommer's guide to Atlanta gives it almost half a page. I've been going to Atlanta for over 25 years - and it has always been a "must visit" (although I never have - because - like I said - I don't eat that kind of food). I don't know how many tourists go there - because I've never been. But if tourists don't go there - it's not because they don't know about it. If you want to showcase something nice and new in Atlanta - in an outstanding cultural institutional - how about the new restaurant at the High Museum - Table 1280? It hasn't been written up a whole lot yet (although it has received some national attention) - and it is very photogenic. Robyn

The DeKalb Farmers Market (Decatur) and Harry's Whole Foods (main location in Alpharetta) are the 2 major markets. They are not exactly undiscovered - but I think they're interesting. Of the 2 - I definitely recommend DeKalb for your show. There is a cafeteria in the DeKalb market which might make for some good filming too. Last time I went - you bought your meal by the pound. Our lunch was pretty tasty. I think the other places mentioned recently - especially the Varsity and Mary Mac's - are just old hat somewhat touristy trap places. I had some excellent food when we were in Atlanta a few months ago - but I don't think those places were the kinds of places you're looking for. Robyn

Last time I went to Los Angeles - I stayed at the Four Seasons - which was just around the corner from about a mile of great walking looking at furniture/design stores. The weather was gorgeous - so I walked - and people looked at me like I had 2 heads . We have decided to go to Manresa one night (sounds like the kind of place that we *must* do if we're in the neighborhood). Otherwise - I will print out this thread - and we will just kind of hang loose - a lot of the places mentioned don't seem like they need far in advance reservations (especially during the week - when we'll be there). FWIW - I've been to the local book store - and looked at a lot of travel books. There is almost nothing written about this area! Best I found was the Green Michelin guide to the San Francisco area - which had a lot more coverage than most. Too bad the last version was published in 2001 - and the next edition won't be out until December 2006. Guess "old news" is better than "no news". Also - we did decide to stay at the Four Seasons (some of the other hotels mentioned were sold out or otherwise wouldn't work). It's like some other Four Seasons properties we've stayed it - more or less a business hotel. No views - golf courses or beaches to die for. But it should be fine. I will check on the wineries (I noticed in one of the books I checked out at the bookstore that getting to some in the hilly areas wasn't a piece of cake (bad mountainous roads etc.). Being from Florida - we are not too fond of mountain driving! <<On a related note: if you're from an actual, thriving and multidimensional urban area, PA itself, while lovely in some ways and more interesting than most tighty-whitey suburbs (and certainly not dangerous, difficult, or dirty, for God's sake) is not exactly a hotbed of new or interesting culture unless you get a bit off the beaten path.>> I don't live in any place like that - I live in a rather nice suburban area in northeast Florida. Not at all ashamed of it either. While I love the great cities of the world (most recent trip to a great city - Tokyo - was fabulous) - I can understand why a lot of people in the US live in places like the one where I live after my trip to San Francisco last year (we had a very nice trip - but I don't think one should have to be extremely careful to avoid stepping in vomit to have a good urban experience - having read the local papers - seemed to me that I'm not the only one who thinks this). I've never seen any city/town in this particular area of California - will probably get around to a fair number of them - and will let you know what I think. I look at this part of California as a place where a lot of people actually live and work. I therefore find it much more interesting than a place like Napa/Sonoma (have been there before) - which is kind of a Disneyworld for people who fancy themselves wine lovers. Robyn

You can't walk to a mall! Where would you put the stuff you buy ? I've read some of your other messages - and it seems like perhaps you cook for a living - maybe a pastry chef? If you haven't read any of my restaurant write-ups - you should know that I am a huge dessert fan (how anyone can go to a good - much less a great - restaurant - and say they don't have room for dessert is beyond me). I hate these places where they fill you up with so much stuff you don't have room for dessert. So an afternoon shopping - drinks and dinner (not too filling) - and then a wonderful dessert. What could be better ? It's a date! Robyn

Ludja - we are really interested in everything (we've been to San Francisco - and the Monterey peninsula - and Napa - but never to the San Jose/Palo Alto area). We will have a car - and I think I understand now that if we stay at the Four Seasons - we won't be taking any "after dinner" strolls around the neighborhood (I like to window shop during after-dinner walks - but I don't think Ikea is suitable for that ). Just in terms of the best place to stay to minimize driving distances - especially for dinners - and shopping (I'd like to do some of that too) - where would all of you say the best location is? Somewhere in/near Palo Alto - or San Jose (I am a Marriott frequent stayer and there is a big Marriott in San Jose). In terms of shopping - I saw that there are stores like Bloomingdales - Nordstrom - etc. in the general area. I'd like to be close enough so I can run over for an hour in the afternoon if my husband decides to take a swim or a nap. Perhaps it is just a toss-up - a matter of personal preference? Are there wineries in the general area (I think I recall seeing a reference to the J Lohr winery)? My husband likes to go to wineries - but I don't think we want to make a 150+ mile round trip to Napa. Robyn

My husband and I are doing our first mileage run this year. I just picked a place that was the right number of miles - and not too hard to get home from if there's a hurricane. Picked San Jose airport - Four Seasons in Palo Alto. Never been there before. Any restaurant recommendations - high end - low end - middle of the road? Either in the immediate area - or places we might eat lunch on day trips from the area. The point of this trip is to get our miles and have a good time. So eating is somewhat secondary . Still - I love California - and don't want to waste a single calorie. Note that we have been in San Francisco recently - no need to go over the restaurants there. Robyn

I don't think this is about 3 star for real. It is about "cashing in". Not that I blame Robuchon or other chefs (why should ordinary lawyers like me retire on more than they do?). Still - I think I would probably be disappointed trying to recreate a 3 star dining experience in France in Las Vegas. That's one reason I'm reluctant to go. For what it's worth - on my last trip to Las Vegas - I had mixed experiences in terms of restaurants. Michael Mina was quite good. Le Cirque was awful. I wrote a letter to Sirio Maccioni after the meal at Le Cirque - and his letter back said next time you're in New York - be my guest at Le Cirque 2000 for lunch. Took a year - but next time we were in New York - we took him up on his very generous offer and had a fabulous meal. Based on that experience - I think Mr. Maccioni is a class act in my book. But if he - as one of the great restaurant operators in the US - can't get things to work in Las Vegas on a consistent basis - who can? Robyn P.S. Seeing that Big Boy Dan is from Austin - I'll throw in a "home town example". We were in Austin last year for the first time - and spent an afternoon eating Texas BBQ in Lockhart. Never had Texas BBQ (mostly beef) before. That fatty brisket was to die for. Now I'm sure places everywhere could try to duplicate that - but - except for maybe some other places in Texas or other places nearby - they wouldn't make those 20 foot long smokers and cook the briskets all day and night. They would make pale imitations of the real thing. And that's not what fine dining - or really good eats (the only difference between the former and the latter being a matter of price ) is all about.

I think there are several reasons why a 3-star Michelin restaurant in France can't be duplicated outside of France. The first and most obvious is sourcing of ingredients. Yes - you can overnight fedex cheese from France - but with more perishable items - fish - produce - etc. - you will have a time delay much more significant than from the French market to the French table. Note that I don't think there's anything wrong with using local US ingredients in US kitchens (and I happen to love a fair number of US restaurants that specialize in local ingredients). It's just that French ingredients are different than US ingredients (and ingredients from other countries - I can buy haricots verts here in Florida - but they're probably a week or two old - and from south America - and they don't taste like the ones I've eaten in France). Second - there is the matter of labor. In decades past - high end French restaurants ran on an apprentice system. One would start at the bottom - hulling strawberries and doing similar things. Perhaps work one's way up to sous chef - or higher. Working in a 3 star French restaurant was a life-long career begun at an early age. Now I think it is much harder to do this even in France these days - perhaps impossible given French labor laws. But it has never been possible to do this in the US. At least not on a consistent basis for all diners on a given evening. I can recall 2 miserable experiences in higher end NY restaurants (Per Se and Jean Georges) dealing with staff wine recommendations (for lesser wines - but one of my best recollections of French dining was the staff coming up with recommendations of excellent local wines at modest prices). Another best recollection was having staff fight over which were the best local cheeses we should try - or the best specials on the menu - sometimes with the diners near us joining in the fray. (Note that our best server in about the last 12 months in the US was our server at Chez Panisse. She knew everything about the menu - and I mean everything. Wouldn't be surprised if she could take me to the field and show me the exact place where the radish on my plate came from.) Third - there is the matter of educated customers. It made me very sad reading a few messages here. Like the one where someone studied food a lot before eating - and didn't have a wonderful experience. While other customers showed up to dine in shorts - or ate things with their hands from the dessert trolley (which BTW - was conceived by Ducasse - not Robuchon - and copied in non-Ducasse places before it wound up in Las Vegas). Perhaps this was several messages - not one. Don't remember. But I don't want to see some guy's hairy legs when I'm dining at a fine restaurant. High end French dining (and a lot of lower end French dining too) was always about "terroir". That is a characteristic of dining in parts of the US too. It is an aspect of dining that pleases me greatly. Any idiot can take some foie gras and sauce it and make it taste good - whether he's in New York - or Las Vegas - or Stockholm. But a great chef who has a connection to the land - and the seasons of the land (things like ferns, peas and lamb in the spring - and game in the fall - etc.) - and a gift for cooking - well that is fabulous. To die for. I ask you - will Robuchon serve asparagus in Las Vegas in November? Don't know - but - if he does - he's not the Robuchon I knew - however briefly. Time will tell. Robyn

Just for the record, that's all I mean. 5:30 is just too early for dinner, and although as a general matter I love to eat late, I can't do multi-course tasting menu on their late shift. ← Agreed. I am not a breakfast person. I usually eat lunch at about noon - and dinner at about 8. I had to organize my eating to dine at 5:30 at Per Se and have anything that resembled an appetite. Wasn't really worth it in my opinion - and I won't do it again (I mean what the heck do you do when you're on vacation in New York when you've finished dinner 3 hours before you go to bed and an hour after theater time - and you're too old for clubs!). By the way - the worst part with a 5:30 reservation is you can't even arrive early and have a drink at the bar. The "gate" to the restaurant doesn't open until exactly 5:30. Robyn

Actually Per Se is not bad in terms of treating strangers. We ate there in 2004 (had a "blind date" with someone whose dining companion couldn't make it for a hard to get reservation). I don't think we were treated badly (except for having to dine at 5:30). Still - other people have told me that we didn't get the "full treatment" because we weren't known to the kitchen. Of course - "not bad" is faint praise when you're talking about spending $750 for 2 for dinner with modest alcohol. I am simply very confused about these restaurants. I don't know how a picture from a John Mariani review wound up in an e Molto review here (maybe they dined together - maybe they're friends - or maybe e Molto simply got the picture from the Mariani review like I did - cut and paste). Whatever - the pictures are identical. All the big deal critics seem to love the place - but who knows how they are treated compared to average folk (whose reviews in general are not quite as stellar - there aren't any bad reviews - just reviews that make one pine for the old days and tastes at Jamin)? I am quite sure that Mariani makes himself known to the kitchens in the places he dines (that just seems to be his nature) - and Sokolov is a former NYT critic who has a very distinctive look these days (he'd be recognized - even assuming he doesn't introduce himself). I guess my general impression is if I were in Las Vegas - I'd have to try it - but I wouldn't travel almost 3000 miles from where I live just to dine there. In general - I think that Las Vegas is a pretty gross place (maybe I'm too old) - and I'm more comfortable in places that are mellow and polite to everyone. As far as places fleecing patrons - high end dining is expensive these days (except perhaps in countries with low costs of living). High end ingredients are expensive -whether or not they're good (e.g., truffles don't tend to travel well - but they're not any cheaper if they're 2000 miles from home and a month old). Although I must say that when a restaurant depends a lot on stuff like foie gras to get exclamation points - I find it kind of boring. Even I can make delicious dishes using foie gras. What I am more impressed with is dishes/meals that are labor intensive (common - but not as common as they used to be - in high end restaurants) - things that I couldn't duplicate at home in a million years. And attention to detail. The perfectly hulled strawberry. I am totally unimpressed with tasting menus where 80% of what I'm eating was prepared long before I ate it. I don't mind spending a lot on food - but - when we're on vacation for an extended period - 2-3 weeks - I don't want a food budget that would buy me a new Lexus . So we frequently do 2 things to keep food costs in line. First - we tend to eat our main meal at lunch instead of dinner. Same great food at a lot of high end restaurants - much lower prices. This works especially well when we are traveling west - and are hungry for our big meal of the day early (works particularly well in Japan - where we were ready for dinner at 11 am!). Second - we don't spend a lot of money on alcohol. Spirits (usually relatively inexpensive) - perhaps a glass of champagne - and perhaps modest wine - if we want to do a "big wine" - we will buy it at a local wine store and drink it at home. Anyway - I've rambled enough. Robyn

This picture kept bugging me. It's from John Mariani's review of The Mansion (I keep archives of his reviews). By the way - Sokolov had a review of Guy Savoy and The Mansion today in the Wall Street Journal. Kind of luke warm on Guy Savoy. Enthusiastic about The Mansion. WSJ is by subscription only - but - if you are interested in the review - I'd be glad to email you a copy if you PM or email me. Robyn

Sometimes a good attitude works in a restaurant - sometimes it doesn't. Depends on the restaurant. And - apart from people who are just total jerks - anyone who is dressed appropriately - and is polite - and is spending a lot of money should expect to get a great meal at a restaurant that is supposed to be great. You know - sometimes there are people in restaurants who would rather talk to their spouses than learn the life stories of the servers or the chefs . And a great restaurant will rise to that. Your server will discern whether you want to be chatty - or whether you are celebrating your 25th anniversary and would rather he/she be in the background. A great restaurant will also make you feel at ease. Being almost 60 - with extensive dining experience - I feel at ease almost everywhere now. But there are a lot of messages here from younger diners with a lot less experience. A great restaurant will make them feel at ease too. Even though my husband and I are relatively old - well anyone can have problems. When we were in Japan earlier this year - we ate our first big deal authentic tempura dinner. The kind with a million little side dishes. Five dishes of salt. Sauces A and B and things C and D to mix in them. And more. We didn't have a clue. We spoke only a little Japanese - and the staff didn't speak a word of English. My husband mixed C with sauce A - about ten times too much C. It was awful. Rather than laughing - the server just took the dish away - and showed my husband how to do it right. That is a classy restaurant - a great restaurant. And I hope our not too fluent "thank you's" in Japanese and our little bows were appropriate. As an aside - diners do not talk to chefs or servers in a lot of high end Japanese restaurants. The chefs are right in front of you - but they are totally 100% busy making the meals. They don't talk to anyone! We never would have learned how to order/eat any high class food anywhere had we not had similar teachers - both chefs and servers - in many places - in many countries - for many years. What do you do with this? How do you eat that? Like I said - a great restaurant will put you at ease - present you with terrific food - and teach you how to eat it if you don't know. A great restaurant is one that is there to please you. Robyn

Kai-M - You bring up a couple of points. Not in the order you put them - the first is price. I - like several others in this thread - had the great fortune to dine at Jamin in Paris (I actually dined there close to when it opened - when it only had one Michelin star - mostly due to the way the Michelin system worked in those days - as opposed to the 3 stars in later years). Back then - about 25 years ago - my husband and I were used to spending perhaps $200 for dinner for 2 at an excellent place in France - with modest wine. What with inflation in food costs - I think the cost of a similar meal today is more along the lines of maybe $700-900 for dinner for 2 - again with modest wine (the latter being increasingly difficult or impossible to get in most places). I think your 150 euros - including tax - is doable in places for dinner - but not always. It is almost always doable for lunch in places that serve lunch. The second issue you bring up is uneven treatment. What you call the "in 'n out" I call the "bum's rush". I only encountered it once at a very high end restaurant - Lucas Carton in Paris quite a few years ago. We were supposed to dine there with a "friend of the restaurant" - but he was sick. He told us to keep the reservation (hard to get) - but to make sure to ask for "Roland" when we arrived. We didn't ask for Roland - and got that "bum's rush" (until we found Roland - who screamed at a few people - and then the whole nature of our meal changed). I know that other diners and some of my friends disagree with me - but I personally believe that if a restaurant is worth Michelin stars - especially 3 (or their equivalent in places without Michelin stars) - it should not be necessary to know anyone to get a fabulous meal. It should not be necessary to arrive on an evening when the restaurant is having a "good night". The hallmark of most great things in life - whether they are restaurants - or tennis players - or doctors - or anything/anyone else - is the highest degree of achievement *on a consistent basis*. Doesn't matter if you have the best technical surgeon in the world - but he's only 50% - and you're one of the 50% he screws up on the operating table . And it is precisely the same with restaurants. When one is paying a lot of money - one should expect to get the best. If I am paying $500+ plus for a meal - I don't care if it was great yesterday - or whether it will be great tomorrow - if it isn't great for me in terms of food and service tonight - the restaurant is a flop (unless - of course - the restaurant owner offers something in the way of an apology - which happened to me once after an unfortunate dining experience at a high end Las Vegas restaurant - but that doesn't normally happen). Now some restaurants are very up front about what they can and can't do on a consistent basis. When we went to Gordon Ramsay a couple of years ago - it was quite clear. It reserves the right to kick you out of dinner after 2 hours. That didn't sit right with me - so we went to lunch (single seating where we were free to linger for a long time). It was an honest restaurant and I very much enjoyed lunch there. Per Se is also honest. We'll give you the necessary time - but unless you're a big deal - you'll start your meal really early or really late. So I ate dinner starting at 5:30 - which I will never do again anywhere (not my cup of tea). But the restaurant was honest. Other restaurants are dishonest - or simply uneven. Booking 3 dinner seatings during dinner hours when there are a lot of customers so they have to try to flip tables fast. I try to avoid these places - but don't always succeed. I guess what I have seen reading this thread is that these restaurants in Las Vegas are simply opportunistic - and that one's meal can vary a lot depending on the circumstances on any given night. But I could be wrong. Perhaps these are simply "opening glitches" that will disappear. I reserve judgment. Robyn

Robyn, First to answer your question about the Foie Gras at Robuchon, they use Rougier from France. The best time to get interior shots of a restaurant is either before service or at the end of service. I also find it useful to try a restaurant before making judgements about them. Best, Molto E ← Kai-M said in his/her report in this thread that he/she had Hudson Valley at L'Atelier. So do they use one kind at L'Atelier - and another at The Mansion? Not that there's anything wrong with Hudson Valley. And you still haven't answered the question. Were you just a guest unknown to the restaurant - or did you have "friends" there? I don't know what the big deal is in answering this question. I have friends in some places - in other places I don't. I never think there's a reason to be secretive about it. And if one person doesn't know someone and has a bad experience - and another knows someone and has a great experience - that's a factor to take into account in deciding whether to dine somewhere. I am not a big fan of high-end restaurants where you have to "know someone" to get a great meal - but I know people who disagree with me. It is - however - based on prior experience - something I like to know ahead of time. Anyway - I wouldn't have thought about this for 10 seconds - but the more you seem to evade the question - particularly in light of the differences in opinion I've seen about these restaurants - the more it makes me think there may be more going on than meets the eye. Robyn

Kai, The dinner at the Mansion lasted just over 3 hours . Molto E ← I think Kai-M's question regarding special treatment deserves an answer. I find it kind of hard to get pictures of "restaurants without patrons" - or kitchen pictures - without stopping by when the restaurant isn't open and getting permission from the chef/manager. So do you know people at the restaurant - or perhaps your friends at Binkley's do? Anyway - it's important so people can decide whether the type of meal/service they might get at a particular place will be affected by whether they have some kind of special introduction before they go. Robyn

Holly's taken care of the BYO angle. As for the state-run liquor stores, yes, they're still around, but they're light years better than they were when you last lived in the state. All are now self-service, brighter and more attractive, and many--especially the "superstores" and "Premium Collection" stores--have great selections of outstanding spirits and wines--some of the latter, thanks to the "Chairman's Selection" program, at jaw-droppingly low prices. You still won't find the loss-leader pricing on the regular stuff that you will find in neighboring states, partly because Pennsylvania prices still include such absurdities as the Johnstown Flood (1936) Relief Tax (this is now rolled into the shelf price). But you will find some supermarkets now with "Wine & Spirits Shoppes" (what the PLCB would rather you call the State Stores now) inside them and unified checkouts. Beer you still can't buy in supermarkets, and the state's beer laws still make buying it less convenient than it ought to be. And even though Pennsylvania is far from the Bible Belt, it is the conservatism of much of the state's interior--combined with the clout of the State Store employees' union in Harrisburg and, to be frank, the revenue the state makes off the system--that keeps the system around. ← Yup - state stores in states I've been to that have state stores (like North Carolina) are zippier than they used to be. But they still lack one thing that's essential to get the best your area can support - competition. Even though we're a small city - I think we have a ton more than Pennsylvania. And on top of everything we had last year - we just got a new store - Total Wine & More. Amazing place. If you ever told me I could buy Pol Roget Churchill in Jacksonville I would have said you were kidding. I saw that it has a branch in Cherry Hill - although I don't know if that store is like the store here. Robyn

I didn't realize Chef Blais spent a lot of time in Miami. Unless he does - better he should show you around his home stomping grounds in and around Atlanta (there's a lot of good food there - although today's NYT article about Quinones and the like is really yesterday's news). Perhaps you suffer from "west coast syndrome". You have so much in the way of terrific locally sourced foods - and such terrific depth in some ethnic food areas - prepared in frequently excellent restaurants - that you look at deep fried twinkies or probably mediocre BBQ as delicious exotica <rof,l>. How about a trade? You send your local food here - and I'll send mine there (except for the local shrimp - I'll keep those ). On a more serious note - what I would like to see on the Food Network is some digging that gives exposure to local chefs who are TRYING TO DO SOMETHING INTERESTING OR CREATIVE. The next Quince (San Francisco) or York Street (Dallas). Not the latest place you can spend over $500+ for a celebrity chef clone restaurant. Or any place that specializes in $6.95 ribs and chicken. I am proud to say that I try to find those places before they get nominated for James Beard awards (even if they don't usually win) - and I wind up eating at some places that deserve nominations but don't get them (those guys from the Beard foundation don't tend to find places that aren't located in major airline hub cities). And - in digging - I probably wind up with as many losers as winners. Such is life. In a city like New York - there are dozens - maybe hundreds - of media and non-media places where everyone talks about just about every place in the city. But once you get out of New York - there's almost no coverage at all - except perhaps in the local newspaper - or by word of mouth. Now Las Vegas may be a somewhat strange place for dining all around. But when you get to places like Philadelphia and the like - if Holly (or similar people in similar cities) says there are places - even BYOs - with young chefs doing creative things - try a few. Don't fall back on the the tired cheap junk food thing. Slumming to find the best burrito etc. (AB has done that already - and he is probably more masterful at it than anyone else can be - OTOH - he did a great job on his French Laundry meal too). Showcase the up and coming talent in America's restaurant kitchens. We lose promising restaurants in smaller cities every day because they're not on anyone's radar screen - and they don't get any publicity. So those of us non-left coast people wind up with the restaurant equivalent of fried twinkies. It's just a dream of mine - which probably won't be fulfilled. But at least I can ask. Robyn

This is simply not true. I can guarantee that both restaurants are working with only the best, world class ingredients that have been carefully sourced. In fact Mr. Savoy has gone on the record as saying he won't serve beef in his Paris restaurant because he can't get good product in France, but he it's on the menu in Vegas because he has better access to American beef. ← What is the best? You can't get beluga caviar in the US these days (legally). Is the foie gras goose foie gras - or the duck that everyone and his mother serves here (menus that I saw don't say). And do I really want old turbot flown in from Europe? I am not sure what you are getting for your money (and it is a *lot* of money - I read an excellent review of Robuchon's place where the writer spent about $3000 for 2 for dinner - he wasn't pinching pennies when it came to wine - in these restaurants). "Luxury" ingredients you can't get at dozens of other US restaurants? No. Fabulous furnishings? Don't think so. Great chef in the kitchen? No (I've read about the chefs - they seem good - but not worth this much money). Inventive creative cuisine (maybe - although I don't see any evidence of it in the reviews). Big name chain restaurant. Yup. For what you spend at these places - you could have perhaps 3, 4 or 5 meals in an upcoming US restaurant where the chef is doing new, exciting things with local ingredients. A Quince - a York Street. Or - you could just about go to the Dordogne region of France and have some of that goose foie gras (assuming you were a good shopper when it came to air fares). I don't go to Las Vegas that often - I don't gamble. However I think it's a fun place - and I might spend a few days there this fall. But spending $1000+ for a dinner there with a no-name chef in the kitchen - forget it. Robyn

What hasn't been featured? Deep fried twinkies - or where to find them in Las Vegas? We have deep fried twinkies in every 2 bit county fair in the south. And if they haven't been shown on the Food Network before - I'll eat my golf hat. And I am sorry - fried twinkies and hot dogs are not great food. And I'm sure that any BBQ in Las Vegas is not great BBQ (sorry - that's the southerner in me - I am not a huge fan but I know a bit - and I know enough not to try it in Las Vegas ). I have been to Las Vegas in the last few years - and I think it's somewhat uneven (particularly at the high end). However my benchmark is the lunch buffet at the Bellagio - which is an amazing value considering what you get and what it costs. Don't know what it costs these days - but it was less than $20 last time I was there. So judging from what you're saying - you're going for the people who want to eat lunch for 2 for $15-20 or less. If that is the Food Network demographic - so be it. In a way - it's kind of sad. I had always hoped that Food Network would elevate peoples' tastes. And there are people there who do that (e.g., despite all the "bam" stuff - Emeril has hundreds of very good recipes on the site). But fried twinkies..... BTW - I don't think that bringing good chefs to to these places (as opposed to them discovering them on their own and bringing you along) elevates the places. I think it degrades the chefs (particularly if they're getting paid to go along). Anyway - no need for answers. This is more "food for thought". Robyn

I have been in Philadelphia since I moved (family events). Nothing to write home about. But I was in all cases "geography/time limited". I'm curious about the liquor license thing. Sure going into the restaurant business is expensive. But just about every place here in the Jacksonville FL area (hardly a culinary mecca or a wining and dining spot for high-rollers) that's not a "family restaurant" - however humble - has at least a beer and wine license. And our state liquor laws/regulations are anything but lenient. What's the deal? It can't just be that all your terrific new chefs are poor and have no backers (perhaps that's true but if young chefs can get backing here - I would have thought they could get backing anywhere). I know this isn't a PC thing to say - but do you have to pay people off to get a license? Or are the licenses restricted in number - like taxi medallions - where you have to pay huge amounts of money to buy one from someone who's died? I don't question that you and Chris have had fine dining experiences. That wasn't my point. My point was - what's the point of the show? I am a potential viewer and I want to know (or - at a minimum - I at least want you to think about it). I was cooking today - and since Wimbledon was over - and the markets were closed - I turned on the Food Network and caught perhaps the 100th episode I've seen featuring Versailles in Miami. What a yawn. So what's your focus when it comes to the show/Philadelphia? As a potential viewer - I am not interested in the best BBQ in Philadelphia - or the best dim sum (unless both have gotten a *lot* better since I was last there - there are probably a dozen or more cities in the US where you can get better in those categories - I don't see any reason to do "best of this or that" in cities where the cuisine isn't a contender for a national category killer). The best greasy spoons/local dumps that everyone has heard of? I suppose there's an audience for that (although I'm not part of it). New upcoming serious chefs - as long as they haven't been mentioned in the national media yet - even if their places don't have liquor licenses (that's something I'd be interested in - but I don't know whether enough people share my interest to get ratings). Or something else? I think a non-cooking food TV show should have a theme that you can articulate in 6 words or less - like Rachel Ray's $40/day. Even though she got to $40 by giving lousy tips in a lot of cases - I thought it was a decent theme - something that tied all the shows together. So what's your theme? Robyn

Both have been around forever. Neither are 'off the path' geographically, but I'm not sure how much that matters to you. I'm sure the old-timers know about them, but the younger generations probably don't even notice them as they drive past. I'm pretty sure that they are both only open for breakfast and dinner, and they're actually fairly close to one another. Silver Skillet is actually down the road from Kool Korners. -Greg ← Thats perfect...just what I want! ← I've eaten at the Silver Skillet within the last couple of years (as well as similar places in other cities). It's southern breakfast - which is usually very good when you're in the mood for it - but this place is nothing extraordinary (most southern breakfasts are southern breakfasts - think Cracker Barrel - on the other hand - the 12 course brunch at the Four Seasons this last trip to Atlanta was extraordinary - creative and delicious). Again - I think you need more of a "hook" than going over places that everyone has known about for the last 20 years. Places that now are simply ancient stereotypes (there are many places like that where I live - everything from BBQ places to "fish shacks" - and they are almost uniformly mediocre). Robyn

P.S. to Chris. My husband and I were ADAs in Philadelphia. He - more than I (he was in felonies/homicides - and I did appeals) - spent a lot of time with cops (mostly waiting for juries). He doesn't recall a single decent meal. But he does recall a lot of heavy drinking in places with the right atmosphere for heavy drinking. As former prosecuting attorneys - we have the utmost respect for cops - but not necessarily respect for their taste in dining establishments. I still think this show needs a better focus - a theme. Something distinctive. Not simply "out-of-the-way" places which reads as 2nd and 3rd rate Chinese food in cities not noted for Chinese food. And today - with the internet - nothing that is really good is off the beaten track unless you're dealing with huge cultural/language divides (e.g., I can find the best BBQ restaurants in Texas but had difficulty in Japan because not much in Japan is translated into English). Maybe a show about places that cops like to eat and drink - good - bad or indifferent. Why they eat there (time constraints - etc.). Whether you're talking about doughnuts or pizza or BBQ or beans and rice. LA cop meets Philly cop - or Miami cop - and they compare notes. Throw in a little law enforcement stuff. People like cop shows - they'd probably like "cop goes out to eat at 3 am shows". What do you think? Robyn P.P.S. Forget about the secret service. Find a regular cop in DC.

Philadelphia is indeed a culinary mecca, and not just for scrapple, cheesesteaks, pork sandwiches, hoagies and pretzels - although Philadelphia excels in all of these. Consider our last three years of BYO's, the Reading Terminal Market, Carman's Country Kitchen, even many of Steven Starr's operations. Quite a few publications rate Philadelphia as one of the top dining destinations in the country. ← It's nice to be a booster of the city where you live (better than putting it down) - I do it too (although I'd never say food is our strong point) - but I respectfully disagree with this assessment. And - if it's true - can't you do anything more creative with the Philadelphia segment of this show than cheesesteaks? I moved from Philadelphia over 30 years ago - and it was supposed to be "cheesesteak/pork sandwich/hoagie/pretzel city" then. The dining scene has changed in 30 years - and if Philadelphia is a top dining destination - I'd assume it has more to offer now. By the way - as someone who enjoys good wine/spirits at dinner - I find that BYO's are usually restaurants that are too marginal or cheap to get liquor licenses (or sometimes they're in places that are cursed with ridiculous liquor laws). And - when you're a tourist - it is usually inconvenient - or very inconvenient - to find a place to buy booze - and to schlep it to a restaurant. And that's doubly true in a state like Pennsylvania - which (I think) still has state liquor stores. Is it possible to buy even beer or wine in a grocery or other normal type store in Pennsylvania these days (last time I looked - Pennsylvania wasn't in the Bible Belt )? Robyn

I grew up in the Philadelphia metro area and lived there for a few years as an adult. Haven't been there recently - but I did get there a few times after I moved south. I think most ethnic cuisine in the Philadelphia area is quite unremarkable. The 2 things that stick in my mind most after all these years are great (but very retro) Italian food - and diners. Especially diners. Boy - how we miss diners here in the south. I also lived in the Boston area as a student (and traveled there after I left). Again - one thing that sticks in my mind is great Italian food from the north end. Also Legal Seafoods - and especially its clam chowder. Don't mean to put down either Philadelphia or Boston - but neither is in my opinion a culinary mecca - and you have to have a critical eye when figuring out what you have to offer to the outside world that's both excellent - and unique - and not yuck (think scrapple ). E.g., I went to Susanna Foos years ago - when it was in its prime - and I thought it just a notch above average back then. And also e.g., - after living in Florida for over 30 years - when I have guests here - I try to take them to places where they can eat really good stuff they'd have a hard time finding anywhere else. By the way - hope you guys in the Philadelphia metro area all have your heads (if not your houses) above water. I can't recall flooding like this since Agnes in 1972 (when I was living in center city). Robyn