mildbore

JaCiva's makes Princess Cakes. They are at 4733 SE Hawthorn Ave. Telephone 503 234-8115. The price will depend on the size.

They might be larvae.

I couldn't agree more. It would be a disaster. Imagine all these inventive chefs spending their time on lawsuits not on food. Inventive new dishes and techniques benefit us all, especially if free diffusion of these ideas is encouraged. My own feeling is that attribution is a good idea, just from common decency, not as a legal requirement. (Fat Guy may not be totally disinterested since he is a lawyer. Lawyers are likely to be the big financial winners in such suits.) Bill

Here are a few for you to consider (not all are great): Dahlia Brasa Campagne Il Terrazzo Carmine Le Pichet Buenos Aires Grill (wall to wall meat) Flying Fish Andaluca

My Joel Palmer House meals have ranged from good to excellent, depending on what I order. Some things are just more to my taste. In general, appetizers please me more than main courses, at least partly because I am very hungry at the start of the meal. I like the soup and the mushroom tart, but your mileage will obviously vary. Usually the special mushroom appetizer is wonderful, sort of the catch of the day. I did not much like the "Faux Gras". Among the main courses, I have really enjoyed the scallops and the pork though the pork is not a mushroom dish. Service was never less than competent, and was outstanding on a couple of visits. Bill

I am sorry to hear about Bandol closing. We never got there, but we have had a lot of nice meals at Cassis. We were just there last Saturday. It was very slow, but perhaps that was just because of the holiday weekend.

Barb and I went to Lark last week; it was outstanding. We were greeted like long lost neighbors by J M Enos. This was actually based on a misunderstanding. We had never been her neighbor, but we had eaten at the Dahlia Lounge enough when she was there that she vaguely recognized us. (We still enjoy the Dahlia, but not as often.) The morel mushrooms were wonderful. Also outstanding were the duck leg and the pork belly. As you can see, I love fatty food. The sea bass and the salad were very nice but less to my taste. The foie gras terrine was good but a little disappointing. It had a very heavy layer of fat on top, fat that was no longer in the liver.

I know you would be comforable alone at Lark. Less sure about Union. Bill (who is not just of retirement age but who is retired)

I find Biofournil’s breads less interesting than the equivalents from Essential Baking. This is based on a comparison (over the last couple of weeks, not side by side) of olive breads and of a plain Biofournil loaf to Essential’s Columbia and Fremont breads. The Biofournil bread has a less developed crust and a more uniform interior texture. The taste is just a bit blander. This could just be my preference for a more rustic (Italianate?) style of bread. The lack of large holes is certainly an advantage for sandwiches, less mayo on the fingers. Biofournil seems to be doing everything right, French bakers, French ovens, and their best approximations to French flour. They are a very large company, so perhaps this is what happens when Franz meets France. They hit the right notes but they don’t make music. Sorry to be so late with this.

Barb and I went to Tutta Bella last night and enjoyed it all very much. We had a Salerno salad, a Quattro Formaggi pizza, a Campagnia pizza, and lemon and vanilla gelati for desert. Everything was tasty, and we found the crust nice and thin and not too hard to pick up. With this we drank a pleasant Zenato Valpolicella. I thought I saw them brushing the dough with oil before topping so perhaps that problem has been corrected. It was just a glance; I didn’t study the process. (I realize I could lose my membership for admitting this.) They were topped to about an inch and a half from the edge and not too heaped up in the center.

I like Geneva though Barb is not all that fond of it. It is an old fashoned restaurant, as far from cutting edge as you can get. Anyhow, it is not open on Monday as far as I know. Bill

Wow, what a great response! Thank you very much. I have read the Tummy Trilogy, and I have the Fry and Posner guide also. They are keen on Prudhomme's Cajun Cafe in Carencro. Is that still around?

I am thinking of visiting the Cajun country around Lafayette in March, and I would be very grateful for any suggestions on where to eat. New Orleans is not in my plans though we ate some wonderful meals there during a visit in the early 90’s. My only experience with Cajun food was in the mid 80’s when there was a “Cajun” restaurant in Portland, OR. I don’t know how authentic it was, but there was a rumor that the chef had worked with Paul Prudhomme. Anyhow, the food was very enjoyable and often quite spicy. I am looking for things like a great crawfish pie, not an exquisite micro-portion of two scallops on a huge plate. Many thanks.

We have eaten at Lampreia several times over the years, the last a bit less than a year ago. The food is superbly done. With every dish we say, “That was really nice.” At the end of the meal we don’t leave hungry, but we are not truly satisfied either. I guess we admire this food more than truly enjoy it.