[St. Thomas / St John USVI Dining]

Anyone been to Bliss? All I know about it : "Simpson Beach Airport Rd." I have to go there for a rehearsal dinner and I'd like to know what to expect as far as food and how to dress. I'd ask the bride but she's somewhere in the Caribbean right now.

Thanks!

-Angela

[Babies/Children in Restaurants (merged topic)]

ZenFoodist - You seem to be an exception among parents, being concerned and civil and considerate to others. As a former penguin, I observed that most of the problems are not with infants, but with older children. Frequently, the bigger the kid, the bigger the mess, up until about age 10. As a non-parent, it seems like it's really hard to teach kids good dining manners, because so many parents I've waited on have failed to do so. Somehow, our parents did it!

Clifford - Thank you so much for recognizing your child's age-appropriate behavior and choosing to refrain from taking her to restaurants until she can behave appropriately. As for numbing her to the noise: when a restaurant reaches a certain level of business, a person who is in the restaurant frequently can recognize a sound almost like that of a hum. That hum puts more babies to sleep than I can recall.

To both of you, it is so refreshing to see the courtesy that comes with recognizing that not everyone appreciates children everywhere. While you might have the means to dine out often, the couple in the corner who has saved up for this once a year splurge to an expensive fine dining restaurant (including babysitting costs) is probably not going to be too appreciative of an outburst from a small child whose parents are as oblivious to him as they are to manners.

That said, I do remember a family I waited on whose 5 year old and 8 year old were, literally, perfectly behaved. Little girl had on a ruffly dress with a ribbon in her hair, little boy was dressed in a shirt and tie. I asked the mother how she did it, and she said that the children behaved well because the parents expected them to behave well and set a good example for them. This woman had grown up as the daughter of the dean of a prestigious university, and since her parents had frequent formal dinners, she was expected to attend even though she was a child.

I took this as inspiration for when I have my own kids.

-Angela

[White or Red?]

RED! The meats I love are best complemented by red wine. Not to mention all the great reds we get for our birthdays and anniversary.

[Tucson Dining: Where Should I Eat?]

Did you happen to try Anthony's in the Catalinas while you were in Tucson? If so, what did you think?

As for a Mexican lunch place between La Paloma and the airport... try the lunch location of Cafe Poca Cosa. I've only had dinner at the dinner location (half block south and across the street) but I've heard only good things about the lunch place. It's not Sonoran Mexican food (tacos, burritos, tostadas), but rather a lot more imaginative than that... pork in chipotle plum sauce, that sort of thing. Warning: the chef does not allow special orders - her own little quirk.

[St. Thomas / St John USVI Dining]

Just curious, as my family will be traveling to St. Martin (Orient Beach) to witness the wedding of my sister-in-law. We are planning on renting a car to tour the island during the non-wedding days, and my husband plans to cook for the family at the house. Other than the Epicerie Rachel Perlow mentioned on the first page, does anyone know of any quality grocery stores near Orient Beach? We will be traveling the third week of June 2004.

Thanks!

--Angela

[Say that again?]

Pan set a - Pancetta

All kinds of horrid mutilations of Worcestershire

Grow yer - Gruyere

hol un day - Hollandaise

...and those are just from the last couple of days while I was in the kitchen.

Yes, from the mouths of the waitstaff who are supposed to be selling these things!

I cringe when I hear French, German and Italian pronunciation horror stories from the sommelier ("sahm un yay" to the waiters). Finely educated waitstaff from a maitre d' whom I've heard say "supposably."

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

--Angela

[Useless Food "Gifts" You've Received]

I don't know about the "Ove Glove" in particular, but I know we use knit heat resistant gloves in my Chemistry lab to remove water baths from hot plates. Bunsen burners are too dangerous nowadays...wimps! I do like those textured square silicone pot holders (which were a mother-in-law gift) - we haven't had a slipped pan or pot yet, and they even work when they are wet!

As for useless culinary gifts, we got one of those temperature sensing forks for my bridal shower - and I married a chef! The nice lady friends of my mother in law probably didn't realize that I, too, had culinary skills. We have received a lot of those oil and vinegar and spice sets, and to be fair, we always at least sniff the contents before we "recycle" by regifting, discarding, or refilling the cool containers with "real" ingredients.

Our wedding registry was comprised of kitchen stuff since we already bought a house and filled it with the essentials. So I suppose those gifts were the best ones. And we just hung a beautiful copper pot rack, given to us by another chef this past Christmas.