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I just received an email from Kate with the Alinea Book Team. She indicated that they would be sendinf a new book out. I asked if I could pay more to have it sent via UPS or Fedex and I am awaiting her reply.

That part's not really a valid complaint considering the release date has always been Oct. 2008 regardless of when you decided to place the order. The damaged part sucks, did you file a report with the carrier? ← Oh I was not complaining about that. I spoke to the Post Office about it. They did not commit to anything.

I tried to book a table at Schwa and I did get a call back from Michael. Apparently, they are not open on the day that I wanted to dine there. They did have tables available for Saturday night, but I am already booked at Alinea. Oh well, I guess Schwa will be on my list for my next visit,

I received my book yesterday and I must say that I am truly disappointed. It took more than a year for me to receive my book and it arrived damaged. If I had known that it would be shipped via surface mail, I would have gladly paid extra to have it shipped via air mail. The book was poorly packaged so it was easy to see why it arrived in the condition that it did. A couple of emails sent via the contact us link on the Mosaic site have gone unanswered. I am not sure what to do at this point, especially since all the limited edition copies have been sold out. Hopefully, Nick will read this and provide some insight. According to the initial email I received from the Alinea team the book should have been shipped via "track-able" airfreight.

I will be in London for an extremely short stay before heading off to Paris. I really wanted to have lunch at Gordon Ramsay RHR, but did not want to take the chance of missing my reservation due to the time of my arrival. I will be in London on a Saturday. Should I have lunch/dinner at either Maze or Claridges?

I will be in Chicago in November and am definitely going to be dining at Alinea (if I can get a booking there!) I am also considering Charlie Trotter's, TRU or Avenues. Does anyone here have a preference? If I can, I am also going to try for a table at Schwa.

There was no rhyme or reason as to the pre-choice. I have wanted to book a table at Pierre Gagnaire for many years now and have never had the opportunity. L'Astrance was recommended to me by a friend who said she had an outstanding meal there just a few weeks ago. That said, I have decided on Gagnaire and Le Meurice. Any one have any other suggestions/recommendations?

I will be in Paris from 24 Nov to 26 Nov. I am torn between Pierre Gagnaire and L'Astrance. Anyone have an opinion on these two places and/or any other recommendations?

If anyone sees a copy of this book around, please let me know. I looked browsed through several dozen book shops while in Sydney recently, and came up empty handed. I do know that there is a copy in the Momofuku Ko bathroom! Seriously though....I would appreciate anyone's help in locating this book. Thanks much!

I only made it to Tetsuya. I had an amazing meal there.

molto e: I just got off the phone with Kitchen Arts and Letters and was told that the restaurant stopped sending copies of the book out around the first of the year. Apparently, the chef was not happy with the book and is working on another. I am still looking for a copy of the book and if anyone can help me out, that would be great.

I will be in Sydney for 10 days. Where should I be eating? I have already made reservations at Tetsuya and Rockpool. Anything else that should not be missed?

emsny: I actually did contact the restaurant and was told that it was a limited run. No more English copies are being printed. molto e: Thanks for the tip. I will try to contact them this weekend.

I have been trying to locate a copy of the Noma cookbook in English for a while now. Every time I think I have got a copy in my grasp, it slips away. I have recently been told that it was a limited run and that no more copies in English will be printed. Can someone help me locate a copy? Please....

Here's another blog that I "found"...well, not really. The writer of this blog left a comment on my site. Please show your support for Epicurean Appetite from Aiea, Hawaii.

Everything we ordered at St. John today was wonderful. We started with the roasted bone marrow and parsley salad and the langoustines and mayonnaise. What I really wanted was the sardines that they were serving at the bar out front, but they would not let us order it inside the restaurant. For our mains, we had the smoked eel, beetroot and horseradish and the skate, chips and tartare sauce. Our sides were potatoes and runner beans. The hostess was named Emily and apparently she is from the states (SF, I think). We just missed Fergus as we walked in, or so we were told. I would not hesitate to visit this place again. Next time, I think I'll go for the chitterlings and dandelion and the snail, sausage and chickpeas (these were alternate dishes that we were thinking of having).

I was at Tayyabs last night and while not really Indian (the owner is Pakistani I believe), the flavors are familiar and similar. This is on par with what you'd get at Shalimar over in the Bay Area. Good stuff that's reasonably priced.

I'll be visiting St. John's tomorrow. Is there anything that I MUST try there?

Forest hit the nail on the head. You've got everything on the France Forum from Gagnaire, old and a lotta food to Spring, new and inventive, from chains to independants, from multi-stars to unfound places and remember- 5 places open here or get new owners or chefs a week. Almost every place that serves dinner serves lunch, it's just cheaper and more likely to have French not foreign customers.Again, to repeat Forest, what are you looking for? A confit de carard with potatoes, couscous, steak/frites, fish soup, a slab of beef, tartare, haute, bourgeois, edgy, classic, inventive, bistro, brasserie; we got it all, and at lunch. ← John, To be honest with you, it's been a few years since I was last in Paris and that last time, I did the same thing -- pass through. It would be great to have a meal that is memorable in its own way. The type of food doesn't matter, nor does price as I have mentioned above. I'm really just looking for something that will make me want to come back. I've also heard a lot of good things about Spring and understand that they don't do lunch on Tuesdays either.

I'm just looking for somewhere that is representative of a good meal. Price, at this point, is irrelevant. I was looking forward to trying to get a table at L'Astrance, but was told that they are closed on Tuesdays. I'll be taking a train to London that evening and enjoying lunch at the Fat Duck on Wednesday before returning home to the states. I thought of lunch at Le Meurice, but wasn't sure if there were any other options. If not, there's always Cafe Constant.

I will be in Paris on Tuesday 4 September and need some recommendations on somewhere to enjoy a nice lunch. Anyone have a recommendation?

Here are few more food blogs for you to check out: Jenny at Journeys of a Foodnista, Pikko at Adventures in Bentomaking, Dale at LocoKineGrindz, Jacob at Food is Cheap, and Cheap Places to Eat in Oahu. Please visit these blogs as they could use everyone's support!

I recently stumbled upon another blogger in paradise. Please welcome Scott and his blog, a sybarite in paradise. I must confess to not reading too much of what was on Scott's site, but I'm sure he'd welcome your comments and your support!

Ty actually moved from Blogger to Typepad. I have correct the link above. Sorry, but I didn't know how to edit the previous post.

I will be in Paris for a day and will be meeting a friend for lunch. Any recommendations? I will be casually dressed so that needs to be taken into consideration.