Beachfan

a fish basket is a very handle grill accessory. You get direct grilling but it makes turning super easy.

Sealodge, we go every year if we can.

The West Coast red snapper issue is nothing new. I first felt hoodwinked in 1979. But California rock cod has been called red snapper probably since the gold rush.

Actually, Waipouli (where Pacific Cafe is) is the furthest south I go these days. I love the north shore!

Here's my version. I'm pretty conservative and prefer to be envious of others, but healthy. 1) Know the country. For example, Argentina and Chile have relatively high levels of sanitation and I ate salads with impunity. Also, ice in Thailand is generally safe because it comes from purified water almost everywhere. 2) Water should be in bottles and sealed. This includes the water you use on your toothbrush. Better to rinse the toothbrush in beer if you aren't sure. 3) Assuming you are in a place with questionable sanitation. Food stand or restaurant, you want the food hot. HOT. If it's not hot, don't eat it. ON the other hand, barbequed squid in Thailand was fabulous, and though I had questions initially, once you saw how hot the coals were, you knew there wasn't a problem. 4) Hot refers to temperature, not spices. According to a recent article (WSJ maybe), 90 percent of the restuarant salsa served in Juarez had unsafe levels of e coli. It might be too spicy for you to live in, but it isn't for e-coli. 5) In a place with questionable sanitation, we take two pepto bismol tablets daily, and sometimes before a meal. There have been studies showing this works. 6) Salads and peeled fruit are the enemy. It can be very sad to see others enjoying themselves so enthusiastically with the phenomenal tropical fruit at breakfast while you are peeling your market bananna. But, after water and salsa, that's your biggest risk. On the other hand, I have friends who go to Mexico often and eat most everything. They have only "a little" problem once in a while. Whether I'm more susceptible, or less tolerant, I take a more restricitive approach.

It also may be the prettiest setting of any winery I tasted at.

Beaume de Venise is a fabulous Southern Rhone sweet wine. Domaine Durbin is my favorite (it may be spelled Durban).

I thought Florida was on the Carribbean/South America board.

Ron, can you recommend hospitable wineries in Cote Rotie. I struck out last time I was there. Tain l'Hermitage has Delas and Chapoutier. Any others you recommend?

I heard Cote Rotie is moving to Lyon. The number in Ampuis doens't work. Anyone have the new number?

Since I'm going there soon, I thought I'd get this post up at the top to see if anyone has a recommendation.

Since I'm going next month, I thought I'd get this post up to the top to see if anyone has more to add.

In AM; a yoghurt, or seasonal fruit. in PM sugar snap peas or hothouse cucumber or sliced jicama (perhaps with hot sauce). These are the snacks I plan. Then there are the cakes, bagels, chips that others bring in to share.

Right now unless you want to dine at 9:30pm. You can do it through Opentable if you use them (I've started to and like it).

I'll have to leave the Burgs to others more knowedgeable. However if you can find Ecard's Savigny les Beaunes 1996 (he has a few) or Toillot's Chorey les Beaune 1996, I'd be interested to know what you think. There's a thread on Rhone wines that has a lot of info on those appelations.

Chorey- les - Beaune is a village in Burgundy. You most likely had a burgundy (pinot noir) from that village. Toillot makes one. Cote de Beaune is most likely a pinot noir made from grapes outside the village appelations, but in the regional appelation.

Funny, they get a lot of criticism from the orthodoxy because they include wine. Also probably because they use a lot of dishes, hence water, in a water scarce area.

For those of you who haven't heard of this place, Roxanne's is not just vegetarian, not just vegan, but "living" foods. That means no food is heated beyond 115 degrees. I just had a fabulous meal there. The high points were as good as the meal I had yesterday at Fleur de Lys. Since cutting edge technique seems to be of keen interest to some egulleters, I'll share some of the ones I encountered. While they may not have been invented here, they have been raised to haute cuisine here. Use of "cashew cheese" instead of cheese in a "marinated olive and tomato pizza with baby arugula and herbed cashew cheese)". Cashew cheese is fermented cashew butter I believe. This dish was absolutely outstanding. The use cocuonut to make coconut noodles. "Pad Thai of coconut noodles, cilantro, Thai basil, almond chili and sweet tamarind sauces" was very, very good. The use of nut cheeses or something non dairy to make a banana split that didn't taste non dairy. It was a WOW! as was another desert, raspberry and fig tart, with the raspberry being of Best in my Lifetime quality. The use of almond milk in there Peaches and Cream non-dairy smoothy like drink (peaches, almond milk, honey, vanilla). This was top, top notch! The three soups we had (spiced melon soup, Tom Kha soup, and Tortilla soup) were among the best soups I've had all year, with the first two being worthy of the very best restaurants. Everything was excellent. The other dishes we had were "Anaheim chili filled with queso amarillo, avocado, corn and tomatoes with red chilis and tomatillo sauce" and "Lasagna terrine layered with roma tomato sauce, mushrooms, baby spinach, corn and herbed cashew cheese". Note that they don't use pasta (not quite sure what it was). Also the best (by far) watermelon juice I have ever had, maybe better than the best watermelon I ever had (which was in Greece). By the way, there wine list is very good. Ranging from a Gini Soave through Dujac Bonne Mares 93 for a half bottle (I don't know if this is a good Burg, but I recognize the name and the year). Caymus Conundrum is a good choice, as well as Zind Humbrecht. I was very interested in trying Shafer Relentless 99 (a cult wine in it's first year), but didn't. We did drink a William Selyem 1995 Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir and a Mazzocco 1997 Carignane. The Carignane was surprisingly good (it's normally only good for blending), like a Zinfandel without the pepper. went super with the tortilla soup. The W&S was good, but not quite as good as other bottles of the same year and vineyard. If you want to experience totally different haute cuisine, this is the place for you! Here's a link: Roxanne's

Southern Rhone. Full bodied wines, lovely villages, Provence cooking will suit your diet very well. The 2000 vintatge is the current one being sold and it is excellent. Chateau-neuf du Pape and Gigondas are both reasonalby short drives from Avignon which makes a good base for Provence (I actually prefer Villeneuve d'Avignon just across the river, quieter, easier in and out, easy to get to Avignon).

I don't think it's a question of Grimes not "getting it". I think he doesn't like nice people. Having been there, I enjoy the warm welcome. It's not cloying, or false. It seems like sort of a Scrooge reaction to good cheer.

Normally, if the check was waived, I would interpret that as addressing the issue on the spot. I'm not sure I would be angry that I didn't receive a phone call or email too, even as a regular customer.

I haven't been able to get through to Astrance using the fax number from Michelin which is 01 40 50 11 45 It seems to be a problem with the line, not just a vacation issue.

But the same side dishes with both meat and fish and poorly sauteed potatoes, oversalted sauce? What excuse is there for that?

I like it when it's late. But stick to the very simple apps, like smoke salmon, shrimp cocktail, etc.

Excellent post, Steve. An addition; send it back if wine is too warm or cold (the bottle can be accepted after bringing it to the correct temperature).