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Bux, As a matter of fact Les Bookinistes is open on Sundays and offers a "market menu". When we were there a few years ago the price was 180 ffs for three courses. We had a similar experience with respect to the waitstaff speaking fluent English. We were also there on a very busy and raucous night, with many Americans dining. It was fun and convivial but the ambience was more of a trendy bistro in the States that our romantic notions of a "Parisian" bistro. Bookinistes is a Guy Savoy baby bistro, and I think I remember reading somewhere that he has a connection to Ze Kitchen as well. Ironically, another Sunday night favorite is a small Italian place run by a British ex-pat on Ile St Louis, La Castafiore. Basic homemade pastas and good salads, very reasonably priced. It's an intimate space that draws an eclectic crowd. And if Berthillon across the street is closed, the restaurant serves their ice creams and sorbets .

Coat asparagus spears in mayonnaise seasoned with salt and pepper, roll the spears in panko and roast in a hot oven about 15 minutes, until tender. Yum, yum.

Hands down, broccoli rabe.

Okay, Paul I'll bite: why would the mention of Drones and Racine irritate Simon, and why would you want to do so?

Vivre, when you put it in black and white $200 does seem sort of stiff for tea and sandwiches. Maybe we'll check out Fortnum & Mason. I bet you're right about the pizza situation. We probably won't find anything like Joe's Cafe.

Wow, you guys are speedy. Vivre, funny you should mention Belgo and Wagamama. I neglected to say that Belgo was on our list because our youngest adores mussels. My husband sent me a link to Wagamama yesterday after a friend who visited recently told him about it. Seems chain-ish but the menu appeals. Maybe both of these places for lunch? The kids are 8, 14 and 16 and not into cutesy places or the usual "family dining" kinds of restaurants. I think they'd enjoy Hunan greatly, based on my experience there. Simon, thanks for the tea recommendations. I was thinking of a substantial afternoon tea as an alternative to an early dinner pre-theater, if we can get tickets. Are reservations for tea a must? What about attire? What kind of food is generally served i.e. is my husband going to want to grab a burger afterwards? Is Pizza Metro just a pizza place or do they offfer other fare?

We've decided to surprise the kids with a family trip to London towards the end of February (5 night) and are looking for some restaurant suggestions. Already on the list for consideration are Hunan, Mandarin Kitchen, Cafe Spice Namaste (or Tamarind if we decide to splurge) and Maroush or Patogh for middle eastern. What we need to round out the list are some reasonably priced modern British and Italian restaurants. Also, what's the general scoop on afternoon tea: must-do or must-miss? Any places that do an English breakfast really well? The three kids are fairly adventurous eaters who like to try new things and enjoy upscale places -- we just don't want to break the bank eating out as a party of five every night. We plan to rent an apartment for our stay so we'll have a fridge and stove available so suggestions for places to get some excellent prepared food would be welcome as well. Many thanks!

I, too, have madeleine pans that I've been meaning to use (I'm embarrassed to tell you how old they are). Patricia Wells has a recipe in her Food Lovers' Guide to Paris, which you can also find online through a search engine. She refers to them as lemon tea cakes. Last weekend I pulled out the recipe but it calls for regular, unbleached flour but all I had was King Arthur's and I didn't feel like running out to get some. I know, I know, ambitious enough to bake madeleines but too lazy to go to the store. Story of my life . Looking forward to trying again.

Here's a hint: use a pinch of baking soda in the marinade to tenderize the meat. When you add it there's a little mini-volcano in the bowl. One of most loved and well-used Chinese cookbooks (Black softcover, by Rose Cheng, I think) calls for about 1/2 tsp of baking soda in most of the beef marinades and it really works.

LOL! They sound like the department store in-house label names like Karen Scott, Valerie Mitchell, Kate Howard that Filene's and Lord and Taylor use. No wait, those are all last name that could be first names. TOdd and Jaspeer have last names that are adjectives.

Thanks, VivreManger and Cabrales, those are some good points. Come to think of it I've never heard folks talk about great sushi in the Boston area. Looking forward to your report on Oishii, Vivre. Note: Kingfish Hall is, I believe, part of the Todd English empire. I've managed to miss all of his ventures and can't say that I'm really sorry -- the whole "branding of chefs" thing leaves me cold. We get to Boston a couple of times a year and are still working through our list of places we'd like to try. Never got to Jasper's. Recently we went to Rialto, after my having missed Jody Adams years ago at Michaela's. Our meal at Rialto was wonderful: everything tasted good and the service and atmosphere was of the casual elegant style we prefer. I'm still waiting to get to No. 9 Park; my husband was there for lunch about a year ago and loved it.

It looks like there are at least two Oishii restaurants: Chestnut Hill and Sudbury. The Chestnut Hill location is more convenient for me -- Sudbury tends to be one of those "can't get there from here locations", not really convenient to the Mass Pike. I was surprised to see a couple of chefs mention Jasper White's Summer Shack for seafood. I was completely underwhelmed on my one visit and wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. I wonder if there's a loyalty to Jasper White that goes beyond the quality of his restaurant......

Charlie's rules! We were in Boston on Christmas eve day and stopped in at Charlie's, which is our favorite breakfast place in Boston. My husband always has the turkey hash. This time he got to share it and another favorite, french toast, with a friend. There were nine of us in all, five adults and four kids, and we were all able to find a seat because it was slow. Usually there's a wait for either table or counter. We've also eaten recently at the new Davio's location (corner of Arlington and Stuart streets) and all I can say is that it's hard to imagine how Franklin Cafe's chicken livers could possibly be better. Davio's serves them fried and crispy, with a sweet, tangy port reduction. They were meltingly tender. Garnish was crispy spinach, pine nuts and golden raisins. I had originally ordered the butternut squash gnocchi with fennel sausage and apple, but something about the way our server recommended the chicken livers made me change my order. Afterwards, I could have kissed him.

Lxt, you read my words differently than I had intended. The sense of insecurity I got from the photgraphs was pretty much centered on the eyes and wasn't a factor of the age of the subject. And it's definitely not something I equate with weakness. Quite the contrary. I think it requires great strength to open oneself up to exposure like that. I think Steve hit it on the head -- Maybe when the words or the ideas or the persona come across as so strong or brilliant or sure it's easy to forget that we're all basically lost souls.

I agree 100% about Avedon's photos of his father. And they reminded me of many of my elderly relatives and their friends -- a true reflection of that generation. They are remarkably poignant. What struck me overall about the exhibit is how so many of the photographs of people I would consider to be geniuses in their fields reflect a certain degree of insecurity and vulnerability, or at least un-self-assuredness. Just hung the Paris Avedon 2003 calendar that I picked up at the exhibit. Okay, carry on about the food related stuff....

Pickled jalapenos give a nice kick with some added flavor.

Tried all variations for cooking bacon and have settled on the oven method. Foil covered cookie sheet, 350 or 375 (if I'm impatient) for about 15 -20 minutes. Preferences in our household vary, so I start checking at around 12 minutes, then leave a couple of slices in to get very crispy the way I like it. Nodine's Applewood Smoked Bacon is far and away the favorite, though our local meat wholesaler carries some decent think cut and slab smoked bacon.

Reporting back on our New Year's Eve magret: phenomenal . Thanks to everyone for sharing recipes and advice -- it was surprisingly easy to make and completely delicious. I picked up a couple of D'Artagnan breasts and prepared them at home by scoring the skin and fat deeply and sprinkling with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. At our friend's house I cooked them, skin side down over medium low heat and spooned off the fat quite frequently, occasionally basting the meaty side. When they were brown and crispy I flipped them over and let the meaty side cook for about 5 additional minutes. Then I covered the breasts in foil and let rest while I deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of orange juice. Threw in a cup of frozen red raspberries and let the sauce cook down for a few minutes, added a knob of butter and then strained it. My better half sliced the breasts on the diagonal and we served the sauce on the side. Actually, the duck was so delicious the sauce was superfluous.

Beachfan, thanks for the link. Very interesting article. Now I'm wondering if the bottle I had -- the Rutherford -- was unaffected by TCA or if I'm just not sensitive to it.

LOL! In our house it was Mateus bottles. I thought my brother was the coolest guy on the planet for getting the drips so symmetrical.

The glory days may be long gone, but for $19 you could do a lot worse. I found it much more restrained and Bordeaux-like than the Gallo of Sonoma single vineyard cabs that run $10 more. Not that I'm a fan of California cabernet, by any means. I find I hardly ever reach for new world wines these days. edited for lost causes -- lots of them

I recently had a reasonably priced California cabernet that would go well with prime rib: Beaulieu Vineyards Rutherford '98. It was about $19 and delicious.

I also liked the Millbrook Cab Franc, and the reserve Pinot Noir wasn't awful. They also produce a nice olive oil from an estate they own in Tuscany. If you ever have a chance to visit Cascade Mt Winery, which is also on the Dutchess Wine Trail, it's a great little place. Very small and kinda funky. We haven't timed it right to have lunch there but the menu looks good. I just opened a bottle of the Seyval Blanc the other night, one of two bottles we bought at the winery after a tour -- bought mostly because we felt bad leaving empty handed, but you know, it's not bad.

At a friend's holiday brunch yesterday I tried some Crema di Lemoncello (that's the way it was spelled on the bottle). Very nice! Tasted a bit like vodka with melted lemon sherbet.

Weighing in here on the toaster oven side. It's fast, it's easy and there's basically nothing to clean up if you use aluminum foil. Once it's made (or carried in), pizza should involve no more work than is absolutely necessary.