hollywood

No cars for you!

Hey, my kid's younger than yours. As for tables, I can't even afford a table dance. But hope springs eternal. And those dancers are out there, waiting patiently. Momma always said Patience is a virtue.

Hey, my kid's younger than yours. As for tables, I can't even afford a table dance. But hope springs eternal.

This would appear to be the article for you, Monkeymay. http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=50836 Cheers! How many cars can you do?

Here you go. http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=50830

Double rooms at Villa d'Este start at 450 Euros.

My memory of Campagnola is vague but I recall a good pizza.

Villa d'Este on Lake Como is beautiful but very expensive.

I concur on your Campagnola recommendation. Once, when I got lots of attitude trying to get into La Bruschetta down the street, we walked a little further to Campagnola and had a respectable meal. Some of the tables are a little close together but the food is good.

Where is Pho Cafe? I work in Silverlake, and I don't think I've ever seen this.. Pho Cafe, 2841 W. Sunset Blvd. Silverlake, CA 90026 213-413-0888

In addition to Bay Cities in Santa Monica, there's Monte Carlo in Burbank.

Isn't Josie open on Mondays? I think that's when they have free corkage.

Monica, Realizing you have other things to do, how about a boil down on ChefDance for your pals here at your convenience?

Exactly. Playing around on the site, I note that virtually every good Thai restaurant in Thai Town currently has a B. Some have had A's in the past but not now. Perhaps part of the problem may be the language/cultural barriers between inspectors and owners, with the owners not wanting to take the time to be neurotic enough to comply with each and every requirement. Also, some of the grades are based on inspections from over 6 months ago. Maybe the owners are not concerned enough to request a re-inspection.

When I was drinking beer in college in Texas, nobody wanted Shiner. It was the sort of beer you could get a case of for $3.99 on special. Everybody wanted Coors which had to be driven in from Colorado. Well, everybody except Lyndon who drank Pearl and threw the cans out the window of his limo. I left Texas. Shiner started claiming it was organic or something and then became very popular. Coors came to Texas and lost its luster. Go figure.

What Chris said.

It's $17.99 at Wally's in West LA. Much higher, of course, on wine lists.

Just about everything by Bonny Doon has a screw cap now though most are out of the range you mention except the Big House White and Big House Red as mentioned above.

I've been on planes in France with natives holding dogs on their laps, usually in little baskets or purses. I've seen maitre d's feed treats to little dogs in restaurants--one stars anyway.

Good rant. And thanks for the info. It's no wonder so many of us Californians are in rehab (aside from using it as a place to network). We make it easy for folks to drink what they want when they want it.

Last week, I was in Ebensburg, PA. I tried to find some wine. Had to run around to locate a state run liquor store. The selection of wine was nothing to write home about. I did buy one bottle just for emergencies. Then, I went to a restaurant called Off the RAK for dinner. The steak was OK. Bad sign though, they only had mediocre wine by the glass. No bottles. So, I asked if I could get the bottle out of my car and use their so-so glassware. Nothing doing, I was told. It would jeopardize their license. Allegedly, the owner of the restaurant could not even bring wine from home for his own use unless it had been supplied by the state under his license. Is this for real? I don't get it. What's the point?

Thoughts on saving dollars in Europe. http://www.latimes.com/travel/news/insider...-travel_insider

What Joe H said. Plus, though you've probably thought of this, it's probably worth paying the extra fee to get a credit card that gives you airline miles for every dollar you spend. That way you can expedite your return to Europe--hopefully when the dollar is in better shape (for regular folks, as ooposed to corporations).

Some do, but I can't mention them here.

Actually, my wife and I ate at Tour d'argent on our honeymoon, and I think it's a good occasion restaurant. There's much pomp and history. There's a wonderful view of Notre Dame, etc. It has an enormous wine list. The food is good but basically you only go to order the duck, served in 2 courses. It's not the least bit cutting edge as you have already sensed. It's not cheap in the evening though there is a cheaper lunch available. http://www.tourdargent.com/uk/indexbis.html