lsernoff

If you venture further south the next trip, by all means try 32 East in Delray Beach or Sunfish Grill in Pompano Beach. Both are excellent. The latter is small, so reservations are a must even in the off-season, but it is very, very good. While in Palm Beach, try lunch at Renato's (off Worth Avenue). The food is quite good and it would be hard to imagine a lovlier spot to dine. The dinner menu is, however, overpriced. If looking for lunch in Delray, try Sol Kitchen, which I believe is 32 East's sister restaurant, or Tramanti.

Re Les Baux, this is old news, but I can confirm that accomodations and dining at Cabro D'Or were most agreeable back in the spring of 2001. If your budget permits, I highly recommend dinner at Beaumaniere while visiting Les Baux. This two star restaurant used to have three stars. My recollection is that the third star was lost when the restaurant passed from the founder to the present proprietor, his grandson. The gripe was supposedly that the grandson declined to engage in the relentless experimentation that Michelin seems to regard as the key to the third star. In any event, we had one of the great meals of a lifetime there. The premises, the service and,most importantly, the food were of the highest quality. The lamb en croute, in particular, was to die for.

After two years living in Delray Beach, here are some recommendations. In Lantana, Station House for seafood. In Delray Beach, Tramonte for Italian; La Cigale for French; Lemongrass for asian; Sol Kitchen; for caribbean/Mexican; 32 East for modern American. In Boca, Cucina D'Angelo for Italian; Mark's in the Park for American. In Deerfield Beach, Pellegrinos for Italian. In Lighthouse Point, Kosta's for Greek. In Pompano Beach, Sunfish Grill for seafood; Cafe Maxx for American. In Ft. Lauderdale, Cafe Italia and Limoncello for inexpensive but good Italian.

Try Teodora, which, I believe, is Bianca's sister restaurant uptown. Wonderful, and a bargain to boot. See the food article by Jonathan Reynolds in the Sunday Times on 5/23/04 featuring the owner of the two restaurants. You will also learn the identities of NYC restaurants featuring the authentic cuisines of Puglia (Bellini), Tuscany (Beppe) and Siciliy (Bussola). Too bad the regular Times food reviewers have interest only in $250 or over or $25 and under. But that is consistent with the paper's only interests: the rich, the poor and the trendy.

Upperline. If Mr. Perlow's pictures don't get you there, what can I add? Let's just say that Tom Cowman's duck, lunch at Uglesich's and fried oysters at Casamento's were the dining highlights of a memorable trip to New Orleans. Apparently it's too late if you haven't been to Uglesich's, but there is still time to try the other two.

This post will supplement and update the colloquy on da Fiore between Vigna and Joe H. Their comments on the cost of dining at da Fiore frightened my wife and I off. However, while marching through western San Marco in search of evening chicchetti, in May, 2005, we found ourselves there and took a gander at the menu. It looked to be only somewhat more expensive than Alle Testiere, on which I have reported separately. Then I noticed they have a chicchetti operation of their own, adjoining the restaurant. We had an ample mixed plate of fried schie and fried calamari and two small glasses of pinot grigio. Suffice it to say the calamari made every prior version of that dish seem like it came from Goodyear. Total tab was E8. We were hooked! Reservations for lunch the next day were made on the spot. We split an order of the cold mixed seafood antipasto, which was more than sufficient for the two of us and were duly impressed. My wife followed with her old reliable, spaghetti vongole, and was highly pleased. I was less impressed with my pasta dish, which closely resembled hers, but substituted tuna for the clams. We shared a bottle of aqua minerale, a bottle of pinot grigio, and a tiramisu. Total tab with service included was E87. We found our lunch at Alle Testiere more enjoyable than the one at da Fiore, but are mindful that our choices of dishes at the former may have been more inspired than at the latter. In any event, have a late lunch somewhere and head for da Fiore's chiccheti operation in the evening. It should not be missed. And trust me that the chichetti operation and the restaurant are part of the same operation. I have the register receipts to prove it.

La Zucca is still a winner when you have had your fill of fish in Venice. We had lunch there in May, 2005. One tagliatelle pomodoro with a dollop of ricotta. One lamb chops with tsatsiki and a side order of borlotti beans. A half liter each of the house white and aqua minerale. A shared semifreddo for dessert. Total price E38. My only regret is that the potato gratin delivered to the next table looked even better than the beans. We unfortunately did not get a chance to try another meatless restaurant, La Bitta, during our stay, but the menu looked most inviting and moderate in price. La Bitta is mentioned in the current edition of Osterie D'Italia. It is about 1 1/2 blocks in from the Ca' Rezzonico vaporetto stop, next door to Quattro Feri, about which I will report separately.

Trattoria San Toma is still a delightful place to have a very good pizza.

Re Alle Testiere: This is a superb restaurant. We went in May, 2005 for lunch. We made a reservation one month before, for 1:00. We showed up at 12:00, tired and hopeful that we could dine early. No probem. We had an initial glass of white wine each, complements of the house, while they prepared to serve lunch. We had an order of moeche and an order of clam "stew" with ginger (including both vongole verache and spectacular razor clams) as a primo. Both wonderful. As a second course we had pasta allla vongole and gnocchi fruiti de mare (best gnocchi ever). Again wonderful. We also had a bottle of mineral water and a bottle of a reasonably humble, but good, pinot grigio, and shared a delightful piece of cake for dessert. Total cost: E84, and well worth the price. A very special restaurant. Service could not have been more friendly.