robert brown

Gruyere, what's your budget for this, if you don't mind my asking? PM it to me if you wish.

When we dine here, we always sit in front of the same chef who knows what we like and whatever else is good on the day. We almost never reject any of his suggestions. Lately we have learned how to keep the price below $85.00 per person by ordering rolls with vegetables instead of fish deeper into the meal. Of course you never know with any precision how much you're spending, except that if you have eaten a lot, you're going to be over the $100. mark.

Marc, that could well be the reason (or a reason). I'll be staying in Isola d'Asti, but plan to stop off in Alba this coming Saturday. vmilor is staying at the Hotel Savona, however. In any event we'll avail myself of your gelato tip. It sounds terrific.

I'm always in awe of those who know of what they speak, which is why I think the Q&A with Faith Willinger was awesome. I have to believe we all learned a great deal. Faith's replies were insightful, thorough and expert. Thank you everyone who participated and to those behind the scenes who helped me and to realize the event: Richard Kilgore, Jason and Rachel Perlow and Albiston. The one ulterior motive behind the Q&A's is hoping that the pariticipants will drop in to eGullet with a post from time to time. We hope to be the beneficiaries of Faith's profound knowledge of Italian cooking and Italy's gastronomic landscape. To be fair, though, don't forget visitng Faith's web site www.faithwillinger.com.

Marc and Jonathan, thanks for the posts and practical advice. I am hoping to get my truffle fix from one of the Ceretto sons in Alba. I think he'll be fair and reputable. vmilor and I are taking it to a restaurant in Lugano, so it should be a fun evening. Still, though, am I right that this is the first year for truffle pricing of the sort I discussed? My hunch is that we'll see, as implied, Marc, in your post, truffle grading that is akin to what we see in the diamond or gemstone market. What would that do to the integrity in the market place? KInd of weird in a way.

We are closing the Q&A to new questions. There are of of thanks to go around. For this I'll be back tomorrow.

Excuse me for being a little slow on the up-take, but what is this business about paying wildly-differing prices depending on the size of the truffle? For as long as I can remember, truffles went for one wholesale price with no regard to size. It sounds like this is the truffle world's equivalent of now calling Russian caviar "Caspian caviar" to cover-up its less-than-impeccable origin. Am I missing something, or is this the (luxury) food world's latest subterfuge for artificially gouging the consumer?

Marc, in the end it was you who made it all possible. So a great big thank you. How you find the efficiency and the energy to write on Eat Words and eGullet is remarkable.

Miguel, you needn't raise a hand or lift a finger. I get a certain satisfaction from it and, I must admit, there a bit of ego involved. Most of all, I can't stand the fact that someone would spend hard-earned money on a place or a meal that made them disappointed. I also like that you're a fine writer and a fine guele. Perhaps I am too harsh on the French coast over the border. Bux is Mr. Languedoc-Rousillon on the site and perhaps he can also give you some guidance. I forgot how charming and romantic the Camargue is, and while I have spent just literally hours there, I found it also enchanting. I still don't think you will dine superbly, but you can probably taste some interesting sea food. One concrete piece of advice is avoid staying and dining at La Tamarissiere near Agde. We disliked it a lot. Menton1 knows better than I do the part of France that borders Catalunya, west of Perpignan. We enjoyed driving through and I suspect this could be a good area to spend some time in.

Miguel, one more thing. Are you sure you want to do some culinary knocking-about on the Languedoc coast? How far do you want to go? I'm not an expert on that region, but the little I know around Montpelier and Agde makes me not dying to return except if I am on my way to Spain. I did report in depth on my chilling out in the Catalan Pyrenees, particularly in La Seu d'Urgell at El Castello di Ciudat. There are some restaurants in the provence that I didn't get to that are highly-rated. Of course if you want intensive restaurant-going with variety, then I would have to say there isn't any density there in that regard. I suppose starting out in Montpelier at the three-star, which I have never been to because the reports are mixed and working your way towards Marseilles could be nice. But most of the good places in Marseilles are closed in August. When are you going to el Bulli?

For whatever it matters, I heard directly from the horse's mouth that Ferran dislikes rich businessmen (but I didn't ask about rich foodie businessmen). Miguel, the problem is that you have to stay within striking distance of el Bulli since your meal will run late into the night and you won't want to drive much beyond the narrow, tortuous road that leads to and from the restaurant. That still leaves you a fair distance from any other culinary locale except Rafa's if you don't want to pull up stakes. If you go in season, you'll have to contend with a lot of traffic unless you know about my traffic-avoidance shortcut to Figueras. If you don't mind a hotel one step above Spartan, but right on the sea where you get the loud surf (something I live for) there is the Coral Platja. Next door is La Terraza that looks to be a step better. But you need to grab a room facing the ocean. There are two more luxurious places, the Vista Bella and another starting with an "A" (Almahandra Palace or close to it), but these are further east where you don't get the sound of the surf, although they are both on the water. They are also further from the center of Roses as well as from the road you need to take to get out of town.

Faith, I once raised the phenomenon in a post that as soon as you leave Italy, the cuisine of Italian restaurants changes markedly and for the worse. An interesting instance is near my house in Nice. As soon as you cross the border into Ventimiglia, you have really good Ligurian food at Ristorante Balzi Rossi, which is about 50 yards from the border. In Nice, however, there are two ambitious restaurants, L’Allegro and Auberge de Theo that serve Italian food that is indistinguishable from some Italian restaurants in New York. Do you have a notion (if you agree with me) as to why this is? Is it the loss of regionality; some appeal to what the owners think foreigners want in “Italian” food; and inability to obtain certain products and freshness of products, to name a few reasons ?

Menton1, thank you for the kind words. I hope you're right. Jonathan, this will give you something to do this summer: compiling the guide, I mean. Don, thanks for the ice cream tip. It's one I don't know. I suspect, however, that Villfeu is unbeatable on the Cote.

Some guy could get a PhD at MIT if he delved into the origins and meanings of the types of eateries in certain countries. Maybe one of the folks at Marco Polo’s Eat Words has looked into it. Speaking of Marc, I spent three weeks in Tuscany about eight years ago and experienced the same menu monotony. I guess things haven’t changed much. Perhaps someone can run this by Faith Willinger this week. Deirdre raises the point of where do trattorias end and ristorantes begin. I am sure that the distinction gets more blurred as time goes by, and I’m willing to bet that the main instigator is new generations wanting to dump or dampen down tradition in order that their restaurant can make some culinary statement or another, or to offer more-upscale amenities. In some instances, some of the establishments continue to use the word “Trattoria” in their name. To take an example of a place some of us know, Trattoria della Posta in Monforte d’Alba, here is a restaurant that was an old-time trattoria in the center of town (I never went inside that one) and subsequently moved to the outskirts to become a new and upgraded hotel-restaurant. It is still named “Trattoria della Posta”, but to the naked eye it looks to be nothing less than a restaurant, and a comfortable one at that. However, the cuisine is remains traditional Piemontese, and there perhaps is why one could still view it as a trattorias. Go down the road to La Morra, however, and there you will find Ristorante Belvedere that, last I knew, served dishes that were also traditional, but with the small choice of dishes presented orally. Now why is that a “ristorante” when compared with Trattoria della Posta?

Faith, I messed up. The machine on the Starbucks site is not the old Euromatik. Instead it's the Illy Francis 5 that you can see on the Illy site. Does that ring a bell or look like what you have? My regrets.

Thanks to the great equipment shopping coverage in your book Eating in Italy, we bought a Euromatik espresso maker that uses pods or measured-out doses. Illy has bought the company that made Euromatik, and we notice that Starbucks sells their expresso pod maker under its (Starbucks) name. So Faith, have you had any experience with the one that Starbucks sells and describes on their web site? Euromatik was such a great tip from you that we want to be sure the next one we will eventually need is as good.

Here's the best dining advice you can possibly have if you are staying in Nice (or better yet further east), have a car, and don't mind driving up to an hour each way (which probably means going for lunch). Go to Italy: specifically these restaurants: 1. Balzi Rossi. An excellent Michelin one-star with inventive Ligurian food. It is literally yards over the border in Ventimiglia. Use the "Basse Corniche through Monaco, Rocquebrune and Menton to get there. In Menton join up with the road on the sea. 2. Baja Benjamin. Stay on the same road and soon after Balzi Rossi you will see the sign. The restaurant has slipped a bit, but its enchanting location on the sea and its tropical gardens make this a memorable visit. The food is still very good. 3. Via Romana in Bordighera. For this you take the autoroute in Nice and get off at Bordighera, the exit after Ventimiglia. Ask directions to the restaurant (in the Hotel Londra) because it's not on the main drag, but above. Delicious seafood and a nice prix-fixe lunch menu. It's perhaps the most refined of these three. Back in Nice, the dining scene is notably mixed. La Merenda is worth a visit, but not every dish is a winner. Throwing a note over the transom does work, I can confirm. Otherwise, check in around 6:30-7:00 or toward the end of the first seating, say around 8:30 and see if there's a spot for 9-9:30. The tomato tarte is superb if there's any left and the pasta with pesto I like also. La Petite Maison is the best cuisine Nicoise in town. Lunch is more peaceful; dinner can be crowded and rather noisy with slow service. Order the roast chicken on the supplemental menu. Make sure they give it (the menu) to you. It is made to order and takes 45-50 minutes. Therefore put your order in as soon as the waiter makes contact with you. It comes with delicious pommes purees. One chicken is enough for two, even three. Before, order the hors d'oeuvres Nicoise, a really nice array of classics--petits farcies, breaded and fried squid, artichoke salad,etc. Also the truffle risotto is tasty. Reserve the morning of, especially for dinner. This is the hangout for the local swells. Grand Cafe de Turin is a basic, no-reservation, classic turn-of-the-century seafood restaurant. It is very popular with locals and tourists. Service is like the old Ratner's---perfunctory and functional. Oysters are delivered on Tuesdays and Saturdays and are the items to order along with crevettes and mussels. A simple bottle of Muscadet fills the bill and keeps it low. It's open straight through for lunch and dinner. Be prepared to wait a bit in peak hours, especially at dinner. Our other spots: Kei's Passion, a little place behind the Palais Mediterrane owned by a young Japanese chef can be very good, although not every dish on the smallish menu is a hit. It's friendly, though, and you can eat well for not a princely sum. For couscous La Gazelle d'Or in Cagnes-sur-Mer on the beach road (look in the phone book and book ahead.). Sometimes it's closed for no apparent reason (lack of reservations?). Couscous Royal (lamb three ways) is the only dish available. It's well above average and real comfortable for the tummy. La Table de Mon Moulin in Le Rouret (45 minutes from Nice) is much written about elsewhere in the France forum. Not super-great but can be tasty snd a good deal. It's the luck of the draw as one meal fits all. Upscale, I haven't checked out Le Moulin de Mougins since Roger Verget sold it to Alain Lorca. Nor have I been to Le Chantecler in the Hotlel Negresco since Lorca left. I hear the new chef Michel del Burgo is tempermental and not always at work. At Ducasse in Monaco, it looks like the Principality has cut back on it. It's now a rip-off catering to rich culinary know-nothings. The Robuchon Atelier in the Hotel Metropole may please you one time, but that's all. You can do better for your money. It works better in Paris. The food is shallow, made in advance for the most part. The best restaurant in the Alpes-Maritimes may well be Hostellerie Jerome (don't pronounce the "s") in La Turbie. It's a Michelin two-star where the cooking is solid and restrained. The choice is on the limited side, but there is a fairly-priced fixed menu that offers highlights of the chef's repetoire. I like the San Remo prawns with lemon sauce and the raspberry tarte. Follow the signs to the post office and park in the lot there. Look for a stone building by the post office and climb the exterior staircase. Or ask directions. Loulou is Cagnes-sur-Mer is suffering... Maximin is the most hit-or-miss place around. The guy is unpredictable and red devils seem to continue to rule his life. It can be excellent or a travesty. Avoid La Domaine du Chateau St. Martin in Vence for all its worth.

The Q&A forum with Faith Heller Willinger is now on the site. Faith is an authority on Italian cooking, wine and travel; one of the best there is. You can read about her and participate through this link: This way to the Q&A It's a great opportunity to ask questions about Italian cuisine in all its aspects . I look forward to a stimulating five days and hope that you will be a part of it.

The Q&A forum featuring Faith Heller Willinger, the noted authority on Italian cuisine and culinary travel is now opwn. I hope you will participate by posting a question. Faith knows gastronomic Italy like the back of her hand, and her constant traveling throughout the country invovles being with many wine producers. I look forward to an interesting week of questions and answers with Faith. This way to the Q&A.

eGullet Q&A with Faith Heller Willinger November 15-19 For those who take their Italian food seriously, be they home chefs, Italian restaurant-goers or gastronomic travelers in Italy, Faith Heller Willinger is to them what Diana Kennedy is to gastronomic Mexicophiles, or Patricia Wells or Richard Olney to lovers of French food. Like them, Faith Willinger is the revered expatriate who put roots down at the source of her gastronomic love to become the native English speaker who leads us down the path of culinary enlightenment. eGullet is pleased to announce and privileged to have Faith Heller Willinger as the subject of a five-day question and answer session beginning Monday, November 15 through Friday, November 19. Now into her fourth decade of living full-time in Italy, Faith has earned the reputation of one of the most revered and respected gastronomic gurus today. She has written for many major culinary and travel magazines such as Gourmet, Travel & Leisure, Departures and Food Arts. Her cook book “Red, White and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables” is a classic for home cooks of Italian food. And now she is preparing a new work for the same publisher, Harper Collins. Red, White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables An indefatigable traveler from the German-speaking, mountainous north of Italy down south to Sicily and the heel of the boot, Faith’s gastronomic adventures are unending. She is always visiting restaurants, finding interesting places to stay that range from agritourism farms to luxurious hotels, and discovering food and wine artisans of all stripes. Her “Eating In Italy: A Traveler’s Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy” has been my Bible for Italian culinary travels, leading me to some of my most memorable destinations, be they hotels, restaurants, food and wine shops or kitchen supply stores. For the most up-to-date of Faith’s discoveries, I click on to www.faithwillinger.com where I can read about her most recent trips, favorite products and her “Market to Table” field trips to Florence’s Santo Spirito market to buy produce to prepare many dishes back at her kitchen. Any question about Italian food, be it produce, recipes, techniques, products, Italian wine or culinary life and gastronomic travel in Italy falls under Faith’s purview. We thank her for taking the time to reply to members’ questions. The Q&A officially starts on Monday, November 15th, but please feel free to begin posting your questions at any time.

eGullet Q&A with Faith Heller Willinger November 15-19 Click here to go directly to the Faith Heller Willinger Q&A. For those who take their Italian food seriously, be they home chefs, Italian restaurant-goers or gastronomic travelers in Italy, Faith Heller Willinger is to them what Diana Kennedy is to gastronomic Mexicophiles, or Patricia Wells or Richard Olney to lovers of French food. Like them, Faith Willinger is the revered expatriate who put roots down at the source of her gastronomic love to become the native English speaker who leads us down the path of culinary enlightenment. eGullet is pleased to announce and privileged to have Faith Heller Willinger as the subject of a five-day question and answer session beginning Monday, November 15 through Friday, November 19. Now into her fourth decade of living full-time in Italy, Faith has earned the reputation of one of the most revered and respected gastronomic gurus today. She has written for many major culinary and travel magazines such as Gourmet, Travel & Leisure, Departures and Food Arts. Her cook book “Red, White and Greens: The Italian Way with Vegetables” is a classic for home cooks of Italian food. And now she is preparing a new work for the same publisher, Harper Collins. Red, White & Greens: The Italian Way With Vegetables An indefatigable traveler from the German-speaking, mountainous north of Italy down south to Sicily and the heel of the boot, Faith’s gastronomic adventures are unending. She is always visiting restaurants, finding interesting places to stay that range from agritourism farms to luxurious hotels, and discovering food and wine artisans of all stripes. Her “Eating In Italy: A Traveler’s Guide to the Hidden Gastronomic Pleasures of Northern Italy” has been my Bible for Italian culinary travels, leading me to some of my most memorable destinations, be they hotels, restaurants, food and wine shops or kitchen supply stores. For the most up-to-date of Faith’s discoveries, I click on to www.faithwillinger.com where I can read about her most recent trips, favorite products and her “Market to Table” field trips to Florence’s Santo Spirito market to buy produce to prepare many dishes back at her kitchen. Any question about Italian food, be it produce, recipes, techniques, products, Italian wine or culinary life and gastronomic travel in Italy falls under Faith’s purview. We thank her for taking the time to reply to members’ questions. The Q&A officially starts on Monday, November 15th, but please feel free to begin posting your questions at any time.

Cy, what changes have you made? Ideally we should start a "Cy's Trip" thread, but posting here is one of the perogatives of a forum host.

Cy, are you thinking of changing your trip around?

Francesco, I hope you do as well. This is a restaurant I have had great curiosity about for a long time. Your essay is very evocative; I can almost see the setting while getting a good notion of the goings-on. Visanni is a chef-restaurateur one nevers reads about in any detail in English. Your reportage is a ground breaker.

My reputation spared once more. Tsquare, I'm glad you liked La Latteria and were able to spend quite a bit less than I might have thought. I wish I were there tonight.