Carolyn Tillie

Actually, many of us agree with you! Taylor's makes great onion rings and I adore their Ahi Sandwich, but not often -- they are honestly just too expensive for what you get. And I agree with you on Yank Sing. I prefer Koi Palace for Dim Sum.

I went to Pine Ridge just yesterday for my blog! I'll be posting full notes in the next day or so, but was pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of all their wines. I say pleasantly surprised as I am generally not a fan of the overt earthiness of most Stag's Leap District wines...

Although you are in Oakland and probably can't make some of my SoCal suggestions, here's a few: - From LA and/or San Diego, one of my yearly standard road trips was to Julian and surrounding areas of Mt. Palomar. Now that much of it burned down last year, I'm sure they could use the tourist dollars, but I would always go in the fall when the apples started producing. There were great road-side stands for cider and apple pies then the town of Julian was perfect for a little antiquing and lunch with an afternoon hike in the mountains as the pinnacle of the day. - A Sunday jaunt down the coastline from Oceanside to La Jolla (on bike or car)... Starting in Oceanside, there is a surprisingly good Surf Museum AND an art gallery that shows pretty decent artists, then in Carlsbad the downtown area has great antique stores and an antiquarian bookstore or two worth visiting. After that is Encinitas, Leucadia, Del Mar, Solana Beach, and La Jolla (not necessarily in that order). Each town is a little gem of things to do, from street-side arts and crafts vendors to the Self Realization Fellowship with meditating gardens. Each town has small, intimate eateries worth visiting and it is not hard to nosh your way down the coastline. Also, as an old book lover, I can attest that each town has used bookstores worth visiting! - Similarly, a coastline drive around Laguna, Corona Del Mar, and Dana Point produces quaint little shops, restaurants, and (in the case of Laguna), lots and lots of art galleries. Go during the summer months around August, and you have the Sawdust Festival, Art-Affair, and Festival of the Arts on Laguna. Now that Shawn and I have moved up to NoCal, pretty much all we can afford in the way of vacations are small day trips so exploring this area has been great fun. So far, we have had day trips to Bodega Bay and Inverness, Alexander Valley, Russian River Valley, Lake Berryessa, Amador County (most of these involving tasting wine, but also stumbling on used bookstores, an occasional art gallery, and great little eateries). Looking forward to lots more!

You know, I should have raed the review before I made my post, above. Yeah, the guy slammed some things but how stupid is this statement: Who the hell orders fresh oven-baked sardines and proceeds to f*$&king FILET them!?!?!? Doesn't he have a clue that the whole bloody fish (sans head) is to be eaten, bones and all? How do you spell LAME?

Ah-ha! So that is why it was packed when I took an out-of-town friend there this evening? Possibly... that or Manny's great food. Also, they have a bottle of 1958 Krohn Colheita Tawny Port that was absolutely divine... New favorite dish: Pork Tenderloin stuffed with olives, figs, and almonds, with roasted potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, in a sublime citrus sauce.

La Super-Rica IS amazing, but depending on their route, isn't exactly 'on the way.' Santa Barbara is a a whole day's side-trip (or at least a half-a-day) as you exit LA on an entirely different freeway than if doing a bee-line to San Francisco.

That is about the most brilliant suggestion I've heard! I'm all for it and am ready to file the appropriate documentation with the State! We can get Guillermo to be our Bishop (or would that be Pope?) and we can all be licensed priests.

This is great! My Czech grandmother always called them Ga-lump-kees and it just now dawned on me that it was a Czech word and not her doing child-speak! Note to self: MUST do Czech excursion to Inverness soon....

I would normally fall into the 'Urban Legend' theory myself except for one quote in the story (the bold is mine): I'll be going by over the weekend and I'll ask personally if they DO in fact acknowledge that it happened. Not often that Urban Legends can be personally tracked down, huh?

Here at the winery, the vineyard crew are always and forever cooking goat me (which I gleefully get to share in). Yes, it is called chivo when purchased but the finished dish I typically share in is called birria, which is like carnintas in that the meat is shredded, heavily spiced, and served with rice, salsa, and tortillas. To help out on the last party, I went to the Latino market to purchase the chivo only to watch the butcher pull out the entire goat (sans had and legs) from the freezer and slice it in large, 10- and 12-inch sections (for easier handling). Then, last weekend, I was surprised to see it in the freezer section of 99 Ranch Market, but I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised... after all, that is where I can buy my beef pizzle and Rocky Mountain oysters.

My old signature line from Casablanca: Right after Ugarte is arrested, Captain Renault walked over to Major Strasser's table as Rick comes down the stairs. RENAULT: Good evening, gentlemen. STRASSER: Good evneing, Captain. HEINZE: Won't you join us? Renault sits down RENAULT: Thank you. It is a pleasure to have you here, Major. STRASSER (to the waiter): Champgne and a tin of caviar. RENAULT: May I recommend Veuve Cliquot '26? A good French wine. STRASSER: Thank you. WAITER: Very well, sir.

Thanks. What is rather sad was that a few were sentences edited out. When I interviewed Brian at In Defense of Animals, he started impugning Guillermo's personal life and character and telling me some incredibly malicious gossip. It was beyond repugnant and sexual in nature. I called Brian on it, indicating that it had nothing whatsoever to do with the issue that I was writing about; the closing of the restaurant and subsequent scientific studies. He simply continued repeating incredibly private and defamatory comments about Gonzales. I alluded to the degeneration of the interview in the article (not any of the specifics) but it was removed entirely. Consequently, I feel the article suffers a tad from the omission.

One last comment about Sonoma Saveurs...

Golden Truffle was my first thought too, Maison... but for 12 it could get pretty pricey. Aubergine was a second thought in that price range. If memory serves, Bayside Restaurant was pretty decent for such gatherings. I'm trying to remember if Oysters in Corona Del Mar would be a nice choice as well. In Irvine, I remember a couple of Persian restaurants that were pretty cool -- Caspian had a nice ambience and could probably house a large party. Or there's always a stand-by of a Ruths Chris steakhouse in Irvine...

The big question is -- are you driving from San Diego to San Francisco? Because if you are, you might want some recommendations for places to stop inbetween... For example, if you are leaving San Diego relatively late in the morning (say, 9:00-ish), you would be driving through Gardena around lunch time (assuming you go the 405 with is MUCH preferable than staying on the 5 all the way). Shin Sen Gumi is hands-down my favorite lunch place and is a mere 1/2 block off east off the Western Boulevard exit. You are also in Japanese food heaven, if that interests you at all. Need to go a little further before stopping? Right off the 405 in Santa Monica is Sawtelle, yet even more fabulous Japaese restaurants and some great ones specializing in Shabu Shabu. After that, restaurants kinda suck big rocks because you'll be going through Valencia and then Central California which has little or nothing going for it other than that Apricot place which is only good for apricot shakes (about 3 hours north of Los Angeles and 3 hours south of San Francisco).

There was a recent article in one of the food magazines I get (Gourmet? Food and Wine? Saveur? I don't remember...) They indicated that the waitstaff was blind so they had no problem negotiating the space. When you arrived, you were advised to wait until someone brought you to your table. There was a system in place (damn, wish I could remember!) for being able to call someone when you needed something. Apparently it was quite ethereal.

I only knew about Unsicht-Bar in Germany (but heard of one in Australia).

Standard fare from me Mum... Now when I make it, must have all the appropriate sides: Liver, dredged in flour, fried in butter. Onions, sauteed almost to death Fried bacon White rice, with butter and a little salt Big glass of cold milk Is this a Southern thing? My mother was from Pennsylvania, but my Dad is from Georgia and I'm wondering if she did the white rice thing for him or not. Oh yeah, and I love chicken livers too.

I gotta go along with Mary on this one... I'm sitting here, quite baffled. WHY in the world would anyone tinker with wine? If a wine maker has done their job well, nothing would need to be added to a wine. And I guess I belong to the snob aspect of -- why bother with a cheap bottle in the first place? It goes beyond trying to fix an inferior bottle. A simple drop or two of vanilla is hardly going to give depth, balance, or finesse. I just don't get it...

Okay, GMI, since we Californians are batting a thousand, how about going to the opposite end of the spectrum... Consider eating quintessential Los Angeles: Pink's Hot Dogs, Phillipe's French Dip, a Langer's Pastrami... What do you think?

You might like to read this book on food and cultural differences regarding death: Death Warmed over: Funeral Food, Rituals & Customs from Around World

Joe's in Venice. They "do lunch" Tuesday through Friday and then have a brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

The straw color that you are used to USUALLY comes from producers of Sauvignon Blanc who age their wine in a bit of oak. Those who produce an SB in stainless steel would ultimately have a wine that is very, very pale in color. Most SB is made to be drunk very young so sitting on for a year could be more detrimental than beneficial. Personally, I prefer SBs that have seen little or no oak and therefore tend to be very pale in color. Open them up and enjoy -- and then report back what you think!

Man finds rat parts in a sandwich... - so reported in the Napa Register I've never been a big fan of V. Sattui -- now moreso... (However, I guess if my blog is going to be complete, I'll have to go there at some point, but I'd never eat anything there!)

It depends entirely upon their usage, IMHO. Raw Bones stock would be a better base stock for things like risotto, where I would want OTHER flavors to be brought forward (such as mushrooms or asparagus) but a Roast Bone stock would be preferable in a soup. It doesn't mean that one is better than another, just that there are ultimately going to be different uses depending on how the stock was originally made.