TarteTatin

Hi- We've never been up to this area-except for driving through it to Montreal or Burlington, Vt. (can't remember which). Anyway, we'll be staying with friends on Tupper lake in a few weeks. Any suggestions? Thank you!

We're looking to base ourselves in a waterfront town with good food in close by villages... Have booked a flight- the middle of January. (yes, we always go when it's really cold and lots of places are closed. Unfortunately, it's the easiest time for us to get away) Suggestions on where to base? I've read this whole thread, and lots of places sound like they are pretty and have good food. Food, of course, is the basis of our trips... We don't want to venture up to Provence, have been there a few times, but not to the south-east coast. We're open to anywhere between Marseille and Italy. Or, even an island??

I love Pimm's Cups. With seltzer, nothing too sweet. I love Lillet, Dubonnet, Pastis, Campari. All are wonderful, summer time sipping libations. Depends what I'm in the mood for!

Me: Strawberry Tequila and Wildflower Honey. Him: Chocolate and Aloha Monkey. The strawberry was bright and fresh, not a bit of a taste of Tequila. Wildflower Honey was creamy and good, but tasted of neither. Chocolate had that little floury taste that some flavors have. Aloha Monkey with Sailor Jerry rum was good!

We went to 707 tonight for a quick meal before a 7 p.m. play. Beautiful restaurant. Sam had a grilled cheese sandwich with whole grain mustard and tomatoes. He said it was tasty but not enough cheese. Came with a side of good fries. $9. I had a "small plate" of hangar steak, ordered rare. It came rare, that beautiful rare which isn't bloody, and seared well on the outside. Very tasty. There was a side of tempura onion rings, with a liquid filling of thousand island or something? $10. Not too small. Perfect. They served Metropolitan rolls (I think), and butter. We had a bottle of vinho verde from Portugal. Petillant, nice and low in alcohol at 9%. Delicious, light, summer wine. $32. I think that was a bit overpriced for a vinho verde, but the food was all decently priced, and I know they have to pay their rent somehow. Very pretty restaurant. We sat in the back, white tablecloth, but waiters in black shirts and jeans. Classy, and yet they didn't mind if you ordered sandwiches. The large bar looked good to sit at, and the outside tables were bustling. The Chef used to be at Brasserie Perrier, the waiter said.

I agree with everyone regarding the Alsace region. We based in Ammerschwihr, in a gite there, for two weeks. No one spoke English, and they were very surprised that an "American couple" stayed for so long. Their experience, if they have any Americans visiting at all, is that they only stay one night in the region. Beautiful area, lots of wine, and great restaurants. The Germans drive over on the weekends, fill their trunks up with wines from Alsace, and drive back to Germany.... Sete, a small island south of Montpellier, was also neat recently. Great local oysters and seafood, quaint island with some good restaurants. A few local wines too. Although it is an island on the Med Sea, and you said you don't want to be on the water. We stayed in Nolay, in a valley just outside of Beaune. We joked that it always rained in Nolay, even if it was sunny in Beaune. Pretty little village. Lots of pretty villages around there. And, good restaurants. Chalon Sur Saone, good market town near there.

My husband cooks for Chefs all the time. He's just a home cook, and we have a lot of Chef friends. People think we're crazy. He cooks whatever he does best, Cassoulet, or Indian food, Tarte Tatin (of course), Tarte au Citron...they love it. Years ago, when he was a Maitre'd, he waited on Paul Bocuse in Philadelphia. The owner and Chef prepped for days, getting special food items in. All Paul Bocuse wanted was a Cheese Omelette and a glass of wine. "An Omelette and a glass of wine". Elizabeth David.

And, they do special order ice cream cakes. I got one in January this year. Last year, I special ordered mini ice cream sandwiches. Not cheap, but super. The owner worked with me on flavor combinations. Very good. When they first opened, we had my adult birthday party there on a Sunday afternoon. BYOB champagne! What fun!

Sam took that rhubarb and added vanilla bean, lemon zest and juice, and sugar, let it macerate for awhile and baked it. Then he served it next to plain vanilla ice cream from Basset's. Unbelievable!

Went today. There were three stalls. Livengood, which had rhubarb (that I bought), lettuce, spinach, scallions, pretty flowers, asparagus...probably a few more items. Another veggie stand that was there last year. I bought beautiful romaine from them at $3.25. They also had gorgeous red leaf and green leaf, asparagus, rhubarb, scallions, eggs. They said they would have strawberries starting next week. Also, Highland Dairy was there. Lots of Goat items. I bought goat yoghurt (pint, $3.00) and a homemade little tart. Sausage, grits with goat milk, swiss, potatoes, etc. (I think it was $5.50?). And, I bought their country ribs, ($5.50 a pound), which I had from Bob Pierson's winter harvest, and loved. Meatier than regular ribs. Tasty.

Saturday night had cream cheese and m. figs (m because I can't remember the type of fig-mejool?). Tasty, but not a lot of taste of either, just creamy tasting. Part of a group of 8, everyone seemed to enjoy theirs, something pineapply was good.

For locally raised steak, go to Fair Food in Reading Terminal. We buy their Delmonico. It's frozen, but good. And, you help a local farmer. They also have the best burger I've ever had, Dr. Elkins Angusburger. VERY tasty, local also...Oh, and their bacon!

Our vote is Tiffin also. The Butter chicken is like Buttah! The Tiffin owner, Munish, was formerly at Karma at 2nd & Chestnut. It's still good. Love their buffet, always fresh stuff. The Lovash owner was formerly the owner of Shivnanda, which is now Karma. I love his coriander chutney. Cafe Spice is a chain, and we see the Cafe Spice truck comes in a few times a week from NY. I have to admit, the food is pretty good there too, for a chain. And so, until next time on: "As the Indian food world turns"...Stay tuned next thread for.....?

Seven of us went Saturday night. The restaurant was full of large parties. It got pretty rowdy with a bachelorette party doing shots of tequila out of a red plastic something; I would blush to tell you about the container they used! We were obviously the oldest party in there, but we enjoyed and laughed with them; although refusing the kind offer to do tequila shots with them! Had some Guacamole to start, pretty tasteless, the chips and salsa are better at Mexican Post... Apps included clams, the corn mushroom empanada with cactus salad was good. The chicken soup looked good and large...the tuna and shrimp ceviche looked good. Our Chile rellenos were bland. Someone had the Molcajete Mixto, which looked excellent! Served in the big mortar and pestle, with enough food for two! I tasted the sauce that was very good! Also good was a steak special. Very spicy and complex, like it had been marinating for awhile. There were a few flans ordered, which were good with a nice caramel sauce to go with it. We brought lots to drink, and it came out to about $31 a person. I think we'll go to Taco Rienda soon. Or Las Cazcuelas. Or, Lolita, which I love!

Marigold Friday night was good. Not amazing, but pretty good. It was a $45 3 course or the 5 course tasting menu ($60?). The four of us chose the 3 courses. The amuse was a rather tame tabouli salad on the requisite spoon. Bread was good, and the oil they served with it came with different olives in the dish; which I thought was a very good idea. Two had a nice beet salad with argan oil with cheese on the top for apps. There was a Barramundi app and I had the Fava Bean soup. All were nicely executed and good. Three of us had slices of leg of lamb with lentils, cooked medium rare (no options), which was fine with all of us. Another had crawfish and Black Walnut-Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fava and Sorrel. Desserts were the hit of the evening. I had a pineapple Semolina Cake with Pineapple Sorbet.There was a lemon Tart with Lemon Curd and Lemon Merengue Sorbet, a Halvah Semifreddo with Chocolate-Sesame Crisp and Cranberry and a Konafi with Chocolate, Pistachio and Kumquat. We brought a nice Poniatowski Vouvray to start, and then a nice red Languedoc from Abbaye Silva Plana 2003, followed by a very good Pinot from Oregon.

Any updates on Marigold in the past year and a half? I did a search and this is all that came up... We're headed there tonight.

Funny, we just had your Cow's pie Camembert for lunch today!!! And, we had a French women here for lunch, and she went crazy for it! Just delicious-yes, tasty, it actually had flavor, yes, tasted of grass, and just delicious strong-ish wonderful cheese! I love your cheese. We have the Bavarian Swiss at home, just finished off your Gruyere- and are getting some of the Telford tomorrow from Winter Harvest/Farm to City. Thank you so much for making cheese that has flavor, instead of plastic cheese...

Thank you, Andrew, for the compliments! Take a look at the trip we took to France two weeks ago on: Advice on Good Food/Great venue 30-60 people soiree-April, 2007 (If I could figure out how to do a direct link, I would!) Also, take a look at a very special meal two weeks ago: La Tour D'Argent.

We have Wissahickon in the office. I think we get a recommendation finder's fee! Anyway, the water is okay. Have had it for years...I think it spills too.

If you want fresh, incredible oysters: Go to Meze or Marseillan, near Sete, just south of Montpellier. Carcasonne, Beziers, and Narbonne all had okay food. This was this past Christmas week, so not a lot was open...

Ahem - Not to get into a Mac/PC debate, but there is a really elegant piece of software called Undercover from a company in Belgium specifically designed for Macs - any sort of Mac that runs OSX. It's inexpensive - $49 for a household license which covers up to 5 Macs - and takes up less space than a Dashboard Widget. Details here at Orbicule They have a stories on their website about recovering stolen Mac laptops. We installed the software before we went off to France two weeks ago. Felt much safer. I would encourage anyone who has a Mac - laptop or desktop - to have a look. Sorry PC folks, they only write software for Macs.

We also just went to La Tour D'Argent for our 20th anniversary. We had a magical time 20 years ago there for our honeymoon, and went for lunch last week. This is a long review, with a lot of pictures. (The missing image icons are just icons - there are no images missing) We entered downstairs, where there was a doorman, a coat check lady and a Maitre'd in white tie and tails, and were asked if we would like an aperitif in the downstairs lounge. I think we were the only ones to indulge in that for the day's luncheon. Little did we realize, the most inexpensive drink on the menu was 24 euros. I had a glass of their own rose Champagne which was 25 euros. Mr. Tarte Tatin had a Kir. The amuse or little items that they gave us with our drinks were just ok. The yellow furniture was old and worn in a genteel sort of way, but we liked it. It added to the elegant, old fashioned atmosphere of the restaurant. We then were led to the elevator to whisk us up to the 6th floor. The elevator lady was very formal, and I saw her press a button (other than the floor button), I assume to alert them that a party was on their way up. She escorted us out of the elevator, and we were met by three others...upon entering the room, all the waiters were lined up as we entered the second dining room. The room was so beautiful, the view just lovely, and as they showed us to our window table, I burst into tears! We had been there 20 years ago, and it was just such a good memory to be back. I felt really stupid, and the waiters, although probably not understanding why I was crying, didn't blink. The view was wonderful for me, overlooking Notre Dame and the Seine, it was a semi sunny, a bit cloudy day...Mr. Tarte Tatin could see the Seine, but had a pole blocking his view of Notre Dame... the service all throughout was excellent, very old-fashioned...I imagined one of the young boys was a "piccolo", (remember Bemelmans?) The only problem we had was with the Sommelier, which I believe was not David the British guy who's been there forever.... There is this incredible “wine bible” at La Tour. It’s just huge, bigger than any wine list I’ve ever seen... We finally decided on a half bottle of La Tour Champagne to start, and then wanted a Vernay Condrieu - first an '87, then he convinced us, rightly so, (as Condrieu is better a bit younger) to go for the ‘89?? He was thoroughly nonplussed with our choice, and I asked him if he liked our choice. He didn't, because his face showed it, and suggested a Riesling instead. That was strange, as we obviously were looking with him at the White Rhone’s and White Burgundies. If that’s the direction the customer is going for, then why not suggest something along the lines of the customer’s interest? The Condrieu was superb. We’d visited Vernay, but hadn’t had this old a Condrieu. So tasty, and perfect with the meal. Before the amuse, there was a plate of the usual petit fours-gougeres, smoked salmon sandwich, guacamole thing, and then for the Amuse, it was an old fashioned geléed cucumber something-except with foam... The bread and butter were basic, good, nothing fancy. The butter molded with “La Tour” on it. We both had the Quenelles to start. Nothing like the Chez Jenny gefilte fish Quenelle! This was light, and not as much a dumpling as just a delicious taste with a wonderful duxelle underneath! We were so excited we ordered our duck incorrectly. We both like it pretty rare, but for some reason when they asked “a point” I said “oui”, and then Mr. TT said, “rose” and I changed mine to that too. Merde. We should have said, “saignant”. Our fault. So it came out pretty medium...But, it was very good. Big, thick pieces of tender, duck with taste... It had a pea and mint mousse and a fruit compote with dried cherries and orange slices, and a long, thin stick of almond nougatine placed on top. It also had this incredible duck rillette/confit, a round piece of heaven. That was the best. For dessert, I had the lemon cracker with caramel ice cream. He had the fruit dessert (see menu below). They also brought out a chocolate decadent dessert with a candle in it, to celebrate our anniversary. After that there was petit fours...so much! They gave us a souvenir menu and duck postcards with numbers on it (I still have mine from 20 years ago too, when I had a proper duck press). Luncheon was 70 euros a person, and with the aperitifs and a 70 Euros half bottle of Champagne, and a 130 euros bottle of wine, the total was 370 (without the added cash tip). I think that is what the total was for dinner-20 years ago...an expensive lunch for us, about $500. But worth it for the memories, for the service experience, and, the food was good too. Again, nothing extraordinary or extremely creative. But a great experience. We didn’t go to the roof garden this time (not open to the public anymore), or the wine cave (we could’ve gone, but chose not to)... We missed Claude Terrail, who greeted us and charmed us. We missed the old lady who sat opposite her petite chien at the table next to us, the dog in his own chair, eating off his own plate. We missed Mons. Alexander, the oldest waiter in the world, who took our aperitif order. When we described him, taking our order: “Bonsoir, Madame et Monsieur, voulez-vous une aperitif ce soir” (this took him about 1 full minute and a creaking of vertebrae by vertebrae as he bowed while speaking), the Captain totally remembered him... We missed the spider and the spider’s web we saw above us at the window 20 years ago.... Here’s to 20 years from now to do it again!

After re-reading the above post, and Rlibkind asking me whether, perhaps, it was more for boneless rather than bone in....I have to say that the sign just said "leg of lamb", and I asked for boneless, and it was $2.00 a pound more. So, I'm not really sure. Could very well have been my misunderstanding in a rush.

We just came back from a wonderful week in Paris, celebrating our 20th! 27 people joined us for the weekend, from England, Germany, Vermont, Canada, Philly, and D.C. The Soiree itself was on the Bateaux Mouches last Easter Sunday. We were worried about the quality of the food, since this is a touristy catered operation. Not bad at all! First of all, the weather was gorgeous-about 70 and sunny (as it was all week). Just stunning. It was your typical foie gras pate to start, a choice of duck or lamb, cheese and a chocolate dessert. The red wine was a Saumur and the white also a Loire, I believe. Nothing totally creative, but really ok. And, it really was just a perfect luncheon! So beautiful, and we all went up on the deck, so romantic! We had a small boat with just one other party on it, we were on the front end; so it felt very private. Friday night, April 6: Les Papilles. We had dinner downstairs for 10 people. Monsieur Blui put together this incredible Charcuterie as we started....app. was a Sweet Potato soup with sweet potato chips, lardon, croutons, creme fraiche, etc.....then there was a Beef Daube-tender as can be, really delicious! There was a cheese plate and then the most incredible Strawberry Panna Cotta. Not usually to my taste, but I loved this! The wines were just super, which we chose ourselves off his walls- including a 1988 rose champagne, I have to find my notes.... Saturday lunch:-basic at the Marche des Enfants with 6 of us. Broccoli soup, goat cheese quiche, smoked fish platter, charcuterie/fromage mixte platter. Pichet of vin rouge. Saturday night: Cafe Constant. 23 of us upstairs. Madame Constant was just incredible helping us plan this. She's really lovely. I can't say enough about her help planning all of this for the past few months! Terrine de foie gras de canard Or Tartare d’huites, saint jacques, saumon et gingembre Or Bisque de crustacées, ravioles de langoustines **************************** Boudin blanc, pommes en l’air et purée maison Or Pièce de bœuf, échalotes et gratin dauphinois Or Filet de daurade cuite à la plancha, mousseline de celeriac ****************************** Tarte au fruit de saison Or Riz au lait Or Quenelle de chocolat guanaja Or Pruneaux au vin rouge Prix 31€ Hors Boisson Monsieur Chef Constant was introduced as well, and even ended up getting taxi's for a lot of the parties...the food and wine were delicious. Ended up costing about 55 euros a person with wine. Sunday lunch was the Soiree on the Boat. We had a Champagne toast for everyone first- on the Pont D'alma, right before the entrance of the Bateaux Mouche. Bought two magnums of a very nice Nicholas champagne and some plastic champagne flutes. Gorgeous! Sunday night: Marty for 21 of us. Everyone ordered what they wanted, I split a large Plateau with another person. It was gorgeous and very tasty. Monday night: Chez Janou for 8 of us. It was supposed to be 10 of us, but two left because it was too smoky. I had entrecote with those amazing potatoes they have. The service was very rude, as we asked for a different area instead of near the bar because of the smoke. The waiter couldn't have cared less if all of us had left. Since we reserved and planned all of these restaurants so far in advance, I thought he could have at least tried to please us. Instead of making a couple leave...it was Easter Monday and not much else open. We had people back to our apartment all those nights, and the wine shops thought we were mad coming in for half a case a day! Tuesday we didn't eat. Except for the cheese I picked up at Androuet at the Moufettard, near the apartment we rented. Oh, and the cuisse of chicken and chicken fat potatoes. Oh, and the morning kougelhopf. Oh, and, what else? Wednesday: La Tour D'Argent. That was the first nice restaurant I had ever been to in Europe, 20 years ago, so we went back basically for memories. I'll post a review in a few days on that. Very good, very old fashioned, as you'd imagine, wonderful service. Sam has pictures of lots of the food from the restaurants, I'll try to get him to post them. Basically, it was a ton of food, my descriptions aren't doing it justice right now, as I'm a bit jet-lagged! More to come!

I've had the same thing happen at Giunta's. They seem to tell you whatever they think you want to hear. On another note, I've frequented RT for 20 years, but that doesn't mean they recognize me. I had an overpriced experience about a month ago at Martin's. I rushed in to get boneless leg of lamb. Sign said something like $4.99 a pound. (can't remember exactly). He said he had it, showed me a gorgeous piece double the size that I wanted, then asked the main guy what the price was. They looked at me like I was a tourist (I think it might have been flower show time?), hesitated, and said, "$6.99 a pound." (or something similar, my prices might be off). It was at least $2 a pound more than the sign. Since I was parked with my blinkers on in a loading zone, and needed to just run in and get that for my husband's recipe, I bought it. Didn't question it. But, thinking about it after, I really feel ripped off. They judged me, and thought I wasn't a regular.