menton1

You must be mixing this up with another place, this is a highly acclaimed place in town, right near the university, and I certainly saw nothing close to a hooker... Tennessean, Southern Living both raved about it, and past discussions on Eg have also shown laudatory reviews.

A visit to Nashville for a wedding resulted in a discovery of a truly excellent restaurant, Bound'ry. Near Vanderbilt, it's a restaurant that is really creative about food. Visually beautiful, outdoor seating in better weather also. Planked trout and Pork Chop dishes were the highlight of our visit, but all the other food looks wonderful as well. This restaurant was conspicuous by its absence here. Bound'ry Website Address: Bound'ry Restaurant 911 20th Avenue South Nashville, Tennessee 37212 Phone: 615-321-3043

And. as far as fine dining, the pricing seems to me to be in the top 90% of New Jersey restaurants. That's why I have the high expectations about the look of the place. 5 bucks lower per entree average, I might be more forgiving. Forgot to mention, had to ask for bread with a salad, and it was the reheated stale type. Needs improvement.

I think that there are also some high gloss paints that would not show dirt as easily; this may be another option. Waiters kicking the plate may not be to effective, and not very genteel. Maybe if not wallpaper, some type of painted stencil...

OK, I finally got to Silver Oak for lunch. Pulled pork was very good, steak bistro salad good, meat cooked very rare as asked; homemade potato chips very good, shoestring fries OK, I prefer a thicker cut, but that's just a personal preference. Interesting menu, I would assume from comments here and my experience that all the food is good. Here's the rub. Call me nit-picking. Call me petty. If I am going to a place that charges in the mid $20s for most entrees, it needs to look pretty spiffy. Silver Oak does not. The biggest turnoff is the filthy door to the kitchen. They need a paint that doesn't show dirt. The walls, have the same paint, and it shows prominently the very poor spackling job underneath. I think a little wallpaper might go a long way. And a filthy kitchen door in a place such as this doesn't fly. Maybe at a hamburger or hot dog joint, but not here. The surroundings need to be on a par with the quality of food here. Right now they are not.

To my eyes, that lettuce in the salad looks all Iceberg; the outer leaves of those heads of iceberg sometimes tend to be greener and softer than the whiter leaves as you remove the layers... but I don't see any resemblance to a Romaine, Leaf, Bibb, or any variety. IMHO it's 100% iceberg... A lot of complaining about OG here has also been accompanied by admissions of eating at McD's, Taco Bell and the like. I see little difference, other than the waiter service and the bill. They are all unhealthy, oversalted, and undesirable eating choices.

Absolutely, tommy, Eg is certainly not a captive audience for chains. But, concerning business travelers, these places usually tout themselves as "family restaurants". A peek in to one of these at dinner usually one can observe a plethora of families with kids eating. I would suspect business people tend to try to eat at their hotel, if it has a resto. If you're talking about staying in rural areas, I don't know if the chains locate themselves in TOO rural an area... Yes, I suppose it can be daunting to find a restaurant in the middle of nowhere after a long day.. But my guess is that these chains rely more on local families for their patronage rather than business. But that's a guess.

Well, I said I don't travel much in the states, I have been to some backwaters in Pa and NY state and also found good eats. But if it's too much of a backwater, I think the chains won't be there, either. Incidentally, Providence and Nashville may be nice, but there's nothing like Paris. (Unless you meant Paris, Texas. )

I'm with you, Dryden. With the all the information available on the net, reviews, directions, etc. in the past 5 years there's hardly a reason to go to one of those chains. Just a little planning can go a long way. I don't travel much in the States, most of my vacations are to Europe, but the last couple of years have seen me in Nashville, Providence, Florida, DC, and the Northeast, and I've always managed to find some decent eats without ever going to a chain. Of course, I was with some people last summer that corralled me into a "Cracker Barrel". Ugh.

Funny, I remember one of the motel chains using just the slogan "No surprises" in their TV ads a few years ago... For myself, one of these chain places would be a last resort. I like surprises. If I was tired and smelly (who, me?) I might consider a take-out or a greasy spoon, or anywhere that seemed family-owned. But when traveling, if I'm sitting down to a dinner, a chain is only an act of desperation for me. And yes, I'm sure this No Surprise factor plays a large role in these resto chains' successes, with their mediocre everything.

They opened in Times Square, not one of the residential or "hip" neighborhoods. Probably a large percentage of tourist trade. They did their demographic homework. Put them in Chelsea or the UWS and they wouldn't do so well...

The Gantié is one of my favorite restaurant guides. I love the pithy style. Be advised, that the online edition is only a small portion of the restos listed in the book. If you pass a Librairie in a town you may wish to browse through it or splurge the 15€ for the book. The web site only has a few selected towns. Same with the shopping items.

Christine, it's rather harsh of you to say that you RESENT my opinion about the Bergen Record. You certainly are entitled to rebut my opinion, but that's what it was. I said that there seemed to be a credibility issue with their reviews. And I left it open, I did not draw any conclusions. (Do I resent your resentment? ) That being said, I (and many others) have NEVER seen a restaurant review of 1 star in the Record. If it is in their archives, please send me a link, I will certainly feel a lot better about them. Lastly, please pay a visit to the 4 STAR RATED (by the Record) Smoke Chophouse in Englewood. This is a veritable dump. A dingy, smoke-filled room, pitiful food and just about everything else.

I have to get over there, I'm sure I would like the place, Mike. Please note that I was NOT disparaging SOB, I was making a comment about the Bergen Record Restaurant reviews in general.

Don't forget to get back to us, please, after you have settled in, for your inside scoop on the restaurant scene in Toulouse. Like some of that great Toulousain Cassoulet! Are you an American ex-pat? Why Toulouse?

The Bergen Record gives 3 stars to every restaurant they review. I'm not saying that SOB doesn't deserve it, don't get me wrong. But the Record's credibility on reviews is fairly suspect, I would take most of what they say with a grain of salt. Don't know if it's a quid pro quo for advertising, or what, but everyone gets 3 stars. Smoke Chophouse, a dump in Englewood, got 3 1/2 stars about a year ago in the Record. Tells you something.

Best place for produce in the winter IMHO is Tenafly Farm, between Highwood and Piermont Rd. New owners last year, great prices, fresh stuff. Nyack Farmers Market is among the first to open, last week of April, Thursday mornings. Good market.

Can't get cheaper than free. When you are in Antibes, that Carrefour is about 15 minutes away. Biggest one I've seen in France. Take rollerblades!

Oh, sorry, I was referring to your stay in Antibes. Catch the A8 from the coast road by the Nice Airport and go 10 miles east to exit 8, there is a giant Carrefour market off that exit. I had thought you mentioned you were staying in Antibes, non? That is much, much closer to Nice... P.S. Check out a photo link I posted on another thread about the Marina Baie des Anges apartment complex, very unique architecture, in Villeneuve-Loubet, just west of Antibes.

I've never seen coolers in France, but you might try to find them; the French are very big on pique-nique, so it's a possibility. Try the giant Hypermarchés. which have almost anything, or also the stores called Bricolages may have something like it, they are something like a Home Depot. There is a huge Carrefour hypermarche just off the A8, exit 8. If you enter the highway near the airport, go east about 10 miles. This store has about 80 aisles, with employees on rollerblades. On the Riviera, don't miss all the wonderful (and cheap) street food. Pan Bagnat, something like a Salade Nicoise on a great round bread, Pissaladiere, mentioned above, a pizza bread, with onions and olives instead of cheese and tomatoes, and Socca, an earthy fried chick-pea flour concoction that is wonderful. We did a great pique-nique in the gardens of the Chagall Museum. Also, in a wonderful little park just before the village of Vallauris. Don't forget the wine!!

Remember those Irish Bars (Blarney Stone?) with the steam table right when you walk in, with hot pastrami and all the hot dishes of the day? Ahhh, heaven.

If you can make your way up to the 60s, Payard Patisserie is unmatched in the city... They also will deliver.

Wasn't Stouffer's at street level in that building, and Top of the Sixes was an upscale place on the top floor? I think it was called the "Tishman Building". There was also a huge airline office on the other side, street level. Today the airlines couldn't afford a space 1/10 of that size, sadly...

Absoluitely, personal preference. Just to clarify, I like Teds for sandwiches. Aura Deli has the great salads. Just a nice coating of dressing on the cole slaw and potato salad. Shreibers salads are literally swimming in a pool of dressing. Their tuna salad is about 80% mayonnaise. Have you tried Aura Deli salads?

Just my humble opinion, but one trip to Jerry's in Englewood would wean you off Dantes forever. About 30 notches up in quality, and actually lower pricing than Dantes!!! That's an unbeatable combination.