menton1

At least they don't have cup holders in their cars yet!!

Just do what I did 15 months ago: Give up cable for DirectTV, get a better picture, better service, save about 40% off the bill, and you will get FINE LIVING!! (A no-brainer!)

OK, but I don't see why this means that Fine Living US has these good shows and Food Network US has the junk.

Fine Living Network is owned by the same company that owns Food TV. Except the programming is apples and oranges. ( I know Food TV Canada is different, I am talking here about Food TV USA.) While the programming on Food TV is mostly for the dumb and dumber, Fine Living has some very noteworthy shows, for example: Opening Soon-- terrific show tracing all the ups and downs of starting up a restaurant from the construction, design, staffing, permits, and food. True cases. Thirsty Traveler-- travel to faraway places to discuss the culture and manufacture of exotic drinks such as Grappa, Ice Wine, and Port. Very interesting show. Simply Wine with Andrea Immer-- straightforward, easy to follow Sommelier Andrea is great, and the show can prove quite informative and educational, as well as having some good travelogues as well. Napa Style-- Michael Chiarello has some very good recipe and preparation ideas that show his independence and creativity. Beautiful kitchen TV set as well. Great camerawork. Why does Scripps NEVER put these wonderful shows on Food TV USA??

Not surprising, since Starbucks really has modeled themselves as a quasi-European cafe anyway. They do make American concessions, such as self-service and paper cups, but that shouldn't stop the French from going there anyway-- It will also be practically the only place to get coffee "to go" (take away) in all of Paris!!

My experience in diners is Iceberg lettuce and ice-cold tomatoes, both big no-nos as far as my criteria for decent salads go. Any specific diners where they don't use these?

Has anyone an idea of the menu, ambience, types of food here, etc? (Seems there is a remarkable lack of Egullet interest in a potentially promising restaurant in an area with a conspicuous lack of interesting restaurants!!)

I don't know about making a meal of it, but the Frisée Salad at Latour in Ridgewood rivals any I have had in France; not only is the presentation gorgeous, but the taste and texture of it are exquisite. When you have finished this salad, you are actually sad that it's over!!

A really pleasant, pretty restaurant is on 71st Street in Miami Beach; It has modern Italian food (no Veal Parm) and really nice service. A nice oasis in this area.... Cafe Prima Pasta 414 71st St Miami Beach, FL Phone: (305) 867-0106

Unfortunately, THE place to buy copper in France is on the Normandy coast, a little town called Villedieu-les-Poèles. This is the copper center of France, with several factories and a couple of dozen retail outlets for "Cuivres" with an endless selection. In Nice, you may find a selection at either of these places-- we have window-shopped by them on a couple of our trips; LE BAZAR ROYAL 68 AVENUE JEAN MEDECIN 04 93857230 BABAPRIX 109 BOULEVARD DE LA MADELEINE 04 93962924

Should not be hard for you to find-- In NNJ there are probably over 60 "Red Sauce Italians" that could suit your needs. This type of restaurant proliferates here, we have discussed the phenomenon on other threads. Unless you can narrow your criteria a bit?

It's hard to determine your definition of a "Wine bar". In NJ, the difficult and expensive nature of obtaining liquor licenses does not lend itself to specialization in wine-- If you are thinking of the Enoteca-type place that is ubiquitous in Italy, you will need to go to Newark/Liberty Airport!!

Robert, thanks for this comprehensive review. We did the Var last year and found it quite lovely in spite of a spate of forest fires at the time. I don't know the town you speak of, but it sounds quite near the great towns of Grimaud, Hyeres, and even Port Grimaud to satisfy curiosity. Dommage, I don't get TV5 on my Directv, I think it's only on DN. On Food TV, Tyler Florence of "Tyler's Ultimate" shows the makings of a fabulous Bouillabaisse with a chef at his home just outside of Antibes, pretty close to you... When you mention Aioli, is that often referred to as Rouille, served with the little toasts and then floated in the broth? Also, further west along the Var coast, there is a great "fete de 6 cochons" in a little town of Allauch, near Cassis, where they roast these pigs for 18 hours in the town square and then everybody feasts on them the next day.... I think it was on 11 jan this year... Also Bormes has that great mimosa festival in février... Are you back in the frigid weather yet?

Wow, you have picked an area really off the tourist track.... The Loire is just about 50km west of Lyon, so you can make some trips into the city there as well. I have also heard that St Etienne has two great markets.... As far as travel agents (Bux bear me out) I believe that this type of rental is not particularly their bailiwick-- in Europe what you are looking for is a "Self-Catering" or Gite, and you will probably be better served, (without buying dinner) by a local realtor, or "Immobilier". You can find them in the Pages Jaunes, or the local OT, or also on expatica.com; you should also be able to find one that speaks English... Coincidentally, the Jan 04 issue of France Magazine has an article about the Upper Loire and the Loire department; here is a small excerpt: Loire Excerpt Bon chance!

Doesn't Big Onion Walking Tours have an eating tour that is quite reasonable AND the price includes all the food?

The sunny Southeast coast of France really gets going in February... with many folks thinking about the Caribbean or the South Pacific, the Cote d'Azur is really a terrific place in the wintertime. After all, as short as 75 years ago, people ONLY went here in the winter!! Carnaval, of course, is big here, with the biggest celebration going on in Nice. The Fete du Citron in Menton is a 2 week gala event with unusual giant displays made entirely of citrus fruit. This year's theme will be the Disney characters, with Mickey, Dumbo et al., all being paraded around made entirely of lemons and oranges!! Fete Du Citron Web Site About 50 km west near St Raphael is Roquebrune sur Argens, with its orchid festival, and another 30 km west is Bormes les Mimosas, where the namesake mimosas are all in bloom and you can actually smell the lovely fragrance in and around the town. Since my travels to France have been only during the months of May, June, or September, I have only seen these winter events in magazines or on the net. Has anybody spent time on the Cote during the winter, and could you please relate some of your interesting experiences during this "off season"? Merci!!

While driving down Schraalenburgh Road in Closter yesterday, I was taken by surprise. After almost 2 years of laying fallow and being overgrown by vegetation, the old site of Il Ruscello has been razed and a brand new, beautiful building stands there in its place. The restaurant is called Harvest Bistro, and from the outside it looks quite pretty. Looking in on a cold weeknight it seemed pretty busy, and the parking lot had about 25 cars as well. Haven't heard a whisper about this place, no mention in Rosie's THWR either; Has anybody anything to report on this new, promising-looking place in an area in dire need of good restaurants? Don't know the particulars, but some info: Harvest Bistro Schraalenburgh Road Closter, N.J.

Seems pretty pricey.... is the food included in the price?

Do you mean that Maine blueberries are wild, picked randomly in the woods?

After all the good reviews of this place, decided to try a breakfast here the other day. At 9:30, only 6 patrons in the place. Temperature was a little cool as well-- After a long wait they took my order for simple scrambled eggs. Unfortunately, they messed up everything there was to mess up; the eggs were overcooked, the home fries were cold, and the toast was "rare". They heated up the potatoes when asked, but they were also rather tasteless and uninspiring as far as home fries go. A disappointing $4.50 for 2 eggs and coffee. A much more consistently good breakfast is always had at a little storefront about 6 blocks away called "What's Cookin'". On Main St in New Milford, the same breakfast is $3.00 and the potatoes are hot and flavorful, the eggs and toast done just right. Maybe I should have done lunch here....

Yes, plenty of blueberry farmers down in South Jersey... I think the most of any state-- NJ is just another of a long list of states that gorw corn-- I remember being able to go into the woods as a kid and pick wild blueberries. Although smaller, they had much, much more intense flavor-- Are wild blueberries available anywhere these days? (In late summer, of course!)

Only slightly spicy, definitely not coming from enough chili oil to make it red....

For two decades we frequented a restaurant in NY's Chinatown that made a variety of Hot & Sour Soup that had a reddish color, and the flavor was quite different than the brown stuff that is ubiquitous in Chinese restaurants in the US today. The restaurant is long gone, and this type of H & S soup is very hard to find. Would anyone know -- a/ Is this red soup the more authentic type of Hot & Sour Soup? (It is more sour than the brown one) b/ Is some type of tomato ingredient causing the red coloring? c/ Where can you get this stuff today? Thanks!

Dumpling, your negative comments about this place have been echoed by several friends of mine who went to this place... I did not report much because it was third party info. They have also reported that the new place in Dumont, Intermezzo, has better food, better pricing, and no smoke! Also it's a BYOB. Also there is a another new Italian, Lieto Italia, on Main Street in New Milford, about 6 blocks from Felice. Anybody have first-hand reports about these new places?