menton1

This sounds like they are just testing some of the things that work at the McDs in Europe; In Rome, near the Spanish Steps, you will find the largest McDonald's in the world-- on 2 levels, and besides being gorgeous, has wonderful caffe and cappuccino from a separate coffee bar in the front. I loved the coffee, never ate any of the food, of course!!

I just received a certificate good for $50 at Brasserie 8½ on West 57th street. Checking the menu online, it sounds good, but I somehow have the feeling it caters to tourists because of the location. Anybody been here and have some input? Thanks!

Wow-- that's crazy-- hard to believe; The place was always packed-- always a long wait on a Sunday-- how could they go under-- did they spend beyond their means? Were the prices too low? Very sad, a loss of a unique place....

We have a separate thread on this place, with Jason's photos; Great NE and Manhattan Chowder, VERY fresh clams, great potatoes and broth-- Seafood Gourmet Inc 103 W Pleasant Ave Maywood, NJ 07607-1333 Phone: (201) 843-8558 Seafood Gourmet Thread

My vote would be for Blue in Green, North 3rd St just above Market St in Old City. Awesome breakfasts!!

How did you guys have room for all this food? It sounds great, but I would have had to spread this out over 3 days!!

At the Les Lyonnais Bouchon I mentioned above, you will be well within your spending budget. The food is great as well. We loved the Quenelles, a Bouchon specialty. Give them a call for exact pricing and reservations. In Gordes, 2 restaurants come to mind: Les Bories, in an old barn slightly out of town, and Michel Del Burgo right in town in the Bastide de Gordes. The hotel is also quite beautiful if you need a place to stay. Les Bories rte Vénasque 84220 Gordes Telephone: 04 90 72 00 51 Bastide de Gordes 84220 Gordes Telephone: 04 90 72 12 12

This is a daunting request-- You could go to a mostly-locals place that would be quite authentic and have excellent food, but everyone would probably be speaking French; Or you could go to a touristy place where the staff speaks English but it has the makings of a tourist trap-- Last September, we had our best meal in Lyon at a bouchon in Vieux Lyon, that doesn't make the normal lists of bouchons, it is a "well kept secret". It is quite lively and atmospheric, and has great food-- LES LYONNAIS BOUCHON 1 RUE TRAMASSAC 69005 LYON 0478376482 Bonne fete de l'an!!

Most cafés in Paris are my favorites. Cafés are the quintissential culture of Paris. We don't have anything like that here in the US. There is something very soothing to the soul about sitting facing the street, watching the world go by, makes you feel that you have nary a care in the world. And I agree with Bux, the best ones are the anonymous ones, you really do not need Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore to have a great cafe experience. And yes, whether its in the "campagne", facing a quiet square or a river, or on the hectic Place des Vosges in Paris, cafes are always great!!

As you can see, there is a bit of disagreement on this thread... So I don't know how much more help you can get; Have you checked the Hotel La Cisterna link I posted on an earlier response here? Restaurants in San Gimignano: La Vecchia Mura, simple family resto right under the walls. Il Pino, great Cingiale, more upscale Ristorante Peruca, in an old palazzo, wonderful! Al Beppone, casual, pizza and pasta, quiet part of town. After dinner, a great gelato parlor on the main square (La Cisterna) open until midnight. P.S. The local wine Vernaccia, is a superb white-- do not miss it! Buon viaggio!!

Guess those unseemly rumors turned out to be correct-- that's too bad; Hope Ali can re-start in a better location soon, and I hope she can get the financing to decorate nicely and hire a proper staff-- Good luck, Ali.

This year's crop of Beaujolais Nouveau has been released today. Early reports have called it "sunny", a good vintage, helped by the "canicule" they had this summer; The ceremonial place for this unveiling is the town of Beaujeu, where 15,000 people gathered at 1 minute past midnight. Anybody have any hands-on comments about year's heralded vintage of BN?

Actually, I respectfully disagree with this advice. Saying SanG is a tourist trap is like saying Venice is a tourist trap. Avoid the TT shops and bus tours and see the actual things that attract tourists there. The town is actually much better if you stay overnight, because the tourists leave at 4:30 and by 5:00 you have the town to yourself! You also have the better part of the morning to enjoy up until the buses arrive at 10:30...The restaurants open for dinner really cater more to locals and not day-trippers, so you can have wonderful meals there, as we have had-- and the view from the rooms at La Cisterna Hotel is breathtaking. SanG is a great place to stay overnight, and is centrally located for the rest of Tuscany!

It seems that the chef position at the Chantecler is a transitional job; Before Llorca, Dominic LeStanc moved on to open his own place, La Mérenda. I don't know if Llorca is as much of a maverick as LeStanc, though. Bon chance to Llorca! Did Vergé retire completely?

Herb, does this mean you have some inside info you can't tell us about yet?

Sara has reported that the place is boarded up-- any confirmation? Is the restaurant open or closed?

The problem with the NY Times NJ Section most of the time, including this time, is that they skew toward Central and South Jersey. I guess they figure that up here in Bergen we are a hop and a skip from the city so we are not that interested in the Bergen/Passaic/Essex restaurant scene. These places sounded good, but most of them are an hour+ from Bergen. They did do Joel's in Ridgewood, which we have talked about a lot here, and is generally looked upon with delight by Egulleters. I like the idea that his employees love him as well.

The Camargue Fleur de Sel is good, but the best one comes from Brittany in the Guerande. It comes in little cloth bags, and, actually has a distinct whisper of flowers in its taste. Apparently it is a hit and miss harvest, depending on the tide and the winds, as to how much salt will be harvested that day. You can buy it on the web Here.

There is a Thanksgiving store and restaurant where you can either buy all the fixings to take out, or have a traditional dinner at the restaurant. They were opened to cater to the American ex-pats, and you will definitely find what you are looking for here. Thanksgiving grocery store, 14, rue St-Charles, 4e, Mº St-Paul, tel: 01.42.77.68.29. Thanksgiving restaurant, 20, rue St-Paul, 4e, Mº St-Paul, tel: 01.42.77.68.28. There is also a branch of the NY resto Joe Allens, also serving traditional Thanksgiving fare. Joe Allen, 30, rue Pierre Lescot, 1er, Mº Etienne Marcel, tel: 01.42.36.70.13. Bonne fete!!

Better make sure you go with people who can keep the conversation going for that long a period of time!!

Ate here as a party of 4 over the weekend, our reservation came through, needed almost 2 weeks advance notice. The place is very pretty, lighting is just the right brightness (or dimness), the space is long and narrow, but not that narrow, room for a liquorless bar in the front and a small space in the back up about 8 steps. Place was packed, and the noise level is quite loud, but not intolerable. We were seated about 15 minutes after or reservation, not bad. The menu had some nice choices, and we had some nice chats with one of the partners because we found out that he is from Western Liguria, which we had just visited in September. Probably one of the few customers that had even heard of his town!! (Alassio). They also recited a long list of specials, no prices given, and some sounded like pseudo-specials. They also pushed the bottled water a little too hard. We started with a Wild Mushroom Soup, very flavorful and fresh; a tricolore salad, undistinguished; and a spinach/ricotta salad that had a nice addition of roasted red onions and a lovely vinaigrette. The bread served was terrific, a nice mix of crusty levain-type bread, garlic toast, and focaccia squares. In between courses they served a large bowl of olives and a dish of sun-dried tomato salsa that worked well on the bread. A nice touch. Next course was an Osso Buco, nice but ordinary, a sliced veal in mushroom sauce, very intersting complex flavor, a flavorless but beautifully-presented Shrimp in Mustard Sauce, a bit disappointing, and a wonderful Pasta in Pesto sauce that was very close to the stuff we had tasted in Italy. All in all, the food could be called uneven. Service was good, except that they left the finished plates on the table much too long. Dessert was last, and I have to echo BBQbrisket, this was the best part of the meal, except we were too full to really appreciate them. We only had 2, a chocolate sampler, wonderful, and the Tartufo, which was 3 scoops of ice cream-- the vanilla was dipped in liquid chocolate and it hardened into a shiny shell, the chocolate was dusted with walnut pieces, and the hazlenut was dusted with powder sugar and hazlenuts. Beautiful, and very very good. All in all, the restaurant is good. It is not great, which is what we were expecting, but a nice meal, and I would go back. Next time, though, we will try to go on a weeknight when I'm sure it is not as frenzied.

There are many places you could go, but I think I remember you saying you will be there in the winter-- be prepared for chilly and/or rainy walks from the RR station to your destination-- 1/ Versailles -- But it is very big and very empty; 2/ Chartres Cathedral-- breathtaking, and a lovely village as well.. 3/ D Day Sites-- Military history, battlefields, momuments, museums... 4/ Strasbourg-- Alsatian flavors... 5/ Fontainebleau-- Fabulous renaissance architecture... 6/ Mont St Michel-- VERY dramatic; 7/ Euro Disney (Ugh!!) Giverny is only good from spring to fall, and a long long way from the RR station... P.S. I still can't understand why you are itching so to leave Paris-- It is one of the great cities of the world, and there is enough to keep you busy for months on end!!

IMHO, Paris is more beautiful, more interesting, and has an infintely greater number of choices for food and restaurants than Brussels. In other words, unless you are attending a NATO or EU conference, stay in Paris!!!

I believe it is now French law that all restaurant prices are "Service Compris". The custom is basically just to leave a few coins. Recently, some waiter told us that they actually are displeased if you leave too large a tip. Waiters are a career occupation in France, and they feel it is a blow to their dignity if you feel they need a big tip! Of course, when you get to the Michelin star restaurant category, there are a whole different set of expectations when it comes to tipping. I believe that was gone into in depth on another thread.

Only a 20 minute drive to Englewood, where you can go to Saigon Republic, a much-acclaimed place on Eg. I have personally been there many times and the food is well above average, it is great every time. Saigon Republic 58 West Palisade Avenue Englewood 201-877-4777 Call first, they get very busy, even on weeknights!