menton1

Ca va, delights! So jealous of you living in Paris!! On the sujet de macaroons, I have heard that the absolute best are the ones at the Ladurée Tea Salons. I hear that they make a couple of dozen flavors. They even tried Ketchup flavor last year, but it flopped. Qu'est-ce que vous pensez de Ladurée? A la prochaine.

Herblau, you have not been paying attention for the last decade. Whenever a municipality has banned smoking, the restaurant business goes UP. In New Jersey, where there is no law, hundreds and hundreds of restaurants have banned smoking voluntarily to INCREASE business. It may be politically correct to say that the coffee will be better (probably true), but the real essence is that smoking bans are GOOD for business!!

Do the folks in Philly live in a vacuum? In New York, smoking in all restaurants has been banned for 8 years-- and they just passed an even tougher law banning smoking in all bars as well. The entire vast state of California bans smoking in restaurants-- All 10,000 Starbucks ban smoking-- Business at La Colombe should actually get better-- check back in 1 year-- Get with it Philly!! N.B. Anybody been to Metropolitan Bakery?

Bux, you surprised me with that one-- Most of the restaurants in France do not turn over the tables at dinner. (Except maybe the high-volume Michelin's). There just isn't enough time. You sit down between 8 and 9, and finish around 11, 11:30. Here they try to get 2 or 3 turnovers at dinner seatings. Anything above 90 minutes in the US, and the restaurant starts cleaning the table and handing you the check. The only exception might be in Paris, where I have seen some turnover of the tables at the busier places. N.B. Some of the best restaurant bread I have had in France has been in the ëmorning, standing at the "Zinc" having a café crème with a small baguette and butter-- fabulous!! (served room temperature!)

so you were able to look into the mind of the server to see that he/she was punishing you. brilliant. When I put "punished" in quotes, I was only talking about the way I felt, not the wait staff's intentions!!! We need to be so careful with our grammar here!!

i have a hard time believing that. Well, that is EXACTLY what happened, no exaggeration either.

Bux, I have thought about that issue but did not mention it, because we expect different things in an American restaurant. No, the bread is never served warm in France, and never served with butter. Restaurant bread in France is usually quite unremarkable, something like a "vin du table". But in France, is is normal to spend 2- 2 1/2 hours dining, with long waits between courses, as you "savor" the dining experience. If an American restaurant took 25 minutes from the time you finished an appetizer until the main course, American diners would be pounding their fists on the table. I just can't compare dining in the US with dining in France, it is such a different experience. (Wish I could be on tonight's flight to Nice!!)

i was saying that i don't see a reason for bread to begin with. obviously if it's going to be served it should be good. was the bread at the restaurant in question good, aside from not being at the temperature that you prefer?

I don't agree; the main dish is the star, but the supporting cast should be of a top standard as well-- a great main dish could be spoiled by overcooked side vegetables, tasteless appetizers, and bad bread. It always adds to my dining pleasures when the bread is top notch AND warm!! It is one of the elements to a great meal.

As per Tommy's suggestion, I think this is a topic worthy of the General Topics board. We had some discussion in NJ becuase of a recent experience at a New Jersey restaurant. This is a place that is touted as one of the "better" restaurants in the state. They brought us bread tightly wrapped in a linen cloth-- but upon unwrapping, the bread was "cold" (Room temperature). (Why was it wrapped up?) When I asked for the bread to be heated, they were somewhat nonplussed and we never got the bread back for 15 minutes, and had to ask twice more for it!! Some contend that heating dries out the bread, which has never been my experience, especially if heated properly, as in a warming oven. This bread situation actually put a damper on this restaurant experience. My feeling is that good bread always tastes better warmed, and should ALWAYS be served that way at a "finer" restaurant. Comments?

Sorry, another grammar misspeak-- I consider "cold" bread to be room temperature-- I did not mean refrigerated. As opposed to heated bread, which to me, should be pro forma in a good restaurant.

No, but we usually do not get dessert, too much to eat at one sitting. I asked if they customarily serve cold bread, and they said Yes. And then they never voluntarily brought the bread back, we had to ask TWICE. To eliminate confusion about my grammar in my original remarks, I do NOT detest bottled water, I detest the sales pitch for it.

A big round of applause for La Colombe D'or!!! Why is Pennsylvania so far behind NY and California when it comes to smoking in restaurants? Starbucks, the superdaddy of all coffee bars, bans smoking in all 10,000 of its places, (or however many it has). N.B. When in Philly, I have found Metropolitan Bakery's coffee, bread, pastry and ambience to be all superior to La Colombe, but it doesn't get the hype.

We decided to go to Blue Sky last weekend, Rosie has been raving about this place so much. A pleasant looking place, except the lower level by the windows are isolated and have a peculiar feel. We sat upstairs. There was a sales pitch for the bottled water, which I detest. We ordered, and then they brought a nice bread basket, with the bread tightly wrapped up in a linen towel, and when unwrapped, was ice cold!! When I asked if the bread could be heated, they stammered a bit, and then said yes. But the bread never returned for about 15 minutes and 2 additional requests. I guess that was our "punishment" for daring to ask for warm bread!! Why wrap this bread up so carefully if it is served cold? I would be interested in other Egulleters' comments on "better" restaurants serving cold bread. The beet appetizer was beautiful to look at, but very bland and uninteresting. The mussels appetizer was quite good, and the sauce was excellent. The Char Entree was very tasty, but served with dull whipped potatoes, as almost every entree is served with. The yellowfin tuna was nice as well, but the sauce was very spicy, with no indication on the menu that it would be. All in all, with all the hoopla, the place was not terrible but was disappointing. I will not return for a long while. Thoughts about cold bread are appreciated as well.

This one looks very interesting, FG. If you make it, let us know how it turned out!! http://yumfood.net/recipes/veggieburgers.html

I hope this beef is clearly labeled so that the consumer can choose NOT to buy this beef. Irradiation has been proven to create carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde in the food!! It has also been linked to birth defects and degradation of nutrients in the food. The biggest problem is that there are products that are irradiated that are not clearly labeled, e.g., milk in boxes. Here is just one link to read further: http://www.all-organic-food.com/irradiat.htm

This is a chain-type place which is a Coffee Bar with sandwiches and salads. I only went to one in Philadelphia, and we walked out, because the place was absolutely FILTHY; the milk & sugar station had garbage overflowing onto the bar and on the floor. The tables were filthy, and the food looked rather unsavory and pricey. I've heard from friends that the food is not a good value-- with all the great choices in Englewood-- Bennie's, Moon Street, It's Greek to Me-- for light and inexpensive fare, I don't know how this place will make it. Even Starbucks is preferable!!

I stopped getting NJ Monthly a year ago because they just have more advertising than content (editorial). And unfortunately, their articles are highly influenced by the amount of advertising a merchant buys. Their restaurant "listing" in the back is a joke; they even admit, at the top of the listings, that the space is mainly for their advertisers!! I think that their restaurant reviews, in spite of Tommy's Utopian philosophy, are influenced by this as well. I have gotten Philadelphia Magazine, and it is wonderful. The articles, while I am 2 hours removed from Philly, are quite comprehensive and their restaurant reviews are top notch.

Well, we can't be nostalgic for Nedicks if the frank they are using is a Shofar frank. The ones Nedicks used had pork in them, had a definitely beef-pork taste. And then the best part was those jars of mustard relish to slather on!! The bun was great as well, with rectangled-edges, and the metal ball handle that pumped a glass of orange drink. Ahh..... the good old days.....

There is a good thread going on on Egullet General Food Topics-- I have added a link to a story in California where a woman purportedly died from eating escolar!! This fish should really be banned, why should eating any food be like rolling the dice? Check it out: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=ST...=0entry194025 http://www.nbc4.tv/newslinks/1773988/detail.html

Glad to see this topic; on the New Jersey forum we have been discussing a restaurant, Liberté, that is now serving the dish. With all the controversy, it seems that this fish should be banned again. Eating foods should not be like rolling the dice-- if you want blowfish you can go to Hong Kong or Japan. Here is a link to an astounding article where a woman purportedly died from eating escolar!! http://www.nbc4.tv/newslinks/1773988/detail.html

An afternoon in Manayunk is not complete without lunch at LeBus. Fabulous, wonderful breads, great comfort foods, eclectic main dishes, omelettes, and a great drink selection. They have other locations, but this is the original and the most comfortable LeBus. Take the bread home as well!!

I was thinking of going to this well thought of restaurant in the next couple of weeks-- Anybody have some thoughts on the place? As a side note, I noticed on their web site that they serve Escolar, a South American fish that was banned for a few years, and has the reputation of causing diarrhea and/or severe abdominal discomfort!! Why would they continue to serve this controversial fish?

Rosie, when you go, please tell him to try to make the place LOOK more French as well; Get a dimmer switch on the lights, and redecorate so that it doesn't look like a diner with tablecloths!! Just like a restaurant in Colliure, France!

I've been to these places, and I guess I just do not like deep fried hot dogs. Growing up in New York City with all the grilled dogs, this is the only way I like a dog cooked. While Katz's on Houston is near the top for me, the absolute best hot dog for me is Papaya King on 3rd Ave and 86th. The dog is perfectly grilled, and the bun is nicely toasted (a must) and the hot dog is actually extremely hot!! (In temperature). Anytime I am near this place I have to get 2 (or 3).