dlc

That a French restaurant serves ice water, now that may be news. C'est vrai

Depending on their ability to get around the area they should not forget Chinon, Bourgeuil, Savonnieres, and Savennieres. If they are interested in reds the Raspberry flavors of Bourgeuil's are astounding and the Chinon Clos de Chene Vert are also spectacular. You might also post on the wine forum and see what other responses you might get. There are some really informed people that use that forum.

There is an Italian place on West End called Basanti's that has decent food and wine and can handle that size group. They also have a smaller spot in Green Hills Mall area. Carraba's and Princeton Grill are also in the Green Hills Mall area. Both are chain type places but have a decent wine list if you look closely. There is a steakhouse across the street from Wild Boar called Nick & Rudy's but I haven't eaten there. The Boundr'y in the Boar area is also a place that could handle 10 and have a variety of prices and decent wine list

FYI Southwest airlines has internet specials from many of its markets to Raleigh until Thursday. Flights from $49 to $99 depending on the market.

I have to second the recc's of Mark Sommelier on Taillevent's wine list. It is simply astounding. Lunch there is a great value and if you stop by they will allow you to pick out your wines in advance if you desire. M. Vrinat (owner) will be more than happy to help you. They also have a wine shop in the neighborhood. If you are interested in burgundies then a 6eme restaurant by the name of Recamier had a wonderful list of older burgundies. This is another place where I stopped the day before to peruse the wine list and decide my likely choices. A bistro in the 1st Benoit also has a nice but not killer wine list but a killer list of old vintage Armagnac's

Would that be North Berkeley? If so I understand. The brother that is winemaker for Frederic has 2 parcels that he is responsible for. One is a Morey St Denis Ruchotes and the other a Bonne Mares. I understand he is doing some type of "bio-dynamic" proceedures with these 2 sites but is not willing to call them biodynamic wines.

Claude, I thought that Fredric Magnien had vineyard holdings in Morey St. Denis. I know that they buy wine but I thought they had some holdings there.

Chateau Grillet is an appellation in itself. It is the smallest appellation in France. The vineyards are 7.5 acres and sit on a domed hill above the Rhone River. It is very expensive but a very special wine. It is extremely hard to find in the US. I think that the Guigal and Boissonet are better values.

Mark-- I agree in general but have had some lovely wines from both Rocholi, Etude and Wm. Selym in the past. I personally think that their wines are not as interesting now as they were 5-8 years ago

Another at $9.99 is Guigal Cote du Rhone and in white a Firesteed Pinot Gris from Oregon

IMHO the reason it seems more prevalent is that more makers are bottling and exporting there wines into the US. For years in many smaller wine bars and bistros in France (esp. in the more rural areas) when you ordered a Bordeaux you regularly got a Cru Bourgeois.

Carema and Florida Jim are both on the right track in how to find good quality less expensive burgundies. I try to pick both AOC areas and producers. In Givry try Domaine Joblot. Jean Marc Joblot makes a lovely wine for less than $20. A little more expensive in the Nuits area is J. J. Confuron and if you can find some of their older vintage Chopin-Groffier is another great producer. You can even find some of Robert Jayer-Gilles Hautes Cotes de Beaune's for less than $30. I would also suggest that both Allen Meadows (burghound.com) and Steven Tanzer are more reliable than Robert Parker on burgundies. You might also want to try certain importers and check the level of quality, price and choice that they present. If you find one or two whose style you like I think you will find that you can rely on a certain level of consistency, particularly with some of the smaller ones. All this being IMHO Pinot Noir and Reisling are the 2 most food friendly grapes in the market

My 2 favorite chocolate shops are Maison du Chocolat and Madame de Sevigne. Maison has a number of locations and Madame is on Place Madelene. If you like chocolate Don't forget the Snickers that are made in Belgium with fantastic chocolate. I always stock up at the duty free on the way home.

If my passport that allows folks from the TN side of the mountains into NC is still good, may wife and I will be there. What about some green tomato relish or hot chow-chow for the pig. Varmint so you still cook them overnite? My brother in eastern NC starts late in the evening before the event. It makes for a great happy hour as you fire up the pig. I agree that the porkster has to have a name to cook perfectly.

Nothing has changed about it other than the label and price, same juice, same sources, same winemaker. They are reserving the Caymus name for their two cabernets and the wines they sell out of the tasting room (sauv blanc and zinfandel). The worst thing about the label change is that they no longer sell Conundrum at the winery so I have to go back to paying retail. Have you noticed that about 2 yrs ago they quit putting the % of each varietal on the bottle? I think that they have started c playing with the mix and are using a higher percentage of cheaper grapes. I think that this has really changed the taste and IMHO ruined the wine. It used to be one of my wife's favorites and now we don't buy it.

Do you know if this is the imported polenta that they sell at "zingermans" (sp) in Michigan?

This is a wonderful story and should be retold. I have followed Ms. Lewis' career for years and have all of her cookbooks. She tells a wonderful story and makes Southern Cuisine come alive. I was fortunate to be at Gage & Tollner when she was there in the late 80's also. We were with my in-laws who had been there on there honeymoon 45+ yeears previously. Ms. Lewis did a special meal for them and treated them like old friends. It was a very special evening for all of us. By the way the new cookbook is great . I have been reading it like a novel all week

Do any of you do a cheese grits souffle? In my family we cook the grits in chicken stock and half & half, add rosted garlic puree, lots of cheddar cheese, then fold in beaten egg whites to lighten. This is great as a leftover but you cannot saute them. When we do this we do regular cheese grits or polenta. Another great source for cornmeal is the Clemson Univ. Dept of Ag. also good cheeses.

Have you tried The Dining Room at Ritz Buckhead, Joel, Bacchanalia, Seeger's etc.

Depending on their desires the Mellow Mushroom has great pizzas, calzones, salads and a superb selection of beers on tap. There is a great little Italian place in Biltmore Village if I can just come up with the name.

I would second checking out Kay's reviews in the Scene. As for some smallish chef/owner restaurants I would recomend the following: The Yellow Porch, Zola, Park Cafe, Chapel Bistro and Margot's.

While pondering what ever happened to Ripple, I flashed back to a series of nights in the early 60's when a "rose by any other name" caused me to lose my car for 2 days. It was fortunately found by a friend in a neighboring town parked on the square.

I would stay away from the seafood one. I have had a bad experience with the freshness of the fish. I have visited both of the others with good results. The wine pricing regime is one of the best in Paris for the quality of wines offered. I also have found that Taillevent has a reasonable markup on the better quality wines.

Another way we do a mille-feuille here is to use homemade sugar cookies (tea cakes in the Mid-South). Layer them with strawberries that have been capped and macerated with a little sugar and julienned mint leaves.

I am aware of at least 3 major importers of Burgundy that are offering deals already on 2000 & 2001 vintages in stock in order to get cashflow to purchase 2002 because they feel the quality is superb and there will be a great clamoring (sp?) for the 2002 vintage edited for stupid spelling errors