Margaret Pilgrim

Mafter is owned by Mora. Check the Mafter website for history. Perhaps the shapes you are looking for are no longer made? Perhaps available under a different label but the same product?

Call or write Judy Kaminsky at Cookin' in San Francisco. She, if anyone, will know. She also hangs out in Paris. Cookin' (415) 861-1854 SFCookin@aol.com

Excellent! Many thanks.

Everything you have said is true, especially this last benediction. This will probably be our fourth or fifth show, and we have found it easier to limit our major thrust to one area. Of course, you get seduced along the way and stray off course more often than not. We frequently find that the little wines we order in France do indeed carry the VI trademark, but we usually order wines from the east, south and southwest. I was hoping that a few VI Burgundys had made their way into your hearts. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to taste our way through them.... Again, many thanks.

Exactly. The booths are well signed with area and producer names. The only problem is SIZE. It does matter. I think there are 55 production areas on your list. There are probably an average of 6 to 8 producers from each. Each will be pouring from 4 to 8 wines. Even for pros, it is an impossible dream.Thanks, artisan. It will top our list.

wkl, I have just found how to screen the list. Here is the list for burgundy/beaujolais. This a very large show and AOCs are not arranged together. In fact, the floor arrangement appears to be completely random. Last year, it fill two floors of one of the enormous Porte de Versailles expo buildings. Anyone who will be in Paris during this time should definitely try to go. Many thanks for any pointers.

So that's it? The total guidance from this forum? Interesting.

There aren't? Now I really am confused.

We will be heading for the Vigneron Independent show in Paris at the end of the month. Under the flag of searching out small producers, who would you seek out from this list of vignerons who will be sampling and selling their wines? Do you give much weight to award winners or are medals too fickle a measure?

John and Dave, are you seriously suggesting that we all "come out" of our boxes? Okay, if we must. I adore the convenience of box wines for cooking and also for the off-hand single glass. Like you, we come and go a lot, and it's lovely to walk out of the house and know that the wine you leave will be viable when you return.

It has long been my contention that there shouldn't BE a wine on any restaurant's list that doesn't have some particular merit or interest

It's very sad that your friends had such a poor experience. I've not been to Alsace so can only hope to duplicate their positive visit. It is not surprising that they found Atelier lacking, but you can find a discussion regarding its merits on many other threads. That they had such disappointment in Burgandy is puzzling. We spend parts of our summers there, and have never had to jettison a $35 bottle. Without too much input, we find enormously satisfying wines and lovely in-home and small establishment cooking in every department of France that we visit. I can only hope that your friends will enjoy better meals and drink at another visit.

Perhaps we should have another thread on service, but, Felice, I identify with your post completely. Without naming it, there was a very "hot" little restaurant that floundered along with the most unprofessional but well meant service. We returned time after time for the lovely food and, what can I call it, sweet service. But have drifted away after our last visit. The less practiced but personable waitstaff had been replaced with several semi-pro fellows who leant little to table. While not actually arrogant, they were so just short of it that the meal lost much of its luster.

Melissa, these all three sound fantastic! To heck with the kids. I want to go! Many, many thanks.

Our son and his partner are meeting a handful of friends for a reunion in NYC. One of the friends is coming from Tel Aviv and has asked for a "happening" kosher restaurant, not vegetarian. What can I tell them? Many thanks in advance. (Immediate responses are appreciated as we are leaving town ourselves on Tuesday morning.)

If you get to Poujauran, stop next door at Bellota Bellota (18, rue Jean Nicot) and buy the smallest qauntity of Pata Negra ham they will sell you. It will be enough, and expensive enough, but something you will always remember. (My husband and I bought 100 grams, and while it was lovely, could have had the same experience with less.)

The Noctambus has been incorporated into a new system, the Noctilien.

I think you're right. Also, it is easier for service if everyone is seated in the same area, indoors or terrace. What boggles me is how many places are airconditioned yet leave the doors open to the street and or a rear patio.

What joy! I would suggest that you shop locally in small shops. The price differential will be minimal and most apartment dwellers have more of a problem of buying too much than spending too much. In small shops you can dictate the size of the portion you buy: cheese, butter, charcuterie, etc. Remember your mother, "Waste not, want not." I think that perhaps you mean rue Blumet. If so, you will be staying in the 15th, I believe. One pleasant dinner spot in your area is L'Ami Marcel, 33, rue Georges-Pitard, 01.48.56.62.06, located just off rue Vouille. Don't be afraid to use both bus and the more obvious metro to explore outside your neighborhood. We love the buses, and your area is well served by both the 39 and 95, both north-south workhorses. Our system is to find the address we want to visit, then plot the transportation. Often we go by bus, then return by metro in those cases when the bus stops running, usually around 9:30. Enjoy.

We have recently returned from a visit to Burgundy where we enjoyed the lovely facilities at La Maison Chaudenay, located some 15 minutes south of Beaune in the village of Chaudenay, several km north of Chagny. We were centrally located for visiting Beaune and all of the villages up the Cote d'Or as well as those to the west and south, Meursault, Pommard, the Montrachets. We drove extensively along the beautiful canals. Maison Chaudenay is owned by a couple relocated from New Zealand who are well fitted to be hosts. They are most generous with their time and property. We enjoyed a very well equiped two level apartment, two bedrooms, well equipped kitchen including dishwasher and clothes washer, excellent stovetop, conventional and microwave ovens, large dining area and small sitting room. Bruce and Anne Leonard did everything to make our stay comfortable, including supplying the kitchen with coffee, tea, sugar, olive oil, balsamic, orange juice and milk for our arrival, delivering emails we received, delivering to our door in the morning whatever baked goods we ordered the night before. The apartment was well supplied with tourist information including restaurant recommendations, and a common room offered a computer with 24/7 internet connection and a large, flat screen TV. The Leonards' property includes several hectares which provide strolling or picnic opportunites, and the compound includes covered parking. This property is superior in every way: the thought and consideration put into the quality of the furnishings, the generousity and sincerity of the welcome and hospitality.

Even when the translation is intelligible, it seldom conveys the nuances that define the dish. Give me the native menu any day.

I'm glad I'm not having to make your choice. But Les Magnolias really does sound like a memorable room for your occasion: a little off-center in terms of both location and cuisine. And, of course, unless you are going for a hearty lunch, do take the RER to Nogent-le-Perreux as C. Sadie recommends. (I think you know that! )

Last night we enjoyed an excellent meal and evening at Quince Restaurant. There were six of us so we were able to order an assortment of dishes. Since the menu changes almost every day, a listing of dishes is rather useless, but every one was based on fine ingredients handled with thought and care. Among standouts were a scallop and cauliflower starter, no surprises there but my husband who is a scallop maven was delighted with the quality; a pristine halibut carpaccio; stuffed squash blossoms that brought raves; a light and tender octopus salad. A sea bass was declared the best our guest from Beijing had ever tasted, and her gusto indicated that she wasn't just being polite. The rest of us ordered pastas, and they were every one excellent. My pappardelli with giblet ragu was a knockout. After a sparkling wine, we drank a very reasonable Saumur Champigny. A small wine service misunderstanding caused the removal of a bottle before it was entirely finished, and Mrs. Tusk insisted on providing us a lovely sparkling muscat with dessert. By dessert I lost track of what people had ordered, but they were wowed by their sorbets, gelati combinations, crespelle with sorbet, etc.. Quince is often mentioned in the same sentence as Delfina and Incanto: its food has the same roots and its chefs have the same dedication to integrity. But there is a palpable difference in the ambiance and the orchestration of service. At the latter two restaurants I feel that I am well served and well fed, but I don't sense the specialness that Quince provides. Last night, as at all of our previous visits, we were cossetted, made to feel a sense of occasion, that Mrs. Tusk and her crew were co-conspiritors with us to create a special evening, and I use the French word généreux, which has much more nuance than its English counterpart, to describe the hospitality we felt.

This is the site and listing of vignorons I have been trying to unearth in my scrambled files.

Just to fill in the chinks in your notebook, here is a sample of the kinds of places we stay in, chambre d'hotes and small hotels, many of which serve an evening meal as well as breakfast. These are from my "hope chest" list for the Languedoc. Not in any logical geographical order: 10 minutes from Carcassonnes: La Ferme de La Sauzette In Carcassones: Le Traoupet In Faugéres: La Vigneronne In St. Chinian: La Maison du Parc In Corbieres: Chateau Donos A boutique hotel in Pezenas: Hotel de Vigniamont Near Narbonne: Les Palombières d'Estarac In St. Thibery: St. Thibery Near Beziers: Château de Murviel