Margaret Pilgrim

What do you mean by "downtown San Francisco"? If you mean SF proper as opposed to the greater Bay Area, I would certainly suggest Ton Kiang on outer Geary. It is a 10 minute cab or 15 minute bus ride from Union Square, and is arguably one of the best dim sum venues in the US. I personally like the funky Chinatown dim sum cavern Y Ben House on Pacific off Stockton; scuzzy tile floor, harried cart-servers, packed with local ethnics, authentic and cheap. (Edited to correct the name: Y Ben House. Thanks, Gary, for getting it right.)

Laricasso, I really would like to visit Antony also, but have never worked him into a trip. Try this link which has an e-mail contact at the bottom of the story. Good luck, and please report back if you visit Antony and attend one of his tastings. I am so jealous!

We have often pondered this phenomenon, John. There are many considerations coming into play, I believe, including a first visit's surprise factor, a second visit's elevated expectations as well as the dreaded devastating effects of fast success and popularity. We have watched the latter destroy more than a few of our favorites. Thanks for your continued input and alerts.

Le Pamphlet was wonderful when it first opened; we made it a point to reserve there for every stay. In, perhaps, its third year it went downhill, and we, too, stopped going. I have read that in the past year it has greatly improved, the food returning to its previous level and the staff more accommodating. I would certainly add Le Repaire de Cartouche to this list. It is located at the Filles-du-Calvaire metro stop, certainly an easy walk from the Marais-Bastille area. We have never been disappointed with a dinner here. Le Repaire de Cartouche 8, boulevard des Filles-du-Calvaire or another entrance at 99, rue Amelot Paris 11e 01.47.00.25.86

raisamb, I would just about bet the ranch that all ratp passes expire on midnight of the day they were activated. We use the Carte d'Orange on just about every trip; it is good from Monday morning through Sunday night. But you can email them your question here. I have asked them a lot dumber things than that , and have received very patient and instructive answers.

If I understand "raisamb"s problem, it is that he/she will be staying at a hotel at/near CDG. Travel needs, therefore, are getting back and forth to the city for meals, shopping and sightseeing, without luggage. I am not sure of the number of days involved, but guess they are few. Roissybus is fairly civilized, runs frequently, deposits one at Opera. I haven't taken RER in a decade, but it will give you better access to more areas of Paris. It should not be uncomfortable without luggage. A cab will cost one about $50 a direction plus tip, as I remember.

It is my understanding that a Paris Visite expires at midnight on the day it is activated. A five zone will allow you to commute from CDG to Paris via the RER. I am not sure if it is good on Roissybus as well. Check out the following two, Visite Roissybus as well as the more comprehensive Paris metro system (RATP)

We have an acquaintance who is vegetarian. (He eats nothing that had a face.) From the several times we have met for dinner, and from reports from his travelling companion, he has met absolutely no resistence when the waiter has been informed that this diner wishes to be served nothing of animal origin. (He does eat eggs and dairy.) I am under the impression that this request has been conveyed to the reservationist when bookings have been made. The plates that I have seen served have been lovely: creative, balanced, filling. I do want to repeat Bux's admonition that the French use many meat concentrates in their cooking; I did not bring this to the attention of the table, certainly did not ask for guarantees when ordering and everyone at table left content. There are endless lush and vibrant dishes out there that contain no meat. Give the dining room notice and request them.

Would flattery cause your hostess to share her recipe for the Prune digestif?

I second the Richard Lenoir market. In addition to fresh foods and flowers, there is an excellent traiteur who, besides offering a dazzling array of salads, pates, etc., will heat any size serving of their wares (paella, choucroute, sausages, tarteflette, etc). You can sit and eat your finds while listening to street entertainers and people watching. Then go hit a cheese or bakery stand to finish your meal!

There is a third entry into this horserace. A specialty baker in my neighborhood in San Francisco used to make a log cake that was cooked on a spit, successive layers of thin batter brushed on the cooked layers. It was completely cylindrical, not conical. Simply vanilla cake, no marzipan. Of course, the shop is no longer in business. My husband and I were fortunate to be at an artisanal product show at the Muffetard market in Paris a year or so ago. Among the participants was a baker who was making this confection at his booth. He had a radiant heat baker, similar to what they use to roast chickens in the markets, a horizontal spit that was automatically turned. He brushed a thin batter over the already baked layers from time to time. The finished product was a (perhaps) meter long (or tall), about 8" wide cake that was sliced horizontally into slices that exhibited rings like a cut tree. As I remember, this market was in the spring, March or April, and is worth looking out for.

No, but this article made me do two things: immediately get out an atlas of France to see if visiting this sweet address was even a distant possibility, and whipping up a batch of his cold tomato soup. I will continue to think about including a visit to his moulin, but his soup is something I will revisit often. It is sublime. Pot note: Because we had eaten many eggs at breakfast, I substituted creme fraiche for the poached egg, included fire-roasted red peppers and green onions as garnish. This recipe is a keeper, as is the address.

I find this a tremendously interesting thread. I have found that although I order meats cooked "saignant", the plate most often arrives what I would consider "medium" or the "well done end of a point". Is it that waiters in France are trained to transliterate cooking requests to the chef if they are ordering for an American table? Like Bux, I like meat rare, enjoy carpaccios, and like his beau-fils, tartares. I do not, however, like meat "bleu" or cold in the center. There is a happy medium, if I could find out how to order it.

Good review in Figaroscope. I do doubt that tables remain as difficult to obtain as before, but will relish trying this address again, since I really loathed the ambience of the original room. Let's hope that most tourists will follow "le chef" and leave his old kitchen to the neighborhood.

I have a very simple, if tacky, way of obtaining a current copy of "Where". I walk into a hotel, approach the desk, tell them that my hotel does not provide "Where" and that I would like very much to buy a copy. I have never been turned down, and I have never paid for one. I am, of course, tremendously appreciative, and tell them so.

Wonderful thread. While recipes don't "lie", remember the enormous difference between "2 tablespoons basil chiffonade" and "run into the garden and pick a handful of basil, run back into the house, wash, dry and ribbon it". If the recipe relies on pre-prepped or processed ingredients, and you don't, dinner creation will take considerably more time than the book/magazine/recipe indicate. And your results may be vastly better for it! Just remember to consider the prep time for all of the ingredients. And, of course, clean as you go will never let you down. I got my lesson from a relative who could use up all of the pots, pans and dishes in her house to make a cup of tea. Even at age 10 I realized that something was seriously wrong.

As JT has said, you list them, we'll comment.

We have enjoyed Le Villaret for some years, through a transfer of management. While we have never been disappointed, it does pay to have a somewhat adverturous palate, since some of the better moments are outside many Americans' experience. I have never found the menu truly off-putting.

While Nyons is an olive center, it is definitely northeast of Avignon, not west. Are we thinking of another town or area? As Bux suggests, pepper or fruit or floral or bland flavors are the result of the olive variety more likely than the age or even the press.

With the exception of the bread (for which we have substituted oatmeal and musli), your photograph perfectly illustrates what my husband and I have been eating for the past several months. Foods taste delicious, clothes are loose and energy is soaring! I would like to add, since this is a travel/food forum, that during this time we have visited France for two weeks and spent a week each in Massachussetts and Pennsylvania. It is very easy to eat this way, both at home and away once one begins to pay attention to food choices. The only thing I would add to your market basket is extra dark chocolate. Do keep us informed, and do enjoy your new life!

yves is gone and is focusing on his new restaurant L'ourcine. L a regalade under new management has gone downhill.this is based on comments from friends rather than 1st hand knowledge While it is definite that Yves has left Le Regalade, Pierre, I don't believe his connection to L'Ourcine to be true. I have the understanding that at most Yves is the mentor of the chef/owner of L'Ourcine, and has presently close to nothing to do with it. It is in no way "his new restaurant". Am I mistaken?

An excellent line! re: "little dictionaries", Wells' Gastronomical Dictionary, cited above, is one of the smallest and most comprehensive lists around. When she first published it, my husband copied it, page by page, reduced the size of the pages two or three times (using the reduction mode on our copier), stapled them together and presented me with a 4" x 6" booklet that easily fit in a small handbag, was unobtrusive at table and allowed us to tackle any menu. I no longer carry it with me, but do refer to it when we come across unfamiliar produce or fish in the markets.

No French person would concede that I speak any kind of passable French. However, my menu French is close to 100%. I would suggest that anyone who anticipates visiting France start by studying Julia Child and become fluent in a couple of dozen polite phrases. This and a passport will serve you well.

I was just going to say that! We have never had a course at Le Troquet that missed the mark, although several times we were served, and ultimately enjoyed, courses that we would not have chosen ourselves. If there are shortcomings in this tiny dining room it might be that they give you too much for too little, i.e., the allowance for ingredients may be slim for four courses. That said, among the times that we visited LT we enjoyed an excellent pumpkin soup with roasted almonds and creme fraiche, exotic mushrooms topped with smoked fish, a good pork loin with a Basque sauce, classic brebis with black cherry compote, a delicious and intriguing cinnamon kissed strawberry soup. Le Troquet is about value, an unheard of 4 course meal, pleasantly served, for 30 euros. It is about the use of imagination and technique to create a menu from inexpensive, but not to say inferior, ingredients. It is interesting that so far replies have echoed satisfaction with value and quality, and failure to return with any regularity. It could be that since 2001 there has been an explosion of interesting restaurants in this price range.

Windy, you are obviously a traveller and not a tourist. Enjoy every minute of your upcoming visit.