Margaret Pilgrim

Make sure you eat once at Cafe Miranda in Rockland. Kerry, the chef/owner, was at Chez Panise originally. Also, for an obscenely large crab or shellfish cake (perhaps 6-7"), go to Conti's on the wharf. Gringy place, and surly chef, but very fresh and quintisential seafood. (As a Californian, I will admit openly that I don't "get" lobster rolls. We just don't eat hot dog buns out here, nor pay $14. for lobster and mayo. What we did do was go to French and Brawn and buy impecably fresh picked crab, 8 oz for each of us, a lemon, some cocktail sauce, some good bread and a bottle of chilled white wine and pig out on the deck outside our bedroom.)

Thanks, SWoody, for your roadmap for changing both ways of thinking and doing. Much success and joy in your new kitchen. Don't worry about "the lads". They will learn by osmosis.

Stephen, it is my sorrow that eGullet doesn't bring us more names and reviews like your lovely description and excellent detail of Auberge Saint-Fleuret. This is precisely the kind of place that my husband and I try to ferret out. It takes me only minutes to create a list of starred dining and lodging for a given area, but hours and days to come up with small and charming not-yet-touted places like yours, assuming that I am lucky enough to come across them at all. Many, many thanks, and do please continue to advise us of finds in your beautiful area. Bux is right in saying that there are obvious places to stay and to dine in that department, but I am beginning to think that Aveyron as a, say, weeklong, several stop destination would be an interesting thing to do. Again, thanks.

In another thread, it was suggested that most Californians eat at home most of the time, and go to restaurants for special occasions rather than for daily rations. I thought it would be interesting to see if that is really true here on eG. My husband and I have a policy that we will go out to a decent restaurant once a week; this just doesn't happen, and I have often asked myself, "Why?" First, we usually shop at the Farmer's Market once a week and hence have good produce, cheese, meat and sausage on hand for a good portion of that week. We live several blocks from a Chinatown where fish is glistennngly fresh and produce, while not organic, is excellent and really cheap. A couple of blocks in the other direction are two carriage trade markets and one of the city's best butchershops. Good bread is available everywhere. Trader Joe's is within a couple of blocks. The house is always full of good ingredients. Second, we travel a lot and are often eating lightly because we have just returned home, or slowing down consumption in anticipation of several weeks of great restaurant meals. Third, we have been cooking for so long that it is easier to toss together a very good meal than it is to find one out. We do eat weekend lunches out or bring them in: soft tacos, burritos, dim sum, Vietnamese barbequed pork rolls in rice paper, or if we are feeling particularly evil, barbeque. When we do eat out in town, it is probably no more than every 6 weeks, and in inexpensive-to-low moderate places (around $100. for 2 people, 3 courses with a modest wine and sparkling water); some places where we haven't been disappointed are Delfina, Zuni, Piperade, Chez Nous, La Table, Alma, Firefly, Lorca, all of which have been well discussed on this board. We almost never eat Asian at dinner. How and where do you spend your food dollar?

Just home from the holiday, I am late to this thread. As someone who has experienced California cuisine for 65+ years, I am both interested and amused. Californians who care about food eat fresh and excellent produce, seafood, poultry and meat. We (I) have done so for many more decades than the concept of California influence on national, much less international food. Well into our experience, Alice Waters brought home her love of French simplicity, and spawned an enormous number of student chefs who took her passion of French technique plus the obvious sensibility of eating seasonally and locally to every corner of the US. Sometime in the early 90s, Le Monde published an article that described her influence on the 3* chefs in France, but, unfortunately, I thought at the time that the suggestion was so obvious that I failed to save it. If California has a claim to fame, it is that is has brought cooking full circle: use what you grow; grow it with integrity; as in medicine, but frequently ignored by those who cook, "above all do no harm" to your product; and enjoy with good wine and good friends. Far from wanting our food "plain", we expect to have fine ingredients at our and local chefs' disposal and their preparation in ways that least detract from their essence.

Reduction+butter sauces finally made sense to me after I read one simple caviat: the cold butter must be incorporated into the hot reduction...without entirely melting. It is this just-not-quite-melted butter that makes the sauce thick. It should be served as a warm sauce, not a hot sauce.

Lobster Eggs Benedict? Regular eggs for a main course serving, quail eggs for a starter? I, personally, would grill the medallions after steaming the tails. i.e., Toasted English muffin or crumpet, medallion of lobster, poached egg, Hollandaise, sprinkling of piment d'Espelette or Spanish paprika

My father used to undertake "doing things the old way" projects from time to time. I remember when he decided to make sauerkraut, although there wasn't a single sauerkraut eater in his history. He started it in an enormous crock in the kitchen. It was moved to the porch. Then the garage. Like many cheeses, its odor was 10 times its taste... and growing.

I think the ware that Richard refers to is Vallauris ware, made in France. Mine are glazed on the inside, unglazed on the outside; the lids are glazed on the outside and unglazed on the inside. They are a warm tan-to-brown. While excellent ovenware, you can (and I do) use them on gas burners USING A METAL DIFFUSER PLATE or griddle under the pots.

Whether blotting during or after cooking, Katherine has the solution: Use 1 layer of paper towel between layers of newspaper. My mother-in-law taught me this decades ago! Still works.

Menton, intrigued by your question re: the quintisential Lyon eating experience, the bouchon, I bring to your attention the following list from FRANCE magazine. I insert the disclaimer that I have not visited any of the following: "Bouchons: Six of the Best" Au Petit Bouchon-Chez Georges 8 rue du Garet metro: Hotel de Ville Cl. weekends Brunet 23 rue Claudia Metro: Cordeliers Cl mon and tues Le Merciere 56 rue Merciere Metro: Cordeliers Open daily Bouchon Lyonnais Daniel et Denise 156 rue de Crequi Metro Guichard closed wkends Le Pasteur 83 quai Perrache Metro: Perrache open weekday lunchtime only Chez Marcelle 71 cours Vitton Metro: Massena closed weekends

I can only address 2 of your multiple same-name houses, both Chez Paul. One is located on the Place Dauphine on Ile de la Cite. It has two entrances, one on the Place and the other on the Quai des Orfevres. This Paul serves classic bistro dishes in a typical old-time bistro setting, including a famously squeaky kitchen door. A second Paul is a couple of blocks east of Bastille on the corner of rue de Charonne and rue de Lappe. It is also an old bistro, but has some updated dishes on the menu. From time to time, this place is very popular and reservations are needed. Both of these Pauls are inexpensive to moderate in price. I should note that we haven't visited either of these two in at least half dozen years. The third Paul is, I believe, a considerably hipper neo-bistro in the 13th near the Butte aux Cailles.

The Bull Moose Cookbook by Christian Herter of political prominence in the '40s (?). It is male oriented, opinionated, ignorant and a good reference book on how not to dress, prepare or cook almost anything!

OXY-CLEAN! Yes, I shouted. Oxy-clean has changed my life. I use it on all whites (underwear, lingerie, dishtowels, towels, sheets) as well as antique linens and mid-tone colors. Yesterday I used it (in solution) to remove a scorch from a very expensive white shirt. You know the kind: you have ironed the entire bleeping shirt when, ZAP, somehow you burn one edge or corner. I used a Q-tip to dab the solution on the scorch, and it simply disappeared. I did not bother to rinse out the solution since it was a very small spot. I have NEVER so far injured any garment using this product.

Danielle, the "proper accent" is always appreciated in France. However, once again you have provided us with your always excellent postings of what's happening now "under the stars". We will make an effort to give your recommendations a walk-by. For what it's worth, La Cave Gourmande is the old eponimous stomping grounds of Eric Frechon, now at Bristol. Last I read, La Cave is worth a visit, although it is always close to impossible to walk in such large shoes. Also, for what it's worth, depending on compatibility of systems, accents may or may appear on your readers' screens as they do on yours. For that reason, they may or may not be worth the effort outside of correspondence or notes that you are printing out for your own use. Again, thanks for your post and its many recs. margaret

Cholula was for years my airline companion. I used to buy the tiny 2 ounce bottles by the case just for air travel. Sky Chefs hasn't invented a food perversion that Cholula can't mitigate, be it airline-omelet or seagull-in-the-sky. My most memorable Cholula sitcom occurred when my husband and I were seated A and C, with a stranger in the middle seat. When the meal was served, I pulled out my Chulula, tilted it and uncapped it, to have it torrent into my palm because of the pressurized cabin. With great steadiness, I set the bottle on my tray, licked the enormous glob off my left palm, recapped the bottle and ate my dinner. It was only after we were off the plane that my husband told me that precisely as I was juggling my Cholula, he dropped his bloody Mary into his lap, and was similarly trying to mop up the splash. I don't want to hear the stories the young man seated between us told whoever met him when we arrived! Hope it wasn't any of you.

Danielle, first may I say how pleased I am too see you posting again. Your information is always excellent and much appreciated. I am particularly grateful for this timely news of your recent find in Lyon. I would add that I see that Oxalis is, as are most good Lyon dining rooms, closed on Sundays and Mondays. However, with your glowing report, we may have to juggle our dates a bit so as to be able to sample the Ezgulian's hospitality. Many thanks.

Cornichon ice cream, served as part of a deconstructed hamburger at L'Astrance: ground roast pork, covered with melted tomme cheese and topped with cornichon ice cream. The ice cream was rather interesting, an extension of the tarrigon sorbet concept. (The rest was peculiar at best.) re lavender, one of the loveliest flavor combinations occurred when we were making creme brulees in both lavender and meyer lemon flavors. At the end, we combined the last of the lavender custard with the last of the meyer lemon custard and made one combination. It was hands-down the best of the three. We have since used that combination for superb ice cream. Also wonderful is premium (read high fat) yogurt, sweetened (3/4 sugar to a quart of yogurt) and flavored with a FEW (4) drops of true lavender essential oil. Freeze as usual.

Chocolate and jalapeno, as they do it at Restaurant Alma in the Mission District in San Francisco: intense chocolate with minced jalapeno wandering through it, not hot, but a terrific chile finish. Soba, I would think that since both Quik and Ovaltine have dried milk in them that you would get more of a chocolate sherbet, rather than sorbet. We make wonderful chcolate sorbet with Hershey's cocao powder (and sugar).

Menton, we will be facing the same situation this fall. Gault-Millau indicates, as Bux suggested, that there are many "13" (read: possibly small, probably ordinary, at least average) choices. Looking above that rating, I note that that Le Saint Alban (2 quai Jean Moulin) , rated "14" is open Mondays but closed Sundays, while Le Trois Domes, "15", in the Sofitel Bellecour, is open both days, and L'Art en Ciel, also "15", located in the Meridien Part Dieu, is open Monday but closed Sunday.

Adding still another tangent to this thread, for those of you who are used to charging goods and services in France but haven't been in recent weeks, be prepared for "sticker shock" when you reconcile your next credit card bill. During the past year I have grudgingly accepted the 2 to 3% surcharge added by VISA for conversion on foreign purchases as a small cost for ease of doing business. However, when added to the recent plunge in the dollar, I was appalled at the difference in conversion of euros to dollars during an April visit compared with our March visit. When a 625 euro charge comes through at $707, you are aware of a sizable chunk of change! (My husband, who just brought in the paper, just called to me that yesterday the euro is up to 1.1738. That hurts.)

I need to comment here. We were in France (Paris and the southwest) when the war broke out (March 12 through 25). Both before and after our invasion, we were treated with at least the usual warm welcome we are used to. If anything, we were uncomfortable at the extraordinary measures people went to put us at ease. When we were in customs at our return to San Francisco, I commented to my husband that I only hoped that the many French people from our flight from Paris would be made to feel as welcome here and now. We return to France on April 10 for several weeks without trepidation.

Stone, are you referring to Lucca? I think it is on the corner (across the street from Alma) of Valencia and 22nd or 23rd. If so, they have, we think, the best price on Parmesano-Regiano in town, about $9.99 a pound as I remember. We only buy it there. We also usually pick up a piece or two of whatever else looks good that day: Spanish goat, often a fresh mozerella ball or two, whatever their special is that week. We also buy our coteghino there, as well as our "house" cooking olive oil: Tiger, which usually sells at around $11. for the standard 3 (?) litre can. These are "good people", and you can take their advice about anything they sell.

Thanks for bringing Elle's interesting list to our attention. I have been titillated by one address for some time: grandterriors, 30 rue miromesnil. This is a tiny storefront. Surrounded by shelves of packaged products from the countryside are a couple of communal tables where a dozen or so neighborhood "suits" belly up to downhome plates that are created from the products on the shelves. I would guess that reservations are essential, and it is, therefore, a destination lunch site, even though an idiosyncratic one. I hope someday to have time to try it.