docsconz

Yono's did move to a building that used to be a car dealership. Whoever was responsible for the transition actually did a pretty good job of making it into a a pretty funky, cool building. The restaurant itself is still quite good with that intriguing combination of Indonesian and French. Cafe Capriccio is a restaurant with a good local reputation, but I must confess I have never been. To be honest, I have never heard enough special things about the Albany restaurants to warrant a special trip other than if I am going there for a show or some other reason. If I'm going out to dinner, I generally prefer to go to Saratoga or north into the Adirondacks. If the occasion is truly special and I want to travel I will go to NYC or Montreal. I may have to give additional consideration to Cafe Capriccio though based upon Syzygy8's emphatic recommendation.

Zinfandel is an excellent match with turkey. The three R's are generally good choices (Ridge, Ravenswood and Rosenblum) although I think Ravenswood has slipped in recent years. Ridge remains my favorite of the bunch, but is also the priciest. Others to consider include Lava Cap and for bigger bucks Turley and Martinelli.

Here's a quick summary...all of this is was split between the two of us: 1:25PM Sunday: Harold's 1/4 Dark Dinner, Hot Sauce, Pineapple-Passion Soda 3:05PM Sunday: SuperDawg and a Whoopski Dawg, Root-Beer 6:00PM Sunday: Trio TDF 10:10AM Monday: Al's Big Beef-juicy-hot, Fries, Cup of Cheese, Lemonade 11:30AM Monday: Gino's East - Small Spinach Deep Dish, Diet Coke 2:40PM Monday: Johnnie's Beef-Dipped-Sweet, Italian Ice -j Ouch! How did you fit that all in?

I consider myself an incurable "egulletarian" Interesting thread with a lot of useful insights. thanks to all.

Thanks! This was one of the best posts I have ever read. Trio was at the top of my list of restaurants to get to before, but now it is an absolute must. By the way, welcome to eGullet!

fresh mozzarella di bufala really good cheddar such as bobolink or aged Ontario cheddar gorgonzola vs. really good roquefort honorable mention: boucheron, parmaggiano-reggiano, epoisses, manchego, pecorino di Pienza, gruyere

This was a gorgeous, superbly balanced wine with plenty of rich, deep fruit and the acidity to balance it. The tannins were seemless. My mouth is watering with the memory of it. This is in contrast to how I felt about this.

I have been very remiss in not reporting back sooner on my impressions of the chocolates. My favorites were the "Grandes Origenes" Coleccion no.1 from Cacao Sampaka. This was a diverse selection of chocolates from distinct geographical locations mostly in South America or Africa. The differences between locations was distinct, each showing somewhat different profiles, but all delicious. My favorites were the Brazil. This collection of chocolate was perhaps the finest expression of "plain" chocolate I have ever had the pleasure to experience. The other collections I sampled from Cacao Sampaka were good and intellectually very interesting, but ultimately less satisfying from a purely hedonistic point of view. They were "Cacaos y Especias" and "Innovaciones Gastronomicas". Of the two, the chocolates and spices were more "successful". It was difficult without a scorecard to determine what the innovations actually were. They were different from other chocolates, but often lacked distinction from each other. The most interesting to me was the "black truffle". The chocolates from Oriol Balaguer are delicious, creamy and well made. My favorites and that of my family remain the "Coleccion Z" with pop-rocks. They truly combine great flavour with other-worldly texture. I do think the Grandes Origens of Caco Sampaka are absolutely worth the price (I don't remember what I paid). I have had single origen chocolates from Valrhona, Michel Cluizel and others. The Caco Sampakas are in my opinion even better than those wonderful morsels. I would also put the Coleccion Z right up there in my pantheon of chocolate experiences.

They got it!

Nice report. I'm envious. I'll have to be on the lookout for the 2002 burgundies. I really haven't paid attention to the press on these. Any idea what the prices are going to be like?

Great summary! Fonsecas have benn the ports I've called on most frequently, especially the Bin 27 and vintage ports. I am holding '77, 85, 92 and 94 in my cellar. I've had some of the '77 and it is excellent, although I am in no hurry to drink the rest.

I remember having an all-garlic meal including dessert there in the early '90's. It was good food well prepared. These pictures look like it is good comfort food. The presentations don't look terribly artsy, but the food does look as if it is satisfying in a homey way.

I wonder if they will get a famous chef/food activist to promote it?

Anyone try some with the wine clip?

I had dinner with Gaston Hochar of Chateau Musar last year. He is very proud of his older vintages and their aging. He was supposed to send me some including from my birth year, but never did so I can't speak from personal experience. His wines are certainly unique with a personality all their own. I love them. I also think that Hochar, the second wine is good and an excellent value for around $16.

softshells are my favorites. I just had some delicius little ones in Venice, Italy. They are called moleche. They are sort of like "popcorn" crabs. My all time favorite comfort food is blue crabs cleaned and stuffed with herbed bread crumbs and parmigiano cheese, simmered for hours in tomato sauce and served with bucatini pasta. Messy but Yum!

I wanted to buy some of the century old stuff, but there wasn't any available for purchase now for the likes of me.

We had lunch at Giusti, but unfortunately, we didn't get to taste their balsamico outside of whatever dishes it might have been included in. The restaurant was excellent, but I got the distinct impression that we weren't treated quite as well as the native Italian patrons, even though I was able to communicate in Italian.

We tasted balsamico at Acetaia del Cristo and Osteria di Rubiara (Pedroni). Both were superb, although we got to taste two samples of 100 year old balsamico at Acetaia del Cristo - one called aceto di la Nonna and the other from predominantly mulberry casks. Both were spectacular, although the mulberry was unbelievable. Unfortunately they had none of the 100 y/o's available for sale.

Bentigodi - Osteria da Andrea via Farnese Calasella Cannaregio, 1423 041.716.269 This is the restaurant we wound up in after we found Da Fiore closed. When I realized we were without a destination I stopped in a nearby bookstore to check out the Slow Food Osteria guide 2004. I found a restaurant that wasn't too far away that looked promising. We went there and it did look promising -it even had a sticker on its door with my motto - Life is too short to drink bad wine. I thought that maybe the Da Fiore closure was going to be a blessing in disguise, except that the restaurant didn't have any tables for the next two hours. I pleaded with the waiter, but there was nothing he could do to get us a table there. He did however, recommend Bentigodi and even called to make a reservation for us. We took the long walk there to be seated at the same table as and next to a young german couple. The couple was fine, but unfortunately this turned out to be the least enjoyable meal of our entire trip. There wasn't anything on the menu that appealed to my son, and truthfully not much that appealed to me. He started out with crostini with ricotta and arugula that were very bland. I started with seafood lasagna (with bronzino) that was ok. This was a popular dish, ordered it seemed by most of the people in the restaurant. My son had a sausage dish recommended by the waitress - fair, while I ordered the Venetian classic "sarde in saor" or sweet and sour cured sardines. I had never had this before. I love fresh sardines, but this dish didn't do it for me. I'm not saying it was a bad rendition. I just didn't like the dish. Perhaps it is an acquired taste. The restaurant doesn't take credit cards. The best thing about it was that it was inexpensive.

Osteria Da Fiore This was supposed to be the splurge for our last evening in Venice and in Italy. I thought I had a reservation. I even asked American Express to confirm it for me. we arrived at the appointed time, only to find it closed with the restauranteurs in NYC! Next time I go for Alle Testiere!

Trattoria alla Madonna Calledella Modonna, near Rialto 041-5223824 I was looking for moleche, small soft-shelled crabs and a fishmonger at the market recommended this place. I started with an extremely tasty risotto con frutte di mare. This was a well prepared risotto with tasty seafood broth and plenty of shell-less shellfish. The moleche were my main course. They were served simply fried with lemon. They were very much like soft-shell blue crabs only they could be eaten whole. I would have liked to try them prepared in different ways, but these were good. For a "touristy" restaurant near the Rialto bridge this was pretty good/

La Zucca Osteria con Cucina San Giacomo dell'Orio Santa Croce 1762 041.524.1570 This was probably the best meal we had in Venice. The place is compact without many tables. It is not particularly fancy, but the food is good, especially the vegetables. The service was also friendly and efficient. My son started with orechiette with pomodori and ricotta fresca, which he enjoyed. I had orechiette with gorgonzola and pine nuts - very good. My main was duck with orange sauce and fabulous rice. The duck was tasty, but somewhat overcooked. My son ordered turkey with radicchio and balsamico. This dish was fantastic. The turkey was smothered with braised radichio and balsamic. It really worked as a unique combination. He didn't really like it, so we switched. In addition we had some pumpkin flan with ricotta "stagionata" , that was excellent and cheese smothered spinach that was soul-warming. The desserts were outstanding. I had a fine panna cotta with honey and almonds, but my son had perhaps the best chocolate mousse I have ever tasted. I concur with the recommendations from others. This is good food at a very reasonable price.

Trattoria Busa Alla Torre Campo Santo Stefano, 3 Murano 041.739.662 I believe this is for lunch only. It is a fine place to stop for a bite of lunch on a fine day in Murano. We ate outside in the pretty square. I had an acceptable, but unastounding grancheola - local crab salad served in the shell with a bit of lemon dressing. Fried calamari was fresh, tender and excellent. My son had lasagna and then steak with peppercorn sauce, both of which were decent if uninspired. The seafood menu was fairly extensive. Unfortunately, my son is not a big seafood fan and I can only eat so much. Very pleasant.

Osteria dei Assassini website San Marco 3695-30124 041.5287986 This was a recommendation by our hotel concierge for the evening of our arrival in Venice (myself and my 12yo son). It is a small, interesting slightly out of the way restaurant with good albeit not phenomenal food. My son had the un-Venetian penne ala putanesca, while I opened with a delicious ravioli with gorgonzola and radicchio. We then shared a tasty bollito misto, although sausage in my portion was undercooked. The bollito featured turkey, veal tongue, beef, parmigiano mashed potatoes and black beans all served with a variety of sauces. I had an inexpensive, but good local red wine - shoot me, I don't remember what kind! Dessert was an excellent classic tiramisu. Not the best restaurant in Venice, but certainly very far from the worst. Worth dining at if looking for a place in San Marco.