you note that there are "supermarkets and farmers markets--really nice ones" and admittedly, things are getting a lot better than when i relocated to the area some 20 years ago. grocery shopping--especially looking for high-end or imported foods was a sometimes hysterical adventure in frustration. i won't divulge the name of the supermarket chain but when i did my first major shopping, i started down the long row of meat. first came pork and there was plenty of that...then came chicken and i can't remember seeing so much chicken in one store...next was beef, not a huge selection--especially in the loin area--but serviceable...the came...BACON?...HOT DOGS? BOLOGNA?... END OF AISLE! whaaa? where was the lamb? no veal? no salumi? i pressed the button to speak to a meatcutter in the back. he turned off the bandsaw and came over to where i was standing. this was our conversation: "May I help you?" "Yes, thanks, I can't seem to find any lamb" "Well, we don't have any." "How about veal...do you have any veal?" "Nope, No veal." "Why don't you have any lamb or veal in the store?" "Oh, those are foreign meats. We'd never be able to sell anything foreign like that"! hmmm...this was a lot worse than i thought. what else was i not going to find? among the many...Vernor's Ginger Ale, Dunkin' Donuts, Dr. Brown's Cream Soda, any fish that swam north of the Outer Banks, Squirt, bagels, lettuce other than iceburg, peppers other than green bell, and virtually anything ethnic. this was starting to get pretty dismal. my folks came to visit us in our little southern bungalow and i wanted to put on the dog a little for them. i had already ruled out grits, greens, livermush, and hog jowls. it finally worked out to be a relatively safe mom&pop meal-- featuring Tournedos Rossini for the entree. it took consi- derable effort to convince the butcher that 'tournedos' were not those giant killer storms that devoured trailer parks in a single gulp, and at least we had four nice looking steaks if nothing else worked out. next stop, fois gras. naturally they didn't have any fois gras--nor had anyone in the store every heard of it. no problem, i'll just check the yellow pages for gourmet shops. someone is bound to carry some. a thorough search produced nothing. i asked at work and they all looked at me as if i had ordered anaconda. the dinner was in two days and i was getting nowhere in my search. i rechecked the yellow pages and found a listing for "The Gourmette Shoppe"(!) i guess somehow they missed putting "Ye Olde" in front of it. "Hello, Gourmette Shoppe". "Do you by chance carry fois gras?" "Sure do." "Excellent. You were my last hope." "How much you going to need? I've got the 5 pound and the 10 pound" jeeze. 5 pound of fois gras...how much is that going to set me back? "I'll...I guess...I'll take the five pound". "OK...5 pounds it is. Did you want the wine...or cheddar?" dumfounded and not believing my ears, i said, "Wine or cheddar? I've never heard of such a thing. Are you sure?" "Sure I'm sure...you wanted a cheeseball, right?" _______________________________________ sorry for spinning such lengthy yarns but yes, you could indeed eat very well here these days. and if not well, at the very least, a lot! thanks for the info about the bookstores. consider another one sold. -michael