WHS

Thanks for the recs...we drove by Treadwells but we were running late so we earmarked it for the next trip. It has all the indicators of a great place--slightly dated ambience, mobs of cars outside, people walking out with HUGE cones and happy faces. We got out of the museum at 5, which was too early for dinner, so we stopped in Billerica on our way home and had dosais, iddlys, vadas and utthappams at Masaala restaurant.

We're going to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem next Sunday--any recs for lunch thereabouts? Thanks

Kotobukiya is a Japanese grocery store that sells anything a homesick Japanese person could possibly want, including imported Japanese toilet paper. They have Japanese beef for sukiyaki, dried cuttlefish snacks, Pocari Sweat, you name it.

Make that truffle butter!

Back in the '70's there was a place on a little island off the coast of Pattaya, Thailand that had a sign in English that read 'FOOD & DOPE". The dope was better than the food.

Paul, thanks for all the suggestions--just checked out White Sands website--a dozen oysters on the half shell for $7.95!!! We ate at Lone Star BBQ last time I visited and we were kind of disappointed in the dry brisket and average beef ribs--have you been there recently? Thanks again, Bill

Kotobukiya is in the basement of the old Sears building near the Porter Square T stop. On the same floor, there is a whole arcade of Japanese food stalls. I like the one at the end of the row that makes udon, though there are separate stalls for ramen, sushi, etc.

I'm going to be down in Harlingen visiting my mama, and would appreciate restaurant recs in the Rio Grande Valley. BBQ, Tex-Mex, steak, you name it. Also, she's Japanese and we lived in Thailand for many years, so anything along those lines would be great too. Thanks!

We had dinner at Mustard Seed @ Echo Lodge last week and it was excellent. The kitchen gardens behind the inn are a sight to behold. We've been based on the Dingle peninsula for the last week, and have had amazing meals at Out of the Blue, which from the outside looks like a fish & chips shack, but serves the freshest seafood imaginable prepared by a chef from Brittany. Another very good spot is The Chart House; the sheep we saw munching away on the side of the Connor Pass make some delicious chops! We've been truly impressed by the quality of the food.

Too bad about Stonehedge. And I hope you let them know. I'm glad you liked Michael Timothy's. Michael is opening a steakhouse in Merrimack NH soon, so the next time you're in the area, you'll have more dining options!

I had grilled arctic char for the first time at Legal on Park Plaza. It was transcendent. I've since eaten at the one in Pru Center and at Logan, but neither was like that first virginal taste.

Any place that sells "our famous house salad dressing", which beggars the question "is Peter Luger a tourist trap because it sells its 'famous steak sauce'?"

We went to a dinner party last week where our hostess served crown roast of pork with mashed potatoes...the beads of sweat on her forehead were almost as big as the pearls around her neck.

Can't help you with Sunday lunch in Boston, but there is a very good restaurant in Andover NH called Potter Place. Here's the website: http://www.potterplaceinn.com/

The concierge should be able to suggest some enjoyable things but...Nashua is primarily notable for its tax-free shopping and there's a huge mall just across the border. Don't know if this is your cup of tea, but Lowell was once a mighty mill town, and the old factory complex downtown has been restored as a historic area. If you'd like to drive through some pretty towns, take 113 west through Dunstable then down to Groton. You could take 119 west and then come up through New Ipswich NH. There's a beautiful old mansion called Barrett House owned by Historic New England that has a spectacular terraced allee of maples in back. If you take 31 north from New Ipswich, it will land you on Rte 101, and east back toward Nashua. Lots of farm stands along the way--blueberries galore now!

You You Bistro is what you might call "high-end casual". It's in a strip mall, decor is contemporary, menu incorporates Korean, Thai, Japanese and French (sounds confused, but they pull it off). For a fine dining experience though, definitely try the Stonehedge. If you're in the area on a Sunday, Michael Timothy does a fabulous jazz brunch for $20.

I second Stonehedge Inn--its restaurant Silks has one of the most extensive wine lists in the area. Nashua is 10 minutes away--other good choices there are You You Bistro at Exit 6 off the Everett Tpke for Asian fusion cuisine, and Fody's on Railroad Square downtown--contemporary American.

My first reaction was that the cultural gap between the poster and the restaurant staff may have caused the problem. Certain cultures react differently to conflict--i.e. it's considered extremely impolite in Thailand to raise one's voice, so people just smile and poison their neighbor's dog if they're pissed at 'em. Do Afghans become sullen and passive if confronted by an unhappy white boy?

Fair warning: portions are tiny, so the doggie bag will be small! Have fun--I don't really hate kids--just like toying with their over-indulgent parents.

FYI, not all two year olds shriek and many will enjoy some of the interesting things Clio offers. You assume too much. Children might especially enjoy the interesting platings they do there. One option that's worked well for us is to order one course ahead for the kids. So, get a starter for them during your aperitif, dinner during your starter and dessert during your meal. It might help to keep them focused and off your lap/back so you can enjoy your meals. There was a great story in Gourmet several years back about a couple bringing their child to a very high end NYC restaurant. They had the realization that a young child is very similar to a wealthy, spoiled adult. They want what they want when they want it. Period. So, the restaurant bent over backwards to cater to every whim of the child. Not what I'd do, but a funny story nonetheless. ← And should we be indulging children by treating them like wealthy, spoiled adults? What a waste to take a 2 year old to a restaurant where they serve Jerusalem Artichoke soup for $14, Lacquered Foie Gras with bee pollen for $20 (both apps). The only thing I saw on the menu that a child might like is Braised Organic Chicken with artichokes barigoule, lemon and green olive butter for $28. Forget the Allspice Crusted Venison with red beets, fresh juniper and matsutake mushrooms for $36. Does it make sense to spend this kind of money on a palate just weaned off formula?

If I were paying that kind of money to have a "gourmet" experience, and a 2-year old kid at the next table started shrieking, I would be extremely pissed. I don't understand why one would want to take children so young to a restaurant like Clio. There is nothing on the menu they would want to eat. Get a babysitter and leave them at home!

We were in Littleton, New Hampshire this weekend--one of those gritty/verge of trendy White Mountain towns. Wanted to have quick lunch and instead of going into the Littleton Diner and having a cheeseburger deluxe, made the mistake of choosing a cute cafe because we wanted to sit by the river. First mistake was ordering a "Tuscan" panini--second was waiting...and waiting...and waiting. After about 25 minutes, went in to inquire. The young thing that had taken our order looked at me blankly, then looked down at the order slip still sitting by the register. She had forgotten to put in the order. It took an hour and a half to order, receive and consume a dried out chicken breast under rubbery mozzarella. I kick myself every time I go into one of these earnest, crunchy granola type places because the service is always completely inept, and the food so leaden. Is there a correlation between quality of food and quantity of tie-dye?

We were a table of 5 on Saturday night . Wolfgang was at the front of the room, greeting guests. He laughed when I mentioned I'd been reading about him on the internet. It was a hot weekend night, so dress tended to be on the casual side (though I saw a few suits). Service was bullet-fast. Our drink order came back within 3 minutes. I was afraid we were going to be rushed, but we ended up spending over 2 hours at the table. We had the seafood platter, which was impressive-looking. Flavor was good, not great. The lobster and shrimp had a water-logged texture though the sea came through. Lump crabmeat was delicious. Four of us had the porterhouse, one order rare, and one order medium-rare. The fifth had filet mignon. Porterhouse steaks were perfect--as good as Peter Luger. Filet mignon was very good--if you like filet mignon. We had the German potatoes, creamed spinach and asparagus as sides and shared plates of cheesecake mit schlag. Yes, it's Peter Luger Lite. It will never have the cachet of the original, but it's in Manhattan, the service is old school professional, and if I could afford it, I'd be eating the porterhouse every night!

For something completely different, you could try Lala Rokh, which is a Persian restaurant. The food is elegantly spiced, kind of a lighter, more subtle version of Indian. It's on Mt. Vernon St, just off Charles St in Beacon Hill. The room is beautiful, and the neighborhood is wonderful to walk around in. (John Kerry has a townhouse just up the hill on Louisburg Square.)

It is a wonderful restaurant in a beautiful setting. If you can't get a reservation, you can have dinner at the bar. Great to combine with a tour of Kykuit (the Rockefeller estate) and the Matisse Chapel.