I'm getting out of Boston and may be revisiting a CT road trip of a few years ago, so am checking on recent posts. Some things I can recommend are Bar in New Haven for pizza and interesting beer. You can get into this place easier than the more famous pizza places in NH. Louis Lunch is historic, the home of the hamburger. I've heard good things about Ibiza.

In Fairfield, get a great hot dog at Super Duper Weenie.

In Hartford, these guys have pretty good restaurants.

http://www.maxrestaurantgroup.com/tru...

I thought that rule didn't apply anymore. Or just in the south? I know they're around all the time in Boston.

Thanks for the various comments. I just read the 30th birthday thread which helps with thoughts too except I won't be eating full dinners. Keeping in mind that I'm just one gal who can't eat *that* much (and doesn't drink so much in general), I'm trying to figure out the best plan of attack. I know everyone loves FIG but its menu doesn't grab me the way a lot of the others do. $5 oyster slider at the Ordinary and crispy shortbreads from The Grocery are on the list and I have to have a souffle at Cypress one nite (those 3 restaurants on E. Bay sound great to me). I'd like to go during happy hour for a nice cocktail and good bar bite at places that make sense (SNOB, Pearlz, Macintosh?) then back out later for round two when it's hopefully easy to grab a seat at the bar. Lunch will usually be picking up random things while walking around altho the duck club sandwich at Tattooed Moose sounds great or something at Jestine's. And Poogan's Porch came recommended. I might have one real breakfast during the 4 days.

I'm also still looking for the rock bar/club. Anything? Probably further out that I'd need a car for?

Whatever, I'll figure it out but if you thought to yourself "I know exactly how this girl thinks" and had a plan, that would be great. Thx.

It is so hard for me not to go to Portland or somewhere else in Maine for a weekend trip but I think we're heading to Monadnock instead this Mem Day weekend. I do have some good info below tho. Have a great time and don't forget Holy Donut in Portland.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/823075
http://www.bostongroupienews.com/Joan...

It was thru Gate1 tours, all nice hotels.

Hotel Antigua Miraflores: Av. Grau 350, Miraflores, Lima
San Agustin Urubamba Hotel: Carretera Pisac Km.69, Urubamba
Jose Antonio Cuzco Hotel: Av. Pardo 1080, Cusco
Hotel Royal Inn Puno: Ayacucho Street No. 438, Puno

I'll be coming from Boston the first full weekend of June, visited many years ago and have wanted to go back for a while. I'm on my own (unless a friend happens to come up from FL) so I need places with good bar seating. I've read a lot of helpful posts and certainly won't be at a lost for higher end. Anson, Cru, Cypress/Magnolia's/Blossom, FIG, Grocery, Halls Chophouse, Hank's, Hominy Grill, Husk, The Ordinary, MacIntosh, McCrady's, Peninsula Grill, Rutledge Cab Co, Snob, Tristan. All of these sounds good but are some more comfortable/easy to grab a seat than others for a gal on her own? Don't want a menu where most entrees are >$30 (but I'll probably be eating apps).

Also looking for the funky places, the equivalent of Clover Grill in New Orleans or Corner Bistro in NY. Good burgers, grilled hot dogs, fried chicken, stuff like that. I've got Glazed Donuts on my list but if there are mom & pop shops around, let me know. Should I try the coca cola cake at Jestine's?

In addition, where are the rock bars/dives? Is there a club with live (rock) music? Staying on Spring St. and will not have a car. Thanks for your help and if anyone wants to split some of this fattening food with me, let me know.

A somewhat quick review of places we hit while doing the typical tourist visit of Peru. I was sad to not spend more time in Lima plus I didn't have good luck finding things on my list. The first morning we wandered around Miraflores and came upon La Lucha which had been recommended to my friend (even tho I had about 8 other sandwich places on my list). We both got tasty pork sandwiches and split some excellent fries, tasted like yucca fries, and got a couple smoothies. That evening we went to the Barranco section of town to Santa Rosa which I knew had an ocean view (off in the distance) and 2 for 1 happy hour. My first pisco sour of the trip was a sad excuse and certainly drinking 2 of them wasn't going to happen (no egg white, giant glasses like a cheap margarita, blech). We then couldn't find the seafood rest. on my list and the ceviche place recommended to us wasn't open so we ended up at Tio Mario for a decent dinner of grilled steak and chicken, potato and this corn with giant kernels that seems to be popular in Peru (photo). When we came back to Lima at the end of the trip, we had a group dinner at El Senorio del Sulco which was very good, esp. the seafood soup to start (photo). Since this was taken care of as part of the tour, I didn't realize until after how pricey it was but we enjoyed both good food and good service. Also since it was dark, we didn't realize there was a nice view there. We ended the evening at the rooftop bar La Cathedral across the street on from our hotel on Av Grau where the waiter did a great job catering to our large party including kids.

I got some grilled meat on a stick w/ a potato stuck at the end from a lady in the Sacred Valley. In Urubamba, our group dinner down the street from the San Agustin Urubamba Hotel on the main drag was nice. Sorry, can't find the name, but they had a nice front lawn with an outdoor bar and a couple guys playing music. The pisco sour was quite decent and the trout was tasty. The next afternoon, we stumbled upon El Huacatay not knowing that this is universally recommended and certainly not expecting our best meal of the trip to be in Urubamba. The prices seemed high for lunch but we had an amazing tuna tartare with some avocado thing (photo) on the side then split a gnocchi dish with chicken, sausage and more. The lounge area looked so cute, we decided to come back for a drink that evening and I experienced the perfect pisco sour (photo). Unfortunately, I think I confused them at Pizza Wasi asking for a pizza with no tomato sauce, so my friend didn't get any sauce either (unless that's how they serve them). We actually didn't need two pizzas anyway, and it took forever for them to come so I can't give it the high marks that many others do.

After the Machu Picchu tour, I had a nice 3 course meal at Hot Springs II, the highlight being the cream of corn soup (photo). Nice service, the gals were wishing that Hot Springs I customers would walk 30 seconds to this location. Since most of us had had substantial lunches, we just wanted a small snack for dinner and ended up at Norton's on the 2nd floor of the main square in Cusco. This is a total English/American pub type place with a million beers, flags from all over on the ceiling, pool tables, cute waiters who go to Brown Univ., etc. Our avocado/cheese sandwich was good, fries were okay, friends enjoyed their chicken sandwiches. We just stuck with the local Cusquena beer but many choices. Wandering around Cusco the next day, I had a couple excellent snacks from Ricuras Pasteleria then three of us hit the Museo del Pisco which had a cool vibe. I ordered some other pisco drink but he told me it couldn't be made cuz carrots were out of season (even tho it was a side dish on many meals) so had a decent pisco sour (that packed a punch) and Nick tried one of the drinks. That nite we had dinner across from the Jose Antonio Hotel but again, can't find the name. Tried alpaca but it wasn't done as well as another place. A few of us ended the nite at the cute little Kissaten Bar and Café, a block up Av El Sol (photo).

A never ending bus ride finally got us to Puno and we had dinner at La Casona on the main drag. The food was fine, nothing too exciting, but the waiter was great about splitting up our checks and when I saw the conversion of what the 3 courses cost, I'd give them an extra half star. We also spent some time at Positive Rock and Reggae bar across the street, they seemed happy enough to take my requests but the pisco sour wasn't up to snuff. We also enjoyed the cute café at La Casa del Corregidor.

Figured I'd write this up since Peru doesn't get a lot of buzz, of course it'd be more helpful if I had all the names of the restaurants.

My time in South Beach (20 years) ago was so minimal, it barely counts. But a quick question, when I use the metro planner, it tells me to take the light rail (not sure if I'm using the right terms) 3 stops then a bus right to south beach. If I took it to Govt Ctr, would that be walking distance to Little Havana? Is there anything interesting by the Govt Ctr stop to look at before grabbing a cab? Is there a stop by Little Havana? Maybe I could stop there on the way to or from south beach. Looking at this map of neighborhoods and it doesn't seem far but not sure of scale:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mia...

Def. leaning toward spending most of the time feeling ugly next to all the beautiful people except when I'm at Club Deuce.

Thanks everyone for your replies (nice to "see" you 9lives). A few things. You think 7 hrs isn't enough time to get lunch, walk around, see a museum AND see another part of town. I was only in Miami once before for an afternoon and saw South Beach and Coral Gables (or Coconut Grove, 1993 was a while ago). I don't want to make things hard on myself before a very busy vacation so it might be just as well to stick to SB but double checking.

I think I want a proper lunch rather than sitting outside making a mess then finding a bathroom after. The 3 course lunch sounds nice but more time than I want to spend sitting down. I'll look more at the Tip Tap Room and other casual spots. I might go for a takeout snack toward the end of my time wandering around. Or an ice cream?

I def. will check out one of the dive bars and since I don't need to be at the airport til 9-9:30, can try Broken Shaker after they open.

Thanks lax2mia, I didn't know there was a metro in Miami. You say go downtown but which stop is that? Looking at this map

http://www.miamidade.gov/transit/metr...

and not sure what would be closest to South Beach. How long do you think it would take? It doesn't look too far.

Sounds like the airport has enough options for plane food. Hope I can rally for all that time til 11:55 departure. Thx.

I purposely booked a long layover on my way to Peru so I could spend some time in Miami. Arriving Sun. about 1PM and will be back at the airport at 9PM or so. I thought there was a proper Deco Museum (at 1001 Ocean Dr) but now I'm not sure, is it only a walk around the buildings? I can do that myself. But I do want to see those buildings and will need a nice lunch before I look around. Any place jump to mind for something tasty but not unhealthy in the $15-20 range? Then I'll need an easy to carry snack for the plane ride. The first thing that comes to mind is a Cubano but anything that's not messy.

May or may not care about a cocktail but read about the Broken Shaker which looked interesting. And a friend suggested Tobacco Road and Mac's Club Deuce. And got a rec for lunch at the Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant but I'm looking to go a bit more upscale I think.

Also wondering if it's easy to see another part of town without spending too much money on cabs. Is there a shuttle from the airport that doesn't take too long? Where would you go with limited time? Should I go to the Bass Museum? Little Havana of course comes to mind. I'm from Boston and walk a lot so that's not an issue but going from one interesting area to another is probably a lot further than it is here. Want to see some sights but not spend tons on cabs to do it. Thanks in advance.

I ate at Downtown Grocery last weekend and it was definitely very interesting. And very expensive. I'm from Boston and the prices were equal or above nice dinners in town w/ several things in the low $30s. But a wide variety of interesting appetizers and entrees and a great cocktail list. The place was slammed and backed up early on a Sat. which delayed the meal (and everyone coming in after us) but definitely worth trying.

Thanks Sailing Nomad, good to get some feedback. The web site for Toro Retro Bar still works but the Chala one does not. Too bad.

So if you could go for one fancy cocktail but not be surrounded by all the "beautiful people", just a relaxing well made drink in a nice atmosphere, where would you go?

How far is Barranco from Miraflores? Walkable? Thanks.

Paul and Hung did look happy, as did pretty much everyone in the photo. But MV looked like he always does. Which doesn't seem uncomfortable to me, just super serious (plus some people never smile in photos anyway). He never smiled during his season, no reason to start now I guess.

Surprised no one answered this, altho maybe NH is too vague an area. I did love this place in Portsmouth, the bartender we had used to work at Drink.

http://www.moxyrestaurant.com/

Wow nothing? Anyone have anything to say about this list that I cobbled together? Would love a comment or two, thanks.

Sandwich places:
*Bodega Bar Juanito: 274 Avenida Grau, across from the Plaza de Barranco/Parque Central de Barranco, arty

El Chinito: Chancay 894, 423-2197, 8AM-10 M-Sat, Sun 8-1, downtown,

El Enano: Jr. Chiclayo 699, Miraflores

Kio: Av. Av Universitaria 871, San Miguel, breakfast/sandwiches, 7 Soles sandwich, 2.5 for soda

La Pava: Av. Comandante Espinar 847, Miraflores

Sandwiches Monstruos: Av. Nicolas de Pierola 113, Barranco, pavo/turkey

Restaurants:
Canta Rana: Genova 101, Barranco, seafood,
Chala: Bajada de Baños 343, +51 252 8515, chala.com.pe;
Cordano: Jiron Ancash 202, Carabayo 8AM-9PM, since 1905
Grimanesa's Anticuchos: Calle Ignacio: Merino 466,
Juanito’s (Grau 274, 11 a.m.–3 a.m. daily, no cover)
La Noche: Bolognesi 307, tel. 01/477-4154, 7 p.m.–3 a.m. daily, US$6–9)
Maido: C. San Martin 399 @Colon, Miraflores; maido.pe; Nikkei cuisine, nigiri w/ meat, veg; 12:30-4, 7:30-11 M-Sun
Mochileros: San Pedro de Osma 135, tel. 01/274-1225, 6 p.m.–2 a.m. daily, no cover), in a 1903 house
San Bartolo, Lima 26 ; KM 52 Antigua Panamericana Sur
*Taberna Quierolo: Av San Martin 1062 @Vivanca; antiguatabernaqueirolo.com; 120-year-old tavern

Bars:
Bar Huaringas at Rest. Brujas de Cachiche: Calle Bolognesi 472, 446-6536; brujasdecachiche.com; Pisco cocktails

Cala: Av Circuito Vial Costa Verde, Barranco, drinks 22

Expreso Virgen de Guadalupe Café Cultural: Av. Prolongación San Martín 15, 1920s train car w/ wood, stained-glass window, quiet

Penascal Rock Club: Las Garzas 101, Urb. Miguel Grau ,

Keko Bar: Av. Grau 266 - Barranco, underground bar

La Noche: Av Bolognesi 307, lanoche.com.pe; restaurant and live music

Posada del Angel: Av Pedro de Osma 164 and 222,
Barranco, Baroque bar

Santos Café & Espirituosos: Jr. Zepita 203 Barranco, view of ocean, 5-1, Fri/Sat 5-3, HH 2 for 1

Toro Retro Bar: Jirón Salaverry 143 off Bolognesi, Barranco, tororetrobar.com; live music

Yacana Rock Bar: Jr de la Union 892 2 do piso, Lima 1

Oops, sorry. Altho I think there's only so many from the past shows that we need on one program. And where were the chefs from this year? Don't they usually all gather at some point during the finale.

Is La Cabrera still good? It *is* touristy but was a fun time a couple years ago.

What was wrong with having the previous winners? I thought it was interesting and this being the 10th season, a good time to do something like that. Do we really care what Betty thinks at this stage of the game? I actually was surprised that there wasn't a table with all of season 10 chefs eating the food.

One thing I was surprised about was that the mandatory courses were both fish courses.

The more comments I read, the less I like the finale format but it wasn't too bad. Surprised they didn't automatically make this a 75 min episode. What's their thinking on the couple times a year they do that anyway? This certainly warrants it more than some random time at week 6.

Yeah I was thinking it was okay (kind of, didn't like the constant clapping and counting down) then I realized how close to the end it was and kept checking that it wasn't a 75 min episode and was bummed that that was it. I was kind of pulling for Brooke and was surprised she lost fairly handily to Kristin. I personally would have rather eaten Brooke's food I think.

As far as the sous chefs, I kept thinking that Stefan would have been on K's team and Josh on B's but who knows.

I did like seeing the old chefs there. Padma wasn't very nice to Ilan (sp). Richard's point about knowing both feelings was well taken.

Hi, off to Peru for the typical tourist visit as part of a tour which kind of kills me but it was a good deal and makes life easier. Staying in the Miraflores area and looking for a good but not expensive dinner and more importantly, one fancy cocktail and one divey drink preferably in a rock music environment. Any thoughts? Unfortunately our time in Lima is on Mon/Tues so not sure what the market/flea mkt situation is on those days. Any insider tips are welcome, thanks. And Ave. San Andreas in Cuzco sounds right up my alley.

Yeah I have to Brooke has overtaken Kristin for me as my fave to win the whole thing. It was weird how flummoxed she was in the kitchen. And I was surprised there weren't more "yes Chefs" and acknowledging Tom's requests, aren't they always supposed to be talking about when thing's are gonna be ready and stuff?

Hopefully all chefs for next season will come in with a repertoire of good desserts (and I don't know why Tom said Brooke's wasn't really rest. quality, it looked great).

Don't think anyone posted the Eater wrap up:

http://eater.com/archives/2013/02/14/...

I like this:
Padma gets in the driver's seat to take the chefs back to their house, and I don't think I'm alone in being more afraid for their lives here than when they were in that tiny glass bubble with a fan on top that flies them through the mountains on a pillow of air. Sheldon can't believe Padma is driving. He rightly assumes she gets chaffeured around everywhere. Magical Elves gamely edits out fourteen instances of Padma yelling, "Go to House!" at the cruise control and careening the car into a ditch.

And
"Next week begins what I imagine is a 16-part finale."

Esp. at those temperatures? There were a couple of racers out in short sleeves, which certainy seemed odd.

As far as food, Brooke's dish seemed kind of like a mish mash to me and doing both chicken and quail didn't make sense. Altho I guess it did in the end to the judges but it wasn't the prettiest plate in the world.

I hate Save a Chef. Why did they even bring CJ out there, it seemed mean. And yes, surprising since he'd been on top so long (and I'm one of the few who's NOT a Lizzie fan).

Plus the odds are unfair for that last LCK. Not that Josh was gonna beat Kristin, but he goes from a 1 in 2 chance to a 1 in 3. That venison dish tho just looked rare and haphazard. I'd def. rather eat Lizzie's food in this instance but I hope somehow Kristin pulled it off.

I love grapenut pudding, had some last month at a restaurant in Dedham MA. I've even made it myself (and there ain't much cooking going on in my kitchen). Plus don't forget grapenut ice cream, one of my top 3 flavors. Can be had at Toscanini's in Cambridge (and Richardson's carries it), I prefer it without raisins.

A few amusing comments in Max's wrap up:

http://eater.com/archives/2013/02/07/...

Sorry just saw Momjamin did this too.

Lizzie cried about her father in a previous episode so that didn't really mean anything. If anything, I would have thought it might be Josh leaving just in time to watch his kid being born.

I think he was channeling the guy who always says everyone's first and last names.

As someone who doesn't think Curtis is esp. cute, I liked this:

Lizzie gets all flustered by him. "He's really cute," she says. In South Africa, obnoxious sweater detailing like toggles and shawl collars are a sign of a man's virility, so it makes sense that Curtis is extremely attractive to her.

That's so cute that Max met Kristin after his gig in Boston. I wish I'd known he was in town (actually I wasn't). Will keep a lookout for next time.

Thanks for acknowledging my review. Did a long one (too long?) on the Manhattan board and nary a peep.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/888460

NY is always a case of too much to do in too little time but now I've got the Wall St. digs to fall back on, hopefully I'll get there more than once a year. And will hit a few more Brooklyn things.