Hi Everyone. I am looking for a place within Canada that makes/sells/ships to other provinces. I want to get my father a german food gift box for Christmas...mainly sausages and condiments. I have spent several hours on this. I live in the US and can easily have things shipped to me...but the frozen food part is a bit of a nightmare, trying to get it them, especially all the way to Newfoundland. THe US sites I have found don't ship frozen food to Canada, and to be honest i don't want that to happen anyway. Last time i sent a gift directly from a company my Dad had to pay the same amount i paid for the item again in taxes/duty! Happy Fathers Day Dad! ;)~ SO I would be eternally grateful if anyone knows of such a place :) Thanks! Diane

Seriously? I have had BBQ shrimp at 4 different place in NOLA: Pascal's Manale (the original?) , Deanies, Besh Steakhouse & Mr. B's. Mr.B's is #1 & Besh #2, the others aren't in the same league. So excited to be dining there again next week...mmmm.

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Deanie's Restaurant
1016 Annunciation St, New Orleans, LA 70130

That IS the plan! :) Just havn't stopped long enough since i've been back to get to it! It's a serious commitment :)~

oh no, the seafood was quite delicious, loved the atmosphere. I have heard people not liking other dishes etc..but seafood, highly recommend!

WOW...what a ridiculous amount of dining in 14 days. Thanks too all that helped in making our decisions.
Were we ate:
*Le Suffren (well I ate there with my gf...while Davey slept) ...Yummy Seafood, busy brasserie
*Le Cinq...super service, beautiful room, gorgeous lunch, with a couple misses and super $ even for lunch...but again...we knew that!
*Chez L'ami Louis...super expensive, decent food...but not worth it, Friday lunch at 1pm...only 3 other tables! Would not do it again and can't recommend it overall
*Chez l'ami Jean....super disappointing all around. Didn't care for food or service and it was full of tourists only. Most disappointing dinner of the trip
*Joel Robuchon L'atelier (St. Germain)....wish we didn't eat at Chez L'ami Louis & CAJ and we could have eaten here again :)~ Heavenly! Pricey and worth it all...mmmmmm
*Le Millionaire (Reims): Very nice lunch, nothing super creative but everything was quite tasty.
*The dining room at Chateau Lynch Cordellian Bages ...very expensive and an overall great meal with great service.
*Cafe Lavinal...great busy, local cafe/bistro. perfect for light snacks, glasses of wine and full meals, they do a great job.
* Spring....lovely fresh food, middle of the road for expense, great service , cool space, fun atmosphere. Also recommend their wine bar across the street! excellent!
*Hidden Kitchen...the most fun, unique experiences of the trip! Very good food, really fun wine pairings and a whole tableful of fun diners! Oh and the pre-dinner cocktail was SOOOOOO GOOD! Love love loved it! (even if i had just run the Paris marathon, was seriously sunburned and had no nap!)
*Le pied du couchon ...it is what it is....just ok

So i dont want to lose this but i don't see a save , is there one for chowhound? I am going to post, with more restaurants to come and then do an individual review for each spot. Please feel free to ask me questions if you have any...and i will do my best...i'm not a great writer. thx again all!
Diane

Thank You for all the info on this thread. We got back a week ago. We spent 3 nights in Paulliac at CHATEAU CORDEILLAN-BAGES. We had plans to spend 1 night there , go spend 1 night in bordeaux and then head back to Paris, because we only had 2 wine tastings set up due to premieres. But it was so charming and relaxing we stayed 2 more. We are already talking about next year and how to better prepare our trip. 1: book wine tastings 2. book dining 3. book airfare 4. book rooms. Cafe Lavinal was lovely! As was the bakery & deli across the street. Thank You!

I'm just being a cry baby ;) I know. But yes we were very excited and it takes so long to get reservations. We have other fabulous meals planned but we put the most effort into this one. Such is life. I suspect our trip will be fabulous even without lunch here, sorry for whining ;)~

Sorry I meant 1 month in advance they book out. So they should have figured out scheduled maintenance by now, they have been open a couple years. Just sayin.

So has anyone one else ever had this problem with them? We stayed up 5 nights in a row until 1am to try to book this place and the reservation gods finally deemed us worthy! Almost 2 weeks later they emailed us to say they were going to close that day for maintenance. Really? You only book out 2 months in advance can't you figure that out and do it BEFORE you cancel peoples bookings? They offered us 2 other day...but we are not in France for them. I am very bitter right now.

The Plant might be a good option in SF, the Embarcadero location has a great view:
http://www.theplantcafe.com/

Personally i think everyone should go to swan oyster depot atleast once....i go as often as possible:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/swan-oyster-d...

Blue Bottle coffee, various locations: recommend Mint Plaza or the ferry building locations

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Blue Bottle Cafe
66 Mint St, San Francisco, CA 94103

can you advise me on how long a visit , at least in regards to the wine tasting portion, is? I am thinking really only 2 or 3 tastings a day...but wondering time wise how to schedule them. Thanks again! (Had to throw in the photo of my Yorkie Grace. I figured Im getting annoying with all the questions, so thought i'd throw in a cute distraction ;)

I am sending off emails today requesting visits....Beychevelle looks absolutely GORGEOUS, I cannot thank you enough for all this information! Merci Beaucoup! Diane

I know , I know. And trust me, I will be "digesting" long after I have been home! , you should see the restaurant list! I'm almost scared! :) That all being said, i think I have convinced bf to just do Bordeaux because of all the great advice here. I just need to find a couple more wineries to make a reservation at. Are there any wineries you can just stop in for a taste? or do they all require reservations? I am looking forward to just driving around the countryside and stumbling across some places to taste as opposed to running back and forth on a schedule because tastings are at this and this time. But it seems you need a reservation everywhere. Also are wineries open on Sunday? and what about restaurants? 3 days in the Bordeaux area...much better. Thanks all of you! All of your info has been fabulous!

lol...no...i just dont want every meal organized so that i CAN enjoy the markets and shops to eat a little bit of this and that. Trust me, it is NOT a bad thing :)

NO!, i agree with you. Ideally i would have picked one OR the other...Bordeaux OR Burgundy. Bordeaux is a go...so i have been trying to convince bf that we should just spend a day or 2 more there...we will see...no luck so far. SInce this is HIS trip and yet I must plan it...It's been a challenge! I'm usually a make a couple reservations and wing it person...and i LOVE that! Right now I'm just trying to convince him to leave a few meals open! Dammit i have a lot of meat & cheese & bread to eat outside organized meals! ;). I will let you know how it all plays out!

OK....so I *think* we have come up with a better plan with all this fabulous info you have all given me. So we are spending the 1st week in Paris and doing a daytrip to Reims via train. Then April 14th we are visiting a friend in Chinon (he is picking us up at the train station). Next morning train to Bordeaux, car rental, afternoon tasting. Staying somewhere that night, next morning another tasting, a lunch somewhere...leave whenever...heading towards Burgundy. I think we will leave mid-late afternoon(ish?) and drive a few hours. Any recommendations on what might be a nice stop for a room and dinner? Drive the rest of the way the next morning and hopefully get a taste in somewhere....still overwhelmed. I do like the idea of the mustard tasting in Beaune though :) Then we wil drop off the car (i dont want to drive in paris!) and take the train back in. I know its a fast trip....not casual like i would like. But in 8 years with my bf this is the 2nd time he has taken 2 weeks off...the 1st was business to Hong Kong...well actually that was 10 days... but you see where im going here ;) And it is his birthday...so Bordeaux is must for him....his first French bottle he collected back in his 20's was a bottle of Lynch Bages...so he has sentimental attachements to this trip. I don't think we'll be rushing...but we will be barely touching upon things...which is OK...we arn't doing the 10 countries in 10 days or anything....just food and wine grazing :) Again thanks for all your input! It has helped us finalize a few things and Im so happy to be in the car for a couple days :) Any other suggestions just keep them coming! Thanks all! :)

GREAT INFO! WOW, thanks for putting that much time into a response, REALLY appreciate it!

WOW. great feedback everyone, i REALLY appreciate it! It had crossed my mind about driving Bordeaux to Burgundy...but it did seem a rather daunting task time wise, though I do love a road trip (i did a 16,000 mile drive SF-Newfoundland-SF last summer with my 2 Yorkies). I was under the impression, as Parigi mentioned, that the mountain range made it not quite as fabulous as some other drives. But there is nothing like stumbling across some great little town or bistro or event that would have not happened had you not been driving....most all my favorite adventures are on the road. I don't think my bf shares that concept mind you ;)~. Lots to think about today....thanks again for the feedback!

So we are leaving SF April 6 for 2 glorious weeks in France. My bf's 1st time in Europe! and his 41st birthday...and it's been a good 15 plus years for me. We have pretty much got our Paris Itinerary down. We are renting an apartment for a week in Paris then bouncing around via train & rental cars.
Paris dining:
L'ami Louis
Le Gainge
L'Atelier
Hidden Kitchen
Aux Lyonnais
Spring
Arome
Chez L'ami Jean
Guy Savoy

Day trip to Champagne....any lunch rec's? Still working on reservations for champagne tastings...any highly recommended? Is it true we can pretty much walk to several of the champagne houses from the train station in Reims?

Spending a night in Chinon with a friend.

1 night in Bordeaux...we have tastings at CH.Lynch & Pinchon-Longueville Baron. How long a drive is it from Bordeaux train station to Pauliiac? I googled it ...25 miles? is that about right? But how long in drive time is that there? Any hotels/restaurant recs there...or must do/taste/see. I know its short...we might extend it to 2 nights if we can get another tasting or 2 in :)

Burgundy. Taking the train ...but where to? It will only be for 1 or 2 nights...depending on Bordeaux. Dijon? Beaune...any help here is GREATLY appreciated. Would obviously like to do a little wine tasting and any dining recs would be great. Sorry this is pretty vague...but i have been putting so much effort into dining reservations and trying to learn enough French to make a decent effort this portion has been left to fend for itself ;)

Thanks chowhounders! I promise reviews and photos upon my return!

WOW...my head is going to explode (not to mention my belly!). I have been researching restaurants for about 3 weeks now...like 2 plus hours a day. I too will be there in April 6-20th (with wine escapes...!). I will be running the Paris Marathon...so that will burn up enough calories for say...1/2 day! I am so overwhelmed with choices. Bless you my fellow chowhounders!

Swan Oyster depot on Polk St....old school, family owned seafood place. Expect long lines as it only seats about 20...worth the wait...one of my fav go to spots...get there early

Frances---book now. Awesome place, BUT small and tables are really close together...some people can't get over that.

From what i hear these days Greens has kinda gone downhill. I don't think i would waste your time or money on it.

My fav sushi... http://www.sfariake.com/

In your neighbourhood head over to the Fat Angel for a glass of wine...fatangelsf.com

Breakfast/brunch... http://www.frenchsoulfood.com/

Incanto, i like this place even though i think Chris's food network show kinda suck ass ;) sorry Chris...love you...not the show ...plus i think you don't see the real Chris on there...anyway...great place if you love pork and offal.

soo many great places...soo little time :

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Fat Angel
1740 Ofarrell St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Parkway is my favorite to date...after trying Domilise's, Johnny's, Mahoneys and...hmm...don't remember the other. We walked from Willie May's Scotch house to Parkway...about 30 mins? It seemed like it might be a sketchy area at night but it was fine during the day. It's not a cheap cab ride for sure...but i would pay it anyday...i love love love the shrimp poy boy ( we tried the oyster & the roast beef too but didn't love them as much) I think it's always busy. It took almost an hour to get a return cab ride too...but heck they have a bar...not a problem. Can't recommend enough.

We took a pretty long cab ride out to Mahoney's because thier menu looked kinda creative...and we were on the neverending questing for the best po-boy (parkway is still my fav!) We got their off peak hours...sat at the bar and ordered and they said it would be an hour. We looked at each other...then around and we highy confused why it would take that long...but hell we just spent about $20 to get there so no turning back. We ordered 2 po-boys and fried green tomatoes. a huge dissapointment all the way around. More expensive than most good po-boy spots and less filling and flavour. It didnt take quite an hour...about 40 mins, they weren't particualry rude to us but didn't go out of their way to be friendly by any means. They were downright rude to some people though as i verheard conversations. I wouldn't go back and can not recommend for sure. PARKWAY, DOMILISE'S

love all the responses! thanks for coming through for me...think we have some solid choices to go with now...but keep 'em coming :)

Great recommendations! I would just say learn just a couple French phrases, hello, thank you, food items, etc and use them often ;) It really does make a difference, people will tend to help you more when they think you have at least attempted to learn the language. I am currently reading "The Sweet Life" by David Lebovitz, some interesting insights to French culture

i did realize that i obviously had no idea what i ordered ;) Just because it wasn't what i was expecting...it was obviously something traditional. I actually kinda liked the stuffing portion...but the whole combination was a "little too unique" for my taste :) Thanks for letting me know how that is made though...that does sound time consuming!

WILLIE MAE'S SCOTCH HOUSE: Fried chicken...1st time it was AMAZING! 2nd not as good....3rd overcooked skin and super greasy. I think the key might to be get there right when it opens, like we did the first time. Because once they get backed up i think quality goes down pretty fast. We missed it on the last trip...but would like to re-try again.
PARKWAY TAVERN: THE best Shrimp Po-boys IMHO. Just everything...perfectly flavourful and perfectly cooked shrimp, perfect bread. My favorite of about the 6 different places we have had them.
DOMILISE'S:
Cute little dive, hole in the wall spot for super ice cold beer on tap and good po-boys. As i said...my fav is still Parkway...but this is probably my 2nd fav.
HERBSAINTE: Man oh man...we want to LOVE Donald link....really we do! But again...after Couchon was just OK last time....same with Herbsainte. It's not bad by any stretch...it's just flat, unexciting. Sorry :( I'm sure we will continue to try his places and hope that we just had off days at his places.
DANTE'S KITCHEN: We had a great time here, cute spot, great service and good food...traditional southern with cool twists. We will try it again.
MR. B'S: BBQ Shrimp...that is the only thing we like there...but that's ok...because it's so good it doesn't matter. Our favorite place for it!
CAFE DU MONDE: It's a no-brainer...it has to be done. However, if you just can't stand the line...there is a small kiosk in the Riverwalk Shoppes...never more than a couple people in line. You can take it outside and sit next to the riverboats! Not the same atmosphere...but just as tasty and leaves more time for more eating ;)

awesome! thanks for the info guys!...so good...i feel I'm kinda on track. Another one I forgot to ask about, the menu looks pretty good...Annie Gunn's? any feedback on that one?

We will be there for 3 dinners and 2 lunch/brunch...and a snack here or there ;) I have been doing research on here and there seems like a few good ideas...so far I'm leaning towards these as possible options:
The Shaved Duck
FarmHaus
One of the Niche places
An American Place
Hodaks for some fried chicken?
A piece of Pie...where? Yes i will try the Provel ;) it doesnt sound scary to me ;)

I'm not a dessert person but sounds like my bf should hit up Crown Candy Kitchen & Ted Drewes for sweet stuff?

But what is "traditional" St. Louis food? I can't seem to figure out if there is such a thing? We are coming from San Francisco and love hole in the walls and high end...but just want to get a local flare on where ever it is we go.

We will actually be staying at Harrahs, outside the city but we will be renting a car and will drive anywhere , up to about an hour, maybe a little more for something really good ;)

Also..any suggestions for live music is much appreciated.

Thanks chowhounds!
Diane

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Candy Kitchen
123 W Cumberland St, Greenup, IL 62428

BONTON CAFE:
A HUGE dissapointment. This has been on a try list the last 3 visits to NOLA...so we finally gave it a try at lunch.
The good:
Loved the atmosphere. Old school vibe and clients. THey could use a good dusting mind you as all the lighting etc is cob web and dust filled. The crabmeat au gratin was decent, if not just straight up overlly cheesy.
The Bad: pretty much everything else. We tried the Crawfish 'bisque' which has no real crawfish and is not a bisque. It has a crawfish head that has a crawfish..."meatball"? i guess you would call it stuffed in the head. It also has rice and a hard boiled egg. Did not like the flavour at all. We did the 1/2 fried crawfish/1/2 fried catfish combo...which was also very dissapointing. I wasn't too greasy...the flavour was just ...well...flavourless and WAY TOO SALTY. All these items were recommended by our waiter as the best of bonton as well....which didn't bode well for the other items. Then i ordered the Red Fish bonton which was also flavorless except salt. Just all around below mediocre. Not to mention lunch took 2 hours and we got there before the rush . Our apps came in about 15 mins, but the salad after that took over 30 mins, and the main about 30 mins after that. Our waiter was super stressed out and sweating all over the place. I ordered a viogner and he made no comment about it...it was god awful...so sweet i couldn't drink it. He never mentioned that to me...but heard him tell the next table over not to order it because it tasted like "church wine" , thanks for the heads up buddy! We will definetly not be back...but I don't think we will be missed. It's a rocking spot..too bad about the food and service.
DOMENICA:
Man oh man. We came here after having an awful meal at Bon Ton. Thought we would drink our sorrows away ;) Well, we did, they have amazing cocktails, and bought a flask of their homemade limoncello to go :) And we also ordered pasta and a pie. The mushroom pie was just ok...but the pastas were so amazing i could care less about the damn pie anyway ;) The service was amazing, we sat at the bar. The bartender...dang, i forget her name...but you can find her by the tattoo on her forearm with the bar shaker, stainer and stirrer ;) She is an amazing mixologist! Love her. And the manager on duty, awesome. We made friends with another diner at the bar and shared some food. This will be on the agenda for a full lunch/dinner on our next visit. loved it!
AMERICAN SECTOR:
There were some hits and misses but overall we had a great time and dining experience. We travel to eat...well and drink. Lordy...where to start...we grazed through...a lot!
Crabmeat pies: yeah, fairly bland. Cute little morsels...but lacking any flavour.
Shrimp in a cup: tasty, needed just a tad more...something...but a solid choice.
Oyster stew: It wasn't as rich as the old school style. It was more vinegary , actually acidic...maybe lemony? It remined me of a greek egg lemon soup (which i like). I liked it...my bf not as much
Shrimp Po-Boy: we actually ordered the shrimp & sausage, which looked awesome...but we got the shrimp and just dealt with it. It was a solid po-boy. Still parkway is my fav!
Buster crab with jalepeno grits: grits were excellent, we still are not sure how we really feel about soft shell crabs in general...we live in San Fran and are fans of dungeness...so thats not chefs fault ;) but the flavour combo here was lovely.
BF tried the homemade soda and loved it. I had a singapore sling, which knocked me on my ass a bit. And we shared a damn tasty beer made specifically for them. Our serve Billy was slightly flustered to start...but got into his grove and had some fun with us. This is an inexpensive place to try out John Besh...but not his all-star. That being said...we will be back!

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Bon Ton Cafe
401 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130