When I was a kid, my mom used to bring home the best raspberry linzer cookies at Christmas time. Her client, Peter Luger (may or may not help with geography), used to send them from NY but I never knew what the bakery was. We called them "linzer tarts" but I don't know if that's what the bakery called them. They were large, more shortbread-like than nutty and had a generous amount of seeded raspberry jam filling. I've been all over the net trying to track down what bakery they may have come from but have had no luck. Any suggestions for a bakery to check out? I'm also open to ideas for other bakeries that sell a similar cookie to those made in the good NY bakeries, that ship, so I can order some for the holidays. This was at least 20 years ago so it wouldn't be a new bakery. Thanks!

Hubby and I are going to a Flyer's game in a few weeks and want to have dinner in Philly beforehand. We're from S. Jersey but now living in MD and SO miss the South Jersey/Philly food. We haven't been to Philly for dinner in quite a while so I'm looking for recommendations. I don't want super casual (ie. pizza joint) but also not a jacket/tie type place as I want to be able to be comfortable for the game afterwards. Hubby is a steak fan as well as traditional "red sauce/chicken parm" type Italian fan. I'm pretty adaptable but do enjoy really good soups and appetizers. I'm more of a tapas than big meal type. Thanks!

Yes, we've been to Mia Carolina. That's the best Italian I've found in the area. We go there frequently but would like to find another place we like for a bit of variety.

I'm looking for some suggestions for great restaurants (breakfast lunch and dinner) within a 1/2 hour radius or so of Owings Mills that are NOT in the city. In particular, I'm looking for a really good Italian restaurant. I grew up in an area with awesome Italian food and just can't find it here. In general, what do you think are the best places in the area? The immediate Owings Mills area is terrible for restaurants!