sweetea's Profile
Best website to buy tea?
I like Porte Rouge. They were very nice to deal with. I liked buying Mariage Freres tea from them. You can buy it in bulk rather than the canisters at a better price. They have a nice selection & also carry some other teas & tea accessories.
Spur of the Moment Trip - Help!
Sorry, I was checking there also. I was looking here cuz the people with good taste in food usually carries over to other areas as well.
Spur of the Moment Trip - Help!
Thanks for both replies. Would the Villa Rosa Convent be a good place to stay? A friend also suggested San Pietro near the Vatican. Would that be difficult to the airport? What little I could find on Villa Rosa sounded nice, as well as the area sounding like a nice place to be. Thanks
Spur of the Moment Trip - Help!
I have always wanted to go to Italy & the opportunity just came up. The only problem is we decided on Sun & made plan reservations & are leaving a week from Friday! I feel like I'm cramming for finals doing this research. I have reservations in Rome for the 1st 3 nights staying near much of tourist places (Colisseum, etc) I wanted to be close enough to walk to most attractions. We are also going to be spending a couple of nights each in Florence, Siena & back to Rome last night. There seems to be lots of good info on Rome & Florence. I didn't see much on Siena. We would also like to rent a car one day & do some of the small towns near Siena. I would appreciate any suggestions of places or things not to miss (including food). The people on Chowhound always steer us right which has resulted in some wonderful experiences & best meals of our lives. (Ex. last fall @ Cyrus).
The only night I haven't book is the last night back in Rome. I thought maybe we should stay in a different area, but someplace that will still be easy to get to airport early Mon. morning. Any suggestions? Should we try near Vatican, guess there is supposed to be a quiet area that is all pedestrian. I would love someplace with a view of the Vatican if we do that. Any other ideas? Since we are taking trains & buses most of the trip I tried to put us right in the cities so we could walk to restaurants etc. The last part is in Siena, so don't know if we are going to be looking for action or quiet our last day. I'm not quite sure what to expect from Siena, it sounds nice but possibly quieter, I'm still trying to research. Most of yesterday spent on lodging, etc. Thanks for any help sorry for such a long post.
Proposed Rome food itinerary (is there any other kind ;) ?
I love your list! It's been a life long dream to go to Italy. Now I'm going, but it's a spur of the moment trip. I'm trying to plan & cram. Your list looks like a fun starting place to get a sample of fun & food in Rome.
Fine dining in Pittsburgh next weekend?
Thanks for the recommendations. We ended up trying Eleven. It was a fun atmosphere & the tasting menu was good. It was perhaps a little disappointing after our great experience with Cyrus, but my daughter & bf really enjoyed it. Of course, it was much more reasonable than Cyrus, so it would have been hard for them to compete at the same level of food & service. The main thing is we enjoyed dinner & had a fun evening..
Cyrus - Thanks for recommendation
Wearybashful, hope you have a wonderful anniversary dinner. They did tell us the sizes are tailored to how much you are ordering. For example, the sizes for the 4 course tasting menu would be larger than for the 7 course. We just wanted to try it all since we probably won't get back there. We're on the east coast. If you have access to it more often, you could certainly do less courses. I don't want to oversell it to you so that you end up disappointed because your expectations are so high that nothing really lives up to it. I was kind of afraid I was going to experience that, but it turned out to be a lovely dining experience for us. Anyway, happy anniversary & enjoy! Do inform them beforehand that it is a special event for you.
Cyrus - Thanks for recommendation
Thanks to all on this board who recommended Cyrus in Healdsburg. We were in Sonoma for a few days & almost decided to cancel our reservation since it was kind of a drive & we were leaving at 5a.m. the next morning. We were so happy that we went ahead with our reservation. It was my birthday & we had the most lovely dinner! We did the tasting menu with the wine pairings. The whole evening was a splurge in terms of price. My husband opted to go with the world class wines but with only 4 of the courses. Everything that we had was excellent & the presentation was beautiful. The service was fantastic & welcoming. They didn't try to make you feel stupid if you had a question. They did a special fun dessert presentation thing for my birthday on top of the other desserts. They sent us home with beautifully boxed brownies which we enjoyed at home the next day. They were delicious as well & reminded me of the Barefoot Contessa's brownie recipe. We had a wonderful, unforgettable evening & I would highly recommend Cyrus. It is very expensive for the tasting menu ( I think ours was 7 courses), so if price is an object you might want to steer away from that. The courses were not overly large so we didn't feel overly full at the end, nor were we hungry. It was a perfect evening in every way, so thanks to all on this board.
Fine dining in Pittsburgh next weekend?
We will be in Pittsburgh for the weekend & would love to take my daughter out for a birthday dinner. We would like to go someplace that includes a tasting menu, excellent food, service & ambiance. Chowhound was very helpful lately & we had an unforgettable meal at Cyrus in Healdsburg, CA. I am hoping to have another unforgettable meal with our daughter. I have noticed several places mentioned: Nine on Nine, Eleven & Cioppino. We have had good experiences with the tasting menu & service at Felidia's in NYC. Lidia's doesn't seem to review well on this board. Is it not as good as Felidia's? Which of these restaurants or another, would be the best for our celebration? My daughter is in college but enjoys fine dining, but something fun would be nice also. We like all different types of food, it doesn't have to be from any particular ethnicity. We just enjoy food that is well prepared with good quality ingredients & good service, atmosphere would be a nice bonus. I prefer someplace that isn't too noisy, but don't mind a lively setting. Thanks for any help.
Cyrus transportation question
Thanks. I'm going to try & change my reservations. Sounds like it will take a long time with all the small towns. Hopefully, I can get someplace, that would make for a much more relaxing evening.
Cyrus transportation question
We are staying in Sonoma near the plaza. I have an early dinner reservation for Cyrus on a Tues. night. I was wondering how bad the drive is between the two? It doesn't look that far distance wise(20mi?) but we will be doing it after a tasting menu & wine. Would it be better to try & find a closer place or is it not too bad a drive? Any suggestions of places, seems many were booked up that way when I checked a couple of months ago.
Need one unforgettable dining experience
Thanks for the responses & helpful information. I hadn't really checked the Farmhouse Inn or Ritz & they both sound like good options. I appreciate the insight into the dining room at the Applewood Inn also. I have a better idea of how we might plan things now.
Help finding reasonable but memorable tasting menu
My husband & I recently had a wonderful dinner at Cafe Boulud, tasting menu plus wine pairings. I would love to take my daughter for a similar experience(minus the wine) but more reasonably priced. She just graduated from high school & enjoys fine food, but I don't want to go overboard. I am treating her to a Wed. matinee & would like to go out after for an early dinner. It's next week, so I need something that doesn't require reservations 2 months in advance. Any suggestions would be appreciated. It does not have to be near the theater district. I tried to make reservations on open table for Degustation since that was well reviewed here. I was not able to get anything on there. Would this be someplace that would work?
Need one unforgettable dining experience
My husband & I will be in San Francisco & the wine country in October. We love all kinds of food, but would like to do one fine dining experience (due to price) and then other local places that have great food. After researching the board, I think we would either like to try Cyrus, French Laundry, or something like Masa's or Paul Danko. These seem to be ones that are well reviewed quite often. Many people seem to prefer Cyrus to French Laundry. I am not crazy about the prices at either, but one do one if they would live up to expectations & if I can get reservations. This is for a 50th birthday. Neither of us have been to S.F. or wine country before. I would appreciate any suggestions of great restaurants or places to see that shouldn't be missed.
The plane tickets were for our 27 wedding anniversary, so we are trying to make it special. I was also wondering if the dinners at the Applewood Inn up in Russian River Valley are worth it or if we should save our money & stick with one of these other restaurants. The only reviews that I saw for Applewood Innn looked old, so I didn't know if there was a new chef or if it is better now. It certainly looks good on their website.
Thanks for any suggestions. We are staying in Union Square, Sonoma, & Guerneville(?)area.
