Thank you so much for all your help! It is amazingly refreshing to get opinions that have commitment and passion. I moved to the "South" about two years ago, and other then a perverse attraction to the Fox News Network and a warped affiliation with Rand Paul, I just am told that everything is great, wonderful and peachy. I dared to criticize an iconic restaurant here, and was thrown off a food blog. I guess there's a reason why the cost of living South of the Mason-Dixon Line is so low. All the great cities are just too expensive to move as you head towards senior citizenship......

As for restaurants in SF, it's not that my brother may feel uncomfortable in an expensive restaurant, he has more money then most of us will ever see, it's simply a matter of bad taste and the utter need to be cheap. It's almost a mission for him. If he can save a dollar, he feels like Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela!

I will let you know what I chose once I am 30 days out for reservation purposes. Thanks again for all your help.

Thanks much for all the excellent reviews.

I'm visiting SF for 4 days and my older brother always drags me to some hole in the wall restaurant that is notable simply because the bill is under $10 and he is greeted like an international celebrity. I do recall one establishment that served an apple fritter with chunks of garlic nestled within the fruit. I smelled like a Calabrian garbage dump for weeks.

These are the restaurants I am thinking about after my research. My desire is just for good food and a great experience that echoes San Francisco rather then NYC, LA, or Chicago.

RICH TABLE
SPQR
BENU
AZIZA
COTOGNA
FRANCES
CAMPTON PLACE
PLAJ
NOPALITO
LE CHARM
CHAPEAU

Any help the Chowhounds could provide would not only add to my holiday, but could temper my familial neurotic behavior. Thanks

I should add to Mbfant's response to pizza al taglio for lunch on Sunday, that looking pathetic is nothing new for me and thus might add to the authenticity of my Roman holiday. However, I did switch my reservation at La Gensola to Sunday lunch. Thanks.

Thank you to both Vinorama and Mbfant. Your advice is wonderful and will be followed. Since I spent 40 years in Wisconsin, drinking before and after dinner has become almost an indigenous and intrinsic necessity. If need be, we will stop in hotel bars for a martini or two. Of course, a Negroni never hurts. Now, I have to turn some of my attention to Florence and Bologna. Thanks again.

Dear Mbfant,
Thank you for your input. I appreciate your help. We are big eaters and usually eat nothing for breakfast. (I know it's terribly unhealthy, but we work out intensely) I did feel that if we eat lunch around 13:00 and cocktail in the early evening, we will want to eat dinner at 22:00.
La Gensola did give us a Monday lunch res, so they must be open. We were concerned to go to Gensola on Sunday which is usually a bad day to eat seafood.
Your suggestion about Sunday pizza is interesting, and I must admit I don't have enough culinary knowledge to understand. Would you be willing to explain? It reminds me when I asked a chef in Sardinia where to go for pizza & he said the weather was not right for good pizza. I looked at him like a confused puppy & he explained that the dough is effected by the humidity.
I chose Flavio over the two venerable institutions because I always like to give the new upstart my business.
I will certainly absorb your points and rearrange our eating and dining priorities. I have been having problems contacting Asino, All'Oro, and Metamorfosi. It may take a phone call that illuminates my language deficiencies which turns me into an insecure, helpless dumb American. My self loathing lasts for days.
Thanks again for all your help.

Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for your response. I have been using your apps every day and they have been incredibly helpful.
I am also interested in one of your market tours for my wife and I, but to quote my wife Donna, "How long is the tour, will it be just us, and we have seen a ton of markets all over? Will a tour provide us with something different?" I couldn't answer all these questions. Thus, any answers would be fantastic.

Regarding restaurants, I have narrowed my choices:

Sat. 3rd - Lunch Roscioli
Dinner - Fortunato al Pantheon

Sun. 4th - Lunch - pizza by the slice
Dinner - Taverna di Fori Imperiale

Mon. 5th - Lunch - La Gensola
Dinner - Metamorfosi

Fri. 9th - Lunch - La Colline Emiliane
Dinner - Flavio

Sat. 10th - Lunch - Cardona or Perilli
Dinner - L'Asino D' Oro or All'Oro

For lunch and dinner on Saturday, are there clear cut choices? Also, do those "on line" reservation sites in Italy work well? Is it better to try and find someone at our B & B to call and make the reservation?

Thanks again.

We are returning to Rome after a 15 year absence and following extensive research, I still need help with dining options. Our Roman holiday will start on Saturday, March 3rd for 3 days. Returning from Florence on the 9th of March, Friday and Sunday will be in Rome. Thus, our Roman culinary adventure will last five days.

My wife is Italian but speaks little of the language. However, she converses well in "food," and is ludicrously particular when consuming Italian edibles. She is like "Mickey" from those old commercials, "she hates everything." Nothing compares to Grandma who taught her to cook. Exceptions to her displeasure have been Lupa and Scarpetti in New York, many of Milan's restaurants especially Aimo e Nadia, and Don Alphonso in the hills above Sorrento. We are not adverse to expensive gluttony, but enjoy "hole in the wall" restaurants even better.

After perusing Chowhound, Eat Rome, Diane Seed, and David Downie, I have come up with the following list: Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
FORTUNATO al PANTHEON – PANTHEON – EX SUN (TRAD)

AROMA – MONTI***** (FANCY) – DINNER EVERY DAY

PERILLI – TESTACCIO – CLOSED WEDNESDAY

L’ARCANGELO – PRATI ****** (CREATIV) CLO SUN, SAT DIN ONL

CHECCHINO DAL 1887 – TESTACCIO ***** CLOSED SUN & MON

COSTANZA – CAMPO – EX SUN

TRATTORIA CARDONA – 30 MIN WALK – SAT & SUN DIN ONLY

L’ASINO D’ORO – MONTI – SUNDAY LUNCH – CLOSED MON

ROSCIOLI – CAMPO ***** EX SUN (GROCERY)

FLAVIO AL VELAVEVODETTO – TESTACCIO ***** EVERY DAY

LA SELLA DEL DIAVOLO – POPOLO (SEAFOOD)

TAVERNA DI FORI IMPERIALE – MONTI – CLOSED TUESDAY

LA GENSOLA – TESTEVERE – EVERY DAY (SEAFOOD)

VINO E CAMINO – PIAZZA NAVONA – EX SUN

ALL ‘ ORO – PARIOLI***** (CREATIVE) – CLO MON DIN SAT SUN

LA COLLINE EMILIANE ***** VIA VENETO – SUN LUNCH ONLY

METAMORFOSI – PARIOLI – (CREATIVE) CLOSED SUN LUN SAT

RINALDI AL QUIRINALE - QUIRINALE

PIZZA

PIZZARIUM – PRATI (SNACK)

PIZZERIA LEONCINO

URBANI SFORNO

ANTICO FORNO - GHETTO

LA GATTO MANGIONA – MONTEVERDE- Sunday

FORNO LA RENELLA - TRASTEVERE

PIZZERIA AL MARMI (L’OBITORIO)

REMO PIZZERIA

I really appreciate all your help and assistance. I remember in "times gone by" where we could just walk into any bistro or restaurant in Paris without a reservation and have one of the great meals of our lives. It was rare to hear English being spoken and it was great fun attempting to communicate in our lousy French. Even Paris has become more structured and less sybaritic, and thus we should make reservations prior to our visit. Thanks again

Thank you for letting me know.

Thank you so much for your suggestion. Other restaurants during the week are also rather difficult to book.

As I am nearing 70 and not versed in technology etiquette, I do apologize. I did not know that capitalization meant screaming. I am very sorry to anyone I may have offended,

Wow, I have never had so much difficulty with finding appropriate restaurants in Paris! The attractive places seem to be either closed for the holiday, under scrutiny for being too popular, or taken over by new management which has destroyed the restaurant's cache and dining pleasure.

Our first night I booked D' Chez Eux which I have since learned has new owners. Sophie, an erudite contributor to this post, disliked it with a passion! Where else to eat for Christmas Day
dinner?

I was going to book Il Vino d' Enrico Bernardo in the 7th for the 26th because it sounded so darn unique. Any ideas?

We are going to Le Paris at the Lutetia as we have fond memories and became engaged here years ago.

I have reservations at L'Angle du Faubourg because many of you wrote about this restaurant with a glowing analysis and they seem to relate to patrons with some warmth.

For the rest of my choices, and really I have no parameters other then good food and a Parisian experience. I have in mind the following:
Desvouges
August
Le Gaigne
Restaurant du Marche
Dominique Bouchet
La Fourchette de Printemps
Jean
La Truffiere

We truly do need assistance since making a wrong choice for a meal can be a devastating experience in Paris when it is cold and freezing outside. We aren't as hearty as we used to be. New Year's Eve we plan to attend a concert at Eglise St-Germain des-Pres and eat and drink in the apartment we have rented in the 6th. Thank you so much for any aid and recommendations. Salut!

We have tickets for "Birdland" at 9:00 and must eat at 6:00. We want great food and do not want to eat a meal just for convenience. What should we do? Where should we go?
Thinking about:
Convivo
Il Gattopardo
Porter House
Nougatine
Estiatorio Milos
Il Corso
Montenapo
Keens
Petrossian
Felidia
Pdre Figlio
What do you suggest? This is our last night in New York.

Thank you!

Thank you for your reply to my request for restaurants in Paris. Last night I ate at Jadis in the 15th and thought it was good, but not great. The diners were all Americans. I hope this isn't the kiss of death for this bistro. Today, I ate at Les Terrines at 97 Rue de Cherche Midi in the Bon Marche neighborhood. The people who run the restaurant were very sympatique and the food was reasonable and good. Again, the food was good, but not great.

Enofile/ December 27, 2008

Thank you for your reply to my request for restaurants in Paris. Last night I ate at Jadis in the 15th and thought it was good, but not great. The diners were all Americans. I hope this isn't the kiss of death for this bistro. Today, I ate at Les Terrines at 97 Rue de Cherche Midi in the Bon Marche neighborhood. The people who run the restaurant were very sympatique and the food was reasonable and good. Again, the food was good, but not great.

Enofile/ December 27, 2008

IDEAS: Paris Meals Christmas to New Years

I will be renting an apartment in Paris in the 6th, a couple of blocks from Metro Station Vavin. I have been to Paris many times, but find it difficult to keep up on the revolving chefs and who's is the next culinary "enfant terrible." I have done the Michelin starred joints, enjoying Arpege the most shortly after it opened. These days, I go for that "undiscovered" bistro approach.
My "tables so far include:
PARNESSE 138
LE GORILLE BLANC
LE JARDINIER
AU PETIT MARGUERY
LA FERRANDAISE
JADIS
JEU DE QUILLES

I have tickets for jazz @ 23:00 on the 27th at Sunset on rue de Lombards, tickets for a classical concert on the 31st at Saint-Severin at 20:30, and hope to listen to a "chansons" on the 30th in the 9th Arrondissement.

Do any of you have any suggestions of some dining places that should not be missed this time around?

Thanks so much.

Enofile

I will be renting an apartment in Paris in the 6th, a couple of blocks from Metro Station Vavin. I have been to Paris many times, but find it difficult to keep up on the revolving chefs and who's is the next culinary "enfant terrible." I have done the Michelin starred joints, enjoying Arpege the most shortly after it opened. These days, I go for that "undiscovered" bistro approach.
My "tables so far include:
PARNESSE 138
LE GORILLE BLANC
LE JARDINAIRE
AU PETIT MARGUERY
LA FERRANDAISE

I have tickets for jazz @ 23:00 on the 27th at Sunset on rue de Lombards, tickets for a classical concert on the 31st at Saint-Severin at 20:30, and hope to listen to a "chansons" on the 30th in the 9th Arrondissement.

Do any of you have any suggestions of some dining places that should not be missed this time around?

Thanks so much.

Enofile