Thanks! New Park, well done, was the ideal welcome home pizza. Later for the party.

After dinner, Bushwick or Midtown.

A traveler who has been away a long time sorely misses classic pizza with chewy crust, medium or thin. Perfection would be...

- easy drive from JFK
- comfy booth or table
- beer on tap
- accepts reservations -or- not too long a line Friday evening

Is this possible?

My son has been living and traveling in Asia, loving the food - but - One of the first things he says he wants when he returns is American style Chinese food.

1 . whatever I am eating next, or ate last. Gotta live in the moment.

2. Los Andes (Matunuck Oyster Bar when considering all RI)

3. Providence Coal Fired Pizza

4. NY style pizza by the slice, cheap and handy.

Garris you are right about the quality of information on Chow. Those other sites are designed for mobile devices. Who'da thunk Chowhound reviews would come to be considered a long-form genre?

On an average night, PVD folks dining at Chelos and Greggs probably outnumber diners at all the places that get mentioned here, combined. But we know what question you really meant to ask.

Ivy Tavern is my comfortable old shoe for dinner these days. And even though you did not ask and there is nothing average about it, Pho Horn is where we go for lunch.

Los Andes is great fun and very delicious, even the desserts. The ceviche is a must. You can split a huge entree and get done for hole in the wall $$, or you can make a lavish evening out of it.

Carrie's Seafood, 1035 Douglas Ave, is where you wanted to go.

Preheating the stone on the bottom rack might help in your oven. I have found that only on the top rack does the crust fully cook before the topping gets overcooked.

Sura does not seem overpriced to me. The food and overall experience are much better than comparably priced Asian Palace, another escape from the hole-in-the-wall routine. Sure there is terrific Asian food to be had for less - under fluorescent lights and with disorganized service.

If I were an Asian restaurateur, I would be cranky about all the Italian places that get $20 for their plates of noodles but when the Lo Mein gets near $10, everybody squawks.

ICEFACE

Fill a big bowl or bathroom sink with icewater. Breathe deeply a few times, take a deep breath and dunk your face in for as long as you can. Repeat if necessary.

Something to do with the mammalian diving reflex, which concentrates blood flow in the vital organs, notably your oxygen starved brain.

That, and drink plenty of water the before bed and when you wake up.

This is the right answer: Avoid ever creating that meat seems too good to throw away, but no one wants to eat.

For any crockpot chicken dish, I remove the skin, wingtips, back and ribs and save them in the freezer along with the gizzards. 2 or 3 chicken's worth make a fine crockful of broth and you will have no qualm discarding the solids.

What I learned from this thread for tonight's reubens: Add Worcestershire to the mayo - ketchup - chopped pickle (or relish) dressing. I do plan to try horseradish reubens - with corned beef not pastrami.

It's all in the "How:"

First, gently brown the pastrami bit by bit in your cast iron pan so there are crisp edges. Remove and keep it warm. If there is fat left behind, mop it with what will become the outsides of the bread slices. Grill bread slices inside down until they start to toast. Flip and lay the cheese on the hot bread, then the pastrami in a rumply pile, then some sauerkraut and dressing. Spread and smear the dressing and kraut into the pastrami. Press the top slice of bread on. When the bottom gets golden brown, flip. If you did not get enough grease from the meat you can put some butter in the pan. You want low heat so the outside gets crisp and the inside has time to get all hot and melty.

Yellow Noodle Soup, with duck, roast pork, or seafood. It did not come to mind while trying to think of something to make everyone go "Wow," but wow, I am in my third decade of ordering it every few weeks. I guess that makes it my favorite dish in Providence. Apsara Public St. makes generally better soup but Apsara Hope St. offers it with duck.

Gotta second that Poutine at Red Fez.

Have some empanadas with salsa at La Casona on Broad St. in CF. Do it today.

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La Casona
804 Broad St, Central Falls, RI 02863

The Twin Oaks experience belongs at the top of the "This could only be in Rhode Island" list. if that makes you curious, go, but avoid the weekend.

You get a big comfortable booth where you can sit as long as you want. There is something for almost everybody on the menu. The waiters can tell if you want wisecracks or quiet, competent service. The prices and drinks are quite reasonable. Steaks, chops and basic preparations of fish are entirely satisfactory. Lunch next day is part of the deal!

Bribery for the wait list is not in my experience. Maybe you have to be known, or pay up for a window seat overlooking the pond because I have never been seated at one. At least waiting in the bar is nice and you can look out the window there.

Sure, it is easy to find better food, especially if you pay more, but I have never regretted what I spent, time or money, for a meal there.

I say what Bob W says.
Also, Tommy's is good for distinctive RI pizza.
Mike's Kitchen indeed excels in the "You almost forgot how good old-school basic Italian can be" category but if you do not go there, have lunch at the equally fine Gesualdi's out on Hartford Ave.

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Mike's Kitchen
170 Randall St, Cranston, RI 02920

Gesualdi's
634 Hartford Ave, Providence, RI 02909

Not KK type, but the best donuts in RI are at Silver Star Bakery on Ives St. Get there early.

Allies are better than any of the chains around here, but they are not awesome.

Here is how they stay in business.

Think of it as a friendly bar where you can bring the kiddies and they can eat.

To be in the heart of 02906, yet not overrun by a Thayer Street crowd and also without the stuffiness of Wayland Square or upper Hope street is a solid niche.

Most of the food is abysmal but the salsa is pretty good. Never order anything besides the fajitas or a veggie burrito, which are pretty lame but at least not crappy.

RI's boundless love for Dunkin Donuts is frightening. The coffee is barely drinkable and everything else, especially the greasy little snacky things, is nauseating. The prices of those toxic smelling concocted beverages are shocking considering that the cup probably costs them more than the sugar and artificial flavoring inside. It would be funny except for the fact that if present trends continue, in a few years no other dining establishments will remain.

Best rule I ever made: Never eat in the car. To think time is so short you have to save it by eating in the car gets it backwards. Life is too short to not stop the car, get out and eat when you need to.
Plus, the clean interior adds about $500 to your trade in value.

Amen to caramelized onions. (bacon grease)

May also be seasoned with parsley and or thyme.

All the special concoctions are hooey, but go ahead, no harm in them.

What works is drinking water before bed and when you get up - juice, gatorade, whatever you prefer.

The best instant cure is physical, not something you ingest: Get a big bowl of ice water. Take a few deep breaths and lower your face into the water as deep and for as long as you can hold it. Repeat if necessary. This does not help a queasy gut, but does miraculously stop the headache.

Jeanette's is a humble treasure. Take a nap after lunch.

What Will says. And even if it has some growth on top, you can skim it, boil it, skim again whatever floats, and the rest will be fine. Oh well.

In case you are, like me, a person who actually will take an occasional 4 mile walk (each way) I would say avoid the southern half of Douglas Ave. Smith Street to River Ave to Douglas Ave will not take you through anything someone used to a city would consider dangerous

Another vote for Carrie's. A good value, untrendy place to eat like a local.

In case you are not busophobic, both #50 and #52 go right by it. Use the schedules because they do not run so often that you can just go the stop and wait, but the $ you save over a cab will pay for a few drinks.

Did not think Asian is what someone from LA comes to RI for, but if I had to eat lunch on Public Street there is only one place: Apsara near Elmwood Ave, a Cambodian/Thai institution. The yellow noodle soup is one of my favorite lunches.

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Apsara Restaurant
716 Public St, Providence, RI 02907

Seriously. Find a schedule for the #42 and plan your visit to Chez Pascal accordingly. The bus is far more likely than a taxi to arrive at its appointed time and will be no grubbier.

http://www.ripta.com/schedules/schedu...

Don't miss Pastiche.

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Chez Pascal Restaurant
960 Hope St, Providence, RI 02906