Thanks, both. We've ruled out making the NYC trek, so the issue becomes what is then the next best option. Limited menu doesn't sound like a problem for a first visit.

Hmm. Taking some friends out for a 40th birthday dinner in southern CT next month; this is not the most hopeful thread! Really trying to avoid trekking in to NYC for Daniel or per se or some place, but we *do* want world-class food. Schoolhouse sounds like a good option for at least good ambience and freshness; might have tried Henkelmann but sounds as though it's not as good as it could be. Folks, if you had to pick one place for a special meal within say a 40 min drive of Stratford CT, where would you go? Thanks!

Yeah, I like butter (although the olives were fine as olives) and requested some.

The pig ear is definitely an example where I think the desired goal was achieved, I just didn't like the goal; a taste difference rather than a flaw, perhaps. The gnocci may be a similar case: to me it seemed as though the spinach needed to be more compressed/concentrated before forming into the gnocci, but the chef might say that he was aiming for subtlety and I'm just uncouth :).

Sorry - overloaded at work. Short vetri: service (especially - friendly, intelligent, interactive, knowledgeable, flawless) and atmosphere world-class, wine-pairings good (not great, even at $150+ for the top-flight) and rather high in quantity. Food had high spots (the almond tortellini are ethereal; but that was the only dish that would make my highlight reel for the year, probably - the sweet onion crepe might join it and was fabulously rich, dense, concentrated) but also lows (the spinach gnocci too watery; the fried pig ear accompanying snails jarred rather than complementing). The shock was butter - in contrast to Bibou, this was a scoop of low-quality supermarket butter somewhat past peak. A tiny detail, maybe; but it stood out for me, and was a pity. So yeah, not blown away again. For the money, I'd definitely go to Osteria, Bibou, or any of what seem to be a large number of chow-y places in Philly.

I think that I have a pic and will dig it out at some stage if you like; yes, baguette in shape, but whole-wheat in taste, colour and texture.

Feel free to make whatever adjustment you need to review interpretation :P - indeed, cobia was a new fish to me.

Thanks! I'll seek it out.

I had the french toast completely randomly at Herschel's; no maple syrup (yeah, I'm spoiled living adjacent to VT) but excellent texture (crisp exterior, dense/soft interior), generous fresh strawberries, all good.

Bibou last night is a happy place! I really enjoyed speaking French with the hostess(es - the very pregnant co-owner was around but not working), and the food was excellent (especially in terms of value). The one 'miss' was the main course, to some extent: a dense white fish (coria? cobia?) that was matched with a delightful, very fresh and bright pea-corn beurre blanc sauce: the fish itself was just there, uninteresting and almost tasteless.

Prior to that I ate an excellent terrine with apricot and pistachio (taking the place of the normal shellfish soup to which I'm allergic); a foie gras-peach combination with both sauteed foie and a foie creme 'brulee' pot-du-creme thing; two very good cheeses with house tomato chutney; and then a 'floating island' meringue almond dessert. In a less congenial place, I might have griped and criticised more, but it was a joyful 2 hours. Oh - I missed a real highlight: the butter! Imported from France and gloriously rich; paired with simple but excellent brown bread. I ate three baskets :). Recommended with possible caveat for the food; recommended whole-heartedly for the atmosphere.

I do note that I am apparently a harsher critic than most - OK, this is not a surprise to me, but note that I am not as blown away by either Bibou or Osteria as others, so calibrate accordingly. I'll report back on vetri..

ALSO: if there's somewhere I should eat breakfast (ideally between 7th St and the convention center) over the next couple of days, let me know :). The challah french toast at the Reading market this morning *was* pretty good!

This is a great thread, and thanks to UHockey for his related blog posts also - used them shamelessly to plan my current trip. About to head out to Bibou this evening, but I stopped off earlier at Osteria for the polenta budino - I ate there Friday (my first evening in Philly) and they were apparently out of it (although I think that must have been a communication glitch, possibly on my part).

The reason for posting is to note the *stellar* service at Osteria. It seems very overstaffed when there, but it clearly pays off: the servers (Mario and Stephen) were knowledgeable, had opinions when asked but didn't push them, friendly but not effusive, really aware of the room; just great. When I went back today the staff recognised that I was a returnee, sent out an extra dessert even though I only *ordered* dessert (!! No worries, still ready for Bibou this evening...), offered a tour and so on; I regret that I didn't catch the name of the lady who showed me around but she again was *exactly* what I would hope for - intelligent, interested, knowledgeable.

There's a great Keller quote on the wall in the prep kitchen: "Treat it as your own and one day it will be." Shows.

[The polenta budino was great although I wouldn't rave quite as much as uhockey; the roasted seasonal veg appetiser was fabulous. The 'special' split-roast pig was not great, but they whisked it away and replaced w/ chicken liver pasta which WAS great. And the beer was world-class, as was the 'orange' wine. I thought that their wine list in general was *very* pricy, which would be the only significant flaw; very glad I went there.

[Bibou this evening, Vetri tomorrow. Saturday was a Jonathan Coulton concert with VIP seats; it's been and I think will continue to be a great visit :)]

Thanks, Herb.

HI folks -

- my parents (one foodie, one tolerant!) are in Toronto this week from the UK, and have no idea where to eat. They're at a hotel downtown on Dundas Street, so walkable from there would be a big plus but a shortish cab ride would also be OK. Looking for *either* top-level fine dining *or* excellent cheaper food, without regard to cuisine but an especial liking for French and probably not Indian or similar as that's so good at home; if there's anything characteristic of Toronto that would be a big plus.

Thanks!

Ewan

The dining options on New Year's Day were limited, and for some reason we managed not to go to the Randolph - our first choice - but all was well. I was dubious about going to a 'star' restaurant, especially one of a chain - although I am a Jamie Oliver fan - but from the very first bite (of the best dipping olive oil we've ever had), this was genuinely superb; and at the price point, exceptional.

We had two starters - the bread selection and posh chips (the latter fabulously hot and truffley), three pasta choices between the two of us (with the truffled tagliatelle again the best but bolognese also superb, and a mushroom ravioli at least OK), two desserts (the choc-espresso tart w/ creme fraiche was perfect), four glases of wine and coffee, all for just over 60 quid: really fabulous value. Staff were professional and friendly - really have nothing bad to say. It started 2011 for us in the best way possible.

Bill, it's the very least I can do after receiving such good help from you and others here. Glad to introduce you to Hawaii Calls; it's an odd mix really, with (as I noted) the entrees seeming to be much more attentively cooked than appetisers or desserts, but the setting is *so* good and the service *so* pleasant that it's hard to kvetch. [Not that the older couple seated next to us on the second night did not manage it; they had not been seated for more than 30 secs before one was muttering about slow service!] I came back down to the bar on the Saturday evening to listen to the live music, which was a solo guitarist/singer whose voice strongly resembled Leonard Cohen; he got far less attention than he deserved, so was glad to give him an audience. Turns out to be the owner of a local bar/grill (Anthony's) called Neil, from Wales; very pleasant chap.

OK, detailed AW review still on deck.

Well, our fault rather than the venue: the only real mealstop we attempted was between leaving the park later than we had expected, and heading down to see lava; the two places we tried were both closed (it being only 5 p.m.). Limitations of children again, really: just the two of us, we'd have been happy to eat later, but 7- and 2-year old livers don't have that much glycogen, nor do they have our adipose reserves!

I forgot to mention: Wailana coffee house in Waikiki, across from the Hilton. Went there for breakfast every day; it's out of the 50s, but good value, decent food, and really really good coffee and fresh pineapple juice. I was expecting good coffee in Hawaii, but when even the local diner is serving coffee that's better than any I can get back home... wow :).

Reporting back. [The trip in general was fabulous, and we all enjoyed Hawaii more than we expected; I expect to return soon, despite the distance.]

We chose Alan Wong's for the birthday celebration, and their email customer service was very good; we got seats at the chef's counter with no problem, they printed a special menu without being asked, and so on. This continued on the evening: staff were uniformly excellent and managed the rare feat of being simultaneously courteous, refined, but also also warm and interested; the chefs directly in front of us (Crystal, Sean, and chef de cuisine Derek) were extremely open to questions - as Sean explicitly noted early on - and able/willing to take time for prolonged discussion on occasion without feeling the need to make excuses when they needed to break off to actually cook; it really felt as close as I would think possible to being a welcome guest in their kitchen. We chose the larger tasting menu, and between us needed to make subs for 4 of the 7 courses (my shellfish allergy and J's tomato hatred); no problem, and honestly we ended up with even better food as a result rather than any downgrading; an additional foie course for me, for example.

The food was perhaps a notch down from the service/ambience, but only one notch and in many cases not even that; we were very impressed. [I'll do a follow-up with details when less jet-lagged!] (Standing out in my mind: a chilled two-soup swirl of tomato and peppers was exquisitely fresh and clean; foie, pork and grilled cheese sandwich accompanying the soup was decadent and luscious; macademia-crusted lamb was juicy and somehow coaxed extra flavour from the nuts; a couple of really fabulous sauces; the opening ahi sashimi plate was perfect and our second unexpectedly-fabulous onion experience of the week - see below). Wine choices were good to excellent, with an especially tasty champagne to begin; coffee rose above the ludicrously high standards of the islands. Just really good. The food quantity was fairly high by tasting menu standards, too; I'm a glutton but my wife was struggling at the end despite the lightness of the final spun-sugar and strawberry concoction. So thanks to all, and especially Bill Hunt, for the rec; we'd definitely return.

Note that although I felt safe walking there, AW's is several blocks through poorly-lit streets from the Waikiki strip; we took a taxi back.

**
Other chow-y bits from the trip: our first night we went to Tiki's at the Aston hotel, across the street from our Marriott room; didn't expect much but were *really* pleasantly surprised by the food, with the best poke of the trip and some marvellous onion accompanying that was neither strong nor bitter but instead sweet and flavourful, a perfect foil for the ahi. I need to find out more about Hawaiian onions, clearly. Otherwise on Oahu not great restaurant food: Duke's had world-class service but mediocre at best food (other than the unlimited very fresh pineapple!), and we had a *bad* and very, very expensive meal at Nobu [which is where the concierge sent us for the 'best sushi around' - I would strongly recommend avoiding Nobu, sadly. One dish - the soy-plum black cod - was indeed great and ethereal, but the rest was nothing special, the $12 tuna belly piece almost flavourless for example, and the service was *poor* with a definite feel of trying to rush us through. Many black marks and much sadness.

One highlight was the HCC Farmers' market on Saturday morning. After walking up Diamond Head, this was an absolutely *wonderful* place to spend a few foodie hours, with ungodly perfect local fruit, ginger-mango spritzers, delicious curry, great coffee and chocolate, and so on. Don't miss it. Fruit in general was a revelatory highlight of the trip - I know, duh! - and a perfect papaya in particular from the market blew us away.

**
We then moved to Hawai'i for a few days, but this was much more relaxation- and kid-focussed so no overly-fine dining. Failed to find anywhere at all around Volcano to eat! Our final two nights were at the Waikoloa Marriott, and their restaurant (Hawaii Calls) proved to be so good on the first night that we not only returned - rare for us! - on the second, but I ordered the same prime rib both nights. With a perfect pool/beachside location and absolutely perfect service again, including for our two boys, this place gets very high marks in general (although J's ahi sampler on the second night would have been much too spicy for me, and the desserts were nothing special; but as well as good entrees, their soups were good, decent house bread, good wine selection, very reasonable prices especially for the prix fixe).

A few photos - only from my low-res phone, I forgot the camera! - from AW's are at http://picasaweb.google.com/ewanmcnay... . Thanks again for the help before we went.

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Alan Wong's Restaurant
1857 S King St Fl 3, Honolulu, HI 96826

I'm left a little confused :). I'm going to be taking my first trip to Honolulu this summer, happily including my 40th birthday, and we'd like the best meal possible for the evening; it seems that the odds are perhaps best at La Mer - is that accurate? If so, do I need to pack a jacket for that meal?

Thanks very much, all, for the detailed comments here.

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La Mer
2199 Kalia Rd, Honolulu, HI 96815

I guess that would be the one sentence summary :). Thanks!

Edit is not working - sorry! - but a further note: no bread! Not just us, all tables; but this seemed odd given previous review comments on good bread, and another spot of just 'odd - hmm' in the overall experience.

I think this comes across *slightly* too unhappy: sorry. A couple of the early courses would have maybe been better highlights (and created a better overall impression) if they'd been toward the end: both the pear and the hot/cold potato were dishes where we would have been (very) happy to just sit and eat ten or so of them, and my companion just *loved* the pork belly. So ... still confused over exactly what rating to give, I guess :-).

In town for the Neuroscience conference, and I was determined to take advantage of the opportunity to go to Alinea - it's been a really ludicrously good year for me foodwise, with trips to Manresa and per se the high points, and I wanted to see whether I could exceed those. A couple of reviews from folks I have high opinions of (including Chowhound's uhockey) suggested that I might.

Top line/summary: the staff are the best I've ever met, some of the food is sublime. None of the food is other than very good. But there were dishes that didn't excel, and - sadly - the wine pairings REALLY missed the mark, with some of the individual wines not even being good alone, and that really hurt given the price. So I have to say I probably wouldn't return, I certainly wouldn't get the wine if I did, and it ranks well below Manresa. To be fair, some of the individual dishes *are* **utterly** fabulous. Tough to review.

***

OK, my comparison points are ludicrously high. But that's where Achatz is aiming, right? My companion was new to this level of food, and I think she would tell you that she was in wonderland: the burnt oak leaves, the chocolate moon rock, the sizzling rosemary, all in addition to the food. And I agree that the staging excels - even things I expected, such as the pillows, were delightful and worthwhile [ok, maybe the silicone is not needed; but getting folk out of their normal zone has a value in itself there, I think]. Still, the decor didn't do anything for us really and the atmosphere was surprisingly busy - very unlike other top-end places. The staff really deserve kudos. All of them were able to go from solemn and uber-professional to friendly as soon as they were prompted, and all were very knowledgeable, impressively so. They got an excellent tip (and this despite the fact that one of the servers twice messed up with regard to my shellfish allergy, the first time such that I trusted her and swallowed enough of the shrimp to have me turning pink, send my heart racing and my blood pressure high enough to turn me red, and have me checking whether there was an epi pen to hand - NOT good. {They knew about the restriction, and had prepared a sub dish, but mixed them up and misinformed us*}). Colleen, our primary server, clearly is delighted to work there and was a joy to have around.

Low point first: the wine. Craig Sindelar, our sommelier, was a great guy, we really enjoyed his company and commentary, and he clearly has a passion, but several of the wines (especially the whites) just missed both alone and as pairings - the Henriot Brut champagne cocktail we started with especially had us looking at the osetra caviar and agreeing that they actually detracted markedly from each other. The couple of reds were more reliable but still not great, and at $170 each for the wine pairings, we were pretty unhappy. If I had a criticism of the *service* per se, it would be that there seemed to be an assumption that in the event of negative customer feedback, the customer was probably wrong: we both mentioned to Craig the feedback on the champagne cocktail, but got the impression that he just thought we were lacking in taste - echoes of the shellfish reaction, I suppose. Even wines of types I absolutely love - the port, the Klein Constantia (how do you not have that be great?), a Genium Priorat - just did not seem to be well-matched in general. When the highpoint of the wine is the Tiffany crystal glass one of them is served in - and it was fabulous! - then there's a problem.

I am not going to review every dish here - the black truffle explosion *is* as good as all the reviews say; the brook trout monseigneur is a testament to ingredients and the most classical of technique and is easily one of the best fish preps I have ever had; the use of roasted banana in the pork belly was a masterful combination. Other courses - pear, concord grape, hot potato - would be outstanding in any restaurant in the world. A day or two later, there are items on the menu that I don't remember, which is genuinely sad (and not the fault of my memory!); but the food really is worth the praise it gets. The dissatisfaction then is a product of the standards aimed for: the otoro was tough (!) in places, the fennel innocuous, and other slips. One thing worth noting is that the food requires attention, and I liked that: early on especially, the flavours are *subtle* - nothing is jumping up and smacking you, which is a clear style choice and one that appealed.

I have typed enough, and hope that I have given a sense. This really was a very good meal; the chef's air of honestly caring about our enjoyment was palpable, and having him doodle on the table is a fabulous component of the menu and meal; there were moments (and several, not just one or two) where the food forced me to close my eyes, grin, focus, and enjoy. I am glad to have gone. I think I take back my comment above: I *would* go back, and the food is probably justifiable in price. The wine just left a sour taste both literally and figuratively, I suppose, and we left feeling a little taken advantage of (not giving a wine price up front, but just saying 'we'll charge you for what we pour' didn't help there, either). And hence my difficulty in really reviewing here: it's just odd to get such ethereally spectacular pieces so close to such disappointment. In the end I conclude that taken in the context it aims for, Alinea probably failed - certainly I don't think they would be happy with the experience we took away. The 5-hour meal did not drag at all, but honestly the sum is not close to the meals at per se or - especially - Manresa, where the wine pairings all just *sang* and the food was equally spectacular but somehow cleaner.

*Actually, I am surprised not to have received more of an apology on this, I suppose, but a couple of the servers did check that I was OK. Not a big deal, and Craig caught the server in the act of serving me lobster immediately afterward while describing it as fennel :-).

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Alinea
1723 N Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60614

Also too late for the OP, no doubt. but I am amazed that no-one has mentioned the Tosca-owned sandwich shop (the exact name of which I am of course blanking on right now) across the street from Tosca in Troy. Maybe the best sandwiches in a 50 mile radius :). And if you happen to be around for dinner, Tosca is the *one* capital region restaurant we've been unmitigatedly happy with since arriving earlier this year. Good stuff (albeit pricy for Albany/Troy).

At least I'm not the only one resuscitating an old thread here :).

Mostly logged in to post a really disappointing experience at SweetWood Grill - we'd asked our local hosts to pick a good place for a small celebration (limited by our 2 sons; not so much the 3 month-old but definitely the 6 year-old, who behaves well but does not appreciate pricy food [yet]). Some parts of the meal were fine, and the desserts were even good - as was the Schramsberg sparkling wine, decent price. However, 3 of 4 entrees were atrocious: one filet ordered medium-rare but delivered gray (ok, not the first time) and two chicken dishes served on a potato gratin that was literally raw (and more worrying given that one of those went to my breast-feeding wife, as raw potato's alkaloids can be highly toxic to infants). Mentioning all of this to the staff got no response at all; a polite email note to the chef brought this morning a tirade of defensive abuse. So we will not be returning :).

I'll try Hen of the Wood next time; that seems to be a consensus pick here. Thanks for the recs, folks.

Arrived in Albany a couple of weeks back, a little worried about absence of high-end dining. Then we went to Tosca for one of our first meals, and my worries were greatly reduced: this place is *great*. Formal setting but friendly staff, and really _superb_ food: two of the standouts were a cold peach soup and my char-grilled lamb with chanterelles, but everything was reassuringly good - even as leftovers a few days later.

*Highly* recommended.

[Other experiences thus far not that great; the Ginger Man was decent, and Capital Q I had for lunch today but not overwhelmed (despite fantastic friendly service).] We'll keep looking, but good to know that there's at least one good place!

The RI thread got some good help, so: anyone have a good service in the Fairfield-to-New Haven area?

[Yes, I have a steel and stones, but it would be nice occasionally to get back to a pro edge :)]

Yeah, I know there's already a thread - sorry - but I thought that this place deserved a bump here. Just took a family party of seven for Saturday lunch - the place was empty (what is everyone thinking?!) other than the owner and his children eating at the bar, but filled up slightly later, and I confirmed that evenings are as hectic as ever*. The food was very good, not quite always excellent but solidly enjoyable and with some highlights (the dark sausage, the white asparagus/ham/pecorino, the foie gras); the service was really very good. And the wine was significantly improved: a new Spanish red by the glass really _is_ outstanding (and also unobtainable, it seems, elsewhere. I think for the 7 of us, all in, it was $140 or so. Excellent value.

[*I talked with the owner** briefly, looking at the cute patio, and he mentioned that he's trying to improve the walkability of downtown Milford by having a restaurant open for lunch, even if not the best economic decision. Good to hear.]

**I assume - certainly seems to be in charge, may also be a cross between maitr d' and chef? Dunno yet :).

*Thanks* for this! We live in Milford, are huge fans of Indian food - I'm a Brit and grew up on it - and didn't know this place existed. So, we ate take-out from there this evening (would have dined in if we'd seen it beforehand - very attractive and welcoming) and it was _glorious_. Not so much 'great Indian food' as 'great food which happens to be Indian'. My lamb in a yoghurt-raisin marinade was fantastic: delicate but bold, perfectly done. The tikka marsala had complexity too often missing from the dish - anyway, you get the picture, this was great food.

Some small quibbles, granted; the naan is clearly not made for take-out, and instead of the lamb samosa I ordered I got a lamb-stuffed naan. However, when we cam in to pick up, the staff treated my 4 year-old to a glass - and then a second! - of mango lassi, and were hugely warm; the manager, Matthew, was also very interested in chowhound so maybe he'll read this :). With service that pleasant and food *that* good, we'll be going back often. [Incidentally, it's now a small chain - Stamford, Darien, New Rochelle - and their website is coromandelcuisine.com. According the the Times review I just checked out, they even have a good wine list. OK, now I'm sounding like a shill - but really, try this place.]

That I don't know; however, the Wild Oats in Orange is near completion - looking at the site I would guess < 1 month?

Sadly, our experience this evening wasn't close to as good; I'd been looking forward to trying this place, <2 min from our home, but we won't be back.

Now, there *were* good spots: the waitress was very friendly on the rare occasions that we saw her, and both my wife's risotto and our son's sausage/broccoli rabe dish were good (nothing great, but solid - the risotto is their daily special dish and this was scallop/squash/asparagus, well put together). On the down side? Well, the length of wait - over an hour from seating to food - was horrific and the worst single feature; that was the killer in terms of us returning. Foodwise, my gnocci lacked any semblance of taste, which was a pity as they seemed clearly house-made, and the wines were overpriced and bad (I confess I thought prices were a little high in general - $8 for a glass of bad and cheap house red, $20 for risotto - again, nothing exorbitant or deal-breaking alone, but not a plus point). The bread was stale and came with slab butter, no bean dip or even olive oil.

Anyway, you get the picture. Even the check was wildly wrong! Too bad :-(. Probably, if we'd not had such a lack of service, we'd give it a second try - ymmv. For similar food in Milford, though, we'd go to River Street (very similar but better, downtown) or Gusto (just down the Post Road, a little sterile but much more professional). I'm glad we went to Bistro Basque first and had such a positive experience there, so at least one of the new Milford places is a good find :).

Finally made it here, for a 'datenight': called up ~5 p.m. on Thurs to be told 'booked, but patio space available' - in fact, when we opted for a/c they found us a 2-person table inside (although it was, indeed, full). This place is LOUD - so next time we'll wait for autumn and go for the patio - but the food ranged from good (portugese sausage, desserts) to great (white asparagus with ham and manchego, foie gras, paella). Staff were friendly and competent (although it was interesting hearing different descriptions of the same dishes from different staff!), and all-around highly recommended. My mojito was not great, but the food was easily good enough to compensat, frankly. We'll be back soon.