John Talbott's Paris

Splendid Scottish Seafood (Glasgow and area): The Fish People Cafe, Ingram Wynd, the Ross Priory and Gamba.

The Fish People Café was recommended to us by trusted sources, one of whom had invited me to be a "witness" (witness in Scots apparently means oldest expert left standing not someone in the witness protection program) at a conference convened by an energetic historian at the University of Strathclyde.  Don't ask, it's not rainy/sleety/haily/snowy/floody Paris, it's summer, it's sunny, 70 degree Glasgow.  Anyway, their oysters and fish soup, all with locally sourced seafood were exemplary. The bill; sorry, the historian genius who dreamed the conference up, paid.

 

The Ingram Wynd was another place our host suggested, which touted Scottish food in cool surroundings.  Colette and I had gravlax, haggis, salmon and sticky pudding and were quite pleased.  Our host, again, picked up the bill.

 

 

The Ross Priory is a Conference Center that rivals the now sold-off (by the State of Colorado) but not forgotten Given Institute in Aspen that the University of Colorado Psychiatry Department used for so many years; but that's another story.  Our coffee breaks were enhanced by great cookies and the one lunch I attended featured herring and onion rollmops, salmon, split multi-pea soup and a great strawberry tart.  Cost = no idea.  View over Lock Lomond = priceless.

 

Gamba represented our last real meal in Glasgow before heading back to puddled Paris.  Again, they featured the great products of the seas and rivers of Scotland - hand-dived scallops, halibut with mussels and a chocolate tart with peanut ice cream.  Except for spotty service (which they told us not to tip for since it was rather haphazard) our meal was great and the price right = 101.90 pounds.

Little Moss in Padanaram MA: Just perfect and Providence (RI) Oyster Bar (not so much).

The Little Moss in Padararam MA is new this year and already off to a rip roaring start.  The vibes are young and lively and we 4 started off sharing a "sea-board" of weird items - salmon mortadella, striped bass rillettes and beet cured salmon.

Two of us had a nice piece of wild striped bass, one the bouillabaisse and I had the surprisingly good fried chicken starter.

For dessert we shared the bourbon and blackberry/rhubarb ices - quite good.

With a bottle and glass of wine and two coffees our bill came to $96 a couple pre-tip.

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The Providence Oyster Bar looked like a place nearer our gate at the airport than Legal Seafood so in we went.  Colette's beet salad was OK; but my sampler was disappointing, starting with huge frozen shrimp, pathetic sauces and bivalves lacking character.

With 2 glasses of wine and no coffee our bill was $65.32 before tip.

Eventide Oyster Co in Portland ME: Just as good as Fine Cooking said; Duck Fat: Just as good as always.

The Eventide Oyster Co in Portland Maine is a place touted highly in Fine Cooking this month and with good reason.  Without a doubt the oysters are fabulous, all 4 varieties (of the 11) we tried; and the other items we ordered were tweaks of the traditional (for instance kimchi ice in addition to mignonette sauce with the oysters and a lobster roll with a hot roll and hot lobster) as well as inventive dishes such as a crab roll, BBQ'd octopus, cucumber with crab salad, fresh tomato salad with aioli, kimchi and homemade tea with vodka).  Our bill was $300+ for 12, thus $50 a couple.

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Duck Fat has been a favorite in Portland and despite the horrendous crowd at 11 AM, was still fun.  Colette had a tomato panini without the bread and I the confited duck with bread.  Excellent with some beer, wine and blueberry milkshaken for $50 before tip.

Day 5: Family Reunion: Ard's Farm Stand Restaurant (Lewisburg PA): Just as advertised.

Ard's Farm Stand Restaurant, Lewisburg PA was halfway between Ithaca and Baltimore, thus ideal for a break point, lunch and picking up of dinner.

One fork of the family was just finished eating and I picked up a delicious fried boneless chicken wing and the remains of a blueberry lemonade and decided we were in the promised land.  Colette had a California salad with everything from lettuce to avocado and bacon to chicken and I had pulled pork with chips.

The bill was complicated d/t the addition of fruits and veggies, etc. but I'd definitely stop again if on this route.

Day 4: Finger Lakes Family Reunion: Sapsucker Woods; Moosewood (Ithaca) & Little Venice (Trumansburg): Hitting our stride?

Sapsucker Woods at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a marvel: Colette grew up a few miles from here and insisted we come; and am I glad she did; it's awesome and I'm not a bird person.

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The Moosewood Café, open now for some 40 years, was a revelation when it opened and I recall a meal shortly thereafter as well as its famed cookbook.  For better or worse it hasn't changed much, serving vegetarian and fish food from largely local sources with bio-natural-etc wines & beers.

We were 21 or so, spread out a bit (but more on that later) and I'll just record what Colette and I had: terrific corn chips with just OK guacamole; ab-fab poached and chilled shrimp with a divine classic zippy tomato sauce; a locavore plate (local goat cheese with honey and bread and apples); and a cheese-mushroom quesadilla that was disappointing and characterless.

I have no idea of the bill since my wonderful daughters picked it up.

Go?  Well, as of last night, Colette received a nasty call from the snarky reservation queen who said that her colleague should NOT have combined 3 reservations when Colette consulted her two days ago.  Having 3 reservations for 8 each was OK, but combining them was a "NO NO".  She said that having a 'large party' was not possible on a holiday, that we could pay $1000 to rent the porch dining room.   When told that Colette had been encouraged to combine the reservation by her colleague, she 'huffily' said the reservation would be honored.  Aside from that unfortunate interchange, the staff was wonderful, e.g. service was very good.

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The Little Venice in was the last reunion of the reunion of 28 of Colette's extended family - in one room, all together, was terrific.

Dinners consisted of a salad bar, and choices of chicken parmesan, lasagna and a birthday carrot cake.

Our bill, once again, was picked up by my marvelous daughter. 

 

Day 3 Finger Lakes Family Reunion: Seneca Lake and Hector NY: Women's Rights, Wolffy's, Cayuga Lake Creamery and the Stone Cat: Now I know why everybody is fat.

 

 

No trip by my wife to the area would be complete without a visit to the Women's Rights National Historical Park and Elizabeth Cady Stanton House.

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Wolffy's on the lake near Seneca Falls is a spectacular setting with good wine.

Our dining partners split a soup and salad, Colette had chicken salad and I ordered the special, Fish n chips, thinking one dish was enough.  When I bogged down after one of three fish and 4 fries I looked around and the portion sizes and waist sizes at the other tables attested to why America's epidemic is obesity; a sad commentary.

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We contributed to the epidemic by eating good desserts at the Cayuga Lake creamery albeit sparingly.

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The Stone Cat in Hector was recommended to Colette and features organic, locavore, etc., food on nearby Lake Seneca.

Among our mains were: catfish, pulled pork, a duck breast special and salmon.  All OK.

But the desserts were really what the Stone Cat does to perfections: a raspberry/rhubarb crumble, chocolate cake and lemon cake were all terrific.

Our bill amounted to about $100 a couple.

Finger Lakes Family Reunion 2: Taste of Thai (Ithaca); Purety (ditto) and the Glass Magnolia B&B (Interlaken)

 The Taste of Thai in Ithaca NY came highly recommended and justly so; it was wonderful.  Our wait-guy, who works at a wine store, advised Colette on a great Seneca Lakes wine (me as a male would never ask advice) and we started off with salads with wonderful ginger dressings.

Colette ordered a Chicken satay over the Pad Thai (bad decision) and I had had a Shrimp Ginger Delight that was terrific.

Our bill was $65 without bottled water, coffee or dessert - but hold on!!!!!!

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So, Colette grew up in Ithaca and raved about the Purity Ice cream parlor and today the caramel beurre sale was every bit as good as she remembered and I thought was terrific.

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Tonight we ate at the Glass Magnolia B&B where the male owner was a chef in Orange County and we had mozzarella and tomatoes, salmon, chicken and marble cake.

I have no idea what the cost was since Colette picked up the bill.

 

Finger Lakes Family Reunion 1: Corning NY: The Three Birds: Not up to snuff.

 

The Three Birds in Corning, NY, was the first destination in my wife's family's reunion held every 5 years or so.  Four of us went with high hopes.  The place is absolutely lovely, with a great staff and nice setting but.....

We started off with a Harbor Fish Soup that was really quite good, a baby green and a Caesar salad that were standard and bread that was clearly made with care, in house, with an EVOO sauce, but both disappointing.

Then we moved on to a crab cake, salmon, and swordfish that were OK but no more and I had their signature dish of flash-fried calamari with putanesca sauce that was the most inedible dish of the year.  Our great wait-person asked if she could replace it and I got the Portuguese bean soup that was pretty damn good.

Desserts were a tiramisu (left unfinished by my number 3 grand-child, quite wisely I thought) and a berry crisp, quite OK.

With two bottles of a Cotes de Rhone and no coffee or bottled water, our bill before tip was $151.20.

Go?  For soups and salads and wines and good service.

Canada, the US and French: Some Differences Part II

After several days in my old haunt Toronto, I've come up with some more observations about Canada and the US:

Some things are the same:
The loud American music in restaurants
The dress
The language - "no problem", "like"
Homeless mentally ill talking to the voices not their cellphones

Some things are more in Canada:
Tattoos
Smoking
Transportation
Weird hair coloration
The Salvation Army store's stock

Some things are fewer:
Fatties
Street signs

As for France where everything shuts down at 2 PM Sundays, in Canada, business is booming like in the USA.

Toronto Eats Day 4: Vertical: Another not bad business lunch.

 

Vertical was a resto chosen by my publisher and who was I to quibble.  Since I was chairing the Editorial Board meeting and it would seem both churlish and impossible to conduct business, take photos and eat, I didn't.  But everyone seemed to enjoy the meal greatly; cost, who knows?