I love the clams you used for your rating system. Very cute.

Sounds like some good food. I sure enjoyed the teriyaki place we went to when we visited you.

I have a testimony of Panera Bread and I know it is true.

Your list has made my very hungry…how much longer will you be staying at Hampton Inn?

I have a testimony of Panera as well. I can hardly wait for summer when they bring back their citrus salad (pictured above).

I’ll be here at least through Tuesday night… possibly Wednesday night.

And I leave for Salt Lake Thursday morning. But they say it should be done before I leave.

Tile is in, drywall and paint are in process.

In our neck of the woods there is no fast food and most of the restaurants have a resort attached. Very seasonal. Most of the restaurants close in the winter. That’s ok, cause there over priced and over spiced and seem to have the same pool of chefs going from one to the other. There is an exception. It’s called Farmhouse Inn and it’s not to far from here. We go there on special occasions. It’s one of those places where you eat things you might normally think are disgusting, like squab, and buffalo, and frois gras – but they make it sound so good, and it is. It has a Michelin star. Other than that, we eat in. Last sunday I made grilled lamb sirloin with jalapeno mint jelly, grilled asparagus, and pecan rice pilaf. Tomorrow I’m making duck breast pepper steak with brandy and green peppercorns, crispy stone ground grits, and braised greens with apples and bacon. I’ve got this great new cook book that not only gives you an entree, but the side dishes and drinks that pair well with them, What fun.

I think it would be fun to eat at Paul’s house. 🙂

I really like the berry mango salad at Zuppas.

Paul, I think I need to find a wife like you to cook for me 🙂

Allison – hands off. He’s mine. (I’ll share his meals when you come visit though!)

Cafe Rio and Bajio are our favorites. We could eat at either of them everyday if it was possible. Do they have either of those where you are?

Kaylyn, I LOVE Cafe Rio. And no, there isn’t one up here or I’d be having a Chicken Tostada Salad for lunch today!

I make sure I eat at Cafe Rio at least twice every time I visit Salt Lake….

Cafe Rio is definitely on my list. Sounds like you have some nice restaurants to choose from, mother. 🙂

I’m taking a trip to Paul & Craig’s house. That food sounds amazing.

I love your reviews. 🙂

I sure wish there were a Panera in Bellingham! That was a fantastic place and one I would visit often. I guess I’ll have to drive down regularly and have lunch with you.

We had pretty good italian food this week at Casa Mia. Not Machiavelli’s by any means, but it was enjoyable. Four clams on that one. And we tried a new Mexican place here this week, that was good but not fantastic. I’d be giving it three clams, I suppose.

I’ve been glad I could often have the grilled chicken there, but right now I’m so tired of KFC I don’t need any more for months.

I also ate at Cafe Rio’s in SLC back in the early 90s. And it was good enough that I remember it these many years later. I remember there was also a nice Italian restaurant attached to a really cool bookstore on 15th east, near Westminster college. I just remember the waiter was incredibly attractive, and that I saw him a couple weeks later dancing at the Sun. LOL..

And Ruth’s diner was one of my favorite places in SLC too – up Emigration canyon.

Here, well… in New York there is a wonderful chinese restaurant in Chinatown that Javier and I go to frequently. It’s been there since 1933 and it is a couple stories down in the ground. Long steps down to get there. It has photos of a kajillion famous people who have been there. Great food. It has a 30s feel to it still. Out on the island, my experience has mainly been Colombian cuisine, which I’ve come to love.

Here in New Jersey, I’ve only eaten at Tatiana’s restaurant (little Javier’s mother), and it is Costa Rican. Very good food. There is a Colombian woman living here too tht works for her at the restaurant, and I’m telling you.. .these two women slow cook pork and beef on the stove all day long and I’ve NEVER eaten such good tasting meat and chicken. They know how to do it. Best rice I’ve ever eaten too, but I try to stay away from that.

They don’t do a damned thing for breakfast though (they work till 4am and sleep until noon or 1). Little Javier is used to frootloops and lucky charms before school. Well since I moved in he has been having eggs and toast, and oatmeal and toast.

I hid the fruitloops and lucky charms.. : )