Someone wrote: : A similar request for New England. Am driving from Philadelphia to : Maine the week of May 22. Would appreciate recommendations, en route or : en Maine, for downscale places that serve really good food - usually : places that have been around for 20 or 30 years (or a century or two) : that do one or two things exceptionally well - places where ambience is : secondary to the food - places that would earn four stars and one dollar : sign in a guidebook, if a guidebook would even consider recommending : them. Holly: Two suggestions for Providence: Adesso, on Thayer Street, improbably located behind a CVS. If you like "California Cuisine" this is a very good example of the species. Excellent salads, pastas, brick oven pizzas, fish, beef, etc. Not as smarmy as it sounds, either. The prices run roughly 15-25 per person for dinner, depending of course on how much you drink. Al Forno, I don't remember the address, but one of those nationally known places that people make special trips to visit. This one is worth it if you're willing to splurge. Coming from New York Al Forno really seems like a bargain. From Philly, it will probably still seem pretty reasonable. Food along the lines of Dilullo (better, I think) at somewhat cheaper prices. I haven't been there since 1990, but I recently spoke to a friend in Providence who had eaten there a few weeks ago and said that it is still excellent. I'm pretty sure they don't take reservations. Hot dog: There was a truck called "TFD" (two for a dollar) outside of the Wristen Quadrangle of Brown University, up on college hill. It was still there when I visited the campus last may. I don't eat hot dogs too often anymore, but I used to eat them with relish. I doubt your route will take you through NYC, but if it should you might want to try Gray's Papaya on 8th street at 6th avenue. I walk by there everyday, and they smell and look very good. As for lobster rolls, you definately want to avoid fancy places that sell them for $15. Find a place in a port town along the water, with the sign written in paint on an old shingle. Portsmouth, New Hampshire is a charming town where I have had many good lobster rolls. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of any of the restaurants. If you're interested in the best lobster roll I have ever eaten, you'll have to take the ferry from Portsmouth out to Star Island (in the Isles of Shoals). It's a pleasant place to take a day trip. Anyway, from star island you can rent a row boat and row to the next island, Cedar Island, where the man who lives on the island sells lobster rolls from his house. I don't know whether he sells them this early in the season, however. Huge chunks of fresh lobster, not just claw, either. I am a displaced Philadelphian and am wondering whether _you_ can recommend a new place in Philly for me to try. My impression of the philly restaurant scene is that outside of Manyunk there aren't any really exciting new restaurants in the city. Is this in fact the case? I'm there on weekends fairly often, and I always find myself back at the same places (Shiroi Hana, Magnolia Cafe, Susanna Foo, Cafe Lutecia, etc.) Have fun on your trip. Tim Bartlett
Rhode Island