Batavia, New York, Brantford, Ontario, Providence and Warren, Rhode Island

OK, so on a recent pair of trips out to New England from the Midwest and back I can safely say:

1. Batavia, New York: Skip the Applebees; it's way too loud with watered-down drinks, mediocre food and sketchy service.
2. Providence, RI: Nami's on Atwell's Avenue is still a great place for terrific Chinese food.
3. Warren, RI: Metacom Kitchen has a pretty mean burger and a great wine list. Oh, and their fish is superb.
4. Brantford, Ontario, Canada: Gus and Guido's is just OK. Touted as a "Greek Italian Food Experience," it was a bit on the noisy side and the wines were lame but the food was not bad. The service was very friendly, though.

The Gold Eagle Inn in Brookville, Pennsylvania

When it comes to food there's not much available in Brookville it seems. After trying a place in the heart of the village -- where no one was around and the smell was terrible -- we settled for the Gold Eagle Inn near our motel.

Service was nice but the restaurant itself was tired in appearance and even more so in its menu. When was the last time you can remember a relish tray being put out, and with ingredients straight out of a can (or jar presumably)?

The real failure of the evening though was the main course. My wife and I both ordered the cod -- pan-fried with a a crumb crust the menu claimed -- but when it came out it was inedible: wet, mushy, spongy, and no crust. Clearly their efforts at thawing the fish failed but the lack of awareness of that failure was appalling. We sent it back and ordered fish and chips. Basic, but OK.

If our experiences are any indication, there is little to recommend dining at the Gold Eagle.

Food in Grand Rapids, Michigan -- this is gonna surprise you!

The variety, quality and sheer volume of food available in Grand Rapids is nothing short of amazing -- pastries so far have yet to be explored and we'll get to that later this summer.

But otherwise, breakfast, lunch and dinner is available in so many places and of such high quality that it makes the move from Providence all that much easier.

Oh, and one place I didn't photograph this trip -- in early May -- but I posted it once before is Nonna Cafe in Ada. Outstanding.

Rose's for lunch

Marco's for dinner:

morels in puff pastry

risotto

Widow's Luncheon: pastries by the French Tarte:

Licari's for lunch with Virginia and Chuck:

Marie Catribe's for brunch, yes that's right with Chuck and Virginia:

Next up in June: that incredible chocolatier in Grand Haven and our search for French pastries.

Stay tuned!

Metacom Kitchen in Warren, Rhode Island

By last Saturday evening my body had conveniently moved to the recovery phase from some nasty respiratory virus that had plagued me for most of the week. Most importantly for a planned birthday dinner, my appetite was back -- as things turned out, I was going to need it.

We arrived at Metacom Kitchen right at 7pm and were seated at the food bar, in the back of the restaurant overlooking the kitchen. For the next 2-and-a-half hours this would be home. . .

1st: Duck Skin Salad

2nd: Chicken and Mushroom soup

3rd: Vitello Tonnato (my request)

4th: Salmon Belly a la Planche

5th: Seared Scarlet Snapper

6th: Torchon on Foie Gras

7th: Moroccan spiced tenderloin of Colorado Lamb

8th: Chocolate Ganache

The food was incredible: creative, delicious, and well-presented. The quality of the food was almost surpassed by the wonderful service. In a world where restaurants abound, many of them outstanding, Metacom is simply and absolutely one of the best.