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.

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.