I lied. I said there was "one'' NYC restaurant I’d really like to go back to eat in and, well, here's another:

Even at brunch a short while back, you could tell Le Pescadeux is a spot to watch: There’s a perfect smoked trout omelet and a steak and eggs that might stop your heart for multiple reasons at prices that won’t. And that’s not even counting champagne and chats with Chuck.

Dinner’s what I’d really like to try, preferably with a partner for footsie. The restaurant’s fish-focused Quebec cuisine (harking back to owner Charles Perelmutter’s origins) is on display – and he’s breaking his new chef’s back to please by offering dinner ''duets’' -- a pair of half-sized portions – a great way to showcase what you can do and get a new restaurant’s name out there. Perelmutter chalks it up to “culinary ADD.”

I checked in with Perelmutter to find out about a chef change – the impressive Matthew Ridgway left and has been replaced by Adriano Ricco (clever poaching on Chuck’s part as Ricco’s done stints at BLT Fish and Tabla) – here’s what Chuck had to say about the ‘'duet’' concept:

"Even if I am in a great seafood restaurant I get bored with my fish halfway through, and look to see what I can 'mooch' from others, usually with no success (people don't share anymore). I decided I would not be bored again and now I, and my guests, can enjoy two different half orders of fish prepared two different ways without getting their reaching fork slapped away.''

Right now, I’d take the grilled octopus and Wild Rock bass with a little neck nage … kick the tires on a fun concept and see what the new chef can do.

Le Pescadeux - MAP
90 Thompson St
New York
212-966-0021
lepesca@yahoo.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

There’s a lot to notice when we arrive at WD-50. The most outstanding is a booth of guys who look like they could be fraternity brothers, yet they’re silent as monks, paying close attention to what they’re eating; the antennae are up, they love the challenge.

You have to be up for the ride. Chef Wylie Dufresne bristles at the thought of preparing anything leaning toward making standard bistro fare for his customers. He’s just not interested.

What would he rather do? Stuff like floating plump scallops and pine needle udon in a bowl of grapefruit dashi. He deconstructs eggs benedict. He chars avocado. (?!?!) Even if his family is in the business you have to wonder how he thinks of this stuff, but when you put bites in your mouth, the combinations and preparations will stand hairs on end and leave you wondering how no one thought of it before.

Daniel Boulud’s kitchen at Daniel has a beautiful wall of spices sourced from around the world while Dufresne’s wall has pectins, starches, and syrups. Yet the adjectives Dufresne cuisine inspires are words like "clean'' and "clear'’ – you leave feeling like you’ve eaten a healthy Japanese dinner. His parsnip tart somehow makes me rethink my understanding of the vegetable. Parsnips!

Some argue the validity of this type of experimental cuisine -- they should eat here to join the converted.

Finally, all hail Dufresne for having the confidence to keep and highlight the work of pastry chef Alex Stupak. Instead of a clash of egos (that would usually lead to the latter getting dumped), you just sit there and say "wow’' all meal long.

Count on about $65 plus drinks if you go à la carte. The tasting menu runs $140 plus $75 for wine pairing.

WD-50
50 Clinton St.
New York
212-477-2900
www.wd-50.com

Full disclosure: I ate at the restaurant while working on an upcoming story about Dufresne and his collaboration with chef Daniel Boulud. That said, Dufresne didn’t realize we were in the restaurant for dinner until dessert was over and the check was paid.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

They could serve Spam in the can here and I’d still come back. With a view this good, it really doesn’t matter what you eat. At Alma, it’s all about the view of southern Manhattan from the roof.

I joined friends here -- they were nibbling on sturdy Mexican food -- and accidentally figured out a peculiar system that allows you to bypass the restaurant’s Mexican-themed drink offerings, get a tasty microbrew at the b51 bar downstairs (I recommend the Sixpoint Ale), then walk it topside and enjoy it with your guacamole and fish tacos.

“It’s almost winter!” you cry?

No worries -- the roof deck is still open on the weekend and imagine it to be just as blissful watching an autumn sunset or when the snow flies.

Alma - MAP
187 Columbia Street Brooklyn, NY 11231
718.643.5400
www.almarestaurant.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Now that I’m back home and typing up a bushel of NYC blogs, the one place I really want to go back to is Brooklyn’s Fort Defiance. Not only are the drinks top notch, chef Sam Filloramo wowed me while, thanks to some sort of new restaurant timing/shipping glitches, he was still working from a half-empty* kitchen.

His deviled eggs were so good, I went home and told my mom about them and if that wasn’t enough to get me to want to go back, the ever-changing menu they now post on their Web site does: rabbit and chorizo hash, oysters Rockefeller, pan-fried catfish … my word.

Apparently, they even do breakfast and all I can do is imagine the possibilities.

I’m interested to see how the combination of a serious drinks bar combined with chef who’s making his mark pans out. It can only be good.

Fort Defiance - MAP
365 Van Brunt St
Brooklyn, NY
+1 347-453-6672
www.fortdefiancebrooklyn.com/

*Apparently, in mid-September, after the equipment arrived, a health inspector stopped in to check the kitchen and found gas equipment without gas service - like a car with an empty gas tank - and decided the restaurant would be better off closed for the week until they got the pipes hooked up… go figure.

Click here to see my Boston Globe Travel story, “Small Wonders” - featuring an interview with Fort Defiance owner and drinks expert St. John Frizell.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Chef Daniel Boulud recently picked up a third Michelin star for his restaurant, Daniel, only a few weeks after I spent an hour interviewing him for a Centurion Magazine story.
I was impressed by his attachment to the city – at this point, he’s more New Yorker than Frenchman and when I asked what was most "New York'' about Daniel, he replied with a bit of native French impishness: “Moi.”
…and???
“Service – it’s unique to NYC,” he says. “Europeans always find something in the gentilesse of the people here.”
Clearly, this Frenchman has lost his way, giving up his Gallic roots and praising service.
What turns out to be most impressive about Boulud is his openness to outside influences – he is a big fan of experimental chef Wylie Dufresne of NYC’s WD-50 and Basque chef Juan Mari Arzak.
For my story, Boulud works to create a tasting menu with Dufresne, and there’s a huge Asian influence in one of the plates he suggests, pairing scallops with miro, miso, and black garlic.
My brow arches.
“Nothing to do with French,” he says flatly.
It’s like he’s cut off the cuffs.
Three stars, indeed.
…
For a little bit of back and forth between Francois Simon and the New York Times, check out their differing reviews of Boulud’s new restaurant, DBGB.
FS said.
NYT said.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Courtesy photo by T. Schauer

The Food Leprechaun strikes again.

We found SoHo’s 10-seat Snack by walking in front of it -- all three paces of the facade’s width. The name is odd for a sit-down Greek restaurant, but it’s a perfect lunch spot: The hummus is deep-flavored, brightened by lemon, and there’s a fish roe spread that’s pure sea-salty goodness.

Two doors down, there’s an even tinier establishment – Porto Rico Importing – a four-seat coffee shop with three beautiful ladies holding court on a bench out front. We sit with them, sip an espresso and watch the world go by.

Snack - MAP
105 Thompson St, NYC
+1 (212) 925-1040

Porto Rico Importing
107 Thompson St. NYC

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

The staff of the Ashmont Grill in Dorchester loves to dress up, making Halloween a much-anticipated holiday for the lively crew. Join them for their annual Halloween Bash this Saturday, Oct. 31, starting at 5:30 p.m. and running till 2 a.m. Reserve your spot for dinner, and warm up with signature cocktails like their Ashmont Apple Toddy, The Great Pumpkin, BooBerry, and The Berkshire Manhattan. When the evening begins to fade into black, the DJ starts spinning, and dancing follows, with raffles and prizes in between. You can party with the other spirited guests if you call 617-825-4300 for reservations.

Our gang watched late-summer jazz in Madison Square Park, but eyes rolled when we saw the line at the Shake Shack. It snaked hundreds of feet from the order window out through the park gates.
“What about the secret burger place?” said Maria.
We all stared and she smiled and dragged her toe in the dirt like she might not share her secret. It was rather sexy.
We got her to spill the beans and six of us bolted uptown by bike and subway to the … Parker Meridien. A burger joint in one of the city’s fanciest hotels? Hard to figure.
The lobby was everything you’d expect: high ceilings, artwork and fancy bars and restaurants … but it smelled like burgers.
Sure enough. A David Lynch-esque floor-to-ceiling curtain juts out into the lobby concealing the secret space. Approach and you’ll notice a skinny corridor with a neon-sign hamburger and a right-pointing arrow at the end.
Inside, it’s night and day; the space looks like a cross between Arnold’s Drive-In from “Happy Days” and my fraternity house basement. The burgers are great - you get to choose the cooking temperature and usually, you can elbow your way to a just-opened table right when they call your order number.
A good burger joint in one of the city’s fanciest hotels. Go figure.
Count on around $15-$20.
Burger Joint – MAP
119 W 56th St
New York, NY
+1 212-708-7414

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Years ago, when I cooked at the Left Coast’s Betelnut, a hidden army of wizened Chinese men would come in to roll dumplings in the basement. These quiet, artistic men were lost in their craft, turning dough into flat discs that, with a twist of the fingers, would encase whatever filling they put inside: crustaceans, meat, vegetables, love.

They would make what seemed like thousands at a time and, unlike the other cooks in the kitchen, once that task was done, so were they.

My first visit to Joe’s Shanghai was part of a get-to-know-you weekend with a former sweetie’s parents a decade ago. Then as now, there’s a reason the grease-splattered walls are festooned with pictures of mayors and glitterati with their arms swung around the owners: Joe’s dumplings are the bomb.

Instead of searing something (like a steak) and hoping all the tasty juices stay inside, here, the pork and crab goodness is held neatly inside the dumpling.

Skewer one with a chopstick and sip the juice that fills the spoon, or take a bite and blush as it runs down your chin.

Shudder with happiness as you swallow.

Joe’s Shanghai – count on about $10-$15.
While on their site, do not miss the “Kill Soup Dumpling” video.

Three Locations – I went to Chinatown
9 Pell Street
New York, New York 10013
+1-212-233-8888

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Last year at this time, William "Chopper" Young of Wellfleet, Mass, shucked his way into first place at the Galway International Oyster Festival, becoming the first American to win in 34 years. Last month, Young returned to Galway and took second place at the 55th Guinness World Oyster Opening Championship, opening 30 oysters in 2.40 minutes, coming in one second behind the winner while a crowd of 1,600 cheered them on.

Speaking of oysters, the ninth annual Wellfleet OysterFest is taking place Oct. 17 and 18. Young is still the reigning US champ, and you can see him demonstrate his speed and skill on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Other weekend highlights include a festival along Main Street, an oyster farming talk, oyster cooking demonstrations, guest speakers, live music, a shucking competition, and oysters galore.

Posted by Necee Regis, Globe Correspondent

Cape Cod’s present and past shucking champs return to compete in the two-day Oyster Shuck-Off at the annual Wellfleet OysterFest Oct. 16-17. Last year’s champ, James Grey, faces serious competition from at least 20 other entrants, among them Barbara Austin, winner the previous two years. When opening each tray of 24 local oysters, entrants must remember that the mollusks’ final appearance on the half shell counts as much as speed. The top prize is $1,000. Audience members bid on the opened oysters. The rest of the 9th annual fest revolves around a 5-K road race, arts and crafts fair, food tastings and talks, demonstrations by American oyster shucking champion William “Chopper” Young Jr., walking tours, music, and a spaghetti supper. (See website for required reservations and fees for some programs.) The festival is sponsored by SPAT, a nonprofit organization that promotes the local shellfish industry. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Main Street, Wellfleet, Mass. Visit the website for schedule and parking information. No pets allowed.

We can’t tell you what this year’s mystery meat will be, but if you book ahead for the 54th annual Wild Game Supper at the Bradford, Vt., United Church of Christ, you’re certain to taste bear, moose, buffalo, elk, venison, wild boar, rabbit, and pheasant with rice. Calvin Trillin once called this folksy dinner on the Saturday before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21 this year) the “Super Bowl of church suppers.” It’s the perfect diversion for stick season in northern New England, but seats are very limited and the reservation process is very strict. Requests cannot be postmarked BEFORE Oct. 19, but wait much longer and you may not get a seat. Prices are $25 for adults, $12 for children under 10. Send a check made out to Bradford United Church of Christ (or BUCC) along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a note indicating when you’d like to eat. Seatings are at one-hour intervals from 2:30-6:30 p.m. (Be sure to note if you’re willing to eat at any time if your slot is full.) Send check, SASE, and time request to UCC Wild Game Supper, P.O. Box 861, Bradford VT 05033.

Posted by Patricia Harris and David Lyon, Globe correspondents

Photo of volunteers serving the Bradford Game Supper by David Lyon for the Boston Globe

Across from Buddakan, we seek solace on top of Hotel Gansevoort in New York City. Fat chance. Up top, a hundred drunk kids in Prada are dancing their brains out while some dude plays drums on a bucket to accompany some loud music. Fun for another night.

We taxi north, walk through the lobby of the Hudson Hotel and get in the elevator. It lets us out on a deck halfway up the side of the building and we find a quiet nook. The city floats so calmly at our feet, it doesn’t matter that we’ve ordered another incredibly expensive and poorly-crafted drink. We’re paying for the view and the calm.

Worth every penny.

Hudson Hotel
356 West 58th St.
New York
212-554-6000
www.hudsonhotel.com

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

No boat needed for this water race. Just one hollowed out pumpkin! The second annual Giant Pumpkin Regatta and Festival features local business leaders, students, and others racing in giant hollowed-out gourds on Lake Champlain in a competition of size and speed. Yes, the vessels are hollowed out gourds. The event includes food vendors, pie eating contests, pet costume contests, and entertainment for all ages on the picturesque Burlington, Vt., waterfront. Regatta is Sunday, Oct. 11. For details, visit online.

Photo courtesy State of Vermont

The 27th annual Stowe Foliage Arts Festival is widely known as a festive marketplace. In addition to the over 200 juried fine art and craft exhibitors showcasing pottery, blown glass, fine furniture, clothing, weavings, leather, original art, and photography, the ambience is fueled by food, live entertainment, and an array of kids’ activities. The Vermont cheese, beer ,and sausage tent makes this a unique affair. The event runs all weekend long -- Oct. 9-11. For more information, visit online.

Photo courtesy Stowe Arts

I was late for an interview at Fort Defiance.

I took the subway. I took a bus. I ran.

I was also hungry.

While I was running, I passed the Brooklyn Ice House and it was about that time when I smelled the barbecue.

The owner was sitting on a bench out front with some friends and I asked if I could get a quick pulled pork sandwich. Truthfully, the three of them looked so relaxed and friendly, I just wanted to sit with them for an hour.

The owner brought me inside - fantastic and saloon-like, a bar and a place to hang out. I watched a father and daughter sitting at in the corner, playing Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots.

My favorite part? At a serious beer bar, I asked what the owner would recommend to go with my sandwich.

“PBR”

Pabst Blue Ribbon.

She could have said something that cost twice as much -- and I would have enjoyed it -- but for a guy who’s running late and might not have a ton of time to appreciate what he’s eating, she stuck with something good. And cheap. My whole mini-meal cost $7. Woohoo!

Good thing she didn’t ask me to marry her.

Brooklyn Ice House
318 Van Brunt St.
Brooklyn
718-222 1865

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

“The Shake Shack?” asked a friend, “That place is a gimmick.”

I brought another friend when I went. We had burgers for breakfast.

That might be a bit of a stretch, but not by too much. We got there at around 11. On a nice day, the Shack has a line that stretches clear across Madison Square Park. I have no idea how long you’d have to wait, but I’ve got no desire to find out.

We ordered two cheeseburgers and two black and whites and, feeling generous, I told my pal I’d pick up the tab.

“Twenty-three dollars,” said the woman at the register.

Ai-yeeee!

It’s still worth it as a special treat. Plus, it’s a good burger and I had struck out looking for really good burgers on a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest. It’s not perfect, but there’s a friend, a seat in the park, and a happy mouthful.

Shake Shack
Madison Square Park (not to be confused with the faraway Madison Square Garden)

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Almost 75 years since Richard Halliburton swam the Panama Canal for a 38-cent toll, the world wonder remains a rite of passage with a difference: Instead of a waypoint to somewhere else, Panama’s capital city teems with fascinations, as I discovered when the captain announced our canal transit was delayed.

Nothing prepared me for the high density and intensity of the city, likened by realtors to Miami’s South Beach without the attitude problem or the next Hong Kong. Gone, the gun-toting G.l.s of yesteryear. Phrases like “ex-pat revolution” and “retirement economy” pepper casual conversations. Amador, the staging area for yachts entering the canal’s Pacific side, is a trendy address of boutique bars and eateries, whose palm-lined promenade was built with 18 million yards of canal-excavated rock.

Downtown, 100-story condos compete for airspace on a waterfront so hemispherical, it bends like a scene in a fisheye lens.

Some of my favorite things from a too-short stay:

*Friendly, inexpensive taxis. $3 takes you anywhere. Almost every driver is a willing guide.

*Ceviche at the fish market. The freshest fish, octopus, shrimp, and squid, marinated in lemon juice, served take out or in the upstairs restaurant of Mercado de Mariscos, a lively fish market at Avenida Balboa and Calle 15 Este, Calidonia. An equally amazing fruit and vegetable market, Mercado Público, is next door.

Want dining as entertainment, all the show you’ll need is on display at Buddakan. The place was officially outed by “Sex and The City” and now (fortunately? unfortunately?) is full of mini Carrie Bradshaws. I’m not a fan of this form of pomp, yet I ate it up; it’s impossible to stand at the top of the stairway and not look slack-jawed down into the main dining room.

For its part, the food is up to the task. Buddakan is the East Coast cousin of Betelnut – the San Francisco restaurant where I once worked as a cook – high end Asian fusion that’s very well thought out like long beans with shrimp and soy and a rather exquisite Peking duck salad served French style with frisée and a poached egg.

There are a few cracks showing, a pricey martini arrives miraculously quickly from the packed bar yet it’s barely cold, and I’ll leave more than half of it on the table at the end of the night.

Later, our astute waiter asks how we liked our appetizers.

Me: I really liked the duck.

Him: Yes, the duck salad is really good.

We both ignored talking about the short ribs.

These are quibbles. We were here for the show and got it in spades – Carrie might have to elbow her way back in, but she won’t be disappointed. Dinner also turned out to be rather reasonably priced for a special treat kind of place – about $50 per person with drinks and a doggy bag full of lunch for the next day.

Buddakan
75 9th Ave, New York, NY‎
212-989-6699‎

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

Lots of little things going on Chez Ramulaud.

What I love about Paris is that I lived on and off for a year near a place this good and never knew it was there. Then again, I lived even closer to the Bistrot Paul Bert, which got all the little things right and costs the same; Ramulaud is more of a mixed bag.

Walk in and there’s a funny feeling like the place has both been there for a while and that they’ve just moved in because the walls are too white and the lights too bright. Appetizers are good ideas that just miss the mark – a tartare of veal, gambas, and avocados has lots of fun texture but wades in mayonnaise. "Chips'' of pigs’ feet and ears sound fantastic if you’re into that sort of thing, but this thin, they just taste greasy. Vegetable preparations are well thought-out yet the raw products seem like they’re from the cheap grocery store down the street.

From here on out, however, the problems are erased. Sautéed slices of andouillette atop a salad are crowned with a poached egg. There’s great play between the offal, the mustard-y vinaigrette and hidden lardons and lightly caramelized red onions. Lamb chops are dredged in Parmesan and pink on the inside. A beautiful Fleurie dispatches doubts about Beaujolais.
Dessert sums it up: a chocolate cake drools salted caramel, the underside just slightly (and wonderfully) scorched; my companion starts moaning with pleasure.

Meanwhile, I can’t figure out why the top of my otherwise tasty crème brulée isn’t scorched enough. At the next table, someone has ordered a skimpy-looking Paris-Brest, Paul Bert’s incredible signature dessert.

I enjoyed the meal more than it sounds but can’t think of a better way to remind customers of the better place to eat.

Chez Ramulaud
269 rue Faubourg St Antoine
75011 PARIS
011 33 (0)1 43 72 23 29

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I recently moved to a neighborhood where I don’t know where to eat … disconcerting for a food writer.

At the end of a rainy Monday in the center of town, both places I wanted to go for steak frites were closed. I retreated to my neighborhood, dragging my friend behind me and getting to the point where we couldn’t make a decision.

We circled two places, exhausted and not really caring anymore, finally settling on a place that seemed pretty but expensive (Belleville’s Le Zephyr, for the curious). We sat and picked out our steaks and I did the math; it was going to cost 80 euros for a meal we really didn’t care about.

I looked across the table and said: “Chinese takeout and cheap beer?”

We got up immediately.

Best decision of the week.

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Le Fumoir is a melting pot for the mid-level hoi polloi. At any given point, you might bump into the waitress who couldn’t care less, the impeccably-dressed writer who’s actually getting something done, the maître d’ who says "I am a snob'' simply in the way he adjusts the blinds, smiling bartenders, tourists who realized they’ve lucked into a good find, and a woman who’s got a good 25 years on her lover, both looking happy as clams. (I’ve recently learned that her breed is known as a cougar – more power to her.)

There are lots of nonclient quirks for better and for worse: a Costes-brothers-of-the-1950s style space with big, beautiful lacquered bathrooms, paired with a vaguely Asian menu theme. And maté. Surprisingly good maté, served in a big gourd with a bombilla and a big iron teapot of hot water.

Most places have a clientele you can lump into a group, but here in the middle of town, a stone’s throw from the Louvre’s Cour Carré, it’s what the French would call Le Melting Pot.

It shoudn’t stick.

It sticks.

Pass the maté.

Le Fumoir
6 Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny
Paris
011 33 (0)1 42 92 00 24

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

Photo by Joe Ray for The Boston Globe

I’ve lived in Taunton, a sleepy little southeastern Massachusetts city between Boston and Providence, for about 30 years, and if you ever told me there was anything here worth traveling to – besides the glorious and festive holiday lighting of Taunton Green every year – I’d have thought you crazy.
Enter the Lopez boys, Arturo, David, and Jose, all hailing from the Guadalajara area of Mexico and who in June opened El Mariachi, a new and very good Mexican restaurant on the historic green.
I’d long thought locating any business in the struggling downtown would be folly, much less a full-service restaurant, but the place has been doing well since opening, filling all 170 seats on busy weekends and coming close to it on weeknights. And for good reason: The food, from a house specialty, arroz con camarones, to all manner of enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas, tacos, and a wide range of other entrees, is some of the best Mexican you’ll find for miles around. The interior is full-out Mexican motif (and much of the staff are Mexican and more than willing to help you with your Spanish) with art, decorations, chandeliers coming from the old country including a pair of ornately carved ornamental benches in the waiting area.
There is a history of Mexican restaurant proprietorship here. Jose Lopez is co-owner of an Acapulcos restaurant in Norwood and his brother-in-law and fellow co-owner of that store, David Brambila, owns a dozen other Acapulcos, mostly in Massachusetts with two in Connecticut.
Best tables are toward the front with a great view of the Taunton Green, which can also be had by dining and drinking in the restaurant’s adjacent cantina.

Posted by Paul E. Kandarian, Globe correspondent

Photo by Paul E. Kandarian for the Boston Globe

PARIS – Grey day. The kind that makes you wear extravagant clothing in hopes they’ll create a break in the clouds. Parisians, a thin-blooded lot who put on cold-weather clothing at the drop of a hat, use days like this to break out their scarves and winter coats while the rest of us are fine in a long-sleeved shirt.

If you go out on a day like this, you tend not to stray too far. I rode my bike to meet a friend for lunch at pizzeria Maria Luisa behind the Canal Saint Martin, an area larded with good neighborhood restaurants.

It poured once we were inside, but it didn’t matter. The pizza (red sauce, mozz, anchovy) chased clouds and when I took a spin around the restaurant floor, all the different pies looked just as good. A kid at the table next to us got a kid-sized pizza and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see that on the menu. Nice touch.

Nitpicks: my crust could have been done underneath a bit more, my friend’s salad came with a ricotta that, curiously and distractingly, was slightly sweet. Avoid or refuse the table shoehorned into a dead space by the bathroom.

But these are little things. Using my Sicilian scale, this would have been a very respectable Pizza Sette, on a Parisian scale, however, Pizza Neuf.

Maria Luisa – Pizzeria Napoletana
2 rue Marie et Louise
75010 Paris
011 33 1 44 84 04 04

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.

I love a good place hidden in plain sight. I’d walked by La Fresque, smack in the center of Les Halles, 100 times before a neighborhood friend proposed dinner there a few years back. I still remember trying ostrich steak for the first time – a perfect presentation to get you over the hump and make you want to try it again because you like it. I also liked the idea of everyone walking by, oblivious to a good find.

A little while ago, we went back for lunch and a 14-euro menu included a light pumpkin flan with a curry cream sauce and a decent steak. My friend, a stickler for a good chevre chaud salad, wasn’t doing cartwheels, but pronounced herself satisfied.

More than that, I liked sitting under the big awning, protected from the rain and watching the world go by.

La Fresque
100, rue Rambuteau
011 33 (0)1 42 33 17 56

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Globe travel correspondent Joe Ray writes his own blog, Eating The Motherland and contributes to the English language version of Simon Says! the French food and lifestyle blog run by French food critic Francois Simon.