[Sca-cooks] What the tourist cannot know

[Suey]

Lilinah wrote the below which I consider cool. You guys are so far ahead 
of us in foreign countries. My US college roommate and I went to a local 
restaurant two years ago between Houston and Galveston and we had the 
best meal on earth. I don't remember the name of the village or the 
place. She took her boyfriend back there and could not find it.
Sometimes even in the US we are not as organized as we want to be. 
Writing down the name of the place, the town et al  is  bit different 
from the local tv show, its about where you were, what you enjoyed, not 
what your local tv wants to advertize.
Suey
> Well, i can make a plug for a local TV show here in the San Francisco 
> Bay area, aired on our PBS channel.
>
> It's called "Check, Please! Bay Area". On each show three "ordinary" 
> locals pick their favorite restaurant, then all three people visit 
> all three restaurants, and have a discussion about them. Sometimes 
> everyone is happy with all three, sometimes people can have very 
> strong opinions or particular expectations.
>
> Most of the restaurants are in the $15 to $30 per meal range ($30 is 
> moderate for a nice restaurant). Some are extraordinarily expensive - 
> so either for the well-heeled or the confirmed foodie. A few are not 
> cheap but are memorable and unusual experiences, like the restaurant 
> that's out in the Bay on a boat.
>
> Apparently it's a spin-off of a show that originated in Chicago, on 
> the Chicago area PBS station. And there's also a spin-off show for 
> South Florida.
>
> For the San Francisco Bay area show:
> http://www.kqed.org/checkplease
> and
> http://www.kqed.org/tv/programs/index.jsp?pgmid=14084
> (not quite the same pages)
> Show segments are viewable on-line.
>
> Although most restaurants are in San Francisco, the others are 
> located all around the Bay, sometimes even a bit of a drive north. 
> Many are neighborhood restaurants, and probably don't show up in 
> guide books, although many do turn up in Zagat guides.
>
> Zagat publishes restaurant guides for a few specific US cities - here 
> it's the whole Bay area, but listed on their site under "San 
> Francisco" - based on recommendations by locals, so they're useful 
> for anyone spending a few days in certain major US cities.
> http://www.zagat.com
> I gather they also have hotel guides, too, although I've never seen one.
>
> Someone sometimes called Urtatim
>