My Plate or Yours?

Migas

This post originally appeared in the Bloomington Herald Times on March 22, 2006

We've all got our favorite vacation spots. Cancun wasn't one of mine.

I had been warned, of course. All the tourist books pointed out that it was, well, touristy, but the biggest disappointment was that it was so completely un-Mexican.

I don't know what it's like now, but 20 years ago, when you booked a stay in one of Cancun's shining white high rises on the beach with their overly air- conditioned French and Italian restaurants, you could be anywhere on Earth.

Mexico? Maybe, but you had to look hard.

 

Falafel

This post originally appeared in the Boomington Herald Times on March 8, 2006

The Internet is a fanatic's best friend - it helps you find all the other people in the world who are seriously obsessed with the same things you are. This can be bad if you are bent on evil ends, but it you are interested in something benign, then it can be a godsend for helping you tap into the buzz.

How else would I have ever found L'As du Falafel, the dinky little dive of a place in Paris ' 4th arrondissement that serves one of the best sandwiches in the world? According to the vast array of online fans who are as hooked on it as I, the falafel at L'As (which means the Ace) are as good as (or better than) the ones you'll find in Israel.  I don't know about that, but I do know I dream about it when I am not in Paris  and make a beeline for it when I am. With all the glorious French food to be had in that city, this funky little Israeli place is the one stop I unfailingly make every time.