The pursuit of haute cuisine takes on epic proportions on French
St. Barts, where chefs all seem to hail from the kitchens of Paris
and Provence.
The pages of the island's weekly Journal de Saint-Barth are
awash in restaurant ads, many of which carry glowing testimonials
from American newspapers and food magazines.
So how does a visitor decide where to dine from among the
60-plus gourmet choices on an island eight square miles in
area?
Although Insider does appreciate a decent magret de canard
(breast of duck) and chilled bottle of Pouligny Montrachet, she
also gets off on less fancy fare.
So it was no surprise that one ad fairly jumped off the Journal
page at her, even though it was jammed between ads awash in award
logos and star ratings.
It helped that the ad was in English, but it was the description
of the Hideaway Restaurant's cuisine that really warmed Insider's
heart: corked wine, warm beer, lousy food.
Wow. Just like at home.
P.S. She did not dine there, but there's always the next
visit.
Really rough
Guidebooks pour into Travel Weekly's offices as regularly as our
issues pour into yours.
Usually the books are accompanied by a note from the publisher
or a brief summary of the book's contents.
So, it was quite a surprise when something other than a review
copy dropped out of a manila envelope from Rough Guides
recently.
These destination guides are published in England, distributed
in the U.S. by Penguin Books and have been described by reviewers
as "authoritative, informative books, written with candid
enthusiasm."
What fell out of the envelope appeared at first glance to be a
large matchbook, with the Rough Guide silhouette logo in the center
depicting a stick figure running from left to right, from rain to
sunshine.
The words "Rough Guide" ran across the top and "smooth shag"
across the bottom, near the Web address.
On the back was the same logo, with the words, "For travel,
music & the Internet, we're the only name worth remembering in
the morning."
The spine of the matchbook or whatever carried the trademark
slogan, "Unmatched Protection."
Insider lifted the flap. This was no matchbook and these were
definitely not matches.
Inside was a pink latex condom with directions and illustrations
for its use.
If Rough Guides meant to get our attention, it scored a success
with this mailing.
We placed the item on an empty desk. It was gone the next
morning.
Orlando ExSPANsion
A long overdue elevated pedestrian walkway will span Orlando's
International Drive when phase one of the expansion of the present
891-room Peabody Orlando is completed in fall 2003.
The 42-story, 1,000-room addition will be the tallest building
in Central Florida.
By 2007, phase two will add another 700 rooms.
An Insider correspondent familiar with the never-ending
vehicular and pedestrian traffic along International Drive and some
intersecting roadways, believes that a dozen more pedestrian
bridges are needed. We kid you not.