No.

By the way, I've done a search myself. You can pull up the answer if you know where to look (and I think you do) -- there's really one place to look anyway.

evian?
algeria?

Yep, DT.

The film, of course, is Pontecorvo's "Battle of Algiers." Supposedly the Pentagon has made this required viewing as an illustration of guerilla warfare.

Algeria is not European, I guess -- but I don't think that I violated the rules that cmt set out in the thread. :-)

So you can give us our next clue.

< This is a brand name (5 letters, 4th = "a"), but it's also because of talks here that this country essentially gained its independence (country has 7 letters). >

Somehow, I didn't realize that "HERE" means the place/brand name. I thought "HERE" = the US. No wonder why I was pulling my hair out! =-O
Need some more coffee...

I guess you do need to drink more coffee. :-)

Actually searching imdb by plot and "independence" will turn up the film "Battle of Algiers." It's quite a good film.

Clue: This film, about students in a program named for a Dutch priest, headlines this actress although she only appears in it for a few minutes.

Film: 2 words - 1st word is 8 letters, the 2nd letter is an "A" from Evian. 2nd word is 9 letters.

Dutch Priest: 1 word - 7 letters. 2rd letter is also an "R" from Algeria.

Actress: 2 words - 1st word is 6 letters. 2 word is 6 letters with the 2nd letter an "A" from Algeria.

Maybe I'll get it this time.
Movie: L'Auberge Espagnole
Priest: Erasmus
Actress: Audrey Tautou

Yeah, I just missed it.

I was thinking of seeing this movie -- maybe if I had seen it I would've been faster. :-)

yk, you got it. I watched it over the weekend. I found it to be quite enjoyable. I have a bit of a thing for Judith Godreche.

111op- a quick note. I just realized that the price I gave you for the NJT/SEPTA was wrong. It should be about $30r/t (about $15 for a r/t NJT offpeak, & $14 r/t SEPTA). I told you, math is my weakest subject (well, maybe physics too). You can also take Greyhound, which is slightly more expensive, but also faster (~2hr).

Thanks. $30 sounds cheap enough. I should investigate more.

This clue makes me salivate...

The chef/owner of this 3* Michelin restaurant is known for matching food with wine. His signature dish is a duck dish roasted with spice & honey; this dish has a peculiar name as it is named after 3(?) ancient Roman epicures. The restaurant is decorated by a designer in the "new art" style.

So, name the following:
Restaurant 5,6 (2nd letter of 2nd word is "a")
Chef 5,9
Signature dish 6,7 (1st letter of 2nd word is "a")
Designer 5,9 (2nd letter of last name is "a")
"a" taken from Audrey Tautou

Lucas Carton
Alain Senderens
Canard Apicius
Louis Majorelle

Yes. back to you.

Clue: This is simultaneously the title of a short story (which is pretty amusing) and the title of an opera. Title = 2 words (first word = 3 letters, 2nd word = 4 letters, 4th = "e").

A pretty recent book by a rising star (if not a star) already uses the name of the author of the short story as the name of the protagonist of the book. Identify this star/rising star: First name = 6 letters, last name = 6 letters

Minor correction -- (if not a star already): put the already in the parentheses

What I'm trying to say is that you can very much argue that this writer is already a star. But (s)he is still relatively young.

The Nose, Jhumpa Lahiri?

Wow. That's quick. How did you connect the dots? I thought that this would be difficult and I can work in peace for a bit. :-)

Obviously you've the next clue.

By the way, Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for her first short-story collection -- which is quite unusual. She was born in London but raised in the US.

Gogol wrote the short story. Shostakovich wrote the opera.

It still took almost 20mins!
I searched under "short story same name opera" and after a few pages found the Nose.

Next clue:
This brand of clothing, named after its founder, is the epitome of American culture. It wasn't until the mid-1980's when it was discovered that the founder was from a small town in Bavaria. His birth house has since been converted to a museum.

Founder: 4, 7 (last letter of first name is "i")
Town: 10 ("i" is 9th letter)
"i" from Lahiri