StephenG >No smoker can be a real foodie!<

And why not?

Cepar
Because the members of this board have decreed that smoking is intolerable and you can't be a member of any of the good stuff. You are also excluded if you are fat or take anything larger than a 22 in rolly bag for a vacation, despite its length. Tennies are bad form too. We have lots of rules and if you don't agree with us, you are insolent, indolent, incorrigible, sub specied and probably eat on paper plates.
After that, I need a nap. or another hurricane.

I_Jackson, I'm not sure about the burgers, but while standing right in the Florence train station waiting to change trains which were delayed, the smell got to me and I went over to a counter and bought what might have been the best frites I've ever had anywhere -- and I've had some good ones. The place was called MacDonald's.

And Patrick, guess what? Calvin Trillin, the foodie writer, agrees with you!

IIRC, La Princepessa did not.

Thank you for all the responses.

Today I was led from the IHT to http://www.chowhound.com/and this quote:

"Everyone has one in his or her life: the brother-in-law with a collection of 800 takeout menus, the coworker who's always late from lunch because she HAD to trek to one end of town for the best soup and to the other for the best sandwich. Chowhounds know where the good stuff is, and they never settle for less than optimal deliciousness, whether dining in splanky splendor or grabbing a quick slice of pizza. They are the one in ten who live to eat.

We're not talking about FOODIES. Foodies eat where they're told; they eagerly follow trends and rarely go where Zagat hasn't gone before. Chowhounds, on the other hand, blaze trails, combing gleefully through neighborhoods for hidden culinary treasure. They despise hype, and while they appreciate refined ambiance and service, they can't be fooled by mere flash."

The IHT also led to Zagat and Michelin. You can get a 30 day subscription to Zagat for $3.95. Sounds like a good deal for anyone who wishes to plan.

chepar, I recently returned from France. I had my French friend make reservations for us at an orgaanic farm resto months in advance. Everything was wonderful except for a guy at the next table who smoked cigar after cigar through each course and drove the butterflies away who were hovering over the herbs in the garden

Sometimes I'd like to slap an arrogant guy like that silly!

I'd like to smash his cigar in his face...

Boy, that felt so, so good! Now what's for dessert?

cigerette tapas followed by cigars perfumed with truffles.

and followed by dessert. mashed tabacco mixed with orange rind and creme fraiche.

I think I want to throw up!

Hmmm I thought you asked for that menu?

Seriouly now, Chepar, the smell of someone smoking when diners are eating is really foul and it really does change the taste of food for the smoker.
Also most smokers,
if they do so heavily, have their clothes reeking of their habit. I could tell which co-workers were behind me in an elevator by their cigarrete smells.

I was told recently that if a cigar is a really "good" one it won't have that terrible offensive odor.
I wouldn't know, because if DH wants to smoke one he has to go on the patio.
As to the previous posts.........urghhhhhh. I think I need to hurl!!!!!!!

Lol, sorry Anne, I was trying to say dining and smoking do not go together, after dinner, it's perfectly ok for your husband to smoke at the table.

Ira: Just read your "La Princepassa" post. I can't remember all the details--for example,did he and the girls try different MacDonalds in Paris as part of their best pommes frittes survey, too? I have that book somewhere in a box in the basement--should dig it out for my teens to read.

I have not read any book by Trillin since his wife (Alice) died. Someone told me he recently did a hysterical article on the guy the Seinfeld Soup Nazi was supposedly modelled upon (whoa--convoluted sentence!!), so I have something else to add to the reading list.

IIRC,
McD's was found to be good, but there was some place outside Paris that outdid them.

It might have had something to do with blanching in vegetable oil and a final fry with goose fat added.

The quote jsmith provided from chowhound's site made me laugh. It seems they are desperate for the word chowhound not to be seen as just a brand synonym for foodie.

Ignoring their attempt to elevate their own concept I'd agree with some of the point they are making.

I'll ask for recommendations of restaurants for destinations we're visiting and will also read guide books for additional recommendations but I will not centre our plans around the dining options. Rather, I like to have some recommendations up my sleeve incase we are in a particular area come meal time and are either unable to choose between a range of restaurants or unable to find one we think will be nice. But generally we choose mostly according to what we like the look of and occasionally according to recommendations we glean from locals we ask on arrival.