TRAVEL
Within the last month I have traveled to St. Paul, MN; Columbus, OH; and Charleston, SC. The best food was in Charleston. I was on business trips, that is one accreditation site visit and two conferences. Shrimp and Grits are heaven.

NEWER RESTAURANTS IN PRINCETON
In the past few months we have become fond of the Calico Grill, behind Cox's Market on Nassau and Camillio's Grill at the Princeton Shopping Center. Calico has become a preferred breakfast spot with slightly Mexican flair to the breakfast entrees. Camillio's is the most authentic Italian food in Princeton. More on both later.

Calico Grill is affiliated with Cox's Market. We have tried their breakfasts and lunches and like the breakfasts better. We have tried the breakfast burritos, quesadillas, and stir-fry. We like them all. They are slightly spicy because of the chorizo. They are also impeccably fresh. Calico serves Small World coffee and we like their version better than the coffee at our other breakfast spots.

Camillio's is in the Princeton Shopping Center on Harrison Street. We have tried lunch and Sunday dinner. The food has been fresh and the chef accomodates special needs such as food allergies. Great pastas and fish. We will need to re-visit because my memory of the food specifics is fading [after several months] other than it provided great pleasure.

Road Trip through some of the American South

Over the Christmas holidays, we traveled through Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virgina. Over the nest few days/weeks, I will describe some of the restaurants we visited on the trip. I will probably focus on Berea KY, Fairfield Glade TN, Greenville & Aiken SC, Charlotte NC, and Blacksburg & Charlottesville VA. We didn't do much food investigation before the trip so most of our experiences are kind of hap hazard.

New Brunswick & Lawrenceville

Try the Piquant Bread Bar and Grill on George Street in New Brunswick. We have ate there several times over the past year. We love the food. The ambience is modern and stylish. The quality of the food is excellent. We think that this is one of our best finds ever. It seems to have become more Indian [in terms of American expectations] this winter. The breads are fabulous, but so are the appetizers and entrees. If you like Indian, but want something that you don't find at the Palace or in the strip malls, there is a different food and ambiance. Some of the dishes may have the same names, but the flavors are often more complex and tasty.

One nicer February day we had lunch at Cheeburger, Cheeburger in Lawrenceville. We both had a great cheeseburger, very good french fies, and excellent battered onion rings. On another visit I had one of their malted milk shakes. All of the food was full flavored and cooked exactly as we ordered. The calories must have been horrific, but it tasted good. As an occasional splurge into nostalgia it would be wonderful. I hesitate to think what eating there regularly might do to an already ample body. The nostalgia is not just from the food, but the ambiance evokes the diner/soda fountain of the 50s. We liked it. We will be back, but not often. They do make salads and if you restrain yourself they might carry a lower calorie load. It is part of a franchised chain, but the burgers are vastly better than the king's or mickey d's. My major criticism is that they don't have any child portions. Thats ok with a couple dinks like us, but the serving sizes seemed to overwhelm the kids we saw. Sometimes parents split one portion between two kids.