$40 a Day: Best Eats in Town

Before I opened Rachael Ray: Best Eats in Town on $40 a Day, I made a mental note of four places where I have taken people who raved about the experience and food at these low-cost venues. I decided that I would check to see if Rachael had spotted these sleepers as well. The first is a little hideaway in Cambridge where I often bring friends, family, and out-of-town guests for great beer and food called Grendel's Den. Everyone raves about how great the place is and ask to be taken back on later visits. Rachael found it, too, but was low on money when she arrived so she mainly had a beer. But she enjoyed meeting a Harvard lawyer there. As a fellow Harvard lawyer, I'm pleased she mentioned that aspect of the Den. I've been going there for over 30 years and have loved every visit. The food, Rachael, is better than the draft beer. Come back and try it! The second place was in Rome, where everyone I know loves to eat the fried artichokes at Pompiere. Yes! Rachael spotted it and ordered the right dish. That's pretty impressive when there are so many great, inexpensive restaurants in Rome. The third place was one I found when one of my sons was in graduate school at Bennington in Vermont, The Apple Barn & Country Bake Shop. Yes! Rachael ordered the required apple pie. The fourth was to enjoy wine, bread, and cheese in Europe. Rachael figured out this is a great thing to do in Paris. You win, Rachael, you do know how to pick great, inexpensive meals and snacks. The book is also filled with lots of color photographs and a few recipes of mostly simple dishes. If you have seen lots of her shows, you'll feel like you are reading through a well-prepared scrapbook. The main drawbacks of the book are the following: Even major metropolitan areas (like Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rome, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, and Washington, D.C.) sported only three or four choices. You could obviously do a while book on each one. Tiny towns (Cooperstown, Grand Canyon, and Sedona) get just the same amount of attention. In the bigger areas, you could spend the better part of the day driving from one locale to another. In the big cities, you could spend an extra $40 a day in parking to get to some of these spots and stay there for a meal. There's no attempt to integrate the eating into a reasonable day of sightseeing. This material is already very dated. With time, it will be less valuable. There's not much logic behind the recipes that are selected. You could get more complicated ones from any of Rachael's recipe books. So what's my advice? Borrow the book at the library if you are planning to go to one of these cities. Check to see if the places are still in business, look up how far apart they are, and investigate whether there's free parking or public transportation available at modest cost. And look forward to some won

I love this book. I enjoy traveling and eating at new and different places. This book was enjoyable to read and informative. Rachael Ray has so much energy it is fun to watch her show. Reading the book puts you right there even if you can't travel to each town. I recommend this book to everyone looking for new a varied tastes in eating enjoyment.

I was so happy to receive this book. It has good information for places I can visit when I do get time to travel. I watch Rachael Ray's $40 a day show often and enjoy it alot. Food is one of the reasons I love to travel. It is fun to see new places and try some of the foods in different parts of the world. These little out of the way places are so fun to read about, and reading about places near where I live is also great. I enjoy Rachael's humor and it is nice to see someone with so much energy. I recommend the book and also the show. It was definitely worth the money.

I am a big fan of this show so I was certainly eager for this book! It's all I hoped it to be and more. You can hear Rachael Ray talking as you read this book! The book gives restaurant locations from all over in her shows with address information which is helpful. They don't skimp on the recipes; there are many in the book to try. If you're a Rachael Ray fan, you need this book! I'll be eager for the next installment of her next travels on $40/Day!

I ordered this book on May 26. There were publication delays which resulted in my finally receiving the book yesterday! It was well worth waiting for. Unlike Rachael's other books, this one is in full color with lots of interesting pictures and the names and addresses of all restaurants she visited for 55 shows. There are some recipes as well. The restaurants are grouped geographically rather than chronologically, in the order in which she visited them. Evidently she read the message boards, because she explains why she tips 15%. She does it to bring the show in on budget. When she's not eating for the show, she tips 20% or more. She was a little dismayed when numerous people said that La Madeleine, where she breakfasted in Dallas, was a chain. She does not avoid quality chains, as this is, but rather does not go to fast food places. All in all this is an excellent book and would be very useful for anyone who plans to visit a city where Rachael has spent her 24 hours. I know I'll look at it before I travel.