Hi all,

I grew up in Marin but am unfamiliar with the best restaurants because I haven't lived there in 25 years. :-)

Going there this coming weekend and want to know what the latest and greatest food is. We'll be staying in Mill Valley but I'm open to anywhere in the general area (including Point Reyes -- will be there for a day) aside from San Francisco and Oakland. Obviously it will be take-out only, but c'est la vie. Open to all cuisines and price levels...breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We're both food lovers and cooks, and love both cheap and expensive as long as it's great.

Chowhound has always been great for me for recommendations, all over the world, so let's hear it!

Hi all! I've lived in L.A. for a long time now and my girlfriend has a big birthday coming up. I need a place that has absolutely stellar food, is intimate instead of loud and packed/has a vibe that's great for a romantic night out for two adventurous eaters. We're both food maniacs and have demanding/discerning tastes. We have been to so many restaurants all over the L.A. area, and I'm looking for some new recommendations. Just to get a few of the big ones out of the way: Providence, Tasting Kitchen (too loud for this), Bestia (too loud for this), Orsa and Winston, Trois Mec -- we've been to all of them so I'm looking for something else.

I'd love to hear what you all are feeling these days -- this is open to ALL types of cuisine, and again it just has to be positively top-of-the-line spectacular food, and also not a loud or brash environment.

***Price is not an object for this occasion -- go as high as you want!***

N/Naka was my top choice but they're booked for so many weeks...this dinner is in less than two weeks (I know, I know! Oops!), but it's on a Monday so that might help with getting a reservation elsewhere.

Let's hear it, and thanks!

I've tried a Hamilton Beach 6 qt and a Crock Pot 4 qt, both with programmable timers. Both of them cook WAY to hot for a crock pot. I was using my mom's old Crock Pot but it cracked, so I've been trying find a replacement.

I've been reading that because these corporations are frightened of lawsuits in this suing-happy country of ours, slow cookers now have significantly higher temperatures that bring things to a boil way early, even on the low setting. This completely sucks! It defeats the purpose of a slow cooker completely for me...the entire point is to cook food under its boiling point for long periods, which is how you get the great flavor and texture you can only get from a slow cooker which cooks that way (like they used to, based on my mom's 20-year-old one that just cracked)).

So, does anyone know of any models out there that don't destroy what's great about slow cooking, but instead keep things under the boiling point for multiple hours like a slow cooker should? I love the programmability of the new ones I bought and really would like that.

Thanks!

So, I just trued making Yvette Van Boven's simple "Bread Without Working the Dough - Well, Almost". Twice. BOTH times there was WAAAAYYYY too much water and the dough was a limp, gooey mess that I couldn't form into any kind of ball to let prove.

The first time I just left it in the mixing bowl to let it prove, and after 16 hours it was still a limp, gooey mess. The first time I thought I might have messed something up, so I tried again. Again, I followed the recipe EXACTLY -- no joke: I did precisely what the recipe says.

Her recipe has the following ingredients:

2 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp yeast
2 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup beer
1 tbsp vinegar

What is the correct amount of flour and water for this recipe? Why has it turned out to be a loose, limp, gooey mess BOTH times that I've tried to make it, following exactly the amounts and exactly the processes that she has in the book...??

Relax, these are just opinions. :-)

Here's mine at the moment: Chiba Sushi, on Saticoy.

I know many foodies who insist this is the best sushi they've had in L.A., and I've been here three times total in the last few months (due to a friend who moved out there). It was always damn good - but not amazing,

People are highly defensive about their sushi restaurants, and I'll say that Chiba is definitely a very good place with a cool owner/chef. But it's certainly not in the rarified upper echelon territory of places like Sushi Sushi, to me.