Hey all,

Just got back from vacation in Mexico and it was killer. In our business you don't get to vacation all that much (as we all know). When I do vacation though I get pretty serious about it. I went to Mazatlan, it is a smaller town but very nice. Food was good, everything was cheap. I would highly recommend it before it gets to touristy like Cancun.

What are your favorite vacation spots?

[m brown]

Bruge, Belgum. Beautiful, Great food, lots of culture.

My children love Wildwood, NJ. Beaches, boardwalk, fries and ice cream..need I say more?

Personally, I like to vacation out in the woods, camping. No worries, no hassles, just hakuna matata. Man, do I need a vacation about now.

[Jim]

Ok... ChefTalk road trip to Vegas... who's going?!?!

Man, don't tempt me, I feel like leaving right this minute.

[Jim]

Who's tempting??? Write it off as a business expense. Afterall, Wolfgang Puck, Mark Miller and Jean-Louis Palladin all have restaurants there! Classify it as "Interactive Market Research"... write a review and charge the whole trip to Nicko!
We can even book our flights on Priceline.com to save him some money!

Unfortunately my wife has finals this month and it wouldn't be a good time for me to leave. Besides, she would make me take the kids along.

Tapa-hopping in Spain in fun but you have to buy drinks in order to get the free tapas. I got to eat very tender calamari, partridge croquettes, the Spanish air-dried ham (I forget what they call it.). I don't remember much after the third tapa bar. They could have fed me frozen french fries and I wouldn't have known the difference by then. You can also buy larger portions of the tapas, which are called raciones. I recommend eating a full meal before going depending on your ability to withstand the booze.

Also, Brussels, Belgium, seems interesting. We stayed there for an overnight on our way back from Spain. Lots of beautiful architecture and lots of restaurants near the Gran Place.