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Jolivore wrote: "Princeton food in general is student food, cheap and dirty, not worth a detour." Agree, but also would quickly add, "...and at the other end of the continuum, it is Credit Card food, way over-priced for what you get, mediocre at best, and forgettable. Having lived in Princeton for over 20 years, we head out to New Brunswick, Philadelphia, Lambertville, etc., for dining. For simple eats, Blue Point Cafe is fine, Conte's works for pizza at a table (it turns to cardboard as takeout), and sadly, the best Chinese food is now out of town, as well."

Bent Spoon, Small World, and Hoagie Haven are all cheap eats (and not really restuarants), and far more memorable than any other establishment in town.

Another case of Life Imitating Art. As fans of the Steve Martin film "The Jerk" may well recall, one of his many schemes was a product he called "Pizza in a Cup." Hope his attorneys can successfully argue his case for invention!

Dear BobBob--

Most Florentines (not tourists) prefer Neri, which is a block or so from Vivoli. But as is the case with many things, too many busloads of guidebook clutching tourists can detract from an otherwise pleasurable experience. Both are very good.

De gustibus, non disputandum est.

Although this may be well known to many, it is helpful to have a handy map of the Mercat Boqueria in hand, when confronted with so many choices. Happily, they have a nice website, which includes this floorplan

http://www.boqueria.eu/Eng/index.php

When you rollover a booth, a window pops up displaying "what's there." If they had a cross reference, it would be superb, but it sure will come in handy for planning the quick visit.

Well, back about 30 or 40 years ago, when I lived in Memphis, I used to go to the Rendezvous with the owner's son, who was in my high school class. We'd sit at the bar (being several years underage) and he would ply us with samples while we two teenagers consumed with robust delight.

But--- and I say this with all due respect-- my favorite BBQ ever was from any of the now defunct Memphis chain that served pulled pork sandwiches and had a handful of outlets around the city, places like Loeb's, Pig 'n Whistle, Topp's-- all great, all cheap, all only five to ten minutes away.

Several times a month we'd consume mounds of smoked pork on the requisite five inch bun, redolent in hickory aroma, squirted with a few extra doses of runny sauce (not the thick gunk sold in groceries) and always topped by a dollop of a mustardy cole slaw. And held together (briefly) by a toothpick.

Little did I know that this sort of heaven was not available everywhere. Done in by Mickey D, Booger King, etc. and rising real estate costs.

A Soft-Shell Crab Quits Carmine St.

By FLORENCE FABRICANT
Published: December 20, 2006

KENNY SHOPSIN can be so irascible that you might doubt him when he says he's closed his famously quirky breakfast and lunch cafe in Greenwich Village.

And his regard for the sense of community that he perceives at the Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side, where he says he will move soon, might seem a bit strange coming from a man known to say of prospective diners he refused to seat, ''They're nothing but strangers.''

But the closing of the cafe, Shopsin's, at 54 Carmine Street, rumored for months, came to pass on Sunday. And early next year he will move to the Lower East Side with what he says is about a tenth of the toys, games and trinkets that cluttered the restaurant.

''We were hoping it was more just talk, like it's been over the past few months,'' Calvin Trillin, who profiled Mr. Shopsin in The New Yorker in 2002, said of the closing. ''We're sad about it leaving the neighborhood. My daughters regarded it as an extension of their kitchens.''

Mr. Shopsin moved to Carmine Street about four years ago, after a run of more than 30 years nearby at 63 Bedford Street. His lease has six years to go, but he said that with 3,000 square feet of space, three times what he had at the previous location, he had decided he needed either more staff or a smaller place.

''We've always been a family operation,'' he said. ''We don't have the staff for this much space. Here, we had trouble keeping the community feeling we had in the old place. I think we'll find more of it in the market. It will be more intimate.''

That intimacy may require a shoehorn. In the Essex Street Market, an indoor arcade from the La Guardia era that has recently had a resurgence in business, Shopsin's will shrink to about 350 square feet.

Anne Saxelby, the owner of Saxelby Cheesemongers in the market and a longtime Shopsin's devotee, said that when Mr. Shopsin's daughter Melinda visited her stand recently and talked about wanting a smaller space, she suggested that the Shopsins consider moving there.

''We're better off with 15 seats than with 40,'' said Ms. Shopsin, who helped run the restaurant, ''and we'll make the new place work.''

Mr. Shopsin is a self-taught cook who calls his approach primitive. But he may have to trim his vast menu of zany soups and globe-trotting combinations, like Burmese hummus, often concocted on the spot. Authentic or not, many of the dishes were surprisingly delicious.

He said he had no idea what would be on the new menu. ''I'll cook a little of this and a little of that and see what sells,'' he said. ''We can buy stuff in the market, and we may do takeout.''

One thing he said he might not have is rules: Shopsin's was famous for the arbitrariness of its owner. Customers could not copy another table's order as a shortcut to dealing with the menu. Cellphones and groups larger than five were not permitted.

That cantankerousness could boil over.

Kate Humphrey, owner of the Art of Cooking, a cookware store in Greenwich Village, recalled that she was so taken by the food on her first visit to Shopsin's that, despite its generally acknowledged seediness, she took her mother there on her second visit.

As they were eating, one of the Shopsin children entered on in-line skates and picked up a plate to serve. The Shopsins began yelling at each other. ''It was utter chaos, and everyone laughed,'' Ms. Humphrey said. Mr. Shopsin's wife, Eve, who died in 2003, then stepped to the middle of the room and silenced the customers with a vulgarity.

But regulars played along as privileged devotees of a place that was no less clubby than the Chelsea lounge Bungalow 8. That clubbiness, which diminished after the first move, may be further challenged by the next.

Sunday brunch will be no more. When the place reopens -- sometime in January, according to Mr. Shopsin, but probably a month or so later, as the market's administrators see it -- the hours will be Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m.

It will have a few seats and a counter -- a marble counter.

''The architect asked us why we would have a marble counter in the Essex Street Market,'' Ms. Shopsin said. ''Of course it will be marble. It's what we had in the old place.''

I realize that Zagat is influential in the Food industry, but now with few exceptions, it is a publishing empire, intent upon selling books and web subscriptions.

As bona fide food critics, forget it. Yes, they are critical-- but their credentials are based largely on years of amassing surveys and printing collective wisdom of the masses, punctuated with some pithy words of wisdom from staff. Once you get outside of New York, their hands-on influence is even less, even though travelers (and locals) buy their books.

I always found it peculiar that the Zagat publication standards are not uniform city to city. In some cities, a score of 28 is rare, in others (not NY,SF, LA) they are several. What gives.

Zagat is a Gallup Pollster, not a food critic. Yes, he has made money, but then so has the Nielsen ratings-- but what do they really know about quality.