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al Covo is delicious. I had tiny crab gnocchi there that I still remember. Fiaschetteria Toscana is good, as is Vini da Gigio. When we were in Italy in January, many of the more famous restaurants were closed- Trattoria da Fiore was closed as was Trattoria alle Testiere. We also wanted to eat at Aqua Pazza, but that was closed as well. There was one dish we had that was delicious- cuttlefish in an ink sauce over creamy polenta which I just wanted to eat over and over again. Good luck!

There are two places I would highly recommend in Venice -- one we ate at last summer, Taverna San Lio (www.tavernasanlio.com/en/restaurant.htm); and a very pleasant surprise we found just last week in the Castello district, Hostaria da Franz! The latter is a little place, in a quiet part of Venice, far from the tourist crowds, but the food and the service was amazing! I assume their guests find them through word-of-mouth and hotel recommendations, because one would never find them walking around the usual places in Venice. We happened upon it because we were staying in an apartment nearby within the neighborhood. The former, Taverna San Lio, was also a great find,when we visited in 2006. It is an unusual retaurant in Venice -- more like something you would find in Amsterdam -- very modern, stylish, and with EXCELLANT food and service!

Trattoria Alla Madonna. That's the first place we went to when we got to Venice and it was fantastic and totally memorable. Really fresh seafood--I still remember the seafood risotto I had--and not touristy at all. Also, don't miss the Peggy Guggenheim museum when you're there. It's off the beaten track, but really cool. Another tip is to go to Mario Batali's site and check out his Italy picks--I'm sure he has a section on Venice.

Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life by Michael Lee West - she's a great fiction writer and wrote this food memoir that focuses on Southern cooking. Really funny too.

My top books are Reichel's Garlic and Sapphires, Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, and Ruhlman's The Making of a Chef.

Ohh-- there are so many. The Steingarten, Trillin, and Reichl books are all amazing, but I wouldn't say my favorite ( although I never want their books to end). I'm also glad someone else mentioned the Thornes. Their book "Pot on the Fire" was my first food related book that I read and I am looking forward to reading it again. I really enjoyed the Julia Child and Paul Prud'Homme "My Life in France". As someone else mentioned, not so much about food, but a beautifully written story about/ by such a beloved woman. I am currently enjoying both "the United States of Arugula" by David Kamp, and "How I Learned to Cook" edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan. Both are really interesting in their own ways. I started both "Heat" and "the Perfectionist" in the past year, and really need to get back to them soon.