Penelope Corcoran

I don't have to tell you that first impressions can make or break a restaurant. How many times have you been treated to haphazard service, long waits or so-so food on your initial visit to an eatery? These are not things we forget. Bad first impressions can often turn into...

Wise visitors to Sedona know about La Mediterranee. Located on the second floor of a Route 179 motel, this funky coffee-shop-cum-ski-chalet turns out Middle Eastern cuisine that pleases New Agers, vegetarians and carnivores alike. After all, what better activity after a vortex visit than a dip into some soothing hummus?...

South American cuisine" has a way of sounding exotic. More exotic than it really is. After all, we North Americans use many of the same ingredients in our own cooking. So how different can it be? They eat corn, potatoes, beef and chiles. We eat corn, potatoes, beef and chiles...

If I said 'Tis the season," I bet I'd raise an eyebrow or two. The holidays are over, babe," some of you would say. Long gone. Dead as that bottle of champagne we killed on New Year's Eve. History." Well, readjust your thinking caps. I'm not talking about the holiday...

Today is Christmas. I'm no Scrooge. Instead of putting some poor restaurant through the ringer today, I thought I'd share with you some of the "gifts" I've received--in the form of new restaurants--in 1991. Here, then, in no particular order, are my 12 days of Christmas, my memorable finds of...