Newest Additions:

The Sandbar & Grill Review
Monterey, CA
(10-15-12)

Flemings Steakhouse
Palo Alto, CA
(10-14-12)

Zealous Review
(9-21-12)

Fleming's Steakhouse:
Bar la Carte menu
(9-1-12)

Bakersfield Review
(4-30-12)

What's New page
(3-31-2012)

Once upon a time - at about age 16 - I worked as a bus boy and dish washer at a small dinner club.  For some reason, I was bitten by the restaurant bug and it changed forever the way I looked at food and food preparation.  I went on to work as a pantry boy, saucier, sauté and grill man, sous-chef, chef, bar tender and bar manager.  Pretty much all of the bases were covered, except that I never owned a place of my own.  I did however, learn a lot in the 25 or so years during which I gave my blood, sweat and tears to the business.  As you may expect, many people contributed to what I know, but one man will always stand out in my memory: Joseph Insalago.  I can never thank him enough.  

I'm just an ordinary guy with a taste for great food. I have had the good fortune to have dined at restaurants across much of the country, from Florida to Maine to California - some very fine and some not so fine.  For the past several years, I have been afforded the opportunity to critique restaurants around the Fox Valley at which I have eaten in exchange for space on www.OntheFox.com.  The time has now come for me to share my experiences about restaurants in other places as well.  Since many of them could be outside the Fox Valley area and the cities of Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia, I needed a new place to share my thoughts with you.

 The words on these pages are the result of my dining experiences; they are not embellished in any way; they are the truth.  Rarely will anyone know when I will join them for dinner, therefore my experiences would be as yours would if you walked in off the street. I hope that they will help you to determine just where you dine this evening or this weekend. Bon appetite! --

Ralph Pancetta