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Welcome to RalphPancetta.com!

A brief word to start… You will undoubtedly note that many of the reviews listed on this website are  bit on the “older” side – some were written many years ago. I have been involved in the restaurant business for a very long time, much of it spent writing reviews. I won’t bother you with the longest part of the story, which is how I found myself – after growing up in Southern California – in the Fox River Valley of Northeastern Illinois.

That part of my “journey” has meant much to me. But in addition to Southern California, Lauren and I traveled to the northern part of the state. Starting at Santa Barbara, some of our fave spots were places like San Jose, San Francisco, Big Sur, Palo Alto, Sausalito, Muir Woods, Half Moon Bay, Wine Country (places like Sonoma and Napa), Mount Tamalpais & Stinson Beach and so many more. It would be an impossible task to try to name them all… However, our most favorite place was Carmel-by-the-Sea. We could stay there forever!

Join me now on that journey of many stops across the country that have led me to myriad cities and restaurants…and hundreds of reviews.  It would be awesome if you could join me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane! But also, I have once again started to tell the stories and write the reviews. Currently exploring the state of Wisconsin, Lauren and I have started anew with reviews of some very interesting places and restaurants! I hope you will follow along and enjoy those reviews, too…

Ralph

Featured Articles

appetizers on banana leaf

Topolobampo

It is surely a given that I am a difficult person to buy a gift for… even my mother would

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sola dining room

Sola Restaurant

Having spent a good portion of my life and time commuting back and forth between California and the suburbs of

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sword fish sign

Swordfish

At the very least, Swordfish – contemporary sushi – is a feather in Batavia’s restaurant hat. But that statement is

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person in white dress shirt holding white ceramic bowl with food

Ralph Pancetta

Food Critic

In my career are twenty-five-plus years learning the restaurant business – from top to bottom – and six years in a Midwest university learning and polishing my writing skills. I have spent a good number of those years (just how many yet to be determined) on the road and authored well over 150 reviews & articles – and still counting.

I’ve traveled from Maine to Florida, from Boston to San Francisco,  from Seattle to San Diego, and from Dallas to way north of Duluth, sampling and writing about food. And Yes, I love restaurants, I love preparing, writing about, and eating, food. I hope you enjoy reading what I have written!

Ralph Pancetta

Featured
exterior view of Norske Nook

Norske Nook

The situation required that we partake of some breakfast first

il fornaio exterior courtyard view

Il Fornaio

Carmel-by-the-Sea must have at least as many restaurants as I

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