It was Lauren who posted asking for the top ten sushi bars. If you decide to go there, please give us more tips on how to negotiate sushi gracefully. I have heard that it is very gauche to mix the wasabi with the soy sauce--if that is so, what are you supposed to do with it?

I also miss Jeannier's. I stupidly never got around to going to Marconi's until it was too late. I didn't make that mistake with Marticks.

I miss Karson's Inn on Holabird Ave. It was a great example of an old-school Baltimore restaurant. A good place to take parents visiting from out of town. The kind of place where you could always get a table served by your favorite waitress, who'd been there as long as anyone could remember.

I also miss Bud Paulino's on Lombard St. It was my favorite area crabhouse.

I was just mentioning this discussion to my wife, and she said that a place that she really misses is the old Harvey House on Charles St.

How about Rudys in Finksburg, and The Country Fare Inn at both the original Westminster Pike location and then the Owings Mills location (later Samuel Owings) when Jeannier was the chef. Also, my all time favorite weekly downtown lunch spot, Dombroski's(sp?) Polish Village at Lombard and Ann. Their weekly buffet included the best sour beef and dumplings I have ever had!

Don't start me on eating places that I miss. Many of them were not fine dining but they had some great dish or just a great welcoming atmosphere. On cold winter nights I miss the original south Baltimore Soup Kitchen. We would go there directly from work and were always rewarded with a hardy meal. Then there was the old Towson Inn where there were always waits on Sunday and where I always ordered the wonderful 'broasted' chicken which I cannot find anywhere anymore. And can we talk about the Brooklyn location of Gunnings where I never had anything except the onion rings, the green pepper rings and the steamed crabs? In Ocean City, I miss the old Crab Claw carryout where you could purchase their Grab Bag and think you had died and gone to heaven. So many places, so little time. So, I will stop here!

I may be the last (and very lucky) person to sample a signature dish from the Pimlico Hotel - Shrimp Auggie. I collect Baltimore restaurant menus as a hobby, and last year loaned Nancy L. at Pierpoint one from the Pimlico Hotel because she had worked the kitchen there when starting out. She described the various signature dishes off the menu all of which were named after family and staff members, and then cooked a dish of Shrimp Auggie. I can only described it as . . . Wow.

I'm taking a bow! I suggested the Top 10 sushi restaurants as a possible category. There are a few that I like around the city but I find myself going to them over and over again and need to expand my horizons. Also, I've found that the quality of sushi can be somewhat inconsistant with certain restaurants. I'd love to know which sushi restaurants have great food every time.

What about Louie's Bookstore Cafe, not only a good restaurant, but a great "scene." Donna's Restaurant, which came before the Ruby Lounge. The chef was Randall Peck along with Donna, what talent! I wonder what Randall's doing now?

For Regina: I'm in Arizona now, but one place that had "broasted" chicken pretty recently is Dean's on Rt. 30 in Hampstead. That's probably the last place I've heard use that term. Dean's is a casual, neighborhood place. Don't expect fine dining, but the chicken is good.

My grandmother used to take me to the Middleborough Inn for special occasions as a child. I remember the food being great and always have waitresses that had been there for years. Hausners is also., missed.

I wish I could remember the name and the name of the chef of a small Spanish restaurant in the basement of an apartment house on Charles and 33rd (I think) just across from the Hopkins campus. I am going back about 20 years but following a very good review of the place by the Sun, I tried it and was astounded by both the quality of the food and service. I returned many times before I moved back to Washington, DC I remember the chef used to take great pride in his place and would always come out of the kitchen with little tasting plates for diners. Always had a very good time and never left wanting.

I miss Sony's, the superb and ahead-of-its-time Filipino / Pan-Asian restaurant that used to be on Park Ave amid a host of less distinguished Chinese spots. Old-timers may recall that the lovely proprietor, Sony Florendo, got embroiled in an absurd, nasty, costly, and unwinnable legal dispute with the Sony Corp., which alleged (preposterously) trademark infringement and threw enough money at lawyers to stretch the matter out beyond Sony's endurance. I've never bought a Sony Corp. product since.

(I think the Spanish restaurant near JHU that Bill Giery recalls was Torremolinos in one of its incarnations.)

I miss Zingaro's on Pratt and Commerce Street - circa mid-80's. Excellent Italian!!

Does anyone remember the muffins that Karson's Inn on Holabird Ave served before the meal. Does anyone have the recipe?

I remember the muffins at Karson's Inn, but not well enough to try to recreate the recipe.

I somehow missed the 'broasted" question cause I know 2 places that have great broasted chicken. They are both on Littlestown Pike (Rt 97) about 30 minutes or less outside of Westminster. I believe that one is Bentley's and one is Dutterers - they are on opposite sides of the the street from each other. I understand they were opened by feuding family members, so that would explain why the menus are pretty much the same. The food is good, fresh made and plentiful and very inexensive.

I recognize the name "Dutterer's". When I was a child my father used to get freezers full of meat from Dutterer's of Manchester.