Blue Star Cafe, Seattle

After wasting an embarrassing amount of time on the Archie McPhee site, I couldn't wait to visit the gag-gift mother ship. I discovered that an ideal McPhee shopping trip should have three stages: a thorough perusal of the wares, a meal and/or a drink next door at the Blue Star Cafe & Pub, where you can mull over the wondrous items you've seen, followed by a return to McPhee to begin throwing items like dill pickle-flavored toothpaste, buddha bobble-heads and inflatable fruitcakes into your basket.

The Blue Star brunch features sticky buns the size of your head, dozens of egg dishes served with a choice of spuds, fresh fruit, green salad, sliced tomatoes or cottage cheese; plus a choice of several kinds of toast, a scone or herb biscuit. Waffles, pancakes, cereal, biscuits and gravy, a big assortment of breakfast meats, burgers, salads, sandwiches and wraps round out the choices.

I almost got a halibut burger, but all the dishes coming out of the kitchen seemed to be breakfast and they all looked so good ... I got one of my fave combinations: turkey, spinach and mushrooms scrambled with egg whites, with red potatoes and a delightfully flaky herb biscuit. Good choice. No way could I finish it, especially since I had to sample the Grumpy Diner's chorizo, green chili, tortilla and pepper jack omelet.

The hearty and delicious meal gave me the strength I needed to march next door and stock up on an array of bacon products that even my doctor couldn't object to.

Orem's Diner, Wilton, Conn.

Roadfood guru Michael Stern kvelled about Orem's, so it seemed like a great place to stop on a Sunday drive. The place was jammed, and we didn't feel like waiting 15 minutes, but figured it would take us at least that long to find anyplace else (especially another Stern-approved destination).

I had a bacon, spinach, and feta egg-white omelet, intense and tasty. The thickly sliced crumbled bacon was crispy, salty, chewy. Lots of fresh spinach, still bright green, melding nicely with the creamy feta. The home fries, which Michael Stern singled out for praise, were so-so, with only a very few crispy bits.

Service was very fast, the plates arrived piping hot. Everyone who went past with a pot of coffee or a pitcher of water offered refills. We half-heartedly considered ordering juice or asking for Tabasco, but we were busy eating and talking so we didn't go out of our way to catch our waiter's eye. A minor gripe: I'd ordered my rye toast with no butter. The waiter must have thought I needed that extra nutritional boost to get me through the day, as the toast arrived with more than a schmear.

Orem's is a fine place to stop if you're in the neighborhood, but not so much better than an average diner that it merits a special trip. The food was good quality and very reasonable. It's a nice setting and everyone was very pleasant. Maybe it didn't totally thrill me because I discovered that morning that Jane and Michael Stern got divorced a couple of years ago. I'm taking it very personally.

Epstein's Deli, Hartsdale

More than once in the past few months I've remarked that I probably would have starved to death during the remodeling if it wasn't for Epstein's. Of course, there was never any danger of that happening, as I've gained something like a pound a week.

But still. Epstein's was a regular fall back destination, and their chicken noodle soup my most regular choice. The simple preparation of rich, homemade-tasting broth and thin egg noodles was warming, satisfying and delicious.

I didn't delve too much into the deli meats, I left that to the Grumpy Diner, who loves Epstein's pastrami and corned beef. I'd occasionally indulge in a potato knish (practically enough to feed a family of four!) or the absolutely wonderful whitefish salad. Their bagels I can take or leave -- too bready, not chewy enough. I prefer their rye bread; they have several kinds and it's all great. The chicken potpie is big enough to share and still have leftovers. (Who knew when I wrote this that potpie has become the favored food of the fabulous?)

Eat in, take out, early-bird special or late night snack. It's all good.

City Limits Diner, White Plains

Back in the olden times when we both worked about a bazillion hours a day in Manhattan, we went to City Limits at least once a week. The food and service are consistently good. But for the past decade we have mainly gone there only when I want a big, juicy burger after I donate blood.

It became a mainstay once again during our mainly kitchen-free days at the start of the project. The food is still good across the board, but I like their breakfast menu best. There are a handful of choices that could quickly become favorites, if I didn't know better: The chorizo and egg quesadilla, served with red and green salsas and guacamole; the egg and sausage burrito -- chorizo again!; huevos rancheros, with sauce-smothered corn tortillas that are still crispy, crispy, crispy; and the spinach, bacon and roquefort omelet: crispy, creamy, salty and tangy. I like to choose egg whites for omelets and scrambled, to limit the damage.

Several of the waiters are alumni of the fine-dining restaurants also owned by the Livanos family. One of them, a rather elderly gentleman, waited on us one Sunday morning when we were in serious need of a dose of gracious living. When we sat down he unfolded our linen napkins and draped them across our laps, laying out our silverware with a little flourish, butter knives resting across our bread plates. He kept the water glasses and coffee cups full, didn't interrupt our conversation, didn't clear the table till we were both done, and was friendly without being intrusive. Thanks to him, a regular Sunday breakfast felt like a special occasion and really brightened our day.

City Limits is pricier than your average diner, but the menu is more innovative, and the food and service are more than a step above. I don't aspire to ever return to my weekly visitor status, but it's going to be on my list when I crave a breakfast that's just what the doctor ordered (me not to eat).

Central Seafood, Hartsdale

The contractor was here on Thursday. I took a break from painting my office and went out to do some errands. OK, I ran away from home. The unfamiliar sounds, the paint and mastic smells, the other (albeit very nice) people in the house, the limited noontime access to the kitchen!

When my lunch bell rang, I was near Central Seafood, a Chinese restaurant that a friend had recently recommended. I never think of going here, it doesn't have much presence. It's tucked into the corner of a shopping mall, and doesn't seem to have a sign. I can never remember the name, and it's such a vague name anyway. But it was right there.

I barely was settled in with a nice linen napkin draped on my lap, when the noise began. A couple of tables behind me, a woman began ranting, "Do you think that's a new idea? Do you think I never thought of that? I'm a decorator! I tell other people what to do! Listen to yourself! Do you think I don't know what I need for my own kitchen?! Who are you to tell me what to do in my own kitchen?! I know about materials! I know about colors!"

Oh, crap.

Maybe Ms. Big-Mouth's dining companion quietly committed suicide, or maybe Ms. Big-Mouth simply took her own advice and listened to herself. She eventually simmered down, began using some version of her inside voice, and continued talking about her kitchen remodeling.

So much for getting away from it all.

(BTW, the food was good. It was an interesting menu, but I went for the most b-flat -- standard -- of all luncheon specials: wonton soup and shrimp lo mein. Quick, tasty, $6.75, and enough to require a doggy bag. The place has huge tanks of live fish and shellfish, hence its name. I wouldn't mind trying out their Dungeness crab, assuming I could do so without taking out a second mortgage.)

Life Without a Kitchen

Three months and counting since we've had a totally operable kitchen. Not that the one we had before that was all that operable, what with two dead burners on the stove, and the rest of the space slowly committing suicide. But that's another story.

We had thought the kitchen-free period would be more of a dining-out adventure, that we'd be excited about trying out new places that we'd want to blog about daily. It turned out to be more about subsistence eating, what can we get that's quick, convenient, casual, not too expensive, not too bad for you. Guess those are some of our standard criteria, but it proved to be a challenge and we ended up going to the same handful of places, rediscovering some old favorites and ditching some of our more recent regulars.

I was surprised how pricey it has been. To keep costs down, we've mainly gone out for breakfast or lunch. When we have had dinner out, I've skipped ordering wine or a drink to give the budget a break. Even at that, it's been hard to bring in even a diner breakfast for under $30.

This week's goal is to report on some of the places we've been hitting a lot lately, and dish on the local dishes.

Frank Pepe's, Yonkers

The Yonkers branch of the classic New Haven pizzeria has the same decor as the mother ship, and the same crisp, thin-crusted pies.

We ordered a couple of individual pies, practically a light meal. The white pie with gorgonzola, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella was rich without being overpowering. The topping combination would make a great pasta dish.

The original tomato pie with mozzarella and sausage was spicy, lusciously rich with a hearty red sauce. Much more intensely flavorful than the average pizza.

It's really dangerous to have such great pies so much closer than they used to be.

Food Parc

This new food court brings to mind an updated automat. It's a fun setup. There are four food vendors (Asian, Italian, burgers, coffee shop), you make your choices on touch-screen menus, swipe your card, get a receipt with an order number, track the order's progress on monitors, and pick up your bagged lunch at a counter.

It's a good fast lunch place, nice for mixed groups: those of us who like to mix and match and those who always order burgers.

The Red Farm Stand offers soup, dumplings and dim sum, all quite good for fast food. The mushroom spring rolls are very crispy, not at all greasy. The tasty fresh-veg stuffing has great color and texture. The shrimp wonton soup with watercress arrived too hot to eat, topped with fresh watercress, spinach, onions and ginger. The stock tasted bland at first sip, but as the veg steeped the broth became much more flavorful. The soup's four plump and tasty shrimp-stuffed wontons in translucent wrappers made for a surprisingly hearty meal.

At $9, the spring roll and soup may have been more expensive than a couple of items at a Chinese greasy spoon takeout joint, but the food was orders of magnitude better. Food Parc offers fine-dining-ish food in a fast-food setting.