"st. john" news and stories

Another day, another list. This time, it's Anthony Bourdain's "13 Places to Eat Before You Die," which appears in the June issue of Men's Health. Bourdain's article shouts out restaurants and stores across the globe, from New York's smoked fish shrine Russ & Daughters to Spain's gourmand ground zero, elBulli.

Bourdain acknowledges that as "any seasoned traveler can tell you, the 'best' meals on the planet are the result of an ephemeral confluence of circumstances," and makes convincing arguments for each of his picks, which also include Kansas City, Kan.'s Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue, Tokyo's Sukiyabashi Jiro and London's St. John.

But even with the disclaimer and rationale behind Bourdain's choices, plenty are as likely to find fault with his logic (and apparently abundant frequent flier miles) as they are with a list proclaiming, say, the best pizza places in the U.S.

We have the text of the article so you can weigh in on Bourdain's hits -- and misses -- after the jump.

As the holidays approach, we'll certainly be doing our fair share of entertaining, whether it's a casual get together of friends on a Saturday afternoon watching football, a simple cocktail party, or a full-blown sit down dinner. In any case, you're going to need the right stuff to set your table (and I don't mean a tablescape) -- linens, plates, cups, and flatware.

We'll cover your indoor tailgating another day, but if you are throwing a luxurious sit-down dinner party, Neiman Marcus has some fabulous ideas for setting your table. They've gotten together with four top designers who have picked things to set tables in their particular style. There's master of knits and resort-wear St. John, Valentino, Jay Strongwater, and my personal favorite, Nanette Lepore, who sets the table with rich crumpled linens and Baroque-inspired dinnerware.