During a trip to southern Switzerland in May ’08, my wife, Paula, and I visited St. Moritz for two nights during the depths of its spring off-season. Much of the town was shut down, including many shops, hotels and restaurants, and on a pleasant Saturday evening we found ourselves looking for a backup restaurant after discovering that our previously chosen restaurant was closed.

We walked by the Trattoria Bellaval (Hotel Bellaval, Via Grevas 55, CH-7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland; phone...

Helmsley, England, a gorgeous village in the Yorkshire Moors which we visited April 10-12, 2008, boasts an exceptional restaurant within the Black Swan Hotel (Market Place, Helmsley, YO62 5BJ, U.K.; phone 01144 1439 770466, www.blackswan-helmsley.co.uk). Andrew Burton, a chef of extraordinary talent, injects his magic into every evening repast.

“Nibbles” of anchovy straws, toasted almonds and cheese biscuits were presented before we perused the menu. Four different fresh-baked bread...

Regarding the reader’s letter “Can Guidebooks Be Trusted” (Nov. ’08, pg. 24), I must add that I cannot trust them.

For the last 25 years I have had an apartment in the Marais district of Paris, and I read every article on Paris that I can find. The New York Times recently had a special travel section that included a long article on the Marais. It included the sentence, “I love to browse in the antique shops in and around the rue des Rosiers.”

It was obvious the author had never...