Places in the book

I've been getting questions from some of the local readers about a few of the places mentioned in The Assassin. Yep, the Dari Diner in Cleveland is a real place and has excellent pork sandwiches. Okay, so my sister Leah insists the beef is better, but she's wrong. Pork rules. (Maybe I spent too much time in the South, where I regularly heard, "If it ain't pork, it ain't barbecue.")

And Tony's favorite sushi restaurant does just happen to be Fuji, my own favorite, though the multi-pierced chef has left us and gone off to another sushi bar. (If you happen to frequent Michelle's new place of employment, tell her you read about her in the book!) The Thai restaurant is Lanna Thai, which just happens to have the best pad thai anywhere, and their Thai tea is oustanding, too. It's just tea and evaporated milk, they tell me -- you wouldn't believe how much tea and evaporated milk I've gone through trying to duplicate it at home (and failing).

The Vietnamese restaurant owned by James Tranh is the only place mentioned in the book, I think, that's not real (besides Tony's and Selena's houses and the Marland Mansion). However, there is a real Vietnamese place in the same general area that's fantastic called Mekong River. My husband and I are regulars there, and can't resist the Saigon Sampler . . . or the soups . . . or the seafood . . . Hmm, think I'm getting hungry. Rachel7:51 AM