Month: March 2012

review: cooks turned curators… (next elbulli)

– When I last left our hero, David Beran, he was in Belle Époque Paris rescuing Auguste Escoffier from growing obscurity. I never wrote about that meal at Next Restaurant in late May of 2011, which took my friends and me back to 1906 in a duck press. But I’ll tell you now: it was […]

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review: cooks turned curators… (next elbulli)

– When I last left our hero, David Beran, he was in Belle Époque Paris rescuing Auguste Escoffier from growing obscurity. I never wrote about that meal at Next Restaurant in late May of 2011, which took my friends and me back to 1906 in a duck press. But I’ll tell you now: it was […]

Continue

travel: hot booter an awl…

– My latest trip to Chicago almost didn’t happen. Originally, I was supposed to go in late February, on business. But that trip got canceled. Thankfully, my prepaid hotel and airline reservations were moveable. So, I emailed a few of my friends to see if they could meet me in Chicago in March for an […]

Continue

travel: hot booter an awl…

– My latest trip to Chicago almost didn’t happen. Originally, I was supposed to go in late February, on business. But that trip got canceled. Thankfully, my prepaid hotel and airline reservations were moveable. So, I emailed a few of my friends to see if they could meet me in Chicago in March for an […]

Continue

review: telescope… (pujol)

– It’s a revisionist’s world these days, especially in the kitchen. To he (or she) who can retell the past anew, all glory and honor. Spain, of course, has not only updated its own culinary culture, but inspired a refacing of cuisines around the world. In the Distrito Federal, Enrique Olvera is leading the way […]

Continue

review: telescope… (pujol)

– It’s a revisionist’s world these days, especially in the kitchen. To he (or she) who can retell the past anew, all glory and honor. Spain, of course, has not only updated its own culinary culture, but inspired a refacing of cuisines around the world. In the Distrito Federal, Enrique Olvera is leading the way […]

Continue

rumination 22: time to look beyond…

With the opening of Empellón and Empellón Cocina in New York City by Alex Stupak, there has been a lot of chatter lately about Mexican cuisine’s “proper place” in the hierarchy of world cuisines. Wait.  What hierarchy?

Continue

rumination 22: time to look beyond…

With the opening of Empellón and Empellón Cocina in New York City by Alex Stupak, there has been a lot of chatter lately about Mexican cuisine’s “proper place” in the hierarchy of world cuisines. Wait.  What hierarchy?

Continue

review: each leg a length… (jean georges)

– Faced with a shelf of meals, waiting to be transcribed, Jean Georges is always an easy reach. Writing about a meal here always seems effortless. The food is straightforward and simple, but always spectacular. The experience is clear and crisp, like a starched stretch of high thread-count. It’s a concise affair, practically punctuating itself […]

Continue

review: each leg a length… (jean georges)

– Faced with a shelf of meals, waiting to be transcribed, Jean Georges is always an easy reach. Writing about a meal here always seems effortless. The food is straightforward and simple, but always spectacular. The experience is clear and crisp, like a starched stretch of high thread-count. It’s a concise affair, practically punctuating itself […]

Continue

review: candles and cranes… (yusho)

– When Matthias Merges, who left Charlie Trotter’s last year after a decade and a half as its executive chef, opened Yusho in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood (just north of Logan Square), I wasn’t surprised to see his peers flood social media outlets with congratulatory cheer. The enthusiasm for his new restaurant was unanimous, the compliments […]

Continue

review: candles and cranes… (yusho)

– When Matthias Merges, who left Charlie Trotter’s last year after a decade and a half as its executive chef, opened Yusho in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood (just north of Logan Square), I wasn’t surprised to see his peers flood social media outlets with congratulatory cheer. The enthusiasm for his new restaurant was unanimous, the compliments […]

Continue

rumination 21: à la carte…

– I had been behind on organizing my menu collection.  A pile of them had formed from my last few trips, unfiled. So this week, I pulled out all of my binders, bulging with restaurant cards, menus, and other momentos that I had collected over the years. I also pulled out a tub of oversized […]

Continue

rumination 21: à la carte…

– I had been behind on organizing my menu collection.  A pile of them had formed from my last few trips, unfiled. So this week, I pulled out all of my binders, bulging with restaurant cards, menus, and other momentos that I had collected over the years. I also pulled out a tub of oversized […]

Continue