Tag: napa

save the dates: the twelve days of christmas (2015)…

~ Thirty-six meals and tens of thousands of photos ago, I arrived at Meadowood Napa Valley for my first Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood.  In the three, short years since, I have had the pleasure of watching it grow into a celebrated event with an increasingly global reach. For twelve truly enviable nights of food […]

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save the dates: the twelve days of christmas (2015)…

~ Thirty-six meals and tens of thousands of photos ago, I arrived at Meadowood Napa Valley for my first Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood.  In the three, short years since, I have had the pleasure of watching it grow into a celebrated event with an increasingly global reach. For twelve truly enviable nights of food […]

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12 days: on the sixth day of christmas: mcfadden… (2014)

~ There are two guest chefs on the roster for this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood whose restaurants I have not visited.  One of them is Joshua McFadden, chef of Ava Gene’s, a “Roman”-style Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I first met McFadden at The Restaurant at Meadowood last year when […]

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12 days: on the sixth day of christmas: mcfadden… (2014)

~ There are two guest chefs on the roster for this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood whose restaurants I have not visited.  One of them is Joshua McFadden, chef of Ava Gene’s, a “Roman”-style Italian restaurant in Portland, Oregon. I first met McFadden at The Restaurant at Meadowood last year when […]

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12 days: on the fifth day of christmas: wetzel… (2014)

– Blaine Wetzel got his start at a very young age. By the time he returned to his native Washington at the age of 24 to head the kitchen at Willows Inn on Lummi Island, he had spent eight years cooking around the world.  He had cooked in the kitchens of Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenician in Phoenix, Alex at […]

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12 days: on the fifth day of christmas: wetzel… (2014)

– Blaine Wetzel got his start at a very young age. By the time he returned to his native Washington at the age of 24 to head the kitchen at Willows Inn on Lummi Island, he had spent eight years cooking around the world.  He had cooked in the kitchens of Mary Elaine’s at the Phoenician in Phoenix, Alex at […]

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12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: gauthier… (2014)

~ As the entire left coast braced for the largest storm to hit in decades, Nathaniel Dorn, the Restaurant Manager at The Restaurant at Meadowood, and his staff kept calm and carried on. At line-up, he reminded: “We have a generator, headlamps for all of the kitchen staff, pre-burned candles, emergency crash kits, and pre-charged music […]

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12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: gauthier… (2014)

~ As the entire left coast braced for the largest storm to hit in decades, Nathaniel Dorn, the Restaurant Manager at The Restaurant at Meadowood, and his staff kept calm and carried on. At line-up, he reminded: “We have a generator, headlamps for all of the kitchen staff, pre-burned candles, emergency crash kits, and pre-charged music […]

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12 days: on the third day of christmas: desramaults… (2014)

~ “Karremelkstampers” is not only a fun word to say, but it represents the wonderful cross-cultural exchange that makes the Twelve Days of Christmas such a meaningful event.  It’s a traditional dish from the Flemish region of Belgium, where chef Kobe Desramaults was raised and is now chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant In de […]

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12 days: on the third day of christmas: desramaults… (2014)

~ “Karremelkstampers” is not only a fun word to say, but it represents the wonderful cross-cultural exchange that makes the Twelve Days of Christmas such a meaningful event.  It’s a traditional dish from the Flemish region of Belgium, where chef Kobe Desramaults was raised and is now chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant In de […]

Continue

12 days: on the first day of christmas: orlando (2014)

~ Kicking off the seventh annual Twelve Days of Christmas with hosting chef Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood a couple of nights ago, an event with which I have been a part since 2012, was Matthew Orlando, chef and owner of Amass in Copenhagen, and Jonata and The Hilt wineries.  [To read more about this collaborative […]

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12 days: on the first day of christmas: orlando (2014)

~ Kicking off the seventh annual Twelve Days of Christmas with hosting chef Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood a couple of nights ago, an event with which I have been a part since 2012, was Matthew Orlando, chef and owner of Amass in Copenhagen, and Jonata and The Hilt wineries.  [To read more about this collaborative […]

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2013 twelve days of christmas: save the dates…

~ For the past five years, Christopher Kostow, chef of the three Michelin-starred The Restaurant at Meadowood has hosted an extraordinary series of dinners known as the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Every December, it brings a holiday wish list of the world’s best chefs to the restaurant, which is located on the breathtaking property of Meadowood […]

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2013 twelve days of christmas: save the dates…

~ For the past five years, Christopher Kostow, chef of the three Michelin-starred The Restaurant at Meadowood has hosted an extraordinary series of dinners known as the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Every December, it brings a holiday wish list of the world’s best chefs to the restaurant, which is located on the breathtaking property of Meadowood […]

Continue

travel: addendum…

~ My December dining report is more of an addendum than a postscript to the preceding eleven months (which, together, I summarized and surveyed on this blog in an earlier post).  Warning: it is voluminous. I spent nearly the entire last month of 2012 away from home, leading an unrealistic, fantasy life of eating Michelin […]

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travel: addendum…

~ My December dining report is more of an addendum than a postscript to the preceding eleven months (which, together, I summarized and surveyed on this blog in an earlier post).  Warning: it is voluminous. I spent nearly the entire last month of 2012 away from home, leading an unrealistic, fantasy life of eating Michelin […]

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12 days: partridge in a pear tree (anderson)…

~ On the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas at the Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Scott Anderson from the restaurant elements in Princeton, New Jersey. Our day started early and ended late, especially for Kostow, who boarded a plane in New York yesterday morning after cooking at the Bon […]

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12 days: partridge in a pear tree (anderson)…

~ On the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas at the Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Scott Anderson from the restaurant elements in Princeton, New Jersey. Our day started early and ended late, especially for Kostow, who boarded a plane in New York yesterday morning after cooking at the Bon […]

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travel: sense of urgency…

~ While walking through the administrative back-end of TKRG (Thomas Keller Restaurant Group), a village of offices in a compound, including The French Laundry, inter-connected by trellised walkways, Monica Bhambhani, the Director of Competition and Events for the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, turned to chef Thomas Keller and said, wistfully: “Chef, I think I want […]

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travel: sense of urgency…

~ While walking through the administrative back-end of TKRG (Thomas Keller Restaurant Group), a village of offices in a compound, including The French Laundry, inter-connected by trellised walkways, Monica Bhambhani, the Director of Competition and Events for the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, turned to chef Thomas Keller and said, wistfully: “Chef, I think I want […]

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