review: call ahead, the wait might kill you…

Mahoney’s New Orleans, Louisiana At Mahoney’s, you stake your own table and wait. And, wait. And wait. And wait. They take their time making po’boys here.  Having just experienced the machine-like efficiency of the Parkway Bakery & Tavern, our half-hour wait at Mahoney’s seemed like an unreasonably long time.  We thought they forgot our order. […]

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review: call ahead, the wait might kill you…

Mahoney’s New Orleans, Louisiana At Mahoney’s, you stake your own table and wait. And, wait. And wait. And wait. They take their time making po’boys here.  Having just experienced the machine-like efficiency of the Parkway Bakery & Tavern, our half-hour wait at Mahoney’s seemed like an unreasonably long time.  We thought they forgot our order. […]

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review: po’boy crawl…

Parkway Bakery & Tavern New Orleans, Louisiana Good, fried chicken you can get in many places. The same is probably true for po’boys. But, whereas fried chicken claims its home all over the South (and in a few, isolated pockets around the country, including Stroud’s, which is in my backyard), an authentic po’boy, like a […]

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review: po’boy crawl…

Parkway Bakery & Tavern New Orleans, Louisiana Good, fried chicken you can get in many places. The same is probably true for po’boys. But, whereas fried chicken claims its home all over the South (and in a few, isolated pockets around the country, including Stroud’s, which is in my backyard), an authentic po’boy, like a […]

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review: pig out…

Cochon Butcher New Orleans, Louisiana Apparently, a trip to New Orleans is an obligatory race to see how many calories one can intake, how high one can boost their cholesterol, in the course of their stay.  The only prize is the satisfaction of one’s own gluttony. My trip happened to be four days short, and […]

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review: pig out…

Cochon Butcher New Orleans, Louisiana Apparently, a trip to New Orleans is an obligatory race to see how many calories one can intake, how high one can boost their cholesterol, in the course of their stay.  The only prize is the satisfaction of one’s own gluttony. My trip happened to be four days short, and […]

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review: mr. kowalski…

Stanley New Orleans, Louisiana Chef Scott Boswell owns two restaurants in New Orleans. Named after the two lead characters in Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley and Stella! (yes, the exclamation point cleverly included) sit a few blocks apart from each other on Chartres (pronounces “charters”) Street in the French Quarter. […]

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review: mr. kowalski…

Stanley New Orleans, Louisiana Chef Scott Boswell owns two restaurants in New Orleans. Named after the two lead characters in Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley and Stella! (yes, the exclamation point cleverly included) sit a few blocks apart from each other on Chartres (pronounces “charters”) Street in the French Quarter. […]

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review: expatriate…

Fresh Fig and Goat Cheese Salad Union J, Hong Kong In 2006, I met Eric Johnson, then executive chef at Jean Georges Shanghai, inadvertently. Though we had exchanged a few emails, I hadn’t anticipated that he’d call me out when I visited the restaurant unannounced. We kept in touch loosely over the subsequent years. Serendipitously, […]

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review: expatriate…

Fresh Fig and Goat Cheese Salad Union J, Hong Kong In 2006, I met Eric Johnson, then executive chef at Jean Georges Shanghai, inadvertently. Though we had exchanged a few emails, I hadn’t anticipated that he’d call me out when I visited the restaurant unannounced. We kept in touch loosely over the subsequent years. Serendipitously, […]

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review: constant, steady, ever-faithful…

Salmon-Caviar Le Bernardin, New York I don’t take my birthday too seriously.  All I ask for is a very good meal (or a few) shared with good friends. For the past few years, I’ve made it a point to celebrate my birthday away from home.  I’ve had a strong bias for New York, which has […]

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review: constant, steady, ever-faithful…

Salmon-Caviar Le Bernardin, New York I don’t take my birthday too seriously.  All I ask for is a very good meal (or a few) shared with good friends. For the past few years, I’ve made it a point to celebrate my birthday away from home.  I’ve had a strong bias for New York, which has […]

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review: two-star ascendant…

Saddle of Venison le Bristol, Paris, France I had had a good run. But sadly, my luxurious, two-week romp through restaurants in the U.K. and France was coming to an end.  It was my last night in Paris. Four years ago, I struck up a conversation with my server at le Cinq, who seemed quite […]

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review: two-star ascendant…

Saddle of Venison le Bristol, Paris, France I had had a good run. But sadly, my luxurious, two-week romp through restaurants in the U.K. and France was coming to an end.  It was my last night in Paris. Four years ago, I struck up a conversation with my server at le Cinq, who seemed quite […]

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review: put it on vibrate, please…

4th Course: Fresh Washington State Black Cod Bouley, New York When I last left Bouley in March, I said to my dining companions that I’d never go back on my dime. I didn’t have to. You can read about how this third visit to Bouley came about over HERE. Doubtful I’d return to New York […]

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review: put it on vibrate, please…

4th Course: Fresh Washington State Black Cod Bouley, New York When I last left Bouley in March, I said to my dining companions that I’d never go back on my dime. I didn’t have to. You can read about how this third visit to Bouley came about over HERE. Doubtful I’d return to New York […]

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review: comedy of errors…

1st Course: Porcini Flan Bouley, New York I’ve been to Bouley thrice now. The first time I went was in 2007, when the restaurant resided in that sumptuously red, arched space at 120 West Broadway where Bouley Bakery is now. To this day, I count it as one of the most beautiful dining rooms I’ve […]

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review: comedy of errors…

1st Course: Porcini Flan Bouley, New York I’ve been to Bouley thrice now. The first time I went was in 2007, when the restaurant resided in that sumptuously red, arched space at 120 West Broadway where Bouley Bakery is now. To this day, I count it as one of the most beautiful dining rooms I’ve […]

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review: maugre expectations…

1st Course: Maine Peekytoe Crab Salad Daniel, New York I was young, both figuratively and literally, the first time I ate at Daniel. That was five years ago. My friend and I were treated like the dishwasher’s stepchildren. I exaggerate, of course. But Daniel was clearly a place for fancy pants that I’ll never get […]

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review: maugre expectations…

1st Course: Maine Peekytoe Crab Salad Daniel, New York I was young, both figuratively and literally, the first time I ate at Daniel. That was five years ago. My friend and I were treated like the dishwasher’s stepchildren. I exaggerate, of course. But Daniel was clearly a place for fancy pants that I’ll never get […]

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