Category: travel

where my mouth has taken me…

review: realm of intuition… (addison)

~ The drive up to The Grand Del Mar, a resort in the hills above San Diego, is particularly beautiful at sunset, when the sprawling estate, with its peachy, hacienda-styled buildings, glows intensely. Outside, the grounds are immaculately manicured. Inside, the rooms are richly decked, lined with marble, dark wood paneling, thick fabrics, and gushing […]

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review: realm of intuition… (addison)

~ The drive up to The Grand Del Mar, a resort in the hills above San Diego, is particularly beautiful at sunset, when the sprawling estate, with its peachy, hacienda-styled buildings, glows intensely. Outside, the grounds are immaculately manicured. Inside, the rooms are richly decked, lined with marble, dark wood paneling, thick fabrics, and gushing […]

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travel: daily wipe-downs…

~ As a boy raised on the prairie plains of a Midwestern border state eating fried chicken and barbecue, I like to think that I have a particularly close kinship to Southerners. Whether it’s true or not, there is something about my Missouri upbringing that makes me feel more Southern than my friends in Kansas, […]

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travel: daily wipe-downs…

~ As a boy raised on the prairie plains of a Midwestern border state eating fried chicken and barbecue, I like to think that I have a particularly close kinship to Southerners. Whether it’s true or not, there is something about my Missouri upbringing that makes me feel more Southern than my friends in Kansas, […]

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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 […]

Continue

travel: america’s resort…

~ Having now spent nearly two weeks, collectively, at The Greenbrier photographing for the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, I have learned one thing: at The Greenbrier, anything is possible. On my first visit in July, the executive chef, Richard Rosendale (who will be the United States’ competitor in the upcoming Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, […]

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travel: america’s resort…

~ Having now spent nearly two weeks, collectively, at The Greenbrier photographing for the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, I have learned one thing: at The Greenbrier, anything is possible. On my first visit in July, the executive chef, Richard Rosendale (who will be the United States’ competitor in the upcoming Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyon, […]

Continue

rumination 26: show, don’t tell…

Yesterday, I was reminded of the most important lesson that I learned in my four years as a film and creative writing student in college: show, don’t tell.* After dining at Eleven Madison Park, which recently replaced its $125 prix-fixe menu with a $195 tasting menu focusing on New York-themed dishes, Pete Wells, the restaurant […]

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rumination 26: show, don’t tell…

Yesterday, I was reminded of the most important lesson that I learned in my four years as a film and creative writing student in college: show, don’t tell.* After dining at Eleven Madison Park, which recently replaced its $125 prix-fixe menu with a $195 tasting menu focusing on New York-themed dishes, Pete Wells, the restaurant […]

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travel: beach buffet…

– When my plane lifted off the field at Kansas City, after sitting on the tarmac for nearly an hour, I knew, already, that I would miss my connection to San Diego, the last one for the day. I was going to have to spend the night in Minneapolis. But, thanks to inflight wifi, and […]

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travel: beach buffet…

– When my plane lifted off the field at Kansas City, after sitting on the tarmac for nearly an hour, I knew, already, that I would miss my connection to San Diego, the last one for the day. I was going to have to spend the night in Minneapolis. But, thanks to inflight wifi, and […]

Continue

travel: cryptozoology…

~ They say – and locals seem to truly believe – that a monster lives in Lake Champlain. They call him Champ. The sightings have been many, and surprisingly consistent over decades. And, as far as anyone knows, he (or she) is a friendly creature, never having been known to harm a soul. But that […]

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travel: cryptozoology…

~ They say – and locals seem to truly believe – that a monster lives in Lake Champlain. They call him Champ. The sightings have been many, and surprisingly consistent over decades. And, as far as anyone knows, he (or she) is a friendly creature, never having been known to harm a soul. But that […]

Continue

travel: meet-ups and eat-ups…

~ Aaron and Chrissy are getting married! In Tahoe! I didn’t have time to go home between the Bocuse d’Or training session and the wedding, so I headed straight from The Greenbrier to San Francisco. It should have been an uneventful ride. Unfortunately, there followed an unscheduled, overnight layover in Detroit due to a faulty […]

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travel: meet-ups and eat-ups…

~ Aaron and Chrissy are getting married! In Tahoe! I didn’t have time to go home between the Bocuse d’Or training session and the wedding, so I headed straight from The Greenbrier to San Francisco. It should have been an uneventful ride. Unfortunately, there followed an unscheduled, overnight layover in Detroit due to a faulty […]

Continue

travel: peripatetic…

~ I apologize for my silence. I’ve been on the road. In the last month and a half, I’ve crossed this continent four times, bouncing between New York and San Francisco, San Diego and Burlington, Vermont, with trips to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and Lake Tahoe on the side. I crossed the border to […]

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travel: peripatetic…

~ I apologize for my silence. I’ve been on the road. In the last month and a half, I’ve crossed this continent four times, bouncing between New York and San Francisco, San Diego and Burlington, Vermont, with trips to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia and Lake Tahoe on the side. I crossed the border to […]

Continue

review: cab ride to crazy town…

~ It’s not every day that one gets kidnapped on the way to dinner, as I was on my way to Jungsik. Afterwards, I read Pete Wells’s review of that restaurant in the New York Times and realized that my strange, “cab ride to crazy town” was foretold (fourth graph, last sentence). Thankfully, with some quick […]

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review: cab ride to crazy town…

~ It’s not every day that one gets kidnapped on the way to dinner, as I was on my way to Jungsik. Afterwards, I read Pete Wells’s review of that restaurant in the New York Times and realized that my strange, “cab ride to crazy town” was foretold (fourth graph, last sentence). Thankfully, with some quick […]

Continue