12 days: on the third day of christmas: puglisi… (2015)
~ At a dinner at relæ in Copenhagen a few months ago, I marveled at the amount of flavor coaxed out of carrots and seaweed – an unexpectedly dynamic marriage – and how simple and delicious chicken could be with little more than its crispy skin, blitzed into a crunchy crumble, and some cabbage (here […]
~ At a dinner at relæ in Copenhagen a few months ago, I marveled at the amount of flavor coaxed out of carrots and seaweed – an unexpectedly dynamic marriage – and how simple and delicious chicken could be with little more than its crispy skin, blitzed into a crunchy crumble, and some cabbage (here […]
12 days: on the second day of christmas: mlinarevic… (2015)
~ A last-minute trip to Switzerland earlier this year landed me within commuting distance of Focus, a two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Park Hotel Vitznau on the quiet banks of Lake Lucerne. Although I had seen pictures of the resort online, no photo could have prepared me for its breathtaking setting, nestled among the Alps with an enormous […]
~ A last-minute trip to Switzerland earlier this year landed me within commuting distance of Focus, a two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Park Hotel Vitznau on the quiet banks of Lake Lucerne. Although I had seen pictures of the resort online, no photo could have prepared me for its breathtaking setting, nestled among the Alps with an enormous […]
12 days: on the first day of christmas: humm… (2015)
~ There are few restaurants about which I have been more enthusiastic than Eleven Madison Park in the first couple of years that Daniel Humm became head chef there. If you look back on this blog, you’ll find many posts cheering him and his team in those transformative days of dining in New York City. While restaurants […]
~ There are few restaurants about which I have been more enthusiastic than Eleven Madison Park in the first couple of years that Daniel Humm became head chef there. If you look back on this blog, you’ll find many posts cheering him and his team in those transformative days of dining in New York City. While restaurants […]
the best of 2014: the restaurant edition…
~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]
~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]
best desserts of 2014…
– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.” In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]
– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.” In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]
12 days: on the eleventh day of christmas: mattos… (2014)
~ It has been quite an international Twelve Days of Christmas. In fact, judging by past rosters, this was, perhaps, the most culturally diverse line-up at The Restaurant at Meadowood yet. Kobe Desramaults (Day 3) is Flemish, Alexandre Gauthier (Day 4) is French. Matthew Orlando (Day 1) is an American expat who opened a restaurant in Denmark, and […]
~ It has been quite an international Twelve Days of Christmas. In fact, judging by past rosters, this was, perhaps, the most culturally diverse line-up at The Restaurant at Meadowood yet. Kobe Desramaults (Day 3) is Flemish, Alexandre Gauthier (Day 4) is French. Matthew Orlando (Day 1) is an American expat who opened a restaurant in Denmark, and […]
12 days: on the tenth day of christmas: holmboe bang… (2014)
~ It had been raining every day for two weeks. California was finally finding some much-needed relief from a severe, two-year drought. So, when a rare window of blue sky opened up one morning, Cameron Cole Rahtz, the forager for The Restaurant at Meadowood, jumped on the opportunity. He grabbed Esben Holmboe Bang and me, we grabbed our raincoats, […]
~ It had been raining every day for two weeks. California was finally finding some much-needed relief from a severe, two-year drought. So, when a rare window of blue sky opened up one morning, Cameron Cole Rahtz, the forager for The Restaurant at Meadowood, jumped on the opportunity. He grabbed Esben Holmboe Bang and me, we grabbed our raincoats, […]
12 days: the ninth day of christmas: lee… (2014)
– Corey Lee, chef of the 3 Michelin-starred Benu, showed up looking like a sifu, and knocked my socks off with ham and black truffles wrapped in cabbage and glazed in a thick, gelatinous stew of fish maw. This happened when Lee cooked with chef Christopher Kostow on the ninth day of the Twelve Days of Christmas […]
– Corey Lee, chef of the 3 Michelin-starred Benu, showed up looking like a sifu, and knocked my socks off with ham and black truffles wrapped in cabbage and glazed in a thick, gelatinous stew of fish maw. This happened when Lee cooked with chef Christopher Kostow on the ninth day of the Twelve Days of Christmas […]
12 days: on the eighth day of christmas: achatz… (2014)
~ Of this year’s twelve dinners, I was most anxious about the eighth one: the night that Grant Achatz cooked. Early in alinea’s life, I was one of the very few, if not alone, in my criticism of that restaurant – or, more accurately, that style of dining. Now, eight years and four meals at alinea later, the […]
~ Of this year’s twelve dinners, I was most anxious about the eighth one: the night that Grant Achatz cooked. Early in alinea’s life, I was one of the very few, if not alone, in my criticism of that restaurant – or, more accurately, that style of dining. Now, eight years and four meals at alinea later, the […]
12 days: on the seventh day of christmas: martinez… (2014)
~ Besides Joshua McFadden, who cooked on the sixth night, Virgilio Martinez is the only other chef on this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas roster whose restaurant I had never visited. Martinez is chef and owner of Central, a high-end restaurant in Lima, Peru. His colorful cooking, representing both the Peruvian coast, as well as the “high-altitude” ingredients of […]
~ Besides Joshua McFadden, who cooked on the sixth night, Virgilio Martinez is the only other chef on this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas roster whose restaurant I had never visited. Martinez is chef and owner of Central, a high-end restaurant in Lima, Peru. His colorful cooking, representing both the Peruvian coast, as well as the “high-altitude” ingredients of […]