Destination: California

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

~ When David Chang can’t find the flavors he wants – like certain soy sauces from Japan – he makes them. Yesterday, he opened bottles and jars of what he calls “bonji” – fermented sauces – and “hozon” – fermented pastes- for us to taste.  These fermented products, made from legumes and nuts, were developed […]

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

~ When David Chang can’t find the flavors he wants – like certain soy sauces from Japan – he makes them. Yesterday, he opened bottles and jars of what he calls “bonji” – fermented sauces – and “hozon” – fermented pastes- for us to taste.  These fermented products, made from legumes and nuts, were developed […]

Continue

12 days: on the second day of christmas… (guzman)

~ Perhaps my favorite aspect of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood is the “cross pollination” that takes place among the chefs and cooks here at Meadowood Napa Valley. There’s quite a bit of dialogue among chefs nowadays, thanks to the internet and the well-ridden circuit of international chef congresses and […]

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12 days: on the second day of christmas… (guzman)

~ Perhaps my favorite aspect of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood is the “cross pollination” that takes place among the chefs and cooks here at Meadowood Napa Valley. There’s quite a bit of dialogue among chefs nowadays, thanks to the internet and the well-ridden circuit of international chef congresses and […]

Continue

travel: less twerk, more cook…

– I have neglected my blog. And I am sorry for it. In the months since my trip to Chicago in March (the last, substantive post on this blog), I have seen spring, summer, and autumn happening in fragments all over the Western Hemisphere, both above and below the equator. While I intend to write […]

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travel: less twerk, more cook…

– I have neglected my blog. And I am sorry for it. In the months since my trip to Chicago in March (the last, substantive post on this blog), I have seen spring, summer, and autumn happening in fragments all over the Western Hemisphere, both above and below the equator. While I intend to write […]

Continue

travel: a bunker, a photo shoot, and some sprouts…

~ As I enter March, a month perennially fraught with the anxieties of turning a year older, I find myself clinging to January and February a little tighter, wishing they had lasted a bit longer. But I did more than my fair share of living in the first two months of this year. I’ll start […]

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travel: a bunker, a photo shoot, and some sprouts…

~ As I enter March, a month perennially fraught with the anxieties of turning a year older, I find myself clinging to January and February a little tighter, wishing they had lasted a bit longer. But I did more than my fair share of living in the first two months of this year. I’ll start […]

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best dishes of 2012…

~ Seven years ago, I surveyed all of the dishes I had eaten in that year and compiled a list of my favorites, more for my own record than for posterity.  Since, it has become an annual tradition. 2012 marked another spectacular year of eating for me.  Once again, I traveled the world, visiting restaurants […]

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best dishes of 2012…

~ Seven years ago, I surveyed all of the dishes I had eaten in that year and compiled a list of my favorites, more for my own record than for posterity.  Since, it has become an annual tradition. 2012 marked another spectacular year of eating for me.  Once again, I traveled the world, visiting restaurants […]

Continue

12 days: ladies dancing (anderer)…

~ On the ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Nick Anderer, the chef at Danny Meyers’s restaurant Maialino in the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Anderer and Kostow’s friendship reaches back to the days before either of them was a cook.  Anderer […]

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12 days: ladies dancing (anderer)…

~ On the ninth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Nick Anderer, the chef at Danny Meyers’s restaurant Maialino in the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Anderer and Kostow’s friendship reaches back to the days before either of them was a cook.  Anderer […]

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12 days: maids a-milking (syhabout)…

~ On the eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me James Syhabout, chef of the one Michelin-starred restaurant commis in Oakland, California. At a question-and-answer session at the Culinary Institute of America, Syhabout told students about his upbringing as a child of two refugee immigrants.  His […]

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12 days: maids a-milking (syhabout)…

~ On the eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me James Syhabout, chef of the one Michelin-starred restaurant commis in Oakland, California. At a question-and-answer session at the Culinary Institute of America, Syhabout told students about his upbringing as a child of two refugee immigrants.  His […]

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12 days: swans a-swimming (onodera)…

~ On the seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Morihiro Onodera. Earlier this year, when Kostow sent me the finalized list of guest chefs for this dinner series, Onodera’s was the only name on the roster that I did not know.  So, in the […]

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12 days: swans a-swimming (onodera)…

~ On the seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Morihiro Onodera. Earlier this year, when Kostow sent me the finalized list of guest chefs for this dinner series, Onodera’s was the only name on the roster that I did not know.  So, in the […]

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12 days: golden rings (franey)…

~ On the fifth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Jason Franey of the storied restaurant Canlis in Seattle. Kostow and Franey first met in the kitchen at Campton Place in San Francisco, where both cooked under then-executive chef Daniel Humm.  Franey moved on with […]

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12 days: golden rings (franey)…

~ On the fifth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Jason Franey of the storied restaurant Canlis in Seattle. Kostow and Franey first met in the kitchen at Campton Place in San Francisco, where both cooked under then-executive chef Daniel Humm.  Franey moved on with […]

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12 days: colly birds (brioza and krasinski)…

~ On the fourth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, the second husband and wife team to cook at this year’s event. At a question and answer session at the Culinary Institute of […]

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12 days: colly birds (brioza and krasinski)…

~ On the fourth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, the second husband and wife team to cook at this year’s event. At a question and answer session at the Culinary Institute of […]

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