favorites of 2016: the restaurant edition…

~ In the past, I’ve used this final, year-end blog post to marvel at just how well I’ve eaten in the preceding 12 months. Over the years, that emphasis has grown dull and unnecessary.  By now, those who read this blog know that, when it comes to eating, I’m getting along all right. Explaining my process for evaluating meals and dissecting […]

Continue

favorites of 2016: the restaurant edition…

~ In the past, I’ve used this final, year-end blog post to marvel at just how well I’ve eaten in the preceding 12 months. Over the years, that emphasis has grown dull and unnecessary.  By now, those who read this blog know that, when it comes to eating, I’m getting along all right. Explaining my process for evaluating meals and dissecting […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

Continue

favorite desserts of 2016…

– What is happening in pastryland? In 2015, I described a slow-down and a top-off, as the energy and excitement that I first noticed propelling dessert-making into a new era half a decade ago began to level.  And as that unbridled sprint into the unknown, which had charted new and exciting territory, suddenly slowed, the language and form of pastry in this new era seemed to […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2016…

~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before.  And, when […]

Continue

favorite dishes of 2016…

~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before.  And, when […]

Continue

travel: hemispheres and horizons…

– The calendar has turned for the twelfth time on this blog, and once again, I find myself nearly immobilized by the daunting task of gathering the previous year in one post.  What has proven perennially to be one of my most challenging exercises, pausing to regroup, reflect, and record at year-end has turned out to be one of the most […]

Continue

travel: hemispheres and horizons…

– The calendar has turned for the twelfth time on this blog, and once again, I find myself nearly immobilized by the daunting task of gathering the previous year in one post.  What has proven perennially to be one of my most challenging exercises, pausing to regroup, reflect, and record at year-end has turned out to be one of the most […]

Continue

travel: quiet corners…

~ My friend Mark was digging into a salad he had packed.  The late-autumn sun was dropping quickly toward the tree line, and with it, the temperature.  It began to rain, lightly. The two of us were sitting up in a blind barely large enough for one of us. Packed in like canned sardines, standing practically chest-to-chest, I was scouting […]

Continue

travel: quiet corners…

~ My friend Mark was digging into a salad he had packed.  The late-autumn sun was dropping quickly toward the tree line, and with it, the temperature.  It began to rain, lightly. The two of us were sitting up in a blind barely large enough for one of us. Packed in like canned sardines, standing practically chest-to-chest, I was scouting […]

Continue

travel: københavn…

~ If you stitch together all of the days and weeks of my last eight trips to Copenhagen, the ledger will show that I’ve spent over two of the last 22 months in Denmark.  And I’ll be spending another week there on my upcoming trip to Europe, which will mark my twelfth trip to the Danish capital. Although […]

Continue

travel: københavn…

~ If you stitch together all of the days and weeks of my last eight trips to Copenhagen, the ledger will show that I’ve spent over two of the last 22 months in Denmark.  And I’ll be spending another week there on my upcoming trip to Europe, which will mark my twelfth trip to the Danish capital. Although […]

Continue

best of 2015: the restaurant edition…

~ In 2015, quite a few tracks upon which I had been running slowly began to converge.  While my destination remains unclear, my direction has become much more so.  Rapidly disappearing is my desire to keep apace with the restaurant industry, as I watch food media disintegrating into a pile of clickbait and shallow memes, the overwhelming weight […]

Continue

best of 2015: the restaurant edition…

~ In 2015, quite a few tracks upon which I had been running slowly began to converge.  While my destination remains unclear, my direction has become much more so.  Rapidly disappearing is my desire to keep apace with the restaurant industry, as I watch food media disintegrating into a pile of clickbait and shallow memes, the overwhelming weight […]

Continue

best desserts of 2015…

– I started issuing a list of my favorite desserts in 2011 because I noticed something exciting happening in pastryland, and I wanted a record of it. At the time, many pastry chefs were branching out and exploring new territory, while others hunkered down to improve upon what was already there.  And in just a few, short years, together, they have widened the borders of […]

Continue

best desserts of 2015…

– I started issuing a list of my favorite desserts in 2011 because I noticed something exciting happening in pastryland, and I wanted a record of it. At the time, many pastry chefs were branching out and exploring new territory, while others hunkered down to improve upon what was already there.  And in just a few, short years, together, they have widened the borders of […]

Continue

best dishes of 2015…

– There was no runaway hit in 2015.  There were quite a few of them. However, whereas in past years, canvassing through hundreds of dishes for my 25 favorite was a particularly difficult task – one that I was often unable to carry out successfully, forcing me to append a spillover list that often included just as […]

Continue

best dishes of 2015…

– There was no runaway hit in 2015.  There were quite a few of them. However, whereas in past years, canvassing through hundreds of dishes for my 25 favorite was a particularly difficult task – one that I was often unable to carry out successfully, forcing me to append a spillover list that often included just as […]

Continue

travel: fairytale…

~ Five years ago today, I walked out of the law firm and into the unknown. What began as a shapeless but exciting restart on life quickly formed into an unexpectedly self-guided and fulfilling journey flooded with amazing people, places, lessons, and adventures.  Year after year, life has exceeded my wildest expectations. While I’ve enjoyed getting lost in the busyness of my new […]

Continue

travel: fairytale…

~ Five years ago today, I walked out of the law firm and into the unknown. What began as a shapeless but exciting restart on life quickly formed into an unexpectedly self-guided and fulfilling journey flooded with amazing people, places, lessons, and adventures.  Year after year, life has exceeded my wildest expectations. While I’ve enjoyed getting lost in the busyness of my new […]

Continue