Destination: Spain

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 […]

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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

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

foreign and domestic…

~ Last year, I quit the firm and lept into a brave new world.  Landing, unexpectedly, in an amazing suitcase party, I traveled, photographed, and ate around the globe, visiting nearly a dozen countries, and just as many states.  I thought I’d never have a year like it again. I was wrong. 2012 has been just as […]

Continue

foreign and domestic…

~ Last year, I quit the firm and lept into a brave new world.  Landing, unexpectedly, in an amazing suitcase party, I traveled, photographed, and ate around the globe, visiting nearly a dozen countries, and just as many states.  I thought I’d never have a year like it again. I was wrong. 2012 has been just as […]

Continue

review: gently smoked… (asador etxebarri)

~ Is it a coincidence that some of the world’s most renowned restaurants are located in some of the most remote corners of our world? Of course not.  Special journeys make for special occasions. But does food taste better, or seem to taste better, when it’s harder to reach? I don’t think so. I’ve had […]

Continue

review: gently smoked… (asador etxebarri)

~ Is it a coincidence that some of the world’s most renowned restaurants are located in some of the most remote corners of our world? Of course not.  Special journeys make for special occasions. But does food taste better, or seem to taste better, when it’s harder to reach? I don’t think so. I’ve had […]

Continue

travel: exclusionist, expressive, evocative…

~ This one goes to all the chefs out there: Beyond the bespoke ingredients you use, what sets your food apart from your peers’ cooking? Why would someone travel – sometimes at great expense – to your restaurant? Is it for your technical precision? Creativity? Presentation? Consistency? Is it for the quality or rarity of […]

Continue

travel: exclusionist, expressive, evocative…

~ This one goes to all the chefs out there: Beyond the bespoke ingredients you use, what sets your food apart from your peers’ cooking? Why would someone travel – sometimes at great expense – to your restaurant? Is it for your technical precision? Creativity? Presentation? Consistency? Is it for the quality or rarity of […]

Continue

review: cooks turned curators… (next elbulli)

– When I last left our hero, David Beran, he was in Belle Époque Paris rescuing Auguste Escoffier from growing obscurity. I never wrote about that meal at Next Restaurant in late May of 2011, which took my friends and me back to 1906 in a duck press. But I’ll tell you now: it was […]

Continue

review: cooks turned curators… (next elbulli)

– When I last left our hero, David Beran, he was in Belle Époque Paris rescuing Auguste Escoffier from growing obscurity. I never wrote about that meal at Next Restaurant in late May of 2011, which took my friends and me back to 1906 in a duck press. But I’ll tell you now: it was […]

Continue

best of 2011: the restaurant edition…

Mood and mind, place and time: once recorded, they cannot be erased. Neither can company nor cast, nor the events that happened at table. To do so would be a pity anyway, for dining is theatre; every part a prop, everyone a role.  And, as with life, in its unscripted scenes are often its finest […]

Continue

best of 2011: the restaurant edition…

Mood and mind, place and time: once recorded, they cannot be erased. Neither can company nor cast, nor the events that happened at table. To do so would be a pity anyway, for dining is theatre; every part a prop, everyone a role.  And, as with life, in its unscripted scenes are often its finest […]

Continue

best desserts of 2011…

(Frozen Sake; elBulli) Is pastry having a “moment?” Judging by the desserts I’ve had this year, I’d say it is. In the past, I’ve tacked on a dozen or so desserts to my annual “best dishes” post in a section at the bottom called “just desserts.”  While their inclusion was far from an afterthought, even […]

Continue

best desserts of 2011…

(Frozen Sake; elBulli) Is pastry having a “moment?” Judging by the desserts I’ve had this year, I’d say it is. In the past, I’ve tacked on a dozen or so desserts to my annual “best dishes” post in a section at the bottom called “just desserts.”  While their inclusion was far from an afterthought, even […]

Continue

best dishes of 2011…

(Crispy Pig Ears; Husk) * * * Another December, another set of listicles. Every year for the the past six, I’ve rounded up the best edibles of each and posted them here for posterity. They’ve included a list of my twenty-five favorite dishes, the best dozen desserts, and the top ten restaurant meals of each […]

Continue

best dishes of 2011…

(Crispy Pig Ears; Husk) * * * Another December, another set of listicles. Every year for the the past six, I’ve rounded up the best edibles of each and posted them here for posterity. They’ve included a list of my twenty-five favorite dishes, the best dozen desserts, and the top ten restaurant meals of each […]

Continue

review: alone at the plancha… (rafa’s)

Some whelks, served cold with a side of garlicky vinaigrette. Espardenyes – those curiously striated cucumbers from the sea, tender with bounce and bite – langostas, gambas, chiparones, and a baby turbot not much larger than my hand, all grilled on the plancha. These are the simple pleasures of Rafa’s, an unassuming little eatery that has all but become […]

Continue

review: alone at the plancha… (rafa’s)

Some whelks, served cold with a side of garlicky vinaigrette. Espardenyes – those curiously striated cucumbers from the sea, tender with bounce and bite – langostas, gambas, chiparones, and a baby turbot not much larger than my hand, all grilled on the plancha. These are the simple pleasures of Rafa’s, an unassuming little eatery that has all but become […]

Continue