Destination: St. Helena

12 days: on the second day of christmas: mehrotra… (2017)

– Every time I have Indian food – and, sadly, it is not often that I am around it – I wonder why I don’t seek it out more.  As with Indian culture, the colors, flavors, and traditions of Indian cookery are vivid and expressive, engaging and alluring.  And that’s how I would describe the […]

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12 days: on the second day of christmas: mehrotra… (2017)

– Every time I have Indian food – and, sadly, it is not often that I am around it – I wonder why I don’t seek it out more.  As with Indian culture, the colors, flavors, and traditions of Indian cookery are vivid and expressive, engaging and alluring.  And that’s how I would describe the […]

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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

12 days: on the eleventh day of christmas: yu… (2015)

~ A dinner series called the Twelve Days of Christmas hosted by a Jewish chef wouldn’t be complete without Chinese food, right? Enter: Justin Yu. He’s the chef and co-owner of Oxheart, a restaurant in Houston where he has earned national acclaim for his vegetable-focused menu. The last time I was in Houston was in 1988.  So, unfortunately, I haven’t eaten […]

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12 days: on the eleventh day of christmas: yu… (2015)

~ A dinner series called the Twelve Days of Christmas hosted by a Jewish chef wouldn’t be complete without Chinese food, right? Enter: Justin Yu. He’s the chef and co-owner of Oxheart, a restaurant in Houston where he has earned national acclaim for his vegetable-focused menu. The last time I was in Houston was in 1988.  So, unfortunately, I haven’t eaten […]

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12 days: on the ninth day of christmas: connaughton… (2015)

~ Single Thread Farms Restaurant & Inn was conceived long before I first met Kyle Connaughton in March of 2014 at the Rediscovering Coastal Cuisine event in Carmel, California.  I know this because I had heard murmurings of it before I heard about it from Connaughton himself.  Now, nearly two years later, the multi-faceted enterprise – which, […]

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12 days: on the ninth day of christmas: connaughton… (2015)

~ Single Thread Farms Restaurant & Inn was conceived long before I first met Kyle Connaughton in March of 2014 at the Rediscovering Coastal Cuisine event in Carmel, California.  I know this because I had heard murmurings of it before I heard about it from Connaughton himself.  Now, nearly two years later, the multi-faceted enterprise – which, […]

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12 days: on the seventh day of christmas: floresca and ryan… (2015)

~ Two more impressive culinary resumés you will hardly find in a pair than Kim Floresca‘s and Daniel Ryan‘s.  (It’d also be a challenge to find two more lovely and generous people.) Between the two of them, they’ve worked at The French Laundry, Alinea, per se, Alain Ducasse NY, and Eleven Madison Park; and together, they […]

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12 days: on the seventh day of christmas: floresca and ryan… (2015)

~ Two more impressive culinary resumés you will hardly find in a pair than Kim Floresca‘s and Daniel Ryan‘s.  (It’d also be a challenge to find two more lovely and generous people.) Between the two of them, they’ve worked at The French Laundry, Alinea, per se, Alain Ducasse NY, and Eleven Madison Park; and together, they […]

Continue

12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: vallejo… (2015)

~ One of the most memorable meals I’ve had in Mexico City was at Quintonil in the city’s posh Polanco district. The cooking there combined the saturated flavors and colors of Mexican cookery with the ingredients and sentiments of cultures abroad.  In particular, I remember blushing slices of ahi tuna with warm pico de gallo and an inky […]

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12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: vallejo… (2015)

~ One of the most memorable meals I’ve had in Mexico City was at Quintonil in the city’s posh Polanco district. The cooking there combined the saturated flavors and colors of Mexican cookery with the ingredients and sentiments of cultures abroad.  In particular, I remember blushing slices of ahi tuna with warm pico de gallo and an inky […]

Continue

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 […]

Continue

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 […]

Continue