Destination: St. Helena

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

Continue

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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: gauthier… (2014)

~ As the entire left coast braced for the largest storm to hit in decades, Nathaniel Dorn, the Restaurant Manager at The Restaurant at Meadowood, and his staff kept calm and carried on. At line-up, he reminded: “We have a generator, headlamps for all of the kitchen staff, pre-burned candles, emergency crash kits, and pre-charged music […]

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12 days: on the fourth day of christmas: gauthier… (2014)

~ As the entire left coast braced for the largest storm to hit in decades, Nathaniel Dorn, the Restaurant Manager at The Restaurant at Meadowood, and his staff kept calm and carried on. At line-up, he reminded: “We have a generator, headlamps for all of the kitchen staff, pre-burned candles, emergency crash kits, and pre-charged music […]

Continue

12 days: on the third day of christmas: desramaults… (2014)

~ “Karremelkstampers” is not only a fun word to say, but it represents the wonderful cross-cultural exchange that makes the Twelve Days of Christmas such a meaningful event.  It’s a traditional dish from the Flemish region of Belgium, where chef Kobe Desramaults was raised and is now chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant In de […]

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12 days: on the third day of christmas: desramaults… (2014)

~ “Karremelkstampers” is not only a fun word to say, but it represents the wonderful cross-cultural exchange that makes the Twelve Days of Christmas such a meaningful event.  It’s a traditional dish from the Flemish region of Belgium, where chef Kobe Desramaults was raised and is now chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant In de […]

Continue

best desserts of 2013…

~ Three years ago, I created a separate year-end list for desserts because I wanted to recognize and record the exciting strides that I noticed pastry chefs taking. In the short time since, the borders of dessert-making and dessert-eating have continued to expand. Speaking specifically as an American, our understanding of desserts has taken on a […]

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best desserts of 2013…

~ Three years ago, I created a separate year-end list for desserts because I wanted to recognize and record the exciting strides that I noticed pastry chefs taking. In the short time since, the borders of dessert-making and dessert-eating have continued to expand. Speaking specifically as an American, our understanding of desserts has taken on a […]

Continue