Destination: United States

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: intercontinental… (chile; part i)

~ Chile, as we know it now, is a fairly young country.  As recently as my childhood, which fell squarely in the Reagan years, the fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet terrorized the country with oppressive economic reforms and alleged crimes against humanity, leaving its citizens dispirited and its economy in shambles.  It wasn’t until a referendum […]

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travel: intercontinental… (chile; part i)

~ Chile, as we know it now, is a fairly young country.  As recently as my childhood, which fell squarely in the Reagan years, the fascist dictator Augusto Pinochet terrorized the country with oppressive economic reforms and alleged crimes against humanity, leaving its citizens dispirited and its economy in shambles.  It wasn’t until a referendum […]

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travel: raging case of gowanus…

~ My friend Adam wanted cake.  Specifically, he wanted Frank Stitt’s seven-layer coconut cake, which he knows that I make upon request from time to time.  So, he suggested that we spend two nights at his family’s home on Long Island to relax, to cook, to bake, to eat. We had bagels at a place […]

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travel: raging case of gowanus…

~ My friend Adam wanted cake.  Specifically, he wanted Frank Stitt’s seven-layer coconut cake, which he knows that I make upon request from time to time.  So, he suggested that we spend two nights at his family’s home on Long Island to relax, to cook, to bake, to eat. We had bagels at a place […]

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: second city…

~ When I left my twenties, I went to Chicago to mark the passing of that decade, and to welcome the next. In the five years since, I’ve kept the tradition, choosing a different city with each new birthday. In 2009, I celebrated in New York; in 2010, in Washington D.C.; and in 2011, Charleston. […]

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travel: second city…

~ When I left my twenties, I went to Chicago to mark the passing of that decade, and to welcome the next. In the five years since, I’ve kept the tradition, choosing a different city with each new birthday. In 2009, I celebrated in New York; in 2010, in Washington D.C.; and in 2011, Charleston. […]

Continue

travel: the well-preserved patina of yesterday…

~ You know those restaurants you’ve been meaning to visit for ten years?  I have long lists of them.  And none is longer or harder to maintain than my New York list. New York City is a high-volume situation.  The sheer number of restaurants that open (and close) there each year, makes it one of […]

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travel: the well-preserved patina of yesterday…

~ You know those restaurants you’ve been meaning to visit for ten years?  I have long lists of them.  And none is longer or harder to maintain than my New York list. New York City is a high-volume situation.  The sheer number of restaurants that open (and close) there each year, makes it one of […]

Continue

kansas city: 2013 chefs classic…

The Chefs Classic, held in late June, raises money for Harvester’s, a food bank in the greater Kansas City area. I serve on the event’s planning committee. Every year, hosting chef Debbie Gold and I invite three guest chefs from Kansas City, and three from abroad. In the years that I’ve sat on the committee, I’ve […]

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kansas city: 2013 chefs classic…

The Chefs Classic, held in late June, raises money for Harvester’s, a food bank in the greater Kansas City area. I serve on the event’s planning committee. Every year, hosting chef Debbie Gold and I invite three guest chefs from Kansas City, and three from abroad. In the years that I’ve sat on the committee, I’ve […]

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 […]

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

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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