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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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. […]

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best of 2010: the restaurant edition…

A blizzard of gastronomic white paper from tastemakers here and there gave this lame-duck week of 2010 a needed dose of excitement, angst, and confusion.  Who doesn’t love rummaging through another’s list of dirtied linens at the end of the year? While I’m a taster, not a tastemaker, I happily add to the storm my […]

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best of 2010: the restaurant edition…

A blizzard of gastronomic white paper from tastemakers here and there gave this lame-duck week of 2010 a needed dose of excitement, angst, and confusion.  Who doesn’t love rummaging through another’s list of dirtied linens at the end of the year? While I’m a taster, not a tastemaker, I happily add to the storm my […]

Continue

review: retrospective… (alinea)

Nashville, Tennessee, 2004.  A ruddy-cheeked cherub came out of the kitchen after dinner to say hello. He was just a kid.  I was just a kid. We both loved food. He cooked. I ate.  We started talking. Though our conversation drifted from here to there, it moored mostly around a new restaurant that was opening […]

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review: retrospective… (alinea)

Nashville, Tennessee, 2004.  A ruddy-cheeked cherub came out of the kitchen after dinner to say hello. He was just a kid.  I was just a kid. We both loved food. He cooked. I ate.  We started talking. Though our conversation drifted from here to there, it moored mostly around a new restaurant that was opening […]

Continue

best dishes of 2006…

#10: Hot Potato at alinea Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure. From a second visit to the newly named number one restaurant in the U.S., Alinea (according to Gourmet Magazine), to snacking from street vendors in China, I’ve had a pretty amazing year of eating.  I visited Jean Georges on two continents, Thomas Keller on both coasts, […]

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best dishes of 2006…

#10: Hot Potato at alinea Originally uploaded by ulteriorepicure. From a second visit to the newly named number one restaurant in the U.S., Alinea (according to Gourmet Magazine), to snacking from street vendors in China, I’ve had a pretty amazing year of eating.  I visited Jean Georges on two continents, Thomas Keller on both coasts, […]

Continue

best dishes of 2005…

Best Dishes of 2005 Click on any of the photos to see all of the Best Dishes of 2005 Wild wood strawberrys, Nicoise olives, basil chiffonade, & basil ice cream at Mosconi. Luxembourg. Click on any of the photos to see all of the Best Dishes of 2005. My gosh does time fly… It’s been […]

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best dishes of 2005…

Best Dishes of 2005 Click on any of the photos to see all of the Best Dishes of 2005 Wild wood strawberrys, Nicoise olives, basil chiffonade, & basil ice cream at Mosconi. Luxembourg. Click on any of the photos to see all of the Best Dishes of 2005. My gosh does time fly… It’s been […]

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