Tag: 2012

best of 2012: the restaurant edition…

~ The title of this blog post is misleading. Superlatives, like the word “best,” are dangerous.  They’re almost always misused for profit. I have been critical of lists that claim authority over the designation “the best in the world.”  The absurdity of such declarations was captured brilliantly in the movie Elf, when Buddy discovers the “world’s […]

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best of 2012: the restaurant edition…

~ The title of this blog post is misleading. Superlatives, like the word “best,” are dangerous.  They’re almost always misused for profit. I have been critical of lists that claim authority over the designation “the best in the world.”  The absurdity of such declarations was captured brilliantly in the movie Elf, when Buddy discovers the “world’s […]

Continue

best desserts of 2012…

~ Last year, I asked: “Is pastry having a ‘moment?’” The question was clearly rhetorical. And in the paragraphs that followed, I cited dozens of examples of why I thought it was so. In 2012, pastry sustained its “moment” because chefs kept redefining and expanding its borders. They continued to explore uncharted territory, questioning tradition, […]

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best desserts of 2012…

~ Last year, I asked: “Is pastry having a ‘moment?’” The question was clearly rhetorical. And in the paragraphs that followed, I cited dozens of examples of why I thought it was so. In 2012, pastry sustained its “moment” because chefs kept redefining and expanding its borders. They continued to explore uncharted territory, questioning tradition, […]

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

review: rainbow of moles… (yu ne nisa)

~ Forty-eight hours is not enough time to see, much less eat Oaxaca. Considered one of the two “kitchens of Mexico” (the other being Puebla), Oaxaca is one, giant, walkable culinary encyclopedia, every corner a page, every meal a story. The thought of mastering even a slice of its culinary variety is dizzying. And yet, […]

Continue

review: rainbow of moles… (yu ne nisa)

~ Forty-eight hours is not enough time to see, much less eat Oaxaca. Considered one of the two “kitchens of Mexico” (the other being Puebla), Oaxaca is one, giant, walkable culinary encyclopedia, every corner a page, every meal a story. The thought of mastering even a slice of its culinary variety is dizzying. And yet, […]

Continue

travel: addendum…

~ My December dining report is more of an addendum than a postscript to the preceding eleven months (which, together, I summarized and surveyed on this blog in an earlier post).  Warning: it is voluminous. I spent nearly the entire last month of 2012 away from home, leading an unrealistic, fantasy life of eating Michelin […]

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travel: addendum…

~ My December dining report is more of an addendum than a postscript to the preceding eleven months (which, together, I summarized and surveyed on this blog in an earlier post).  Warning: it is voluminous. I spent nearly the entire last month of 2012 away from home, leading an unrealistic, fantasy life of eating Michelin […]

Continue

12 days: drummers drumming (kostow)…

~ On the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me his kitchen. For the final act in this twelve-part series of dinners in St. Helena, Kostow opened the menu up for collaboration among his five sous chefs: Kim Floresca (executive sous), Daniel Ryan (pastry chef), […]

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12 days: drummers drumming (kostow)…

~ On the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me his kitchen. For the final act in this twelve-part series of dinners in St. Helena, Kostow opened the menu up for collaboration among his five sous chefs: Kim Floresca (executive sous), Daniel Ryan (pastry chef), […]

Continue

12 days: pipers piping (anderson and habiger)…

~ On the eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger, the duo who took Nashville, and the country by storm this past year with their cleverly named restaurant, The Catbird Seat.  In one, short year, the two chefs received an […]

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12 days: pipers piping (anderson and habiger)…

~ On the eleventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Erik Anderson and Josh Habiger, the duo who took Nashville, and the country by storm this past year with their cleverly named restaurant, The Catbird Seat.  In one, short year, the two chefs received an […]

Continue

12 days: lords a-leaping (toutain)…

~ On the tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me David Toutain, the french chef who made l’Agapé Substance in Paris famous in a very short amount of time.  Named the Revelación del Año at the recent Gastronomika conference in San Sebastian, Spain, Toutain has […]

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12 days: lords a-leaping (toutain)…

~ On the tenth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me David Toutain, the french chef who made l’Agapé Substance in Paris famous in a very short amount of time.  Named the Revelación del Año at the recent Gastronomika conference in San Sebastian, Spain, Toutain has […]

Continue

12 days: maids a-milking (syhabout)…

~ On the eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me James Syhabout, chef of the one Michelin-starred restaurant commis in Oakland, California. At a question-and-answer session at the Culinary Institute of America, Syhabout told students about his upbringing as a child of two refugee immigrants.  His […]

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12 days: maids a-milking (syhabout)…

~ On the eighth of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me James Syhabout, chef of the one Michelin-starred restaurant commis in Oakland, California. At a question-and-answer session at the Culinary Institute of America, Syhabout told students about his upbringing as a child of two refugee immigrants.  His […]

Continue

12 days: swans a-swimming (onodera)…

~ On the seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Morihiro Onodera. Earlier this year, when Kostow sent me the finalized list of guest chefs for this dinner series, Onodera’s was the only name on the roster that I did not know.  So, in the […]

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12 days: swans a-swimming (onodera)…

~ On the seventh of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Morihiro Onodera. Earlier this year, when Kostow sent me the finalized list of guest chefs for this dinner series, Onodera’s was the only name on the roster that I did not know.  So, in the […]

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