– Last year, I got pretty worked up about an insultingly bad meal I had in 2017. This year I have no barns to burn; only good news to share.
– Last year, I got pretty worked up about an insultingly bad meal I had in 2017. This year I have no barns to burn; only good news to share.
~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before. And, when […]
~ In 2015, I yawned. So, in 2016 I did something about it. I took my foot off the culinary gas pedal, tuned out the lists and rankings, and returned to the basics. I’ve never been a conformist, but, more than previous years, I focused on eating where I had found joy before. And, when […]
~ 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 […]
~ 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 […]
– 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 […]
– 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 […]
– 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 […]
– 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 […]
~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]
~ The sheer splendor with which my year in dining unfolded made the task of identifying my ten favorite restaurant meals from 2014 an especially difficult one. However, forcing myself to narrow that “wide and rich field” (as I described it in an earlier post) – a process that at moments seemed merciless, requiring me to eliminate extraordinarily good meals that in any other […]
– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.” In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]
– My parents, who immigrated to the United States over forty years ago, said that, when they first arrived on these shores, they had no concept of “dessert.” In Taiwan, where they had spent most of their lives until that point, there were bakeries that sold sweet pastries, and confectioners who made candy. But most of […]
– Ten years. This post marks a decade since I first started compiling a list of my 25 favorite dishes of the year. What began simply as an annual bookmark to help me remember the good food I had has now become an anticipated tradition that attracts more clicks than any other post in the calendar year preceding. I don’t […]
– Ten years. This post marks a decade since I first started compiling a list of my 25 favorite dishes of the year. What began simply as an annual bookmark to help me remember the good food I had has now become an anticipated tradition that attracts more clicks than any other post in the calendar year preceding. I don’t […]
~ The late, great Diana Vreeland once said: “A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste––it’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. No taste is what I’m against.” I couldn’t agree more. There is a growing class […]
~ The late, great Diana Vreeland once said: “A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste––it’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. No taste is what I’m against.” I couldn’t agree more. There is a growing class […]
~ 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 […]
~ 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 […]