Tag: st. helena

best of 2015: the restaurant edition…

~ 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 […]

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best of 2015: the restaurant edition…

~ 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 […]

Continue

12 days: on the twelfth day of christmas: kostow… (2015)

~ What can I say this year that I didn’t say last year? Before you read the rest of this post, I urge you to read what I wrote on the twelfth night of last year’s Twelve Days of Christmas.  Even if you’ve read it before, please read it again. Every word and every sentiment in that […]

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12 days: on the twelfth day of christmas: kostow… (2015)

~ What can I say this year that I didn’t say last year? Before you read the rest of this post, I urge you to read what I wrote on the twelfth night of last year’s Twelve Days of Christmas.  Even if you’ve read it before, please read it again. Every word and every sentiment in that […]

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12 days: on the fifth day of christmas: skenes… (2015)

~ I have eaten at Saison (San Francisco) nearly twenty times, and at The Restaurant at Meadowood (St. Helena) nearly fifty times.  With only one exception*, I have eaten at these two restaurants more than all others around the world. I have also photographed in both of their kitchens many times, and have, over the years become intimately […]

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12 days: on the fifth day of christmas: skenes… (2015)

~ I have eaten at Saison (San Francisco) nearly twenty times, and at The Restaurant at Meadowood (St. Helena) nearly fifty times.  With only one exception*, I have eaten at these two restaurants more than all others around the world. I have also photographed in both of their kitchens many times, and have, over the years become intimately […]

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

12 days: on the first day of christmas: orlando (2014)

~ Kicking off the seventh annual Twelve Days of Christmas with hosting chef Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood a couple of nights ago, an event with which I have been a part since 2012, was Matthew Orlando, chef and owner of Amass in Copenhagen, and Jonata and The Hilt wineries.  [To read more about this collaborative […]

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12 days: on the first day of christmas: orlando (2014)

~ Kicking off the seventh annual Twelve Days of Christmas with hosting chef Christopher Kostow at The Restaurant at Meadowood a couple of nights ago, an event with which I have been a part since 2012, was Matthew Orlando, chef and owner of Amass in Copenhagen, and Jonata and The Hilt wineries.  [To read more about this collaborative […]

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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 […]

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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: 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: 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 […]

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12 days: french hens (foss)…

~ On the third of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Phillip Foss of the restaurant ELideas in Chicago. When Phillip Foss left Chicago to come to St. Helena for the event, his ten-seat restaurant (which only serves one-seating each night), was under renovation.  When he […]

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12 days: french hens (foss)…

~ On the third of the Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Phillip Foss of the restaurant ELideas in Chicago. When Phillip Foss left Chicago to come to St. Helena for the event, his ten-seat restaurant (which only serves one-seating each night), was under renovation.  When he […]

Continue

12 days: partridge in a pear tree (anderson)…

~ On the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas at the Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Scott Anderson from the restaurant elements in Princeton, New Jersey. Our day started early and ended late, especially for Kostow, who boarded a plane in New York yesterday morning after cooking at the Bon […]

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12 days: partridge in a pear tree (anderson)…

~ On the first day of the Twelve Days of Christmas at the Restaurant at Meadowood, Christopher Kostow gave to me Scott Anderson from the restaurant elements in Princeton, New Jersey. Our day started early and ended late, especially for Kostow, who boarded a plane in New York yesterday morning after cooking at the Bon […]

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