rumination 38: bonfire of the vanities…
– All first-year law school students in the United States are introduced to American jurisprudence through six, core courses: Constitutional Law, Tort Law, Property Law, Contract Law, Civil Procedure,...
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favorite dishes of 2019…
– As you’ve probably noticed, this blog went silent over the summer. During that time, a wonderful team of smart people at WordPress and Automattic were working hard behind the scenes, giving this...
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favorite desserts of 2019…
– Is it me, or is pastryland slowly coming back down to earth? After years of frenetic experimentation and exploration, it seems like pastry chefs are finally getting back in touch with reality. There...
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favorites of 2019: the restaurant edition…
A tangle of claws cascading from scalloped rims brimming with ice and seafood. A shoulder of goat with crispy skin and tender meat melting off the bone. Glistening turbot, straight off the coals, and...
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travel: grounded… (2020)
– This post is terribly tardy, largely due to a rapid resumption of life after a year arrested by a pandemic. The fair winds of 2019 sent me sailing confidently into 2020. Even before the calendar...
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favorite dishes of 2020…
I covered a considerable amount of ground in the two, short months that I traveled in 2020. Yet, despite experiencing a wide range of restaurants, old and new, it was the familiar that still impressed...
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favorite desserts of 2020…
Nostalgia, I have realized, narrows the dessert lane for me more than any other on a menu. After a decade of indulging (indeed, suffering through) journeys into the absurd – over-plated,...
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favorites of 2020: the restaurant edition…
There were no days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood, which tragically burned in the Napa Glass Fire in October; no late night oyster roasts at Palmetto Bluff in November. Both had been...
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travel: reunions on the road… (2021)
If 2020 imparted any wisdom, it was a searing reminder not to sleep on opportunities when they present. Left behind, they can fester into regret, especially during dark times, when the opportunities...
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favorite dishes of 2021…
After nearly a year of eating at home during the pandemic, I was eager to get out and gobble up 2021. Thankfully, I found cooking alive and well in the re-opening world. I returned to some of my...
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favorite desserts of 2021…
Alexandra Motz’s spumoni with chocolate sauce at Spoon and Stable; a fluffy wedge of panettone in the afternoon sun at Lo Pichotôme; plump prunes soaked in armagnac, crowned with a giant curl of...
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favorites of 2021: the restaurant edition…
For many, especially in the hospitality industry, 2021 was like drinking out of a firehose, wasn’t it? As pandemic restrictions lifted, it became quickly apparent that the pent up demand for travel...
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travel: regroup and return (2022)…
Just as the world seemed to be galloping away from the pandemic, it was abruptly unhorsed by Omicron. As the new Covid variant – by far, the most infectious yet, we were told – raced around the globe...
View Articlerumination 39: outrageousness über alles…
If fact is stranger than fiction, what does that say about “The Menu,” the recently released dark, comedy horror film on HBO Max that satirizes destination dining? (There are no plot spoilers...
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troisgros: Patrilineal… (2021)
As my taxi pulled into the gravel carpark, a smartly dressed woman from the front desk was already stationed and waiting for me outside, along with a valet. I got out and greeted her, and, as a...
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derbyshire: chatsworth… (2022)
Sixteen generations of Cavendish patriarchs – the earls, and subsequently dukes of Devonshire – stare across a grand staircase at the Acheson sisters – granddaughters of the wife of the eighth duke –...
View Articlerumination 40: good enough…
Of the many crimes that industry awards are accused of committing, one of the gravest is the failure to be sufficiently inclusive. The problem with this complaint – well, one of the many, many...
View ArticleRumination 41: Short Flight Away…
The Princesses Mary and Sophia Stuart had been entombed next to each for nearly 400 years before I stumbled across them. It was in one of those tourist booklets found in gift shops, this one bought by...
View Articleyear end: reality is a long game…. (2023)
Recently, La Tour d’Argent, a standard bearer of la grande cuisine since the 1500s – where kings and emperors have feasted, where the fork made its French debut – posted a horrifying video on...
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