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favorite dishes of 2017…
– I took the lessons I learned in 2016 and applied them to 2017. Staying close to familiar quarters, I continued to bet on sure winners. They did not disappoint. And, although many of my travel...
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favorite desserts of 2017…
– Plums, ashen from the hearth, bleeding into gauzy muslin. Figs, syrupy and charred, nestled in a flakey frame. Saffron suspended in a milky cloud glinting with gold. And apricots, fleshy and warm,...
View Articlerumination 35: worth a special journey…
It’s no secret that I have been an unamused critic of restaurant lists and ratings. Much of food media has succumbed to the pressures of collecting clicks, sponsorships, and advertisement. And...
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favorites of 2017: the restaurant edition…
– In 2017, my most exciting destinations had little to do with food. That’s not to say that I didn’t have any good food. Rather, finding good food wasn’t my priority. So, there are no dark horses...
View Articlerumination 36: quantum soulless…
It’s not enough to land the fly in the right spot. The fly has to alight convincingly. At the slightest hint of mischief or deceit, the fish won’t bite. The art of fly fishing – from the craft of...
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travel: the city by the bay… (san francisco; 2018)
– According to the year-end travel summaries and stats issued annually by my airline of choice, San Francisco has been my most-frequent destination for the past four years. And yet, I rarely mention...
View Articlerumination 37: killing meritocracy…
A few months ago, I posted a picture of a plate of food to my Instagram story. I purposely framed the photo tightly – providing as little visual information as possible beyond the linen-lined table...
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save the dates: 12 days of christmas 2018…
– It is hard to believe that the year has tipped once again, and I find myself hurling through time and space towards those dozen, wonder-filled days at the end. As I tap out these words, I count...
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12 days of christmas: amaro… (2018)
– Everything was gigantic in Warsaw. The buildings were gigantic – enormous concrete structures that stretched as far as I could see. Those city blocks were gigantic too. What looked like a short...
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12 days of christmas: cogley & moran… (2018)
– I first attended the Twelve Days of Christmas in 2012. A few months later, in March of 2013, Justin Cogley, chef of Aubergine at the l’Auberge Carmel in Carmel-by-the-Sea, asked me to photograph an...
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12 days of christmas: tusk… (2018)
– There are few chefs I know who can and will hand-make pasta on-the-road at events. Michael Tusk is one of them. He’s the chef and owner of the wildly popular Cotogna and three Michelin-starred...
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12 days of christmas: ros… (2018)
– Slovenia is a small country, she told me. You can go from the beach to skiing in less than an hour. Wedged between Italy, Austria, Croatia, and Hungry, it’s a dynamic crossroad for wildly different...
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12 days of christmas: atsumi… (2018)
– I’ve had two excellent meals at Clown Bar, and my enthusiasm for that restaurant has been recorded on this blog (here, and here, and here again). This beautifully preserved bistro is in the 11eme of...
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12 days of christmas: kostow… (2018)
– All of the guest chefs have left. On the last night of this year’s Twelve Days of Christmas at The Restaurant at Meadowood – the 120th dinner, and my 72nd – the kitchen returned to the hosting chef...
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travel: field and stream… (2018)
– Some of my happiest moments in 2018 were spent waist-high in cold water. On especially good days, the sun glinted off the rushing stream, and glistened at the seams of the slow-moving eddies and...
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favorite dishes of 2018…
– Before I get on with telling you about my favorite whatnots from 2018, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you. What follows is partly an explanation, partly an admission, and all of it a...
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favorite desserts of 2018…
– I have little to add to the thoughts that I previously recorded about pastryland in 2016, and which I reiterated in 2017. The majority of desserts I encounter in restaurants continues to be...
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kansas city: talking food…
– Did you know that salmon not only find their way up rivers to spawn, but they’re able to find the specific feeder branch, upstream, where they hatched? It’s amazing. But in Norway, scientists have...
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favorites of 2018: the restaurant edition…
– 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 addition to telling you about my favorite meals of...
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december dozen…
– The email I hope to get each year finally arrived. Christopher Kostow and The Restaurant at Meadowood will be hosting its eleventh annual Twelve Days of Christmas, which will benefit the St. Helena...
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