“[The first drink of the day} marks the end of the working day when you put worldly cares to one side and embrace good cheer and company. It is when the soul opens and we are seized by the need to chat. We are liberated… The first drink also has a physically restorative effect. I find I can spend all day complaining about being tired, listless, lacking in energy, desperate for sleep. Then at six, in the pub or at home, with a pint of foaming nut-brown ale before me instead of a computer screen, I will suddenly perk up… And with one drink, the wage slaves of the day are transformed into thinking, feeling, laughing, independent human beings. We are our own masters once more.” – How to Be Idle by Tom Hodgkinson
Faith & Flower in LA (see Wandering Traveler)
Christmas and the new year are fast approaching. I wish a beautiful season for each of you, knowing it is a tough time for missing those we love, just as it is a time to be reunited with them. I am very much looking forward to visiting both my families (including in-laws) this season in varying parts of the country. In the meantime, Happy New Year to each of you!
Here is my first article on my recent Asia travels: my top 10 Hong Kong cocktail bars (many of them new) at Food Republic.
This issue:
Seed+Salt vegan, a Marina newcomer
Top Tastes – My Food Articles, December 1-15: 14 of my current Zagat articles on new restaurants, vegetarian and vegan menus, pizza newcomers and year-in-review coverage.
Imbiber – My Drink Articles, December 1-15: of my current Zagat articles on two new beer bars, cocktails in Napa & SF and a sherry list.
Wandering Traveler – Los Angeles Cocktails: The best — and the worst — in cocktails from my recent return to LA.
Imbiber – 5 Wine Picks for December: 5 wines I’m drinking (and liking) now, by the bottle and on restaurant menus.
As your personal concierge who tells it like a good friend would, I also create personalized itineraries: trips, meals, explorations (under “Services“).
Virginia
Editor, Distiller Magazine
SF Bay Guardian Critic (Weekly Column: 2009-2013)
Spoonwiz
Freelance: The Times London, Eater, PureWow, Drink Me Magazine, Citysearch, NBC’s The Feast, Blackboard Eats, Tasting Table, Grubstreet, Where Magazine
**Unless otherwise noted, all photos by Virginia Miller**