Spending nearly half my life in Southern California, I continue to explore LA’s best foods, often miles – and hours – apart. My latest return, staying in a modern, neutral-toned suite with retro spirit at the new, peaceful respite of Hotel Wilshire, yielded more edible hits (and a miss). Last issue I explored more LA cocktail havens. This issue it’s… Read more →
Over the holidays and family visits, I branched out to a few new spots, curious if massive, suburban Orange County finally is entering the gourmet realm long ago the standard in areas far less populated. Multiple visits a year (since the days I lived here) and an exceptional meal is still quite rare. Though I finally found one intriguing cocktail… Read more →
After years of hunting, the day finally came when I could find proper cocktails in LA, even if it was years behind NY or SF. I’ve covered LA cocktail bars in recent years as the quality has rapidly grown, with my latest visit yielding the most consistent drinks yet.Their cocktail renaissance is coming into its own, even if a local… Read more →
Edible Adventures in the city of BORDEAUX Photos & article by Virginia Miller A week loaded with fatty duck, foie gras, canneles, and, of course, wine… such was my time in Bordeaux (see last issue on Bordeaux winemakers). Try tasting numerous wines from morning till night in weather just shy of 90 degrees. Though I was craving a good cocktail… Read more →
The Face of Bordeaux Photos & article by Virginia Miller Watch out: Bordeaux will surprise you. Many wine industry friends and sommeliers I talk to think of Bordeaux wines as pricey, out of reach, inaccessible…. or as some of the best in the world. Visiting numerous winemakers throughout the region during their recent harvest, I was surprised by the number… Read more →
West Cork is known, according to an article in Bon Appetit back in May 2008, as “the California of Ireland,” due in part to its striking coastline and artisan foods. Though I see a far wider range of produce in Northern California than I did throughout County Cork, it’s clear Cork leads the way in Ireland. The wealth of produce… Read more →
Dublin surprises me. I expect the charm of a European city, particularly that certain appeal the Irish hold, but there’s indescribably more. Despite gray days and even incessant rain one day in Summer (plus one glorious, clear night), I fell under Dublin’s eclectic, literary spell cast by Joyce, Shaw, Yeats, and the many figures who came from or made their… Read more →
My brother and sister-in-law recently moved to Denver which means I’ll be there more often. I hadn’t been back in 5 years and was pleasantly surprised at how the dining scene has unfolded compared to my last trip. I have a long list of recommends and suspect you, too, might find Denver an unexpectedly solid food town. Denver Food LINGER,… Read more →
Ireland is a green land of rolling hills, sheep and craggy coastline, to be sure. The people enchanted even more… a generous, welcoming, hilarious lot. One of my favorite people in recent Ireland travels was Liam O’Leary, distillery operations manager at New Midleton Distillery in County Cork, near the southern coast of Ireland. The name New Midleton may not mean … Read more →
One jumps at the chance to spend a day at London’s Beefeater Distillery, particularly when given a personal tour by Beefeater’s master distiller Desmond Payne. Gracious and mannered, Payne has been making gin for over 40 years, his early days being at Plymouth Gin. An English picnic in Kensington Gardens and a week full of fine food and cocktails at… Read more →