SF Chefs.Food.Wine was nothing short of blissful weekend of eating, drinking and connecting with passionate foodies, industry folk, chefs, bartenders and vineyards… all from the Bay Area. The first urban food & wine “classic”, as it were, happened right under tents in Union Square, with classes, tastings and sessions at nearby restaurants, and a three night roster of gala dinners,… Read more →
August 1, 2009
“If I read a book, and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.” – Emily Dickinson As I am still in Oklahoma visiting family (where beef is the one culinary… Read more →
Top Tastes
Top Tastes is my usual run-down of tastes over the past two weeks. Rather than being a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), it’s highlights since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, being a revisit I’ve written about before or not as stand-out as dishes mentioned. SAVORY – VEGETARIAN • Bar Bambino is… Read more →
Imbiber
This issue’s Top Tastes in DRINK COCKTAILS • Clock Bar does it again (see last month’s Imbiber) with English Breakfast: Earl Grey–infused 209 gin with orange marmalade and egg white. Frothy, light, yet nuanced, I could easily make this breakfast. • Elixir’s Summer line-up was recently released and it’s heavy on the watermelon with other fresh fruits and herbs making… Read more →
July 15, 2009
“Poets are innocents, they belong to the ether and the earth. They don’t… as ‘writers’ do, [prove] in their mean-spirited way that the earthlings are filled with greed and envy, that the world is a spiral of small-minded gestures. Poets… celebrate beauty. They make much of little. Flowers, birds, the names of things are important to them.” – The Florist’s… Read more →
Top Tastes: the house, Nickie’s, Gitane, Swell, Farallon, Piqueo’s
Top Tastes is my usual run-down of tastes over the past two weeks, (scarily) revealing just how much I eat. Rather than being a list of all-time favorites (another thing altogether), it’s highlights since my last newsletter, often from new openings. Many don’t make the cut, either a revisit or simply just not as stand-out as the dishes mentioned. I’m… Read more →
Cocktails at Rickhouse, Clock Bar & Penelope; Champagne & Arabic Coffee
COCKTAILS • Rickhouse had my number from the get-go. How could it not? From owners of my regular stop over the years, Bourbon & Branch (sans password and reservation) and nearby Cask, this FiDi beauty debuted on July 1st to a packed house, with atmospheric, Old World space (ceilings and railings made from old Bourbon barrels, naturally), and gracious staff… Read more →
New Orleans’ Uptown & Garden Districts + Carrollton Neighborhood
“As soon as I arrive to how it all fits together, I have to fathom out the ‘system’ of the city, have to walk, sniff, observe, sit in the buses and trams, make the city my own.” – Cees Noteboom, “Nomad’s Hotel” Back for yet another installment on the one and only New Orleans (last article was on French Quarter… Read more →
July 1, 2009
“It takes a long time to grow young.” – Pablo Picasso A beautifully full Summer already, I am worn out, albiet with good things, continuing to find Top Tastes, best new places, dishes, drinks and bites from my culinary explorations. I’ve had the privilege of hitting RN74 a few times now for The Latest. Have five food/drink/travel-loving friends sign up… Read more →
Of Cocktails & Wine, Dessert & Cheese, Pupusas & Smoked Sturgeon
Even when times are tight, we’ve got to eat. There have been a slew of revisits, cheap eats and comfort food keeping me going lately, like Town Hall’s new BBQ-out-back lunch (ribs, sausages, po boys), ever lovable Phat Philly cheesesteaks, maki at Sushi Zen, Belgian waffles at Civic Center Farmer’s Market, always heroic sandwiches at Morty’s (jury duty had to… Read more →