Happiness Is a Ripe Avocado
How can the “greatest city in the world” be bereft of decent quality avocados? I have no idea. This is why I left New York for California. Well, there were…
Read moreCheese-pocalypse Now
“A highway tunnel in Norway will be shut down for several weeks after being damaged by blank.” The only fill-in I could think of was impossible. Whenever I think of Norwegian…
Read moreSparkler in the Raw
I’ve been thinking about home a lot. Thanksgiving certainly helped, as do the December holidays just around the corner. The home of Lot18 New York, as some of you may…
Read morePunktastic Voyage
“We have a brûlée torch if you want to brûlée anything,” Punky typed to me by way of apology that her oven wasn’t working. This is going to be awesome, I thought!…
Read moreRoots of the Matter
The bottle of 1996 Barbaresco called to me twice. The first time was when I bought it in Baltimore. The second was when I opened it for a special three-year-and-nine-day…
Read moreTake Me to Your Liter
A chunky new kid shows up at school – what do you do? If that kid is a big 1L bottle of Grüner, you should throw an arm around its broad…
Read moreYou win some, you lose some.
Yesterday, I threw caution to the wind. I exuberantly unsheathed my fish-grilling pan, bought last weekend on Kappabashi-Dori, Tokyo’s half-mile-long mecca to kitchenware geeks and chefs. Searching for a sharkskin wasabi grater…
Read moreRainy Day Picnic
Just the thought of drinking Sauvignon Blanc makes me want to be outside. Its signature notes of citrus fruits and minerals give it a supreme sense of place, whether the…
Read moreMerlot Diplomacy
In Buenos Aires, I met a brasserie owner who had lived in New York while working for the United Nations. Seemed he preferred his new job and city to his…
Read moreGot Acidity? Bring on the Funk.
Like many cooks with pantries full of spices, condiments, fancy oils and a dozen vinegars, I can’t stop myself from adding a pinch of this or a splash of that…
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