E Coli: Cause or Effect?
Many of us read and learned from Michael Pollan’s new book The Omnivore’s Dilemma earlier this fall. In a recent New York Times article, Michael updates us with his view of the recent E Coli Spinach crisis. In his usual well-reasoned fashion (and, as critics might state, with the usual conclusion), Mr. Pollan points to industrial food practices as the source of the problem. How so? (more…)
Spend Time Connecting with Friends, Not the Oven!Â
Fabulous Fall: Time to go old-school and reconnect with friends who knew you when…..you were a teenager, cooked in a “hot-pot”, fell in love for the first time, disappointed your parents…….and who love meeting the marvelous adult you’ve become!
Pictured above: Emory University Class of ’76 Smith Hall Hotties on location at Amy Meindl’s (center) River Cottage on the Brazos. (more…)
Home of Vino Nobile
If you aren’t traveling with us on one of our two trips to Italy this year, there’s no reason why you can’t do a little virtual travel with us. The picture above was taken on the road from Siena to Montepulciano, and is a typical Tuscan scene, with the cypress tress planted to line out the borders between properties (much nicer than barbed wire!) (more…)
Texas Girl Heads Back to the Midway
If you haven’t been to a state fair in awhile (regardless of whether your memories call you back to Texas, Ohio, wherever…), it’s time to head to Fair Park in Dallas where the Texas State Fair plays on through October 22. If you haven’t experienced waiting in line for a Fletcher’s Corny Dog while cell phone users take multiple orders around you, then you haven’t….well, the corny dog is still worth it! Done right (not the greasy green dog served in lunchrooms), it’s hot, crunchy, and light on the outside, robust on the in, and topped off with just a spritz of bright yellow mustard. Exquisite! (more…)
Get Yer’ Rainbow Eggs and Free-Range Beef Here!
Did you know:
Dallas’ York Street and Nana Make Gourmet Top 50
Gourmet’s Top 50 Restaurants issue brings a smacking of the lips across the country as we look for our favorites, or cross-reference cities and decide where to go next.This year’s surprise: Winner Alinea, not even a blip on last year’s top list, blows past beloved icon Chez Panisse, home to Alice Waters. From what we understand, Alinea takes food to a cerebral level; you taste with your eyes, your mind, but not exactly to satisfy your hunger. Like Scarlett O’Hara, it might be best to eat beforehand so as not to appear hungry after a meal of “tiny interactive dish(es)” (October Gourmet p.132) such as “edible papers, liquid donughts, atomized shrimp cocktails, carbonated fruits…(Oct. Bon Appetit p. 104). David Kamp’s Foodie Nation” article in Bon Appetit this month slams this restaurant and the “new wave of enfant terrible technochefs in Chicago” that spawned it. We’ve not tried this spot; if you have, let us know and we’ll check it out next time we’re in the windy city and decide for ourselves….is this the hottest new cuisine or a bunch of hot air?
Maybe here in Big D we’re just now catching on to the whole bonding-with-local-producers thing that Alice Waters brought to Chez Panisse and San Francisco 30 years ago. But no matter – Sharon Hage at York Street here has made “the” list by paying attention to just that, while Chef Anthony C. Bombaci at Nana Grill brings us food with a flair from his time spent in Barcelona. Get inta’ town, try these winners out, and taste for yourself!