“I may have brought French cooking to America, but Jim brought American cooking to America.” Julia Child I was about 30 when I came out as a foodie. It was when I decided that I might want to spend part of my Sunday afternoons looking through a glass door of an oven...
I am an old guy. Older than about 95% of the world’s population. Which means I have had a greater opportunity to make mistakes in my life, have failures in my career, and perhaps have a few regrets about what I might have done or not done about them. There’s a movie...
I moved to San Francisco in 1998 and…forget Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge…there were two places I wanted to, not just go to, but experience: Chez Panisse and Stars. They were both restaurants and they had something very much in...
“El, you really must try this because it’s puerco pibil. It’s a slow-roasted pork, nothing fancy. It just happens to be my favorite, and I order it with a tequila and lime in every dive I go to in this country. And honestly, that is the best it’s...
“For some, delicatessen food is close to a religious experience. A tender, crumbling cut of corned beef steeped in its juices. A full-bodied garlic dill pickle. Spicy brown mustard with grain. A blintz that melts in your mouth like a creamsicle on a summer’s day....
“But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends. Last night, I experienced something new: an extraordinary meal from a...
Recent Comments