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Food + Recipes

Food + Recipes, Travel
Crab, Chanterelles and Ned Ludd in Portland

This past weekend, I flew up to Sandy, Oregon — a little town 30 minutes outside Portland — for my friend Isabel Cruz’ 50th birthday celebration. Isabel and her former husband Bill Tosheff recently purchased a 60-acre farm, which was the setting for the birthday bash. One of the many surprises of the weekend was meeting Jason French, the chef from the popular Portland restaurant called Ned Ludd. At first I thought it was an unfortunate name for a restaurant. But it took on an awkward elegance when I figured out that Ludd was short for Luddite. At Ned Ludd they cook everything over wood fires, and that’s exactly what French did for the party. The first course was Dungeness crab and local chanterelle mushrooms over grilled rustic bread, and it turned out to be my favorite dish of the night. French drizzled the brown bread with Spanish arbequina olive…
September 29, 2010
Celebrity Chefs, Cocktail Recipes, Food + Recipes, Travel
Weekend in Napa: Bottega & Domaine Chandon

I’m tired of waiting for summer to start here in the part of the California Bay Area that includes San Francisco and Oakland. You’d be hard pressed to melt a Popsicle in this grey and chilly clime. So this weekend, I drove up to a place where it’s about 10 degrees warmer and the mood is always resort-y and light. I’m talking about the Napa Valley. As if you needed any enticement, here are a couple more great reasons to make the trip yourself. Bottega Napa Valley is the grand new restaurant by Michael Chiarello of NapaStyle fame. Located in the tony burg of Yountville — home of The French Laundry — it’s set in an imposing building with a two large outdoor fireplace on the wrap-around porch. Inside, we sat at a long rustic communal table flanked by buttery yellow chairs. When I opened the cocktail menu, I knew…
August 12, 2010
Celebrity Chefs, Food + Recipes
Vodka Salad Dressing and Other 80 Proof Recipes From Finland

Not content with customers that merely swill their spirits, many liquor companies are touting how great their stuff is in food recipes. Brown spirits are classics in the kitchen: Escoffier drizzled Grand Marnier into his famous Crepes Suzette. It wouldn’t be tiramisu without a little coffee liqueur and who’d want to hork down fruitcake — or baba for that matter — without the rum? Now though, white spirits are getting into the culinary act. Earlier this week, I met Chef Sara La Fountain, a Finnish food television personality and chef. She’s developed a series of recipes using Finlandia Vodka, to show how well it works with a variety of foods. La Fountain had a sweet smile and appealing persona that reminded me of Euro version of Giada di Laurentiis. She’s a big deal in Finland, where she’s written a book and has her own line of culinary products available on…
July 22, 2010
Celebrity Chefs, Champagne, Drinks
Champagne Daniel: You Can Take it Home with You

I’ve been in NYC for a few days of press interviews and book signings to promote The Bubbly Bar. The highlights included taping a Better.tv segment with Audra Lowe that airs later this week, making cocktails for Betsy on Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food with Betsy Karetnick. But in between all the running around, I was lucky enough to be able to steal away to a few of Chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurants that included the fabulous new DBGB Kitchen & Bar where we had the most perfect gourmet burgers and housemade sausages and DB Bistro Moderne, where I enjoyed a a light lunch of an Indian spiced squash soup, Alsatian tart and an Eliot Spitzer sighting. One element that I found in all three restaurants – besides the amazing food, interesting decor and top-notch service, was the Cuvée Daniel Champagne. It flowed most freely at Restaurant Daniel, where we sipped glasses of…
December 14, 2009
Wine + Food Pairing
Protected: Sparkling “Side Dish” Cocktail Recipes for Thanksgiving

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
November 18, 2009