The city of Ragusa has existed in one incarnation or another since 2000 BC. Currently it is considered a historical treasure. In the 17th century, an earthquake destroyed it. It was rebuilt with stunning baroque architecture everywhere and now it houses several notable churches and cathedrals. Having learned this about Ragusa very recently, I’ll hope [...]
I had an outstanding meal at Portland, Maine’s Evangeline a few weeks ago. To read about it, click here. Chef Erik Desjarlais invited us into the kitchen afterward, and couldn’t have been more warm and welcoming. He agreed to contribute a recipe to my blog, and few weeks later, this is what he sent. I [...]
Ever since I tasted the Branko Pinot Grigio a few weeks ago, I have decided to open my mind about what I have wrongly considered to be one of the less interesting wines being made today. It’s terrible to generalize about any sort of wine that way, but my experience has unfortunately led me to [...]
I have loved my visits to Seattle. Dan and I are so lucky to have such wonderful friends to stay with while we’re there. We have so much fun exploring the culinary terrain with them, and there is so much to explore. Seattle has great restaurants, access to Washington’s wine country, amazing farmer’s market, and [...]
It was my first time hearing the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in person. They have made plenty of great recordings, but hearing an orchestra in its own hall is always a really disarming and illuminating experience. Our friend Jill had managed to get us two comp tickets to the all Mozart program that she was playing [...]
On the last night of my recent trip to Seattle, we elected to have dinner at a place called Le Gourmand. Our friend and host André arranged the reservation for us. He had eaten there five or six years ago, and based on his fond memories thought that Jill and I would enjoy it. He [...]
CQ writes: Kristin and I first met in Luxembourg in August of 2009. She has a passion for Belgian beers, and is a fantastic piano player. She maintains a private studio in Chicago of about 40 students at Northwestern. She performs as part of the Arneis Ensemble has just finished a tour of the Midwest [...]
Seattle is blessed with a wonderful art museum that I had the good fortune to visit with my friend Jill just a few days ago. Jill works at the museum a few days a week, so a good thing got even better when we received free admission because of her employment there. We went with [...]
CQ writes: One of my fondest memories of working at The Fireplace ages ago here in Brookline is of Chef Paul Sussman’s family meals. He would often ask us what we would like to eat for supper the next day, and usually he would happily honor our request! Tomato soup with grilled cheese was a [...]
The last time I visited Seattle, we weren’t able to make it to wine country. I was happy today that this time, an afternoon excursion was possible. We got a Zipcar and headed down to Woodinville just South of Seattle and hit a couple of wineries and ended the afternoon with a brewery. It was [...]
