This funny reflection came to mind as I was surveying my small backyard patio-garden a few weeks ago. As my eyes cast over one corner, where I have an espalier apple tree framed across the top by a trailing vine of golden hops, I realized it was a tiny little [...]
Not long after I got to help toast the 21st birthday of Rover's restaurant, it was time to celebrate another birthday. My brother's. He's older than 21, that's all I'm going to say. I crafted a dinner menu around one of his favorite food groups: beer. Make that top-quality, finely [...]
When I left for La Varenne cooking school back in the summer of 1989, I thought I had a tidy 9 months ahead of me. But what already was clearly going to be a fascinating adventure became even more so when the excursion got extended a few different times and [...]
In my right mind, I should have declined the invitation. An elegant multi-course dinner on a Tuesday night? With wine pairings? And a 4:00 am wake-up call the next day for an early flight east? But my right mind lost out to my inner pouty 4-year-old who didn't [...]
Crossroads. The new Corson Building in Seattle's burgeoning Georgetown neighborhood rather epitomizes the term in a figurative sense, serving up a dinner experience that represents the intersection where "small independent restaurant" and "private dinner party" meet. It's a communal meal, strangers can blossom into new friends over the course of [...]
I just got a notice about this week's celebration of Macrina Bakery & Cafe's 15th anniversary on Wednesday, August 27. The beloved Seattle bakery set down its roots in the Belltown neighborhood at a time when Belltown was still something of a wasteland. I love that while there is an endless stream of new [...]
It's a terrible thing to have to admit, but it's not often that I get giddy with enthusiasm about a dinner out. Part of the reason is the simple reality that I've eaten out so many times for so many years--particularly while I was editor of the Seattle Zagat guide and food [...]
I hadn't yet opened this week's issue of New York magazine before making yesterday's post about the celebrity farmer (I do hope those of you in the Seattle area will try to make it to the Incredible Feast event in a couple weeks, "where the farmers are the stars"). A [...]
It's probably just as well that the camera was still in my suitcase in the back of the rental car. Probably wouldn't have been a good idea to be taking pictures while driving yesterday afternoon. There had already been a serious accident on I-64, a backup I'd soon be caught [...]
Fresh herbs are the norm in so many recipes today, a very happy change from those days when all our herbs were from little tin cans in the kitchen cupboard. That comes thanks both to the availability of fresh herb bundles in grocery stores and more of us home cooks growing chives, thyme [...]