30 Sep 2016 2 Comments
in Beverages, Recipes Tags: Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, beer, Don Schneider, foie gras, Germany, Oktoberfest, spätzle, Steve Hart, wild boar
My pal, Steve, was in Luxembourg — close to the German border — a couple weeks ago, and sent me a photo of the very large beer he was drinking.
“I’m celebrating Oktoberfest!” he said.
“It’s only mid-September!” I pointed out.
Don Schneider and his boar beard
“I guess they start early.”
So it seemed reasonable when our pals, the Schneiders, invited us for an Oktoberfest dinner on September 28. More
03 Jul 2015 5 Comments
in Eating Out, On the Road, Pork Tags: Au Pied De Cochon, foie gras, French food, maple syrup, McLaren Vale shiraz, Montreal, Pork, poutine, Quebec
A few years back, my pal Donnie brought a “duck in a can” over to our house. It was a dish he had experienced at a restaurant in Montreal that had changed his life, and convinced them to let him take one home. He and his wife Monica had texted me photos from the restaurant of whole pig heads passing by their table on large platters.
The restaurant was called Au Pied de Cochon — “The Foot of the Pig” — and the “duck in a can” was duck meat, gravy and foie gras cooked in a can and then opened and poured over mashed potatoes and bread at table. A perfect example of Quebecois cuisine. More
01 Jul 2015 11 Comments
in Markets & Stores, On the Road Tags: beluga whales, Canada, foie gras, Les Lofts St. Joseph, malpeque oysters, Montmorency Falls, poutine, Poutineville, Quebec City
We drove through northern Maine on high moose alert — the country was wild, wet and largely uninhabited, and roadside signs all along the route warned of moose crossings.
Flynn et Willa in our loft
We didn’t see any moose. But we had a pleasant leisurely chat about web design and client management with the friendly officer at the border crossing as the cars piled up behind us. And then the signs were in French and the traffic lights were sideways and we were in Quebec. More
11 Jun 2015 8 Comments
in Observations, Pork, Recipes Tags: antojitos, Au Pied De Cochon, birria, Ferran Adria, foie gras, Mercado de la Merced, Mexico City, Montreal, Nobu Matsuhisa, tacos
I was up in the street the other day chatting with Max Waterman, son of our neighbors Chris and Glennis. Max is a food-loving chap — he spent time working on a graduate degree in London, where he hosted dinners and sussed out the best street foods, watering holes and gastronomic destinations.
Watermen and their margaritas
He was now on summer break from Berkeley and his further educational pursuits, Chris and Glennis would be temporarily relocating to New Orleans soon, and it would be one of our last opportunities to get together. I suggested margaritas at our house. For food, I would serve a handful of antojitos — the Mexican equivalent of tapas: small bites and street foods. More
03 Jan 2014 18 Comments
in Food Tags: 2013, caviar, foie gras, food, Kobe beef, New Year's Eve, risotto, sea urchin, silky pork, sweet shrimp
Another year done come and gone.
I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant New Year’s Eve celebration. We enjoyed a quiet dinner with a few friends. Okay, it was a raucous wine-soaked dinner.
Here are some of the highlights. Now taking reservations for 2014. More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 