Bourdain’s newest target a real clown
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

He’s the guy you want to sit next to at a boring dinner party. Worldly. Witty. Wicked, in a no-harm-done kind of way. He’s a chef, a writer, a film aficionado. Anthony Bourdain is the nicest, most hard-drinking, caustic SOB you’d ever want to meet.

And yet he’s traded his trademark cigarettes for pureed prosciutto.

Before Sonoma was known: An interview with Chef Ash (PDF)
published in Sommelier Journal

Chef John Ash has come to stand for many things. Known as the founder of wine-country cuisine, he began pairing food and wine in the early 1980s at his Santa Rosa restaurant, John Ash & Co.

Sommelier Spotlight: Eno at the InterContinental (PDF)
published in Sommelier Journal

Eno's four female sommeliers--young, dynamic and enthusiastic--could easily pass for a group of college co-eds. But spend five minutes with any of them, and each exhibits a level of knowledge and professionalism far above what someone could pick up from a weekend waitressing job.

A sweet bit of homework (PDF)
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

Tomoko Ichikawa’s husband went one better than a box of chocolates for their 10th anniversary. Matt Mayfield bought his wife the chance to make chocolate with some of the world’s foremost experts. “I like to do things that are very tactile,” says Ichikawa, an information designer. She sews and bakes as a break from the computer screen. But this was a whole different ball of wax paper. Ichikawa spent two days discovering chocolate with the pros at the Chocolate Academy, 600 W. Chicago, opened this fall by Zurich, Switzerland-based chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut. This is the first U.S. location; there are 11 other centers worldwide.

Brazil: Ready for the World (PDF)
published in Sommelier Journal

It was a devastatingly beautiful morning as Ademir Brandelli greeted us in front of Don Laurindo, his family’s winery in southern Brazil, where he is director and enologist. The breeze was pleasant, the sun warm in a sky so blue it was almost unreal. A perfect day for working in the vineyards—and Brandelli’s father, Don Laurindo, was doing just that, as he does every day at age 77.

What's new in tofu, and chocolate's good for you
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

Imagine wandering for hours amid tables of the best cheeses, chocolates, confections, coffees, olives, sauces, dips and chips while friendly fellow foodies beg you to take a taste. Sounds like a dream, right?

It is until about six hours in, when you’d rather have a glass of water and an antacid than another gourmet fruit and spice spread on organic macadamia flax bread.

Taste in translation
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

I was just dying to try chicken feet.

I saw them on the menu the last time I had dim sum in Chinatown. Always in search of different and authentic, I couldn’t find anything more unusual than chicken feet.

Pass the frog legs
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

When my daughter was a toddler, she was as fond of Cheerios, macaroni and hot dogs as the next kid. But her favorite thing to find on her high chair tray? Olive tapenade—she didn’t really care what it was served with, if anything, except a spoon.

Modern cookie swap includes booze, boys
published in the Chicago Sun-Times

Back in the day, a proper Wellesley cookie swap meant lacy aprons, long skirts and lighted luminaries. It even involved a little silver bell: Just as with Pavlov’s dogs, the ringing signified it was time to drool. On cue, the women who were gathered at Mary Bevilacqua’s lovely home would present and exchange their baked treats, following a set of rules codified in their 1970s classic, “The Wellesley Cookie Exchange Cookbook.”

Lacy aprons? Silver bells? Not so much today. A modern cookie exchange is just as likely to include booze and—gasp—even boys. More cocktail party than Betty Crocker, this holiday tradition has evolved to accommodate the hip, the talented and even the hopeless in the kitchen.

World Class: Chef answers London calling (PDF)
published in Fort Wayne Magazine

It’s a rare organization that can compel someone to sacrifice family time, take leave of his job and buy a seat on an international flight just for the opportunity to toil weeks on end without pay. In fact, it really doesn’t work at all – unless you happen to have been voted Best Restaurant in the World in 2005.

The most of the coast is close to home
published in Fort Wayne Magazine

Chef Paula Phillips is back home again in her namesake restaurant on downtown Fort Wayne’s west side. And there’s no place like home for Phillips – home with her family, that is.

Crowd pleaser
published in Fort Wayne Magazine

Who doesn’t love Henry’s? It’s the warm-up for a night on the town – dinner, a few cocktails and conversation before hitting the noisy clubs and the pricier booze. It’s a wrap-up after an evening on the town – snacks, a few cocktails and conversation after a theater performance or art function. Sometimes it’s both – you eat, you drink, you chat, you end up staying all night. The slogan – Meet Me at Henry’s – fits so well.

Southern comfortable
published in Fort Wayne Magazine

Sometimes what you get isn’t what you expect, but upon reflection, it makes perfect sense. Consider Eddie Merlot’s chef. You might think that the man behind the Rolls-Royce of fat, juicy steaks would be a swanky, larger-than-life kind of fellow as loud as the flavors he creates. But you’ll need to lean in to hear Matthew Nolot.

As I went to the ladies' room, I really felt like I should pick up a dish towel.