I want to find the culinary genius who invented small plates and give them a hug. Or at least go to Mojito and hug someone there for doing small plates so well.
Continue reading Mojito may not have invented the small plate, but they improved it
Dining at Harvest is like eating at a farmers’ market
Who doesn’t like to spend a summer Saturday morning browsing a farmers’ market, loading up on fresh veggies, enjoying a breakfast burrito or a barbecue sandwich, listening to music and running into friends? That’s what I love about Harvest Restaurant: It’s like a big farmers’ market that’s open all year, with air-conditioning and table service! Continue reading Dining at Harvest is like eating at a farmers’ market
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … SuperChefs!
Holy pancakes and waffles, Batman! This place has got a bat-ton of food, piled as high as Gotham’s towers! With great power comes great responsibility, and SuperChefs’ latest and most impressive location meets that standard and then some. Continue reading Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … SuperChefs!
However you say it, Pho Cafe offers year-round delight
Mmm, it’s in the ‘90s again. Wouldn’t it be great to go get some steaming hot soup? How about a big bowl of pho from Pho Cafe!
No matter how much a hot bowl of creamy chowder says “winter” to you, think about the Vietnamese, and all the other nationalities that ring Asia’s tropical southeastern edge, where hot soup is a main meal, people understand that hot soup cools you off. Continue reading However you say it, Pho Cafe offers year-round delight
How Not to Complain
I was having a bad day. My fiancé was in the hospital with what turned out to be a minor medical problem, but it was still stressful, as all hospital interactions inevitably are. A friend pretty much insisted on taking me to breakfast before I started my day visiting at the hospital. We settled on a nearby restaurant, which I cherish enough that I eat there several times a year. Old school, not a chain, very diner-ish, with an open kitchen and a staff of veteran cooks, most of them women. Continue reading How Not to Complain
Quality and attention kick Butchertown Pizza Hall up a notch
Haters gotta hate, but the pizza just keeps on coming. Some of my friends, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, go into a slow burn when another pizzeria opens in town. They sneer as they predict its imminent demise in an overloaded market. There are too many of them, they gripe. It just doesn’t make good business sense, they judge.
I have heard no such whining about Butchertown Pizza Hall. Continue reading Quality and attention kick Butchertown Pizza Hall up a notch
It’s all about the wine, and great food too, at Cuvée Wine Table
I’m a wine geek. Or you could call me a wine nerd. But please don’t call me a snob.
Look, I’ve enjoyed wine since I was a teenager, Chianti diluted with 7Up with Italian-American friends in Brooklyn. Later I found out about this cool place called Napa Valley, where you could get free wine, a long time before most of you had probably heard of the place. I’ve been writing professionally about wine since around 1980, and have been lucky enough to visit wineries and judge wine competitions around the world.
But you’ll never catch me taking this stuff too seriously, and you shouldn’t, either. Continue reading It’s all about the wine, and great food too, at Cuvée Wine Table
You’ll eat fake meat and like it at Morels Cafe
There’s this funny thing about plant-based meat analogues, a.k.a. fake meat: Hard-core carnivores and hard-core vegans all seem to get downright angry when they catch someone eating fake bacon, veggie burgers, or even amazing meat-free goodies like those on the menu at Morels Cafe. Continue reading You’ll eat fake meat and like it at Morels Cafe
No-Call No-Show, Shit Show
Ah, the old “no-call, no-show”. Basically it means someone who’s scheduled to work doesn’t show up for their shift, doesn’t call to offer an excuse, and doesn’t answer increasingly desperate calls from their place of employment. Continue reading No-Call No-Show, Shit Show
Foodies may happily graze at hiko-A-mon
When I go to a Japanese restaurant, I generally love to pull right up to the sushi bar. I can hardly imagine a more immersive entry into the world of Japanese cuisine than sitting right across the tale from the sushi chefs, with the striking colors of beautiful fresh fish and other edible delights lined up in perfect rows between you. Continue reading Foodies may happily graze at hiko-A-mon