Category Archives: Insight

On The Subject of Third Wave Coffee Roasters and Cafes It’s always fascinating to see the various waves of dining and drinking trends coming and going in America’s metropolitan centers. Some chef in New York starts making pork belly a hit and then every neighborhood bistro from La Jolla to Pittsburgh has a riff onContinue reading “Plat du Jour: Tuesday April 17, 2012: Third Wave Coffee”

Happy Middle of April Monday everybody! With summer temperatures in New England for the Boston Marathon and beautiful springtime sunshine here in the west, it seems like the perfect day to start cleaning off the patio furniture to eat al fresco once again! The big stories of the day revolve around restaurant critics coming andContinue reading “Plat du Jour: Monday April 16, 2011”

Friday the 13th! Oh no! Let’s think of some non-spooky items for the end of the week. How about wine and wine bars? Eater National has a very useful guide to the best wine bars across the country. Wine bars are an all too often neglected subject in the restaurant-bar world, probably because what reallyContinue reading “Plat du Jour: Friday April 13, 2012”

Today’s catch of the day seems to be all about economics. Marginal utility, supply and demand, Keynesian cross, labor markets, incentives, oligopoly…I’ve always said and still believe the most useful class I ever took was high school Economics AP. Don’t quiz me on what most of these terms mean, but at least I still rememberContinue reading “Plat du Jour: Wednesday April 11, 2012”

After writing about the struggles of the Merriman’s “signature” ahi, let’s look at a very successful signature ahi dish from Roy Yamaguchi, his Blackened Island Ahi with Beurre Blanc and a Spicy Soy Mustard Sauce. The first key is to have high grade ahi tuna, as ruby red as you can find. The ahi atContinue reading “Tuesday Project: Roy’s Blackened Island Ahi”

Today we head to Syria for an outstanding orange chicken, studded with sweet golden raisins and figs, more sweetness from caramelized onions, and a very pleasant blast of curry spice. The dish is very balanced, not too sweet nor too much kick to dull the palate. The recipe comes from Jennifer Felicia Abadi in herContinue reading “Tuesday Project: Orange Chicken with Golden Raisins and Figs”

Back from a weekend jaunt to Yosemite, taking my 86 year old grandmother (who doesn’t look or act a day older than 26!) for the first time. More on Yosemite dining later this week. It’s not Paris, but it’s also not like camping. O.k., well, you can camp at Yosemite and eat freeze dry scallops,Continue reading “Le Plat du Jour: Monday March 26, 2012”

Just like how El Bulli and its molecular gastronomy became the fashion of last decade’s high end gastronomy, the “New Nordic” cuisine thus far has been the rage of the new decade since last year when Rene Redzepi’s hyper-local cuisine at Noma in Copenhagen supplanted El Bulli as the world’s “best” restaurant according to theContinue reading “Le Plat du Jour: Thursday March 22, 2012”