Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Gherkins & Tomatoes
A Writer's Musings on Nature and Culture, Since 2008
In the culinary world, the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize or the Oscars comes down to the James Beard Awards. This year, the list of nominees includes a large number of Southern chefs, restaurants, and other food-related entities. What's so fascinating about this list lies in the evidence of increasing diversity - it's not all…
Continue reading ➞ The South is Rising Again: The 2013 James Beard Nominees
Alice Waters often said that Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking started the whole thing, meaning Chez Panisse the restaurant. And of course, the ensuing local foods movement. The following excerpt comes from a review I wrote, published today on the Web site of The New York Journal of Books: The many talented cooks and chefs she…
Continue reading ➞ And to Think it all Started with a French Cookbook: Forty Years of Chez Panisse
Like many of you, I dream about being in France. A lot. And, of course, I daydream about eating in Paris, in spite of naysayers who point their compasses at other, more culinarily au courant corners of the globe. I'm already making lists of culinary adventures in preparation for my grant-sponsoredjourney this fall, doing research…
[A picture, and nothing more, for silent contemplation.] For more, see the El Bulli slideshow HERE.
In honor of Gourmet magazine of dear and cherished memory (and my Danish father-in-law, who would have scoffed loudly and asked for more roast beef, mange tak), I present this link to a video of a multi-course meal ("The Alchemist") in a futuristic restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark, Bo Bech at Restaurant Paustian. Gorgeous music, accompanied…
Continue reading ➞ If Salvador Dalí Dreamed Ferran Adrià
Instead of forking out thousands of lire for a cooking class in Italy, take a look at these videos. Buon appetito! Cooking Sicilian with Mamma Agata Amalfi Coast with Mamma Agata (Looks like somebody got into the wine a bit early on) Lezione di cucina dl ristorante La Finestra a Padova (Italian Cooking Class at…
Continue reading ➞ Cooking in Italy
On February 9, 2009 comes a new, feel-good, remember-the-booming times kind of cookbook that drops names of big stars and celebrities, along with terrific recipes, Tavern on the Green: 125 Recipes for Good Times. Written by the owners of the famous New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green, Jennifer Oz LeRoy and her mother…
Continue reading ➞ Tavern on the Green: 125 Recipes for Good Times
After much anticipation, we arrived at Palette for our inaugural luncheons-inspired menu yesterday at 12 noon on the dot. Alas, unbeknownst to us, the chef only parades that menu during the dinner hour. So it was a burger and fries and a turkey club for us. Both excellent, perhaps the best burger ever, served on…
Continue reading ➞ Palette Didn’t Deliver: Inaugural Dining on the Streets of Washington, DC
Sunday Suppers at Lucques, by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber (Knopf/New York, 2005) Sunday suppers --- not something you associate with high-class dining. Right? Wrong. Award-winning California chef, Suzanne Goin, of Lucques and A.O.C in Los Angeles, started serving Sunday suppers at Lucques in 1998. Each Sunday supper - always a three-course extravaganza of appetizers,…
Continue reading ➞ Sunday Suppers at Lucques: A Review in Rhapsody
As a cookbook junkie --- close to 200 of my 3500 cookbooks concern Italian cooking --- I drool when books like Nate Appleman's A16: Food + Wine show up. The cover alone is worth the $35.00 admission price, for the photo makes my soul cry out for the simplicity it represents. Not because anything's sad…
Continue reading ➞ Italian Cooking in Paradise: A16 is A-1
