North America
21 May
I had a delicious dinner in Hell’s Kitchen last night at Taboon, a restaurant I had never been to. Taboon is the Arabic word for the domed oven in which they make their delectable flatbread served on butcher board with puddles of olive oil and a dusting of sea salt, sage and rosemary on top. A mix of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ingredients...
14 Apr
Gosh..Spring seems to be in the wings and we are all breathless for it. Amazing how the senses respond..it is subtle, but a tremor is felt the length of the body, a tremor of anticipation stimulated by bird song, the smell of fresh growth, and allergies to the Callery Pear blossoms. And we begin to think of disrobing, of eating al fresco. Here...
21 Mar
South Florida is not known for its cultural offerings. What a treat it was to come across the Morikami Museum and the lovely Japanese gardens that surround it. The Museum is currently showing an exhibition of kimonos, block prints and also offers a fascinating permanent exhibition detailing the history of the Yamato Colony, a Japanese farming...
15 Mar
I just celebrated a birthday and chose, as the dinner venue for my group of 8 friends, a favorite of mine, LES restaurant Azul. I first came across Azul, located on Stanton and Suffolk, one sultry summer day. A square room, open to the two street fronts, this informal, tasty, moderately priced Argentinian transplant is a little bit of heaven. Steaks...
1 Mar
Located in Manhattan’s NoLita, this tiny, white and very cool space was opened by Le Cirque’s ex-pastry chef, Iacopa Falai as a follow up to his Falai Panetteria and Clinton Street’s Falai. Serving delicious bites – of pastry, breads, antipasti and delicious deserts – it also offers real comfort food – baked eggs...
25 Feb
Vineyards are lovely. Their tailored uniformity belies the startling individuality of their grape. And today, in valleys as far-flung as Calchaqui and Barossa, Stellenbosch and Napa, you find superb wines as well as exquisite food, magnificent inns, and world-class art collections.
26 Oct
It didn’t surprise me that De Vera and the supremely talented Kathe Williams (see Two Green Witches 9/9/10), had the imagination to design a Marie Antoinette dress, to fashion it out of burlap, to dress a madonna-like mannequin in it, and to make it beautiful. Frayed at the hem, ruffled along the bodice, sweetly draped, it has that unique alchemy...
4 Sep
The Ace Hotel on West 29th Street is all the buzz..indeed, the lobby at any time of day or night looks like a version of Apple’s Genius Bar relocated to a town square, every seat and table occupied by a computer or digital something and its user. And fronting all sides of this plugged-in community are cafes, pubs, restaurants and one very, very...
2 Sep
What happens when three of New York’s most beloved Italian-American restaurateurs team up with the founder of a gourmet food and wine market in Turin, Italy? The result is the grand, ambitious, sprawling Eataly, opening Tuesday in the Toy Building at 200 Fifth Ave. between 23rd and 24th streets.The complex features areas for shopping, learning and...
10 Aug
We poled through warm, tropical waters – the flats – of north Eleuthera, Bonefish Stuart carrying on a running dialogue with his inner fisherman while scanning the shallows ahead for our mercurial target. Moving solo or in schools in ankle high waters, bonefish are, pound for pound, probably the strongest and fastest fish around. They...
7 Aug
This island draws one back again and again. Its fine, pink sand beach is considered one of the best in the Bahamas and the warm, incredibly buoyant turquoise waters are what photographers photo shop. Doll-like houses, wearing pale shades and charming names like Dilly, Hibiscus and Conch Pearl, date back to the 18th and early 19th centuries. Residents,...
9 Jul
You won’t find it unless you have been directed there or are simply curious about the red and yellow flag of Spain that hangs from the brownstone. In no need of signage, La Nacional Tapas Bar is the oldest – and many say the best – Spanish restaurant in New York City. Lolo Manso, the chef/owner who hails from Valladolid, turns out...
19 Jun
Summer has arrived in New York City and, what that means to die-hard New Yorkers, is bliss. Finally, we get to take our city back — to enjoy Central Park, to claim an outdoor table at Cafe Boulud, to stream up Madison Avenue hitting all the traffic lights just right, to cook fresh market food in the dusk hours of late evening, food straight...
15 Jun
I am not of the radio generation – that was my mother and another, gentler time – but, better late than never, I have discovered its magic. Soothing yet stimulating, it hums along in the background of my workday until, seemingly subconsciously, a bell goes off and the voice cuts through all other noise and thought and captures my attention....
17 Mar
5 Feb
How, after years of eating my national food, the hamburger, could I possibly find the quintessential, most delicious burger I have ever put in my mouth in the hands of a Frenchman? Daniel Boulud’s new restaurant in New York’s Bowery is a “lowdown downtown place where the French brasserie meets American tavern. Sausages, burgers...
19 Jan
On a narrow sandbar, located 300 km southeast of Halifax, untold numbers of ships have been wrecked. It is imagined that a pair of horses survived one such wreck and made it to shore. A place without trees, without shade and without shelter, it is now home to 300 wild horses, the horses of Sable Island. Roberto Dutesco, who has created the most...
16 Jan
I have never been to Haiti although it is a country I have wanted to visit since a very close friendship, forged at Columbia University, introduced me to it. Haiti was a continuing source of study in my anthropology courses; it was an aesthetic source of inspiration during my years with Aid to Artisans. It has been a point of conscience always,...
25 Dec
14 Dec
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