The Good Acre Food Hub Open House Friday, October 30th The mission of The Good Acre is to enhance how food is grown and shared in the Twin Cities region, to improve marketplace opportunities for diverse independent farmers, and to increase access for all consumers to healthy, locally-grown fresh produce. The acre of land next… Read More →
Beautiful Cuisine from the Italian Riviera By Bob & Sue As the sister restaurant of Michael White’s Marea, Ai Fiori has a Michelin star and an exciting Italian menu. We had a hard time choosing among the many interesting courses but started with the lobster veloute, the chilled corn soup with crab, and a crudo of fluke with American sturgeon… Read More →
Jonathan Brooks’ Top Picks for Indianapolis Indianapolis native Jonathan Brooks opened his first restaurant, Milktooth, with his wife in October of 2014. It didn’t take long for his edgy brunch menu to gain a following and a national reputation. In 2015, Brooks was named a Food & Wine Best New Chef (the first award given to… Read More →
Devour London A global hub of history, finance, fashion and food, London is incredibly accessible, reliable and popular for tourists. As England’s capital grows increasingly diverse, so do the culinary offerings. From high-end Michelin-rated tasting menus and an influx of chef-driven gastropubs to roaming food trucks and amazing ethnic food from around the globe, there… Read More →
Devour Amsterdam Amsterdam is a quirky enclave of bikes, boats and old world charm that draws visitors from all over the world. In a city that defies easy description, tourists flock there for the forbidden (“coffee shops” and the infamous Red Light District) as much as they do for the renowned architecture, museums and culture. And… Read More →
Devour Dublin Few modern European cities can match Dublin’s mix of rough spirit and hip energy. Rife with old-school pubs and scratchy-voiced musicians, there has been a recent influx of young entrepreneurial-types who have been fostering a place where creativity and contemporary ideas can flourish. With this unique meshing of history and modernity, there is… Read More →
Chef Accarrino Shares San Francisco Favorites After graduating from the CIA in New York and working for top tier chefs around the country (including Thomas Keller at Per Se and Tom Colicchio at Craft Los Angeles), chef Matthew Accarrino moved to San Francisco in 2009 to take over the SPQR kitchen. At the intimate Fillmore neighborhood restaurant, Accarrino takes traditional,… Read More →
A Trip Back in Time By Bob & Sue Founded in 1898 in downtown Chicago by a German-born brewmaster, the iconic Berghoff restaurant still serves traditional food in an old world setting. Free corned beef sandwiches were originally offered as a way of selling beer. The restaurat has evolved under fourth generation family ownership into… Read More →
Congratulations JBF Award Winners! As always, I had a fantastic time at the annual James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation’s most prestigious awards ceremony honoring professionals in the food and beverage biz. I’m so proud to be a part of this amazing organization that works hard on education, agriculture issues, food insecurity and hunger relief. You… Read More →
A Technical Wizard Corey Lee is one of the most talented chefs in America. He’s a master technician and a creative wunderkind, cooking on a different level than almost anyone else in the country. Dinner at his three Michelin star San Francisco restaurant Benu is an unrivaled experience—a tasting menu comprised of a cuisine unique… Read More →
A Parisian Staple By Bob & Sue Parisians have loved Bernard Pacaud’s food since this Michelin three-star restaurant opened on the Place Vogues in 1986. L’Ambroisie offers a unique dining experience with delicious traditional French cuisine cooked by a master chef and supported by superlative service in an elegant setting with tapestries. Our recent visit was… Read More →
The Undisputed Master of Porchetta Just 15 miles outside of Rome in the outlying town of Marino, I found the butcher shop and deli of my dreams. Open since 1912, Il Norcino Bernabei is a family operation, run by Vitaliano Bernabei, his wife and son. For the past century, it’s been regarded as the finest meat… Read More →
Champagne Country By Bob & Sue During our recent trip to Paris, we took the high-speed TGV train to Champagne country for a lunch at 2014’s only new Michelin three-star restaurant, L’Assiette Champenois. The brilliant young chef Arnauld Lallement is carrying on the family tradition of thoughtful and creative food served in a friendly environment. The… Read More →
In the Valley By Bob & Sue With “food churches” Meadowood and The French Laundry temporarily closed, we enjoyed comfort food at many of Napa’s popular restaurants: Cindy Pawlcyn’s Mustards Grill (Yountville) and Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen (St. Helena) define modern California cuisine in fun environments with wonderful soups, a wide variety of appetizers, and innovative tweaks to the… Read More →
Homage to Gulf Seafood Located in the Warehouse District, just down the street from the famed pork-centric Cochon and the adjacent sandwich shop and salumeria Butcher, Pêche Seafood Grill is the newest addition to chef/restaurateur Donald Link’s growing list of praise worthy restaurants in New Orleans. The show piece of this rustic-meets-modern seafood restaurant is the… Read More →
Minneapolis’ Young Chef in the Spotlight Mike DeCamp, the incredibly talented and creative chef de cuisine at Minneapolis’ award winning La Belle Vie, just announced he’s leaving his longtime mentor Tim McKee to open a new restaurant with Jester Concepts (the team behind Borough and Coup d’etat). They’ll be taking over Hotel Ivy’s first floor restaurant, formerly Porter &… Read More →
Lebanon Meets Mexico By Andrew Zimmern
Where to Splurge in Athens For many tourists, Athens represents nothing more than a fling prior to hitting the Greek Islands, but you’re making a mistake if you don’t spend more than a few days in the capital city to sample the jaw-dropping fare. Varoulko One of the best restaurants in the city, the… Read More →
An Impressive Debut After working in some of Chicago’s most prestigious kitchens—Charlie Trotter’s, Alinea and Schwa—chef Jake Bickelhaupt started an underground supper club, or “guestaurant,” called Sous Rising. With his wife Alexa Welsh, Bickelhaupt hosted Michelin-quality meals with a casual, dinner party feel in their Chicago apartment for nearly two years. In early 2014, Bickelhaupt and Welsh opened… Read More →
From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue By Bob & Sue We enjoyed three spectacular dinners and several memorable lunches from the best of Chicago: Grace Both the Fauna and Flora tasting menus included a number of dazzling presentations from a highly-trained kitchen staff. Among the highlights were Alaskan king crab in cucumber juice with… Read More →
From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue By Bob & Sue August John Besh’s signature restaurant features high quality ingredients and creative tasting menus in a clubby setting. Recent choices included a preparation of three fois gras, spaghettini and tripe with a harissa and smoked tomato sauce, a feather like gnocchi with crab in… Read More →
Marcus Off Duty In Marcus Off Duty, chef, award-winning author and TV host Marcus Samuelsson steps out of the restaurant and into his home kitchen, where he teaches readers to cook global, flavorful and approachable recipes. It’s a beautiful book, filled with funky illustrations, stories, personalized playlists, and his tips and tricks for tackling ethnic… Read More →
Cookbook Gurus Brothers Matt and Ted Lee grew up in Charleston, South Carolina but attended colleges in Massachusetts. They so missed the foods from back home that they founded The Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue, a mail-order Southern food company. When an editor of Travel + Leisure magazine asked them to write a story about road-tripping their home state… Read More →
The largest celebration of local foods in the region. Next Sunday, November 2, check out the best of local food by producers and makers from Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin at Feast! in Rochester, Minnesota. With more than 100 exhibitor booths, you’ll find a variety of specialty foods such as sauerkraut and kimchi, artisan cheese, African simmer sauces,… Read More →
From the Culinary Adventures of Bob & Sue… By Bob & Sue Photo Credit: Brooklyn Fare Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare Cesar Ramirez’ highest quality ingredients included Japanese sea urchin served with a black truffle slice on brioche, specially selected Hudson Valley foie gras served in shisho broth on a corn mushi custard, Maine lobster with lobster… Read More →
Music City Food + Wine 2014 was the most intimate and fun food fest I have been to in years… Great out-of-town chefs, amazing local restaurateurs and food talent, superb food entrepreneurs and the most carefully-curated Grand Tasting Tent I have ever walked through. You gotta get there next year. Here are a few observations:… Read More →
Barbecue Beef Ribs By Tom Mylan
From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue… By Bob & Sue In addition to the many interesting Chinese restaurants found throughout the city, two other Asian restaurants have become important destinations for serious foodies: Burma Superstar This modest looking Burmese restaurant turns out street food inspired fare which brings high praise from its many… Read More →
From the culinary adventures of Bob & Sue… By Bob & Sue Venturing beyond such regular favorites as Coi and Quince while enjoying another great experience at Benu, we secured difficult reservations at these two interesting restaurants: Photo Credit: Dylan + Jeni State Bird Provisions This James Beard award winner for Best New Restaurant in… Read More →
Adventures in Sustainable Eating A two-time James Beard Award-winning online documentary series, The Perennial Plate explores socially responsible eating in the United States and abroad. The beautifully shot weekly series was created by Daniel Klein, an activist and chef, and Mirra Fine, a graphic designer, writer and now filmmaker, who impressively research, film, edit, and produce each piece… Read More →
