culinary (57)

9622963661?profile=originalPhotos by Victor Block unless otherwise noted


The platter that was set before me was covered with what resembled small piles of leaves from a fall lawn raking. The little brown, green and black heaps hardly invited sniffing, much less tasting. Yet sniff and taste I did.

Little did I know, before this introduction to “cheese wrapping,” that a gastronomic tradition in this corner of Italy is aging cheeses by encasing them in leaves. Nor was I aware that there are highly respected professional “c

Read more…

12144236475?profile=RESIZE_930x

The exclusive dining experience on the Princess Discovery is unlike any other I have been a part of during my travels.

"360: An Extraordinary Experience" is dining immersion making one feel like you’re sitting in the Greek countryside with olive trees or smelling the fragrance of lavender in France. Thanks to Princess Cruises, I savored this time with fellow bloggers.

I immediately became captivated with the experience when I heard beautiful music played by two violinists and felt transported t

Read more…

11597083069?profile=RESIZE_930xEscale Créole


On the central west coast of this stunning Indian-Ocean island off the coast of Africa, less than a half hour's drive from capital Port Louis, the quaint fishing village of Flic-en-Flac (the name thought to derive from the old Dutch fried landt flaak, meaning "free flat land," from when Mauritius was held by the Netherlands from the end of the 16th to the beginnng of the 18th century) is home to a thriving tourist industry centered around its 13 kilometres (eight miles) of coastl

Read more…

In the beginning of the 1990s, Tulum was a sleepy town located on Mexico's Riviera Maya. It was a day journey from a hotel located in Playa del Carmen or Cancun to visit the ruins and wander around the town. At the end in the second half of 20th century Tulum was on its journey to becoming a major destination. It was first a hot spot for hippies who wanted Yoga and retreats for meditation, later for famous people, and finally for developers. International investors, hoteliers restaurants of Mexi

Read more…

Barbecue in the USA: A Quick Primer

L2F-Aug-17-pic-USA-barbecue-Kansas-City-vwcampin-flickr-640x480.jpg?profile=RESIZE_930xvwcampin


In the USA, barbecue is a year-round treat, and many regions of the country – mostly in the American South – have their own particular slant on the art of roasting, smoking, and saucing meats on a nice hot grill or in a smoker or pit. But summertime is especially barbecue time here, when BBQ cookouts are common. Here’s a quick primer of the top variations for those of you visiting soon.

Alabama


In this Deep-South state, usually hickory-smoked pork (top) is served chopped, sliced, or pull

Read more…

9009343890?profile=original

2019 C-CAP Annual Benefit

When: February 26, 2019 | 5:45pm
Where: Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, New York, NY

 

Honoring Chef Eric Ripert, Award-winning Chef and Co-owner of Le Bernardin

Chair: Brian Poplin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Elior North America

Chef Chair: Marcus Samuelsson, Chef, Author, and Restaurateur

Enjoy a grand tasting of culinary creations from over 30 of New York’s best-known chefs who will be assisted by talented C-CAP students and alumni, while sipping superb wines and

Read more…

Read more…

Thursday, May 10, 2018 / Manhattan

13th Annual Taste of Hope is the American Cancer Society’s signature culinary, wine, and spirits event, featuring some of New York’s most popular restaurants and beverage vendors. Guests enjoy a walk-around tasting where they can sample signature dishes, premier wines, and spirits. Now in its 13th year, the event has raised over $1.8 Million to support the American Cancer Society’s mission and goal of eliminating cancer as a major health problem.

Sarabeth Levine

Read more…

9009226277?profile=original

February 27, 2018

C-CAP Annual Benefit / Honoring Chef José Andrés

Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, NYC

Please join C-CAP at our annual Benefit to honor José Andrés, internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, educator, television personality, humanitarian, and chef/owner of ThinkFoodGroup and minibar by José Andrés.

 

Enjoy a grand walk-around tasting of culinary creations from over 30 of New York’s best-known chefs who will be assisted by talented C-CAP students and alumni, while sipping super

Read more…

9009047697?profile=originalThere's little doubt that food is a major part of the tourism experience.  If tourism is about seeing new sights and having new and unique experiences, then the culinary world is a major part of the tourism experience.  Because eating is an essential part of living, food or culinary tourism has a broad base of appeal.  In fact, often when visitors return home, one of the first questions that people ask is ‘how is the food?” 

The interaction between tourism and food is often called culinary tour

Read more…

lecordonbleu1-1024x678.jpg?width=407

It's official: gastronomy is overtaking gambling as Vegas' highest grossing attraction. Most of us want a sure bet these days and our palates rather than the comp card increasingly drive the buying decisions. Thanks to celebrity chefdom and farm-to-table ethos, our awareness of fresh ingredients and demand for exquisite dishes prepared by culinary artists has risen meteorically.

Venetian-Palazzo, a raging culinary flashpoint on the Vegas strip boasts the highest number of James Beard chefs togeth

Read more…

“How much onion?”  “It says about half.”  “A half, a whole; onions are good for you.  Let’s use the whole onion.”  “It says a teaspoon of paprika.”  “This looks like about a teaspoon.”  And so it went.  One of us chopped, one sautéed, another mixed.  All the tools were there, all the ingredients ready to go.  And so we created.  The Wine Council made the perfect dishes to pair with some outstanding wines from the La Rochelle and Steven Kent Wineries.   Three hours, six dishes, six wines.  A trul

Read more…

9008997056?profile=originalWouldn’t it be nice to dine in a restaurant that only served freshly-made meals made with locally-sourced ingredients, vegetables picked that same day, sauces that didn’t come from a jar or can, bread hot out of the oven, juices that only a moment ago were whole fruit, and desserts loving crafted by an on-site pastry chef?

 

In fact, you can. This is what is cooking at Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The renowned Costa Rica eco-adventure hotel at the base of the Rincon de la

Read more…


Hau Hin is a beach town 3 hours south of Bangkok by bus which offer foreigners everything Bangkok has to offer but in a concentrated area - a narrow town only a couple of kilometers wide at its widest.  

9296575500?profile=original

The bus to Hau Hin from Bangkok's southern bus terminal  runs near every hour and the bus station offers a variety of food options while you wait for your bus  to load (10 minutes before departing).  Just recently It has become either illegal or socially unacceptable to drink alcohol on the bus

Read more…

It is said that "the best place to learn about culture is at the dinner table!"

9008774459?profile=original

So starting your Thailand vacation with a Thai cuisine class or a course from a Thailand Cooking School offers you the cultural experience and other benefits. Some of these benefits are:

1. the trip to the market will teach you how to select fresh ingredients and which fruits make your body hot and which counter them by making your body cold and which not to combine together.

2. You will learn what makes the difference

Read more…

caveview.jpg?w=625

“Honey, I still don’t see any action in the restaurant!”  

We were sitting on the balcony of our hotel high above the Adriatic with a view directly into a large, empty, open-air restaurant built in a cave which was also high above the crashing surf. For experienced independent travelers we were getting a little concerned. Did we just make a big leap of faith on a good friend’s recommendation to go to this isolated location for an exceptional dining experience?

The Journey of Faith and a Twinge

Read more…


9008703694?profile=original

 

Walking tours are wonderful especially if they have a specific topic and cover only a small area.  Thus it is with “Burgh Bits and Bites” tour of Pittsburgh’s Strip District.  At one time the Strip District, located along the Allegheny River, was home to many mills and factories that later became an area of wholesalers of fresh produce and meat with restaurants to serve shift workers at any hour of the day. Things change and today most of the produce industry, manufacturing plants and mills ha

Read more…

9008890498?profile=original

Along with showcasing exceptional wines, paired with equally spectacular food, the partnership of Martin Corso (Chef Marty) of The M Group, and Ken Barnes of Temecula Night Out, has fostered a sense of camaraderie and fellowship in the Temecula Valley Wine Country community in presenting “Good Times in the Vines.”  The beautiful wine country home of Al and Jean Glaser on a lovely summer evening made for a perfect setting. The evocative musical ambience – a walk down memory lane with Neil Diamond

Read more…

Decisions, decisions. When in doubt, restaurant hop, or as I like to call it “food-hop”! After all, who says you can’t have it all, or that life is too short? If you can’t decide between or among several great recommended places to eat when you are traveling, then don’t decide. Group them by neighborhood and go to them all! That’s how we spent our 2nd day living life in the footsteps of Woody Allen – we just ate a course at one restaurant and then moved on to another for the next course. And let

Read more…

Where can you get a varied, perfectly seasoned, five course rustic Italian meal with great wines and original cocktails in San Diego?  Pizzeria Mozza fits that bill.     9008833690?profile=original      

Pizzeria Mozza, sits on the western end of San Diego’s Headquarter’s, a rebirth of the historic San Diego Police Department Headquarters, built in 1939.  After 28 years in limbo, it is now on the national registry of historic places, with buildings and an open air plaza at the entrance to Seaport Village.  The Headquarters

Read more…