Wine. Travel. Food.
In Elizabethan times, the Haymarket in London’s St. James area was, as the name suggests, an outdoor marketplace selling hay and straw as well as local farm produce, crustaceans and mollusks. One of the merchants was a shellfish monger named George William Wilton. In 1742 he set up a rudimentary stall in the center of […]
It’s no secret that Joanne and I love traveling to London. Over the past 20-30 years (and at least that many visits), we’ve observed stodgy old London’s transformation into one of the most influential restaurant cities on the planet. What was once a culinary backwater known for bland, uninspired and overcooked food has become a […]
Men’s Health magazine – a publication that focuses on fitness, nutrition, health, style and more – happens to be the largest circulated men’s periodical in the world. So, you can imagine how pleased and proud we were a few years back when, unbeknownst to us, Men’s Health named MANNY’S as one of the “TOP 10 […]
Charlie Brown gets it. “SUMMER, WE HARDLY KNEW YA.” In fact, sometimes, we can barely recognize ya! June certainly can’t be trusted. Sure, there are some summer-like days…but in this part of the country, we get more than our share of April-like stretches: cold, wet, raw, windy. Then, in a few short weeks, it’s June […]
OK, globetrotting VIKINGS fans… This fall, our Minnesota Vikings play two games back-to-back across the pond. The first is in Dublin on September 28. Kickoff in London is at half two on October 5th. (That’s Brit-speak for 2:30) Demand for the London game has been so high – 250,000 people are in the queue for […]
I’ve always been a little fuzzy about the distinctions among French eating establishments. Am I eating in a brasserie or a bistro or a restaurant? BRASSERIES originated in the Alsace region, right next door to Germany, but are now found throughout France. Traditionally they offer all-day, non-stop service, including breakfast, and are typically open late. […]
I think it was just before COVID that I first became aware of a buzzy, new product called the IMPOSSIBLE BURGER. Supposedly, this plant-based patty smelled, tasted and cooked like real ground beef. Initially they were somewhat hard to find in supermarkets around town. But eventually I was able to snag a green-colored bag of 6 perfectly […]
Over forty years ago, on a rainy evening in New York City, business associates told me that we would dine that night at a new restaurant on the Upper East Side called PRONTO RISTORANTE. Bring from Minnesota, my expectations were low. Were we going to dine on some version of State Fair PRONTO PUPS or corndogs? […]
Most of the time when we dine out, we’re presented with a standard “A LA CARTE” menu – the kind that lists individual dishes with separate prices, allowing diners to order each item independently. A la carte menus, particularly in France, are often complemented by “PRIX FIXE,” or “fixed price,” menus (also called “Le Formula,” […]
I got to thinking about Boston the other day and the foods it’s known for, like BOSTON BAKED BEANS and BOSTON CLAM CHOWDAH. Then my mind wandered off and I thought about BOSTON SCROD. What the hell is a scrod anyway? I’ve since learned that it’s a made-up name created by the PARKER HOUSE HOTEL […]
