Wine. Travel. Food.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never given much thought to Russian food. Never thought of it as good or bad….just never gave it much consideration. I suppose that if pressed to talk about it, among the words I might have used in the past would include: peasant food… heavy… filling… fattening… robust… substantial… […]
It wasn’t exactly Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but as a high school junior from Central Illinois, I felt plenty bold heading up to Chicago on the Burlington Zephyr, with four buddies to see Bill Haley and the Comets perform “Rock Around the Clock” on a hot, humid summer morning at the Chicago Theater, then catching […]
Every now and then, I revisit my fondest memories of dining in Wisconsin. I’m not talking about squeaky cheese curds, or brandy Old Fashioneds, cranberries and booyahs, either. No, I’m talking about dishes and restaurants that are forever welded into my culinary brain matter. In Milwaukee, at the iconic KARL RATZSCH’S RESTAURANT, I feasted on […]
As many of you readers know, I grew up in rural Illinois among factory workers and farmers. Corn was the crop and consequently the cows in the area were well fed and well marbled – no grass feeding in America’s heartland. Living cheek by jowl in a household of three families was wonderful for me […]
Growing up in Kewanee, Illinois, my experience with Italians and Italian food was limited to two things. First was the curious MATRANI FAMILY, my grandmother’s friends who lived a few blocks away from us over on Burr Street. I liked them well enough – they were always friendly – but I must admit that as […]
Ponder with me the Supper Club, a Midwest dining institution that most everyone has heard of, but hardly anyone knows the history of. Perhaps it has its roots around 1919, when passage of the Volstad Act ushered in the Prohibition era. Even though liquor was forbidden all around the country, folks still wanted to drink […]
Write this down so that you don’t forget about it. In Miami, overlooking Biscayne Bay on the spacious deck of the hipster-friendly STANDARD HOTEL is a restaurant called THE LIDO BAYSIDE GRILL. The environs are amazing. Though steps away from the action on South Beach, the property, set among the palm trees and peaceful tropical […]
I love Indian food. And because the culinary regions of the subcontinent are way too diverse, delicious and complicated for me ever to understand, I’ve learned to just sit back and enjoy the embarrassment of riches that Indian cuisine has to offer. My knowledge is limited to the following, and I’m not even sure what […]
One of the fond memories of my teenage years takes me back to the long, hot and humid summer days in Kewanee, Illinois, when my buddies and I would sit for hours on the steps of John Draminski’s grocery store telling filthy stories and bragging of sexual conquests (that, of course, never ever happened; although […]
Just what the hell is “Noble Rot?” I had heard the term from time to time but never bothered to investigate. Then a couple months ago, when Joanne and I were in London, we were seeking out restaurants that were not expensive… yet had earned a lusted-after Michelin star. One of the names that popped […]
