Food

I have known Maurice DiMarino when he began with the Cohn Restaurant Group at Island Prime.  As he proved himself as a sommelier , he was assigned more restaurants until now, he proudly can say he is the Certified Sommelier/Wine and …

August is tomato time.  Each year in early Spring I always plant more than we’ll ever eat.  But I can’t resist names like Cuore di Bue, Costoluto Fiorentino, Principe Borghese and more.  I fill my orto with tiny seedlings that …

When I was going through San Diego State University as a “late-blooming” student chasing a Journalism degree, I used to ponder the role of the “gatekeepers,” those news editors who had the responsibility of using press releases for articles, or flushing them into the round file, never to …

A parade of new releases from the traditional Tuscany wine country and from parts not so well known, have made 2014 an” Italian Job,” with a flood of new releases. With the Italian government’s help in some campaigns, Italian wineries in unfamiliar …

The current issue of Wine Spectator, the leading wine publication in the world, has its annual restaurant awards section, based on the quality of the wine list, presentation and type of cuisine. A total of 3,748 restaurants worldwide were named …

I hated eggplant as a kid. So did my sister, Michele. And my Mom’s attempts to get us to eat it were met with fierce resistance. Wartime-style subversive resistance.   Josie’s eggplant Parmigiana was made by breading and frying the …

The pork loin roast is generally a sad thing. Often dry and tasteless because of its lack of fat, the lowly loin is generally left to be cut into boneless chops, then pounded, breaded and fried to death. It’s worse …

I was totally and utterly WRONG. No doubt about it.  I have noticed a few recipes that have, over the past month, called for the use of ‘tomato water’.  In reading further, tomato water is simply that red-hued tasty liquid …

August is barely here and already harvest whistles are blowing for one of the major varietals of wines in NapaValley, the sparkling wines.  A collective sigh of relief was also being heard by winemakers as last winter was one of the driest …

As of day five after the 6.0 earthquake that struck the southern district of Napa Valley, damage estimates may top four billion dollars, with 120 injuries, 3 critical, with over  103 dwellings “redtagged” as un-livable.  104 smaller earthquakes have been recorded to …