Returning to a Long-Time Favorite: SPQR

[rating: 5] There are few places I can call home. After over seven years of living on my own, even my childhood home doesn’t quite feel like home anymore. This may sound crazy or exaggerated, but somehow, every time I walk into SPQR, it feels like I’m home. And I don’t just have a … Continue reading →

Complimentary Beginners as a Means to an End

After seeing the final version of my latest Culinary Trends piece on "Complimentary Beginners," I can officially say that this article is my all-time favorite. Not surprisingly, it was also one of my more difficult pieces. Finding restaurants that offer interesting complimentary bites, and run … Continue reading →

Sustainable Seafood Swims Into the Mainstream

My first Culinary Trends article of 2011 has finally arrived! I chose to write about Sustainable Seafood for this issue, a more serious topic than my previous articles on flowers, eggs, and foraging. Because this is a very complex, difficult subject in nature, I took a more serious tone and … Continue reading →

Seasons Restaurant Should Only Have One Season: Steak Season

[rating: 3] After more than a year of seasonal, hyper local, vegetable-driven cuisine, it was about damn time I ventured out of the norm and found myself a giant, no-frills, juicy steak. While associated places like Bobo’s or, more recently, Alexander’s Steakhouse with the idea of a … Continue reading →

The Lounge at Coi Restaurant: Relaxed Dining, World-Class Cuisine

[rating: 5] **The lounge at Coi will be transformed into dining room seating (tasting menu only) April 1st, 2011. My love affair with Coi began roughly one year ago, when I stepped into the serene dining room and proceeded to have one of the best meals of my life. That 12 course tasting … Continue reading →