Food

Summer is officially here and with that comes the 7th anniversary of Please The Palate! Seven years have literally flown by and this past Spring...

05 July, 2018
For wine lovers, Burgundy is Mecca. It is one of the world's most prestigious wine regions. While traveling to Burgundy is preferred, from April to June, Maude Restaurant brought Burgundy to us as Burgundy was the wine region that inspired the second region featured this year. Burgundy is in the eastern region of France. It is only 75 miles long and runs form Dijon in the north to Macon in the south. Burgundy is divided into five main wine regions: Chablis and Auxerrois, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise, and Maconnais. The Maude team traveled to Burgundy earlier this year to explore the region. This is a region known for its wines but also for its gastronomy with specialties such as dijon mustard, coq au vin, beef bourguignon, Burgundy snails, cassis and epoisses de Bourgogne cheese. From their travels, they created a delicious 10-course meal that was beautifully executed and it embodied the tradition and elegance of Burgundy.
28 June, 2018
I love ice cream. And this week while on a trip to Paso Robles, I found Negranti Creamery. A family owned ice cream company based in Paso Robles, Negranti Creamery is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Negranti Creamery was created by Alexis and Wade Negranti who met at Cal Poly. Both had good jobs when Alexis decided that she wanted to start a sheep dairy. Neither one of them had milked an animal before. They milked their first ewes in 2011 and got their license in 2012. Today they are the first licensed sheep's milk production facility for ice cream in the US.
23 June, 2018
A friend was in town last weekend and we wanted to enjoy a late brunch before she had to head to the airport. I had read that cocktail chef Matthew Biancaniello was doing his weekend pop-up at Ysabel in West Hollywood that day so we headed to Ysabel on Fairfax. Sadly, when we got there, we learned he had switched days, but luckily we had happened upon this hidden spot. Ysabel is located on Fairfax Blvd. The nondescript building has no sign (at least not one I could find). But my GPS said I was there so I pulled into the driveway and parked in the lot. I entered a long tunneled walk-way and on the other side was a truly beautiful midcentury-modern space. The large space is like a butterfly. There is an outdoor patio that leads to an indoor area in the center. Even the indoor area feels like it is outdoors with the large glass window doors open wide and a live tree in the center of the space. The space feels like a luxurious living room with sofas and chairs grouped together.
15 June, 2018
The story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.
I spent the past week traveling around California with Daniele Cernilli, aka DoctorWine.
Daniele is one of the most renowned wine critics and journalists in Italy and he came to California for a series of wine seminars and tastings for both the trade and consumer in conjunction with his book The Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine 2018.
While I was organizing these events, I worked with him to design menus for four meals to pair with the wines. From planning the menus to sitting down for the meals, I absorbed much of the insight he had to share about the importance of food and wine pairing.
Daniele made a point of the fact that Italians eat and drink together. They believe that wine is meant for food and explained that pairing wine and food “is a religion for us.” There are many considerations when it comes to food and wine pairing, and Daniele offered a few key tips.
12 June, 2018
Visiting a city for a first time, a city tour may be on one's agenda. Perhaps it is self-guided, perhaps it is with a tour guide. Perhaps you will focus on architecture or perhaps you will focus on historical monuments. For me, I like food tours. I want to explore a city and learn about the cuisine(s), what were its influences and what is both traditional and contemporary to eat (and drink). With Dubrovnik Food Story, it is a food tour and more! It is also a history lesson, a cultural tour and it is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Dubrovnik Food Story is a family-run business owned by two sisters, Marija & Ana. Marija, who graduated from Management in Tourism and worked in travel agencies and hotels, started offering food tours as a side business and started  Dubrovvnik Food Story in 2013. Ana, who graduated with a degree in Aquaculture where she studied Mariculture, got her tour guide license and joined her sister in 2016. Both share passion for food, tradition and hometown and the food tours are a fusion of local history and gastronomy. We met Ana near the 15th century Onofrio Fountain, across from the 14th century Pharmacy in the Old Town of Dubrovnik. She greeted us with a plate in her hand and we met the others in our group. All tours are generally two to eight people (10 max).
05 May, 2018
Sitting on the Old Wall of Dubrovnik, overlooking the harbor on one side and the mountains on the other, we sat down for our first meal in Croatia. Add to that delicious food at Restaurant 360, a newly minted Michelin Star restaurant, it was a magical first evening in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Restaurant 360 Dubrovnik is the Please The Palate pick of the week. Restaurant 360 is literally set within the great walls of Dubrovnik itself. Located just outside the Ploče gate, we entered the contemporary space surrounded by the old stone walls. We were escorted downstairs and across a patio where we saw the open kitchen where the chef was at work. And then we were escorted back up some stairs to the tables along the wall.
28 April, 2018
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