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Maude June 2017 – Cucumber

I like cucumbers. What is not to like about cucumbers, those long crunchy green members of the fruit family who are related to gourds and melon? Cucumbers add a refreshing crunch to our salads, they are a fat-free conduit for dips and they are wonderful to infuse in water. Cucumbers are also very healthy, fight inflammation, freshen breath, full of vitamins that manage stress and help digestive health. But other than putting them on a crudite plate, in a water glass or on top of your eyes after a long night, are cucumbers really that interesting in flavor? In Maude's June menu, cucumbers were the featured ingredient. As I reached out to friends to join me, many seemed unexcited by the featured ingredient. They wondered aloud, jokingly, if the meal would be cucumber crudite, tzatziki, raita and cucumber water. In general, I heard a few tell me they did not think it would be very interesting. Boy did those friends miss out! The team at Maude proved how diverse cucumbers are with a menu that was one of the best so far this year! As we sat down for our meal, we were surprised with a bottle of Champagne Aubry Brut Rose that was a gift for one of my companions for her birthday.

As we toasted the birthday girl and enjoyed our first sips, the first two bites of the night were served.

20 June, 2017

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Ricardo Zarate’s Rosaline LA

I first tried the delicious Peruvian flavors of Chef Ricardo Zarate in 2009 when he opened Mo-Chica inside Mercado La Paloma in Downtown Los Angeles. I last saw him in 2015 when his first book, entitled The Fire of Peru: Recipes and Stories from My Peruvian Kitchen, was released and he was hosting a Peruvian pop-up called Once (on-seh) in Venice. And, lucky for Los Angelenos, he is back with the opening of his new restaurant Rosaliné, Please The Palate's "pick of the week."

Rosaliné, named after his mother, is located in the former Comme Ca space on Melrose and La Cienega. The restaurant is slated to open in mid-June but I was fortunate to get a sneak peak this past week at the final LA Food Bowl Hanging with Harris dinner and Santa Barbara County Wines, raising money for No Kid Hungry.

03 June, 2017

Went to BottleRock for the music, stayed for the food

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Tens of thousands upon tens of thousands descended upon BottleRock 2017 for three days of non-stop music on four stages. But in between top name artists to the likes of Maroon 5, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty and Ben Harper, to name a few, there was plenty of food and wine and beer and cocktails to enjoy.

Many of the the Napa Valley’s best-known restaurants were on display including La Toque, Oenotri, and Angéle La Taberna, Redd Wood, Minimashi, Goose & Gander, Morimoto, 1313 Main. Between the restaurants and the food trucks, there were close to 100 vendors serving flavorful dishes.

01 June, 2017