When I was seventeen, two future conditions distinctly outweighed the prospect of a college degree: 1. Someday, I would have a kick-ass girlfriend. 2. Someday, I would eat the hamburgers that Wesley Willis sang about in “I’m Sorry That I Got Fat.” Ten years later, these disparate teenage dreams found each other at the bottom [...]
For the next week, I’ll be writing short posts on the meals I enjoyed during a two-week vacation in my native California. My first hour in California runs like clockwork: Get off the plane. Find a restroom. Pick up my baggage. Drive to In-N-Out. Plenty have followed this routine for years, and plenty others have [...]
We’re already 10 days into Western civilization’s latest year, but I’m still working on the backlog of eats that’s been on my mind since October. To kick things off after my winter break from food blogging, I’m happy to carry on our tradition of recounting our most memorable meals of the previous year. Stephen My [...]
I have a new camera! After over four years of faithful service, my Powershot SD600 found itself broken screen down in the Knewton e-waste bin. Having never owned a camera with manual control of shutter, aperture and focus, I’ve been coming to terms with my newfound powers at every meal. Many of those meals have [...]
My first and strongest impression of Mill Valley, CA can be found in television reruns. Captain B.J. Hunnicutt of the 4077th proudly hailed from the up-and-coming Marin County township, and for years he was my sole example by which to measure it. Thanks to M*A*S*H, my mental picture of Mill Valley teemed with laid-back, wise-cracking, [...]
Can you name this dining counter? If so, you’ve had the privilege of tasting one of America’s finest burgers. If not, you’ll get your answer below the fold. This is the last of the point-and-eat posts from my holiday in California. I’ve saved what are probably my three favorite meals of the two weeks I [...]
On August 10, 2009, I called the best Thai Restaurant in North America to ask if it would be open on December 23, 2009. Then I booked a cross-country flight with a four hour layover in Las Vegas, with full intent of making good on this phone call. On December 23, 2009, I experienced what [...]
Once, when my grandfather was visiting from Chicago, he asked teenage me if there was any good Greek food around. A Los Angeles native, I was rarely accused of a having a multiculturally ignorant palette, but this question confused me. Greek? You mean like Zeus and Socrates? What the hell is modern Greek food? It [...]
I remember walking down Channing Way in Berkeley with a mediocre slice of Blondie’s pizza in hand, stopping, looking down at the three-ingredient special and saying, “This tastes like something… I know it… something I’ve had before.” This was freshman year, the final week of March and the first week of my triumphant return to [...]
Walking through the ground floor chambers of Le Parker Meridian is an exercise in luxury. Each room, exquisitely marbled from top to bottom, houses armchairs more expensive than my monthly rent and chandeliers that replace “let there by light” with the more fashionable “let there be ambience.” The foyer is a cocktail bar. The Hallway [...]
