James Beard 2012 Best Chef Pacific was awarded to Matt Molina of Osteria Mozza. Chef/Owner, Nancy Silverton was one of the nominees for Best Chef nationwide, but that went to Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park. Also in the mix at Osteria Mozza are co owners and chefs Mario Batalli and Joe Bastianich. Molina helped these two open Del Posto on Manhattan and had worked at Campanile for Silverton earlier. What about the food? We started out with drinks at the bar – whiskey, Chardonnay and a Pomegranate and Seltzer -until Amani arrived after her rehearsal and we were promptly […] Read more »

The story behind PB is interesting and you can look it up, but in the early 1990’s the young chef took what he had learned in New York  and Italy and opened up in Phoenix. The location is immediately adjacent to Arizona State University (ASU) in a small themed shopping area called Heritage Village. This walking mall had low rise buildings with a lot of architectural detail to simulate being from an earlier time, but obviously was less than 20 years old. Nearby is Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks play baseball as well as several other large buildings. Together, […] Read more »

Remember this about Marfa: it’s really a weekend place. Even the stores post signs that they are only open Thursday, Friday Saturday or something like that.  We were happy to have seen it, but everyone kept telling us to come back on a weekend.  Of course, we had NPR for a bit as we departed Marfa! We were up and out early, waiting for the only breakfast place to open at 8.  I was pretty excited to be able to have oatmeal, even if it was instant, and Rick took in one of their waffles with fruit and a French […] Read more »

  We awoke in our suite in Austin, hit the Starbucks, filled the cooler with ice and headed South on I-35 toward San Antonio. I’d been to San Marcos and Banfels, but never further south. Essentially that 90 mile stretch is an endless series of quick serve restaurants, national restaurant chains and gas stations. We parked in San Antonio and visited the Alamo. Rick has read Texas by James Michener and had a much better grounding in Texas history than I. Suffice it to say It’s Complicated. I’m sure that in the same way that I grew up internalizing the […] Read more »

Remember the beignets we were planning for Sunday morning at Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans? Couldn’t do it! Too much rich food. We were up and out of our lovely hotel by 8 AM and then took a drive through the Warehouse District and into the beautiful Garden District of New Orleans. My experiences with the city prior to this visit had been a business trip centered at the Marriott by the French Quarter, and of course Mike’s work here after Katrina at Emergency Communities (during that time Ivan was born and moved into Mike’s tent shortly after). We’d not […] Read more »

You always hope to meet interesting characters on the road.  We shared breakfast at the Cobb Mill B&B this morning with a group including Bud Ellis who created another career for himself after retirement building carousel animals in his workshop outside Chattanooga – and teaching others how to do so as well. His business is called Horsin Around Carving School. He’s been responsible for the revival or creation of two carousels in Chattanooga. After a very enjoyable breakfast we hit the road by 9 and headed south through the rest of Alabama, passing through Tuscaloosa, the home of the University of […] Read more »