That sounds great. I was only planning on renting a car to make sure I could really get around. I have a friend that works at a winery in Sonoma, and I would love to check out CIA. I’ll start researching places in downtown...

. The restaurant in the Hotel du France in Tana, Madagascar, a full-on no-stops Japanese meal in Kyoto, dinner at one of the two or three top restaurants in Mexico City, and a fine dinner at one of the wineries abound Cape Town....

(online and offline) a notion that I think some people find fashionable, for some reason, but one I can’t wrap my head around. And that notion is that vintage information doesn’t matter. <<< Back in the 1950s...

Yikes, Sam, you forgot Red Mountain (probably blocked it out) jug red wine. Thank gawd that brand is gone. In college at UCD we claimed it was good for stripping floor wax or cleaning toilets.

for the NY steak); everything was fresh (except the Alaskan king crab). He was a wine freak, and had a great list of old reds — lots of Santa Cruz Mountain Pinots and red Burgundies, as well as Bordeaux. His list was...

I found one producer who is still making “Cold Duck”. I about fell off my chair when I saw it. Might be a really fun thing to have for your party. It’s called 5th Avenue Cold Duck. Made by a winery in South...

& David winery and left with a bottle of Earthquake Zin, for which we paid about $20-25 (I think). This was before I started keeping tasting notes on bottles of wine, but I do remember it being a nice, spicy bottle that was not...

While working at a winery here in California, I was responsible for wine education and hospitality management. On one particulary day (it happened to be April 1), I received a group of restaurateurs (chefs, sommeliers, beverage...

find that very common in the Deep South, and really much of the US. For dessert, I did two wines, that I did not know: “New Orleans Port,” from Covington Winery (still looking for the Web site and varietals) and the Edmeades Late...

I disagree. There is excellent Chinese food to be had in Chinatown. For starters, do some searches on the board for Great Eastern (seafood) and Gold Mountain (dim sum, also for dinner, if you want lower end). I also like...

warm, chicken or beef, catered weddings with 8 to a table and feeling more like the company Xmas party than a blessed event, I would like to know if it can actually be done better. I’d love to hear how real foodies...

that in eastern Mexico, picadas or picaditas are pinched all over the surface (creating little "mountains") to absorb/hold the sauces better. There is a recipe (and picture?) of this snack in Zarela’s Veracruz book. The...

, places, ideas, that are local or regional. Virgina countryside, Tidewater area, Eastern Shore, Western Shore, Allegheny Mountains, Baltimore, not to mention downtown. It’s a Food section! Tie the people, the places, and...

and little overhead, and you get an idea of the profit motive) and a source of marketing hype for the wineries. In the case of this “international” cheese competition, and most wine competitions, the best producers...

was very impressed with the food and the service. Huge mobs of Cuban people fill this place every time we are there ordering mountains of food and looking very happy. Sangria is also very tasty.