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Stories from the Road
Travel dispatches, restaurant reviews, chef interviews, cookbook deep dives, and the occasional detour into true crime and history.
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Ben Watkins, Master Chef Junior
This December I received a notice on my Google calendar that Leila Edwards’ birthday was coming up. It was a painful reminder because Leila, who…
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Bourbon and Southern Cooking at the Historic Beaumont Inn
When I arrive in the new bourbon tasting room at the historic Beaumont Inn, there are already set-ups of four bottles of bourbon with empty…
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Cooking with the Faeries
To me, fairies have always been about the holiday season—think the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker Suite ballet and Tinkerbell, the blonde-haired imp who wore…
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Always had a knack for snarky? Channel those comic instincts by learning improvisation comedy at Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre.
For the inner comedian in all of us, no matter our age, Toronto’s Bad Dog Theatre Company is known for both their wide variety of…
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Valerie’s Home Cooking: More than 100 Delicious Recipes to Share with Friends and Family
I had the chance to chat with Valerie Bertinelli when she was in Chicago a few weeks ago to sign copies of her new cookbook,…
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A Train Ride Out West
Not long ago I traveled with friends to Williams, Arizona, a tiny rodeo-type town on Route 66 which bills itself as the Gateway to the…
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International Fare in Puerto Vallarta
I was invited to attend the International Puerto Vallarta Gourmet Food Festival, where chefs from around the world including the U.S., India, Sweden, Australia, South America…
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Claudia Sanders Dinner House
My first stop in Kentucky last week was at Claudia Sanders Dinner House in Shelbyville, a large Southern Colonial style building with a long front…
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Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest
Before the Civil War, a network of secret routes and safe houses crisscrossed theMidwest to help African Americans travel north to escape slavery. Although many…
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The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.
The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.: In 1823 a French liberal economist called Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui visited England and Scotland. The…
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The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.
The Old Foodie: A Frenchman’s view of English food in 1823.: In 1823 a French liberal economist called Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui visited England and Scotland. The…
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Fare Fit for a Founding Father
When George Washington ate a farewell dinner with his officers after the end of the Revolutionary War back when New York City was the temporary…
