• berechepost
    the farm and fisherman…and champagne (with a “capital C”) the farm and fisherman…and champagne (with a “capital C”)

    the farm and fisherman…and champagne (with a “capital C”)

the farm and fisherman…and champagne (with a “capital C”)

I’d been thinking a lot about Champagne recently, and in April, Terry and I will attend the annual “Terres de Vins et Champagne” symposium in Aÿ, to taste the new vins clairs of more than twenty small growers, all friends and colleagues of Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche. So their electrifying, mineral-saturated Champagne Brut Réserve seemed like a natural choice to bring to the Farm and Fisherman on a recent Friday, when Sue and I got our signals crossed about what to do for dinner before the orchestra.

The restaurant is only four blocks from the Kimmel. But […]

  • brunelloemail
    matyson and brunello matyson and brunello

    matyson and brunello

matyson and brunello

brunelloemail

A recent Sunday at Matyson in Philadelphia. Alongside the grilled berkshire pork rib-eye, with fingerlings, brussels sprouts, leeks, and bourbon jus you see in the photo above, the Lambardi Brunello di Montalcino was as fresh and compelling as any wine you’ll ever taste in Maurizio Lambardi’s own cellar in Canalicchio. – Greg Moore

  • Seminaire
    “Bistro” déjà vu. “Bistro” déjà vu.

    “Bistro” déjà vu.

“Bistro” déjà vu.

I’m chagrined to admit that it even though it’s only a short walk from our home in Fitler Square, it was our first visit to Patrice Rames’ terrific Provençal restaurant, Bistro St. Tropez, since spring.

Patrice and I worked together at “Le Bec-Fin” in its glory days, more than twenty years ago (he was badly missed when he left to open “Bistro”). And over the years, Sue and I have celebrated more than few family milestones with him, so I can’t explain why the restaurant had been flying under my radar recently, other than my naturally roving eye, and […]

  • ciliege
    “the white Barolo” (Italy’s greatest dry white wine) “the white Barolo” (Italy’s greatest dry white wine)

    “the white Barolo” (Italy’s greatest dry white wine)

“the white Barolo” (Italy’s greatest dry white wine)

No matter whether you have certain Faith or cautious Hope (or neither), you would have been as awestruck as I, under the barrel-vaulted, painted starry sky – surrounded by Giotto’s ineffable cycle of fresco, which covers every square inch of the interior of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padova. Sue and I had come to mark our thirtieth wedding anniversary (it wasn’t a wine trip).

Later at dinner, we shared a bottle of Domenico Almondo’s single-vineyard Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie (what a perfect day!). I’d tasted this singular rarity once before, and for €18 on the wine list at […]

  • duckbreastandwine
    pan-seared duck breast pan-seared duck breast

    pan-seared duck breast

pan-seared duck breast

When I talk to customers about cooking a duck breast, more often than not, I get asked “how-to?” So, without further ado…

First, get a good duck breast. In the Philadelphia area we have access to Griggstown Farm duck from the Headhouse Farmers Market. Other reasonable sources include D’Artagnan who have been providing high quality duck for years.

I do very little to these beauties – about a half-hour before I start cooking, I grind a bunch of pepper, and a few grains of kosher salt on the skin side. And just before placing the […]