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New Zealand's Central Otago Wine Region
When you visit a locale that happens to make excellent wine, make sure you leave room in your suitcase. When I booked my January trip to...

the_maestro
Jan 30, 20248 min read


Eat Like the Maestro at Miami Art Week
A few years back, the art world was shaken to its core when Italian absurdist artist Maurizio Cattelan duct taped a ripe banana to a wall...

the_maestro
Dec 11, 20235 min read


Born and Bred – Seoul, South Korea
We've all heard of wagyu beef, Japan's absurdly marbled steaks that, according to urban legend, come from cows treated like kings––given...

the_maestro
Nov 17, 20236 min read


Clues for the Clueless – Sushi in Japan
I like to think I am knowledgable about food and beverages. But sometimes one has an experience that reminds you just how little you...

the_maestro
Nov 10, 202310 min read


Maz – Tokyo, Japan
Virgilio Martínez was just 31 when he took his Cordon Bleu training and line cooking experience back to his native Peru with a goal of...

the_maestro
Nov 3, 202313 min read


Street Food in Omoide Yokocho – Tokyo, Japan
Tucked in the belly of the glistening skyscrapers of Shinjuku is Tokyo's own "Memory Lane," or Omoide Yokocho, a narrow alleyway housing...

the_maestro
Oct 28, 20234 min read


Benu – San Francisco, CA
The Bay Area is special to me––not only is it my birthplace, but it was the site of my first big foray into foodiedom. Back when I was...

the_maestro
Oct 14, 202310 min read


SingleThread (2) – Healdsburg, CA
I've been lucky enough (before this meal) to enjoy Kyle Connaughton's cuisine from SingleThread twice––once at the restaurant in...

the_maestro
Sep 19, 202313 min read


Noz 17 (and Depression) – New York, NY
Both of y'all loyal readers will have to forgive my spotty (i.e., completely absent) blogging for the better part of the last year. I...

the_maestro
Sep 15, 20238 min read


The Charter Oak – St. Helena, CA
In 2020 the Glass Fire tore through northern Napa and Sonoma in an unprecedented disaster for California's epicenter of wine growing....

the_maestro
Mar 7, 20233 min read


The Back(b)log: Tasting Wine on Colorado's Western Slope
It's a small obsession of mine to find places making wine where you'd never assume excellent grapes would grow. Most recently I visited...

the_maestro
Dec 21, 20227 min read


Mom's 65th at Angler – San Francisco, CA
Since Josh Skenes stepped away from the kitchen at Saison, his new flagship project is the mini-chain of Angler restaurants in San...

the_maestro
Dec 17, 20226 min read


Back(b)log: Roister and Aviary – Chicago, IL
One of the evenings I missed writing up in the shuffle of my big move out west was a combo dinner and cocktail night during Chicago Pride...

the_maestro
Dec 14, 20226 min read


Nari – San Francisco, CA
Most often, the experience at eating at a Thai restaurant in any given city in America is largely predictable––inexpensive food in strip...

the_maestro
Dec 11, 20225 min read


Boulevard – San Francisco, CA
Nothing could have made me happier than a visit from my mother and sister a few months after my move to northern California, even more...

the_maestro
Nov 20, 20224 min read


The Maestro in California
I finally left academia after my rather disastrous and traumatic experience teaching at Davidson College. Making woefully little money,...

the_maestro
Oct 11, 20225 min read


Comparing Impossible and Beyond Burgers
I confess I was a shameless ridiculer of the new meat-substitute products that have flooded the market and taken even fast food...

the_maestro
Jul 13, 20226 min read


The Inn at Little Washington – Washington, VA
Decades before the widespread propagation of the very idea of "fine dining" in America, DC native and self-taught chef Patrick O'Connell...

the_maestro
Jul 4, 202211 min read


Albi – Washington, DC
As covered previously in the latest installment of the "Eat Like the Maestro" series, during my little road trip out east a multi-day...

the_maestro
Jul 2, 20227 min read


Eat like the Maestro in DC
Car Talk, my very favorite old NPR show, took calls from all over the country, and whenever Tom and Ray got a call from DC, Tom always...

the_maestro
Jun 29, 20224 min read
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