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Cotogna – San Francisco, CA
I was thrilled to be coming back to San Francisco for my first time in over two years as a little celebration after completing my first...

the_maestro
May 9, 20215 min read


Johnny Ortiz in Residence at Stone Barns – Pocantico Hills, NY
“At the other places I worked, it was always about the outcome . . . The ingredients were less the focus than the idea. Here, the...

the_maestro
May 6, 202114 min read


Inspired Ingredients – Ramps
You may have heard a bit of hubbub about ramps in recent years. Or maybe you haven't––I myself hadn't heard of them until five or six...

the_maestro
May 4, 20214 min read


Chef Omar Tate in Residence at Stone Barns – Pocantico Hills, NY
Back in February, I headed north twice to get a chance to experience the cuisine of two chefs in residence at the Stone Barns Center for...

the_maestro
Apr 26, 202120 min read


#TBT: Nami Nori – New York, NY
A post from my trip to New York in early February, the same trip where I got to visit Stone Barns for Chef Shola's residency! Craving...

the_maestro
Apr 15, 20215 min read


The Chef in Charlotte: Shiitake Larb
I wasn't planning to double down on my Lao food posts, but holy shit people... this recipe. Larb has been called the national dish of...

the_maestro
Mar 29, 20213 min read


The Chef in Charlotte: Lao Khao Poon
My sister signed me up for a monthly spice delivery service, Spice Madam, for my Christmas gift, and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting my...

the_maestro
Mar 25, 20213 min read


Wasting food waste: Broccoli Stem Hummus
Here's a quick post for a quick, healthy, easy-peasy, and super ethical snack to inaugurate a new series about various ways to reduce our...

the_maestro
Mar 23, 20212 min read


Unboxing the Farm: a week with Stone Barns' "resourcED" Grocery Box
My mini-crusade to improve my choices and shift my life toward a more ethical food trajectory has involved a multitude of little...

the_maestro
Mar 6, 20218 min read


Quarantine Cuisine: Sea Urchin Pasta
Today I present another of my neglected posts from back in the early parts of quarantine in Iowa, with the hopes that you, too can find...

the_maestro
Feb 26, 20215 min read


Inspired Ingredients – Hakurei Turnips
Something I learned from my first visit to Stone Barns is how corporatized and streamlined our food experience has become. There are...

the_maestro
Feb 24, 20218 min read


Table X @ Home – Salt Lake City, UT
One of the cooler trends we've been seeing emerge during the pandemic from restaurants are take-home, heat-and-eat style dinners. These...

the_maestro
Feb 22, 20214 min read


Quarantine Cuisine: Xiao Long Bao
Despite writing it up, I'd never posted this gem from back in the depths of Iowa quarantine in March 2020, but figured no time like the...

the_maestro
Feb 20, 20217 min read


#tbt: Oriole and Omakase Yume – Chicago, IL
I have been sitting on this blog from an evening in February 2020 for a while, mostly because it seemed kinda crass and tone-deaf to post...

the_maestro
Feb 18, 202111 min read


Chef Shola Olunloyo in Residence at Stone Barns – Pocantico Hills, NY
"What we want to eat is, on the hierarchical scale, superior to what we want to do." - Yoruba Proverb I had no intention of being...

the_maestro
Feb 8, 202117 min read


The Chef in Charlotte: Tom Kha Gai
This short and sweet blog post is dedicated to the impending first week of classes, a time when I need short and sweet (and comforting!)...

the_maestro
Jan 30, 20213 min read


The Maestro's Big Drunk Gay Awards – 2020 Dumpster Fire Edition!
I really enjoyed issuing a series of absolutely meaningless "Big Drunk Gay" awards last year, highlighting the very best things I ate,...

the_maestro
Jan 9, 20216 min read


Stubborn Seed – Miami Beach, FL
I think my lack of dining out has really caught up to me, because as you can probably tell I've been eating at a lot of really great...

the_maestro
Dec 22, 20209 min read


"A chimp in a suit" – two half-dinners in Miami Beach
One of my favorite idioms is the old "lipstick on a pig" line. It's perhaps put best, however, in one of my very favorite tunes from the...

the_maestro
Dec 20, 20209 min read


Peumayén – Santiago, Chile
Yep, Chile! Here I am (or rather, there I was)! Many on social media were surprised to see that I had managed to get out of the country,...

the_maestro
Dec 19, 20208 min read
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