the_maestro
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...
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RESTAURANTS
the_maestro
- Nov 10
- 10 min
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...
15 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Nov 3
- 13 min
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...
13 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 28
- 4 min
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...
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the_maestro
- Oct 21
- 19 min
Eleven Madison Park – New York, NY
Pre-disclaimer: At the risk of making it seem like this blog is only about restaurants granted three Michelin stars, this blog completes...
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the_maestro
- Oct 14
- 10 min
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...
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the_maestro
- Sep 19
- 13 min
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...
20 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Sep 15
- 8 min
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...
20 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 18, 2022
- 16 min
Blue Hill at Stone Barns (2) – Pocantico Hills, NY
Regular readers of the blog have doubtless come across at least one of the reviews of my meals at the Stone Barns Center for Food and...
413 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 4, 2022
- 11 min
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...
418 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 2, 2022
- 7 min
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...
777 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jun 29, 2022
- 4 min
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...
45 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jun 21, 2022
- 4 min
Eeva – Philadelphia, PA
Eater has been doing a pretty cool "Best New Restaurants in America" list of late, and since I found myself with a car and no real...
99 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jun 18, 2022
- 5 min
The best lobster roll in Maine, Part 2
Once I'd dropped off my friend's new Bernedoodle puppy in Boston and enjoyed some culinary offerings in one of my favorite cities in the...
67 views0 comments
the_maestro
- May 17, 2022
- 3 min
Eat Like the Maestro in Asheville
I'm on the cusp of bidding "adieu" to Charlotte for good but have many fond memories of the Queen City, particularly its many green...
29 views0 comments
the_maestro
- May 7, 2022
- 7 min
Sushi|Bar at Scratch – Los Angeles, CA
Y'all already know the Maestro's first item on his to-do list when visiting Los Angeles––eat sushi. Because of LA's proximity to the...
326 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Apr 29, 2022
- 7 min
Immi at Turntable/Lord Stanley – San Francisco, CA
Many restaurants made dramatic changes to their operations as a consequence of the pandemic. Lord Stanley, a one-Michelin-starred...
186 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Apr 20, 2022
- 5 min
Pizza on Two Coasts – L'Industrie and Cheese Board
A little curveball today celebrating Spring Break Round 2 visits to two spots producing some of the best pizza in the country––one from...
60 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Apr 9, 2022
- 3 min
Eat Like the Maestro in Boston
Oooo kiddos––it's been a busy time in the Maestro's life, and I have a backlog of blogs that resembles a California freeway at 4pm. So...
34 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Mar 4, 2022
- 6 min
Sushi Note – Los Angeles, CA
If I'm in LA, I'm in the best sushi city in the United States. And that means I am almost certainly seeking out a new omakase to sample....
56 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Feb 26, 2022
- 11 min
Usu-Zan by SingleThread at Blue Sky Ranch – Wanship, UT
It was a frigid evening and I was about three cocktails deep when a well-agorithmed article found its way to my feed––"SingleThread...
26 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Feb 3, 2022
- 5 min
Provisions + Dented Brick Distilling – Salt Lake City, UT
Provisions reliably serves some of the best food in Salt Lake City. When Lugano, the previous occupant of the space, closed some ten or...
20 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Dec 31, 2021
- 9 min
The 2021 Variant of the Big Drunk Gay Awards
Perhaps it was the sense of impending doom resulting from waking up every day in this pandemic, now again in a terrible phase, that...
44 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Dec 30, 2021
- 5 min
36 hours of fantastic food and bev in Athens
I am woefully behind on blog posts owing to the end of the semester at Davidson and the ensuing whirlwind travel schedule. I know both of...
126 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Dec 5, 2021
- 21 min
Noma – Copenhagen, Denmark
Years before I came to understand what fine dining really meant––or rather, what it really could mean––my attraction to the best...
869 views1 comment
the_maestro
- Nov 26, 2021
- 5 min
St. John Bread and Wine – London, UK
It was wonderful to be back in London, the site of a brisk 36-hour layover en route to meet my sister's probably-future in-laws in...
30 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Nov 24, 2021
- 6 min
Omakase Room by Mitsu – New York, NY
I can't stay away from omakase meals in New York City. My last NYC omakase at Nakazawa just reinforced what I already knew––an excellent...
1,140 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Nov 20, 2021
- 4 min
Rezdôra – New York, NY
I am bad at making reservations. I tend to wait to book trips until only a few weeks before, and at that point it's too late to get the...
34 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Nov 17, 2021
- 10 min
Prime Fish vs. O-Ku – Charlotte, NC
Charlotte is a budding food city, and a particularly good locale for many varieties of Asian cuisine. The notable exception is...
390 views1 comment
the_maestro
- Nov 10, 2021
- 3 min
Taste of Shu – Charlotte, NC
I am having a passionate love affair with Sichuan cuisine these days. This started with my exploration of one of the most classic Sichuan...
40 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Nov 6, 2021
- 4 min
Futo Buta – Charlotte, NC
When I was first preparing to move to Charlotte, I heard all around that South End was the happening-est neighborhood in town. When I...
30 views1 comment
the_maestro
- Oct 30, 2021
- 4 min
Lang Van – Charlotte, NC
There are some restaurants that are just too precious, wonderful, and important than can be believed––institutions of food that quietly...
248 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 27, 2021
- 3 min
Haberdish – Charlotte, NC
Certain areas of Charlotte experienced a mass migration of rural Appalachian and Carolina Piedmont populations, as well as formerly...
30 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 15, 2021
- 7 min
Log Haven – Salt Lake City, UT
It's hard to pinpoint a seminal dining experience that made me into the insatiable food lover that I am today, but the closest thing I...
17 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 13, 2021
- 8 min
Atoboy – New York, NY
I've always been a staunch defender of northern California's food scene over New York City's, mostly because that's where I learned to...
11 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 9, 2021
- 8 min
Sushi Nakazawa – New York, NY
Sushi omakase meals are a dime a dozen in New York City (or, perhaps more accurately, three grand a dozen). The super-high-end sushi...
68 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 5, 2021
- 9 min
Finding the Best Lobster Roll in Midcoast Maine
The Maine coast has approximately 24,398,423,876,323,907 restaurants serving lobster. This is the land of “lobstah,” especially this time...
57 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Oct 3, 2021
- 6 min
Pammy's – Cambridge, MA
Boston is one of those cities I feel bad that I haven't spent more time visiting. I finally got up to Boston to see a dear friend's...
18 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Sep 28, 2021
- 5 min
Kindred – Davidson, NC
I must admit that I have been pretty bad about exploring my new city and environs and seeing what's on offer. When I had dinner with a...
13 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Sep 24, 2021
- 4 min
An Overnight Layover in Chicago
I hadn't been back to Chicago since my last (brief) visit mid-summer of 2020, when almost everything was shuttered, but my sister and I...
17 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Sep 12, 2021
- 11 min
Is Las Vegas Undergoing a Culinary Revival? A Case Study
Back in the era of big name European celebrity chefs establishing outpost restaurants, in the heyday of places like the Bellagio, when...
15 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Sep 1, 2021
- 4 min
Bazaar Meat – Las Vegas, NV
Both regular readers of my blog know that I adore José Andrés, the Spanish celebrity chef who is also the founder of World Central...
43 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Aug 29, 2021
- 9 min
Mélisse – Los Angeles, CA
When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to visit Mélisse, one of West LA's most storied fine dining destinations, with some regularity, since...
109 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Aug 22, 2021
- 7 min
The Brothers Sushi – Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles is probably the best sushi city in the United States. New Yorkers may @ me, but much of the better sushi in NYC, while world...
15 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Aug 15, 2021
- 6 min
Rodina – Cedar Rapids, IA
Back when I was starting to realize I wouldn't get a teaching job for Fall 2019, fresh out of my doctorate and settled in Mom's guest...
40 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Aug 8, 2021
- 9 min
Chef Jonathan Tam in Residence at Stone Barns – Pocantico Hills, NY
Stone Barns is starting to feel like a bit of a home. The people, the ethos, and the amazing food––everything about it makes me so joyful...
42 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Aug 5, 2021
- 12 min
Central – Lima, Peru
When I posted my first food photos from Lima to my Instagram story, a friend of mine who is a fellow lover of food and works in the...
48 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 31, 2021
- 6 min
Contra – New York, NY
Instagram has figured out that most of my life is food/wine, airplanes, music, and cute guys. The algorithms are precise, y'all! Though,...
15 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 24, 2021
- 6 min
Fulgurances Laundromat with Victoria Blamey – New York, NY
So I think I might have had COVID at the tail end of my trip to Peru. I am vaccinated. I tested negative. I had a nagging, mild cough and...
8 views0 comments
the_maestro
- Jul 22, 2021
- 3 min
Fonta Flora Brewery and Singlewyde Pizza at Whippoorwill Farm – Nebo, NC
North Carolina is the land of beer. I have five breweries within a five minute walk of my apartment. Charlotte has dozens in its city...
109 views0 comments
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