It’s probably not going to come from someone called the “Bikini Chef.” “For my whole life I have strived to find a balance between staying slim and healthy and enjoying the fattening foods I love. People think that because I am The Bikini Chef being thin comes easy for me. It doesn’t,” says Chef Susan. […]
Patrick Alan Coleman
Posted inSports
Derby Day! Part Three: The Bet.
Betting the ponies isn’t hard when have the lingo down. Though when you approach the book’s window for the first time, it can be a bit intimidating—especially if there’s an impatient line behind you. Don’t worry about odds just yet. They change up until the start of the race anyway and the complexities of how […]
Posted inSports
Derby Day! Part Two: The Hats.
Almost as important as the mint julep on derby day is the fancy ladies hat. There is simply no telling what an exotic, flamboyant hat can do to improve your luck. For instance, this hat could possibly increase your luck by 25%: Check out the hat gallery on the Churchill Downs website and be prepared […]
Posted inSports
Derby Day! Part One: The Mint Julep
Tomorrow is a magic day for gamblers, drinkers, and Southerners: It’s derby day in America when the sun shines bright on our old Kentucky home and fortunes are made or lost to the tune of thundering hooves. Whether you are lucky enough to be among the throngs at Churchill Downs, or have decided to watch […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Rejoice!
Oh joy! This is going to make my weekends so much tastier and my belly so much fatter. An e-mail from Pok Pok: No more days off! Hours of operation are now 11am-10pm every day. The menus remain the same, with lunch from 11:30am-2pm, midday/shack/to go menu from 2pm-5pm, and dinner from 5pm-10pm. Ike’s Vietnamese […]
Posted inUncategorized
Italian Couplet
David Anderson’s Genoa and Accanto
Chef David Anderson offers casual and high-end Italian fare at Accanto and Genoa.
Posted inFood and Drink
Wine Curious
Maybe it’s the fact I’m working on a piece about wine for next week’s Lush Life (gasp), but goddamn if I didn’t find a recent e-mail from ten 01’s sommelier Jeff Groh more than a little intriguing. In said e-mail, Groh references the Big Lebowski, the Notorious B.I.G., Willem Dafoe, and Botox, along with a […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Artful Tossers
Remember that credit card commercial with the killer Rosemary Clooney track? The one where the guy is tossing pizza dough in a fancy, dimly lit restaurant, and he’s flinging the dough around in in slow-mo like some kind of Harlem Globe Trotter of pizza? Yeah. That restaurant doesn’t exist. Sorry. HOWEVER, The fancy dough-tossing is […]
Posted inFood and Drink
The End of Sustainable Meat?
Last summer I interviewed renegade farmer Joel Salatin. His Polyface Farms is regarded by many as the golden example of how small farmers can use practices that not only produce healthy livestock and vegetables, but actually increase biodiversity and rehabilitate over-used land. When our conversation turned toward politics and the industrial food system, he had […]
Posted inFood and Drink
Memorable Dishes: Shark Bones
You know you’re in for a treat at Tanuki when Chef Janis Martin asks, “Is it okay to go weird?” That’s the thing when ordering “omakase” style: it’s the equivalent of telling a chef to do whatever they want to your palate. You’re saying it’s up to them; you’re only taking enough agency to order […]
Posted inFood and Drink
The Hunger Gap
Last Wednesday there were two big food events happening in Portland. Both offered free food. Both were packed to gills. And while both events were filled with people who called themselves hungry, only one of the groups could truly claim that title. At the opening gala for the International Association of Culinary Professionals, luminaries of […]
Posted inFood and Drink
This Week’s Mercury Food Section: Business Relationships
This week we discuss the closing of the beloved downtown cafe Half and Half. During my interview with owners Robin Rosenberg and Jeff Heisler, I was struck by this comment from Heisler: “I had two customers cry today when I told them. I feel guilty, but I’m also excited to be doing something new.” Oooooohhhh. […]