tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-228316 2009-11-15T10:40:42-05:00 Thoughts on food, cooking, and restaurants (local and otherwise). TypePad tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c6e7153ef012875a46523970c 2009-11-15T10:40:42-05:00 2009-11-15T10:40:42-05:00

It's been said before, sweet food bloggers, but it bears repeating: In the dash to be first, you might leave a few victims in your wake. Here's a link to my latest column in this month's issue of Richmond Magazine.

brandon tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c6e7153ef0120a5498cad970b 2009-09-04T16:41:19-04:00 2009-09-04T16:41:19-04:00

Photo courtesy of Dean Christesen, RVAjazz I no longer review restaurants, but I just wanted to let you know that I have a really big crush on Balliceaux right now.

brandon tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c6e7153ef0120a58e792d970c 2009-08-31T10:54:15-04:00 2009-08-31T10:54:15-04:00

The news of Sheila Lukins' death on Sunday from brain cancer (Michael Y. Park wrote a lovely appreciation on the Epi-Log at Epicurious this morning) has left all of us without one of the most influential cooks of the later half of the 20th century. With her book, The Silver Palate Cookbook , co-written with Julee Rosso, Lukins inspired legions of home cooks in the 1980's to re-imagine the way that they think about food and the way that they make it. Influences could come from all over the world and the boring fare of the nightly dinner could instead blast out the flavor and transform the ordinary with just the addition of a couple of "exotic" (garlic, saffron, herbs) ingredients. Freshness--fresh vegetables, fresh herbs and a fresh approach--provided the new foundation Lukins wanted all of us to build upon. I wrote an appreciation of The Silver Palate a few...

brandon tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d8341c6e7153ef0120a5857731970c 2009-08-29T09:38:09-04:00 2009-08-29T10:58:46-04:00

I had next to no internet access (this was about as pleasant as having half of your big toenail ripped off on a boat trip--which also happened) during my trip to France over the past couple of weeks. I did, however, keep a sort of diary. During the next week or so, I'll post that diary, along with a few of the photos I took. First of all, you need French friends. In fact, you could say that they’re essential to a successful trip around France. Our friends live just outside of Paris, in a suburb that once was a village. It’s a town called Rueil Malmaison, famous for the small island there in the middle of the Seine beloved by the Impressionists. Renoir painted Luncheon of the Boating Party, a scene on the terrace of a restaurant still open for business—and little changed—today. Rueil Malmaison is a perfect amalgam...

brandon