Upside and downside next week--downside, I need to be in Chicago to pay a visit to our packaging agency in Chicago next week. It's 18 degrees without windchill. As some of you know I grew up during the Great Blizzard of '78 in the Boston area. Given that I now life in a more or less moderate climate I no longer own clothing suitable for this type of weather. (Whine, bitch, moan.) Upside? Being the client and demanding that the obligatory group bonding dinner be booked out at Frontera Grill. The menu is up. How will I decide. Do I need to decide could I, as the client emphatically state, "I am the client. You will all order different entrees!" The bigger looming question is how I am going to casually document the meal with the digicam? No one knows in my professional life of my "other life" as a food blogger. I'm extending the stay so I can also dine at Topolobampo. That menu looks equally tasty. Good food warms the soul--bring it on!
Speaking of Boston, on a past business trip I was roomed at the upscale Boston Harbor Hotel. In 2005 they have featured a new drink in the bar. February's drink, a Chocoloate Covered Strawberry Martini is "a rich and decadently creamy balance of white chocolate and strawberry flavors." Do people really drink cocktails like these? A tarty martini. No it's just not right.
Chile peppers "warm the heart and enliven our palates." The Idaho Mountain Express has a short and informative introduction to the different families of peppers--bells, sweet, mild, and chiles--and an easy recipe for Pepper Bruschetta Melange.
In Arizona, a new Mexican-oriented coffee chain is getting off the ground. Panaderia Taza will feature coffee drinks featuring Mexican ingredients such as cafe de la olla. Mexican sweets such as pan dulce, tres leches cupcakes, made-to-order churros. Quiero la Panaderia Taza en San Francisco!
Spain, as most of us know, is at the leading front of culinary innovation. This week NPR's Morning Edition (3 minutes 35 second audio listen) took a look at what Spanish cooking is today via the food conference Madrid Fusion. Spanish gastronomy has been elevated due to the creativity of Ferran Adria.
Related article from the New York Times on Madrid Fusion with solid insight from one of my culinary mentors Anya Von Bremzen.
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