It’s late afternoon on a beautiful day in Sonoma. You skipped lunch in favor of grazing and wine tasting, and now you’re ready for something absolutely delicious to eat to complement some of the world-class vino you’ve just finished sampling. And maybe a little more wine—you’re in Sonoma, after all. …
If pinot noir spontaneously transmogrified into human form and showed up at a dinner party to which you’d been invited, you would do well to avoid him. (Or her.) Notoriously temperamental, thin-skinned and over-sensitive to a fault, Pinot probably wouldn’t get a single one of your jokes (even your best …
The idea of fusing an alarm clock (purely utilitarian and edging toward monotonous) and a coffee maker (still utilitarian but oh-so-beloved and even revered) has been kicked around by entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and, well, other people who like coffee and need to wake up in the morning for years. But …
If you’re planning a trip to Sonoma County, chances are you’re planning on tasting some wines. Myriad options exist for accommodation, but why not keep to the general theme of the weekend and book a room at the Grape Leaf Inn on Johnson Street in Healdsburg, the newest venture from Ken and …
Entering the Williams Selyem Winery (tastings by allocation only for members of their WS List) has an air of exclusivity that is fortunately well-deserved for some of the finest Pinot Noirs in the Russian River Valley. The preferential nature of the tasting appointments isn’t some high-brow California snobbery, it’s due to …
When your humble author was a wee toiling college student at the venerable institution of higher learning known as the University of Rhode Island, she had the fortune of being employed at a popular local breakfast café and juice bar in the quaint seaside town of Narragansett, Rhode Island. While …
The idea of creating a balanced structure in one’s life is an integral aspect of Japanese culture. Balance amongst the varied elements of work, leisure, spirituality, family—even amongst the various flavors in a meal: salty, sweet, spicy, bitter, umami—is considered an indispensable, even sacred, component of happiness. The name of …
Things Glen Scotia Victoriana Single Malt Scotch has in common with your last failed relationship: it’s exceptionally smooth, initially sweet, a touch dark, and has an aroma of porridge, crème brûlée, and tobacco. Characteristics of Glen Scotia Victoriana you wish your last relationship had but came up short: it’s highly nuanced, …
You unfurl a red checkered blanket in an inviting spot in the grass under a lushly flowering lilac. Miniscule lavender petals drift gently on the mild breeze as you pull paper-wrapped morsels of Camembert, aged Gouda, and creamy blue-veined Roquefort from your basket and line them up with a loaf …
Remember that time in college when your parents, at the prospect of your somewhat-less-than-stellar GPA one semester, asked you just what the hell you were majoring in, booze?! Well, now students of Midway University, a liberal arts institution in Woodford County, Kentucky, can answer that question with an earnest and …
In 1938 the train journey from New York to Chicago on the understatedly luxurious Twentieth Century Limited Pullman train on the New York Central Railroad took a mere (brief at the time) 16 hours. As passengers prepared for embarkation a lengthy crimson tapestry was unfurled with ceremonial gusto to lie …
Celebrating victory with tequila? Undoubtedly a tradition we’re eager to embrace. Victory over Friday’s eye-for-an-eye rush hour, victory over the eventual completion of a seemingly interminable work week, victory in the form of the cutting retort you formulated in answer to your catty coworker’s would-be witticisms—albeit several hours too late. …