Worse fates there have been!
Hubert Keller, a native of France’s breathtaking, eastern-Alsace region, caught the attention of some of the country’s finest chefs at just sixteen. Towering, innovative culinary artisans like Paul Haeberlin, Gaston Lenôtre, Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé recognized his promise early on, training him in their kitchens and nurturing his talent. When chef Keller and wife Chantal moved to San Francisco in 1982 to open […]
Hubert Keller, a native of France’s breathtaking, eastern-Alsace region, caught the attention of some of the country’s finest chefs at just sixteen. Towering, innovative culinary artisans like Paul Haeberlin, Gaston Lenôtre, Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé recognized his promise early on, training him in their kitchens and nurturing his talent. When chef Keller and wife Chantal moved to San Francisco in 1982 to open 500 Sutter restaurant at the behest of Roger Vergé, their love for […]
As we bid farewell to this, the thirteenth annum of the 21st century there are memories to cherish, actions to regret, a need to reflect and much to learn from doing just that. When Descartes said, “Je pense, donc je suis” – I think, therefore I am – he advanced what is for many, a metaphysical […]
It is quite possible that, more than any other profession, the wine industry, whose faithful emissaries passionately extoll the virtues of the irresistibly engaging, historical footprint of the vine that speaks to the essence of the human spirit and its relationship to the natural world, is disproportionately layered with eminent storytellers whose tales have often been […]
While San Francisco has been synonymous with gastronomy and fine wine for some time, at the end of the last century, back in the heady days of the dot.com boom, a veritable explosion of newly-minted, passionate and dedicated food and wine professionals moved the region to a new level. Of the many sommeliers/gastronomes to have left an […]
“Wine is a book that speaks to the history of a region – to its past and present as well as to its ties to the joys and sorrows of the people with which its shares a common heritage. You have to get to know it. But in order to do so you must listen […]
I recently sat on the tasting panel of a leading, national wine magazine to blind taste fifty wines. As each taster assessed the wines’ merits and provided their personal analysis I was thrust back several years to a time when I had led a series of wine classes. Each session began with the importance of […]
For many Americans, Normandy elicits memories of both pain and pride. Vast swaths of deserted beaches with names like Omaha, Juno and Sword resonate with a special historic and emotional intensity. On a pivotal day in June 1944 while French resistance cells sabotaged Nazi supply routes and troop movements (enduring summary executions and torture), their Anglo-American […]
Sometimes the most amazing pearls of innocent reflection are offered up by the least-jaded to walk among us – the children! Often their curiosity is prefaced by nothing more than, “hey, you know what?” or, “did you ever wonder if ..?” My 11-year old son recently advanced a wonderfully-simple and deeply thought-provoking query of his […]
Hubert Keller, a native of France's breathtaking, eastern-Alsace region, caught the attention of some of the country's finest chefs at just sixteen. Towering, innovative culinary artisans like Paul Haeberlin, Gaston Lenôtre, Paul Bocuse and Roger Vergé recognized his promise early on, training him in their kitchens and nurturing his talent. When chef Keller and wife Chantal moved to San Francisco … [Read More...]
Slave To The Grape 