Picture Perfect

Yesterday in a moment of editorial justice the New York Times ran an article about my friend Susan Spungen and her work on the soon-to-be-released movie, Julie & Julia. Susan is a food stylist, but she’s not just any old food stylist. It’s arguable that she is responsible for the way in which the food [...]

Speaking of Food

I haven’t written here in awhile for a number of reasons, only one of which I will get into now, and that is that in one of my last posts I asked what people might serve to Alice Waters should she come to their house for dinner, which was, looking back, an inauthentic question that [...]

When Alice Comes to Dinner…

Consider this a cry for help.
Alice is coming to dinner. What should we serve? No, this isn’t a riddle, or even a hypothetical question. This is a problem. (I mean, if you can call it that.) I’m talking about an evening in the near future where Alice (those of you to whom this desperate cry [...]

The Taste of Things

Or: The Adventures of a Food Nazi: Chapter One
My sister calls me the Food Nazi because of what she perceives as my, errr… controlling ways when it comes to food. When she offers me a bite of cut-up melon from a round plastic wheel purchased at Costco, I tell her I might as well eat [...]

A Key Maneuver

As a person who judges herself  in part on the relative success of any party she gives, I really admired Joan Nathan for her honesty in admitting, in her op-ed piece in yesterday’s New York Times, that, as she stood with a now famous chunk of Persian-style grilled chicken lodged in her throat, unable to [...]

The Incredible Lightness of Being with Options

This year, I finally figured out that the key to being content on New Years Eve, as in life, is all about having options, even if you choose not to take them.
I have never been a fan of New Year’s Eve. I don’t love really crowded rooms, especially when they’re crowded with really drunk people. [...]

No Mayo Lobster Salad

I spent a mellow, happy New Year’s Eve at my friend Steven’s house with Steven and two other friends including our friend Oliver. Oliver had just sold his house in Maine so we thought he might be sentimental for some lobster. Or anyway, that was our excuse for buying the lobster. When we got it [...]