CHEESESLAVE

Yesterday I did my second podcast radio show with former Fox News reporter Holly Hickman, author of the new restaurant guidebook, Healthy Eats Here!

Wanna know where to get grass-fed beef and organic produce when eating out? You need this book. Holly reviews hundreds of restaurants from Maui to Maine. And not only do you get the book (it’s an e-book, so it’s easy to download), but you get quarterly updates.

Last night we had our first date night in almost a year. We went to a French brasserie called Anisette in Santa Monica, just a few blocks from the beach. Despite the reviews on Yelp, I booked a reservation anyway — I had a good feeling about it. People on Yelp write that it is a “theme park version of a French brasserie” and “Disney does brasserie”.

About the Disney comments — whatever! I loved the atmosphere. Similar to Balthazar in New York City. Very authentic. We felt like we were in Paris. And isn’t that what you want on a date night? To feel like you are in Paris, sipping Ricard and nibbling on a cheese plate while waiters in black ties scurry about on tiled floors?

On Saturday we had the most delicious grass-fed burgers and chocolate milkshakes at Lunchbox Laboratory in Seattle.

If you’re ever in Seattle, don’t miss this place. They make some seriously good food. Everything was delicious.

With your burger, you can opt for skinny fries, mac and cheese, tater tots or sweet potato fries. Yeah, they’re [...]

We’re making some changes around here.
For one thing, little Katie starts daycare tomorrow morning. I found a really great place about 5 minutes away. It’s run by a sweet Guatemalan lady and a couple of female helpers. Kate will be there from 7 am until 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.
I think this is the [...]

So far our vacation has been fantastic. Seth and I are back on Long Island now, after spending the weekend in New York City.
Friday night we went to Chef Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin. It was delicious beyond words. I don’t remember what Seth ordered but I had:
First course: Six oysters on the half shell
Second course: [...]

How many three-star Michelin restaurants have you been to in your life?
Me, I’ve been to exactly zero.
Until next Friday — when I get to eat at… (drum roll) Le Bernardin in New York City.
Le Bernardin is one of only three restaurants in New York awarded Michelin’s highest award: three stars.

The Michelin three stars is arguably [...]

Kate and I got to go to lunch today with Seth. We went to Lilly’s, a French restaurant in Venice where you can eat outside.
Seth and I both had moules frites (mussels with French fries) and Kate had duck liver terrine, olives, onion confit, and cornichons. She ate some mussels, too.

It was a busy day in the kitchen. I made lacto-fermented salsa, lacto-fermented ketchup, chicken stock, a brisket and carrot soup (for dinner), and chicken liver mousse (which we also ended up eating for dinner).
I used the recipe from the Balthazar cookbook for the chicken liver mousse. If you’re not familiar with it, Balthazar is [...]

Tonight we ate at Bouchon in Santa Barbara.
Unbelievable food. The foie gras was outstanding. Best of my life — and I’m not exaggerating. And that includes all the foie gras I had in Paris.
They took the brioche and they prepared it French toast style, then slathered it with blood orange marmalade, and served the seared [...]