tanabutler

Ciao, bella! Julia, I am so excited for you! Find Rancho Gordo and give him a big baccio on his cheek. Can't wait to hear your adventures, and see you when you return.

Carolyn, this is so sweet and moving. Your mother will know: I believe that.

Yay, you're back. The grapes are gorgeous!

Let me let you in on my little secret. Use the wine glass for a tripod: don't trust your unsteady hand (though the blur is charming). This is what I did last year at Amma, and the very creative results got published in a magazine. I enjoy the zany angles from using stationery objects as tripods. (Repeat: the blur is charming. I am not criticizing, just giving information for the future.)

Chef, I don't know you, have never been to Washington, D.C., and am sitting out here on the Left Coast howling at the moon with utter pleasure at your contribution to this board. You are not only generous, but you are very very very funny. I hope to visit your place one day, but please don't serve me that second "special" amuse. (Not that there's any left after Don got through.) Thanks again for such a worthwhile read.

It makes me so sad. Having seen the web site for Akalare, seeing the warmth in Chef Pedro Subijana's eyes—I am distraught to think that Dosconz's words are accurate.

If Florida Jim's writing has been likened (by me) to that of William Carlos Williams, I think I'm gonna dub you the Hunter S. Thompson of wine reviewers. This is gonzo guzzling at its finest, Don Rocks. Send me a bottle of that stuff, wouldja?

Hey, where'd you find that little blushy thing? I haven't seen that before! (You're so cute when you blush, you little whippersnapper*.) *Doc's four days younger than me.

Monica, any chance you could post the material for public viewing? I am curious, as well. Thank you!

She might like it if he talks dirty. It works on some girls (as well you know).

Report, please?

Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. I can't come that night anyway.

Yes.

Chef, will you be bringing some of those to Manresa next week?

Because it would look very, very, very ugly. I know a restaurant that does that, and it's one of the ugliest sites on earth (and they know it). I'd point it out, but it's local and I would get in trouble.

Found on another food board: Jordi's FoodLover.com. It is a beautiful, beautiful web site. (Jordi, your link to the Rioja vineyards is broken, causing much (temporary) disappointment for me. And I hope to meet you next time you come to San Francisco. I see you've been to Swanton Berry Farm. Me, too.) Cheers.

I'll be there in early November. I can't wait.

As a web designer who's worked on several restaurant sites (including a couple which would be simpatico with Frasca's mission), a fixed menu online is not necessarily desirable. Any chef or kitchen committed to "local, seasonal, sustainable" knows, you don't always have a window into what's going to land in your lap that day, that week, that month. I think it's better to show a sampling of the menu, in general, of things that might be presented, so people have an idea of the kitchen's diversity, than it is to promise berries for dessert, not knowing that an early frost will compromise your ability to deliver. (Let the people who want strawberries in December go to IHOP.) Hey, recommend me for their web site!

Surely there are ways to staff so that everyone gets days off. It isn't a problem for the guy who owns K Wines, my favorite shop in the county. Blue Laws = a bad thing, as sanctimonious and as hypocritical as was Prohibition, methinks. John, you know I'm not mixing you up in that statement. Supercilious, yes, but sanctimonious, no.

Wow, you came to Santa Cruz (my town)? O'mei is really good, though I haven't been there in so long. I love their basil eggplant (so much that I had to learn how to make it myself). What did you have, or would it bore you to tell?

You are making me horribly homesick. I know those roads, those old wooden places. But can you please tell me what is "SFA"? Do I need a special radio?

What is the SFA network? I want that soft-shelled crab!

Manresa's Guest Chef Series continues: October 21, 2004: Thursday, 6:30 PM Chef David Hawksworth, of West, Vancouver, B.C., visits with chef David Kinch. Someone (not from Manresa) said it was $90 prix fixe, but I don't think that includes wines.

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure to spend the entire afternoon with Suvir Saran at the Williams-Sonoma store on Union Square in San Francisco. He is out on a book tour with his wonderful new cookbook. He was on the Gene Burns show yesterday, followed by Ruth Reichl, who is going to do some kind of a piece on the cookbook. It was an utter joy to finally meet my friend, whom I've known online for over a year now--I had been to Amma three times prior to his departure, and each time, an emergency dictated his absence. Even more wonderful to witness the transformation on the faces of people who came over to taste the soup he was serving, Tomato Rasam, all afternoon. Young and old, male and female, of every ethnicity and background: no one left the room grumpy. The soup, which he replenished all afternoon, easily, served dozens and dozens of people, and they were so delighted. The staff also returned again and again, and said, "This is the best this store has ever smelled." For the contingent of Suvir's fans here, on the India board and beyond, he realized he had forgotten to let people know he was coming out, as it was a bit of a whirlwind tour. He will return in November, and you will receive notice then. As for me, I came home with an inscribed cookbook, and I feel as though I were in the presence of a very gifted and special person. His generosity was astonishing: he literally told people, "If you buy my book and encounter any problems, you can e-mail me or call me on my cell. But I think you will have no problems." Imagine that, from any author. He just amazes me. He is a beautiful soul, with such integrity. Best of all, I will be traveling this month or next to NYC, as Suvir has requested that I help with the Dévi web site design and photography. Ya, you betcha! "Will work for Chaat"!

"Everybody Loves Vin": eight-page spread on Enoteca Vin in the new "Food and Wine" magazine. And yum, three recipes.