Early Signs Of A California Wine Revolution
California wine is finally getting interesting, and wine lovers can dare to hope that America’s premier wine region will produce more wines of higher quality. What? Those $200 Napa Valley Cabernets...
View ArticleLiterature Works Up An Appetite For Food And Sex
The idea that foods have aphrodisiac properties is quite old and found in all cultures, but this notion has waned with the rise of modern science. Arab Muslim culture has had its aphrodisiacal foods, a...
View ArticleClarissa Dickson Wright, Classic English Eccentric
We English love our eccentrics. Clarissa Dickson Wright, the renowned cook, TV personality, author and countryside campaigner, who died on March 15 at age 66, is a case in point. One of the stars of...
View ArticleWhy ‘Fed Up’ Has The Food Industry In Its Cross Hairs
“Fed Up” is a jab to the belly of many of the myths we hold about the causes and culprits responsible for the obesity epidemic in America. The well-crafted, accessible documentary’s focus is on kids,...
View ArticleRoy Choi Schools Hollywood In ‘Chef’
It was the knife work. The way he smeared a dab of sauce across the plate with the back of a spoon. Jon Favreau’s moves were too smooth. The actor-turned-screenwriter-turned-blockbuster-director, is...
View ArticleO.J.’s Jell-O Judge, a Recipe That Requires Trial and Error
During the first O.J. Simpson trial in 1995, I was working at the Los Angeles Times, about three blocks away from the L.A. County Courthouse. Once in a while I would wander up there to gawk at the...
View ArticlePBS And Chipotle Take You Inside The Food Movement
The cause and cure for much of what plagues our society — obesity, ill health, social injustice — have roots in what we eat. Fix our food system and we are on track to resolve those larger issues....
View ArticleLet’s Talk About Food And Transform Our Food Culture
I remember the moment very clearly. I was moderating a panel discussion after a special screening of “Food Inc.” in September 2010. More than 300 people had come for this free weekday screening. The...
View ArticleKale Wars? Dumpster Diving? Must See Food TV!
I haven’t watched the Food Network since kitchen turned coliseum. The old shows served up a relaxing, aspirational escape, but once they got all “Cutthroat,” I cut the cord. Instead of relaxing and...
View ArticleSpaghetti In Seoul? A ‘Fat Girl’ Tells You Where To Go
South Korea is in the middle of a food revolution. Led by expats, returning Korean-Americans and Koreans who have fallen in love with food overseas, once unheard-of dishes are now being served up all...
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