Classic Wines

Wine: What are the rules for cooking with it? Well, for one thing, never use the stuff labeled as "cooking wine." That stuff's crap--it's cheap wine, it's salty, and it's expensive. When you cook with wine, you concentrate the wine's flavors,... read more

My name is Alexandra, and I am currently a sophomore at The Restaurant School in Philadelphia. Being a culinary student can be, at times, rather interesting. One can witness all kinds of things, such as pans reaching the flash point in omelet class, fa... read more

Pairing food and wine can be complicated; no person with a solid knowledge of food and wine would ever argue that. But it's important to also realize that it doesn't have to be bewilderingly difficult. In fact, depending on how you look at it, finding ... read more

If there is a better budget pairing than fennel-sausage pizza and Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha, I have not yet found it. Sure, it's nothing near as profound as a silky old bottle of Bordeaux with roasted lamb chops. Or a plate of egg-rich pasta ... read more

Everyone has at least one pet peeve about restaurant service. You know, that one thing that absolutely drives you nuts if a restaurant screws it up. For some people, their pet peeve is when the steak they ordered is overcooked. For others, they hate it... read more

When I was growing up, both of my parents smoked. A lot. Our living room was always filled with a thick haze. Our hair and clothes reeked of cigarettes regardless of how often they were washed. Even the snacks we ate while watching TV took on an ashy t... read more

A few weeks ago, my wife and I were sitting at the bar of a popular restaurant waiting for a friend to join us for dinner. This restaurant is known for its solid wine program. Even the wines by the glass are housed in a temperature-controlled wine disp... read more

These days, the legislature is becoming one of our regular dining companions. Whether it’s a foie gras ban or some other food-related issue, it seems as though the government keeps finding new ways to sneak its fork toward our dinner plate.One of... read more

A Few Tips on TippingWhen I was growing up and long before it was common, our family needed two incomes to make ends meet. So my mother waited tables and tended bar at various dives in town. The jobs were hard and the hours were long. I spent many afte... read more

High profile chefs draw the crowds, but are they worth the hype?It wasn’t too long ago that, for most of the dining public, the chef was an anonymous and uncelebrated part of the dining experience. Much like the cable guy and all of the other uns... read more

Is it ok to photograph your food at a crowded restaurant, or are there just too many negatives?We were sitting in one of the hottest new restaurants in Philadelphia, and our first course had just arrived. Mine was a mushroom "cappuccino" delicately inf... read more

Or, How The Cream RisesIt was not too long ago that it was a privilege to be published. Whether it was a book, a newspaper article, or even a letter to the editor, being published meant that you had distinguished yourself. It meant that your work was s... read more

Should cell phones be banned in restaurants? Press 1 for yes or 2 for no.One of my earliest memories of the cell phone is from the 1987 movie Wall Street. In one scene, the corporate raider, Gordon Gekko, prowls the beach watching the sunrise. He calls... read more

The Benefits of Dining on a SidewalkIn an urban environment, there is one sure sign that summer has arrived. No, I'm not talking about sun dresses or the gaggle of tourists meandering from one museum to another. I'm not talking about the wildly erratic... read more

Is The Olive Garden Always A Bad Thing?Chain restaurants are often portrayed as the dark overlords of the dining world. But is there an upside to having a chain in your neighborhood?About a year and a half ago, our relatives from Italy did a whirlwind ... read more

How to Bring Your Bottle HomeOrdering an entire bottle of wine at a restaurant can sometimes feel like a huge commitment. Because most states have open container laws that prohibit you from driving around with an open bottle of alcohol within reach, di... read more

There has been a lot of feather ruffling the past year or so over foie gras. Tube feeding migratory birds to fatten their livers (a process now known as gavage) has been practiced for thousands years. Today, however, some argue that the process is anim... read more

Dining trends come and go, but few have impacted the dining scene like the tapas and small plates phenomenon. Blurring the line between appetizer and entree, small plates free restaurant goers from the rigid framework of traditional restaurant dining, ... read more

Pairing food and wines is as simple as finding something you love to drink and drinking it with something you love to eat. Possibly some old-fashioned purists may cringe, but most professionals in the modern wine world know that loving what you taste i... read more