Daily Blender

05/01/2013 12:07 PM

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Portland’s Blind Pilot Ups The Musical Ante with the Oregon Symphony [PHOTOS]

By the time the first few notes of “We Are The Tide” began to swirl through the auditorium, the crowd had already made it to their feet. Swaying back and forth in their seats throughout the evening, toes a-tapping, it had been a relatively even-keeled set, a bit of the pomp of the Oregon Symphony keeping the generally raucous Portland crowd at an easygoing level. But when the band memb

Daily Blender

04/18/2013 08:12 AM

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Comedy Can Save the Day: Portland Comic Ian Karmel

I cannot think of a better week for the Bridgetown Comedy Festival to arrive. Portland will welcome heaps of comics of all varieties this weekend, at a time when it feels as though we could all really use a good laugh. Comics are coming in from all over the country, including a few of my personal favorites like Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero and Guy Branum, while showcasing some of Portland’s fines

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03/19/2013 02:12 PM

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The Side Dish: We’ve Lost Our Way With The Culinary Awards

The finalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards were announced yesterday, and there were, unfortunately, a lot of heavy hearts left in its wake, including mine. When I stepped into my role here at Daily Blender, I was certainly still a bit of a newbie to the culinary world, despite writing the book and running the catering business. Initially, I viewed the Beards as revered awards, indications

Daily Blender

03/06/2013 11:30 AM

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Modern Mixologist Tony Abou-Ganim Pours A Little Love on Vodka with His New Book, Vodka Distilled

Order a vodka-based cocktail in anything but a dive or nightclub these days, and you’re likely to get a wince of disdain from the drink maker behind the bar. Since the skyrocketing growth of craft cocktails and small-batch alcohols, bartenders have become ever more open about their dislike of the spirit. “What about something with gin?” some will say, trying to direct their vodka-loving customers

Daily Blender

02/27/2013 11:05 AM

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Anatomy of a Successful Event: The 2013 Seattle Wine and Food Experience

The crowd at an event last fall hit me just before the pain in my feet arrived. It was a high-profile shindig, with big names scattered throughout the scene. I scanned the clearly oversold room, a wave of dread slowly taking over. After hiking up the fifty or so entry stairs in four-inch heels, shaking my fist in the air, I was hit with a wall of people, chaos in every direction. No vendor map, no

Daily Blender

02/13/2013 12:29 PM

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SOBE’s Lee Brian Schrager Enters into Culinary Cinema at the Miami International Film Festival

There’s been a marked increase in combo food/wine/music festivals over the last few years, from Graham Elliot’s “bistronomic” Lollapalooza to the music-centered Austin Food & Wine Festival, so much so that it doesn’t seem like much more of a jump to bring food and film into focus. Unsurprisingly, Lee Brian Schrager, founder of both the New York and South Beach Wine and Food Festivals, looks to

Daily Blender

02/06/2013 11:00 AM

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Kilimanjaro Hosts World’s Highest Pop-Up Restaurant; Portland Brings Back Blind-Tasting Bingo

In an effort to raise funds for Mama Hope, a non-profit organization “that invests in projects that bring food, security, clean water, education and health care to African communities in need”, adventurers are trekking to Mt. Kilimanjaro later this month as part of the Mama Hope Kilimanjaro Expedition, an “inaugural impact trek” to benefit Tanzania’s [...]

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01/31/2013 11:36 AM

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Daily Blender Exclusive: Chris Martin and Chris Phillips of IAMDYNAMITE

Jumping around the photo pit at one of my brother’s concerts, press pass displayed on my chest, camera in hand, I hear all kinds of things from the crowd behind me while they’re smashed against the metal barrier separating them from me and the stage. I wonder which one she’s with. Who’s this? Where’s [enter [...]

Daily Blender

01/23/2013 11:16 AM

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Brother, Sweat, and Tears

When the band rolls into town, they arrive late at night, driving straight through from the last gig, appearing wearily on my doorstep with heavy luggage and soft pillowcases in hand. They are exhausted and plagued by coughs and aches developed only after weeks on the road. Dirty laundry is loaded into the middle of [...]

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01/15/2013 11:00 AM

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James Beard on Stage, Ice Bar Imbibing, and Favorite 2012 “Best Ofs”

So many things to read, see, eat, and drink… Here’s what’s on our radar this week. Reviews have been a bit mixed for the onstage production detailing the life of food pioneer James Beard in “I Love to Eat”, now showing at Portland’s Center Stage, but from what I hear, it’s certainly worth checking out [...]

Daily Blender

01/15/2013 11:00 AM

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On The Radar: James Beard on stage, ice bar imbibing, and favorite 2012 “Best Ofs”

So many things to read, see, eat, and drink… Here’s what’s on our radar this week. Reviews have been a bit mixed for the onstage production detailing the life of food pioneer James Beard in “I Love to Eat”, now showing at Portland’s Center Stage, but from what I hear, it’s certainly worth checking out [...]

Daily Blender

01/09/2013 01:00 PM

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In the Beginning, There Was Stephen King

After years of contributing to school publications, I decided to pursue my love of writing when I arrived in Seattle in 1999. I stumbled upon the Seattle Writergrrls, and prodded for recommendations on building a writing portfolio. Write for us, they suggested, and so I did. My first article was an essay about how I [...]

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12/20/2012 01:00 PM

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Quick Spin: Chef Matthew Busetto

When I first went to Firehouse in North Portland, I was only in it for the pizza. I’ve never met a wood fire pizza I didn’t like so I knew I’d end up there for that reason alone. But what I didn’t know was how much soul was baking within the walls of the old Dekum location. The shared building – chef Matthew Busetto’s wife runs the naturopath clinic upstairs – has been producing some of the

Daily Blender

12/13/2012 01:00 PM

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The Side Dish: Best Food, Drink, and Travel of 2012

Oh, 2012. You’ve been good to me. I began the year with a return visit to the Cayman Cookout and ended my year with a marvelous Taste of Tulalip. In between, there were adventures in Maui, New Orleans, Indianapolis – with good friends, great food, and incomparable imbiberies. What more could a girl ask for? Here on Daily Blender, there were some shining stars amongst the crowd. The top post for th

Daily Blender

12/05/2012 11:20 AM

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Quick Spin: Chef Eric Haugen

The luxury of The Lambs Club in midtown Manhattan is captivating. The relatively modest entrance on West 44th hides the glamour within, an elegant space reminiscent of the city’s glory days with an interior of art deco sconces along wood-paneled walls, an illuminated four-seat bar manned by gentlemen in white suits, and a dining room of red leather guarded by an original painting of Lambs Club mem

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11/14/2012 12:00 PM

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Sbrocco, Samuelsson Bring the Shine to the 2012 Taste of Tulalip

The Tulalip Resort stands like a beacon along the stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle, Washington, and Vancouver, British Columbia. It beckons weary travelers like an oasis in the desert, the brightly lit black and white orcas adorning the multilevel hotel beaming amongst a sea of strip malls and outlet shopping. Inside, the resort is heavily decorated in the colors and symbols of the Tulalip

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10/31/2012 01:00 PM

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Portland Cocktail Week Brings The Red, White, and Booze

I was on a World Series high last Thursday night. My beloved Tigers were entrenched in the second game of the finals, battling it out with the San Francisco Giants, when I walked into Red, White, and Booze – the closing event of Portland Cocktail Week. The mitten state had been on my mind all week after a Jameson dinner at Ox brought together five of us former Michiganders, each sharing stories fr

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10/16/2012 01:00 PM

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Zen and the Art of Food and Drink: 2012 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival

When Kat and I arrived at Portland International Airport on Thursday morning, long before the sun would rise, we were nearly giddy as we passed through security, ecstatic that our adventure to New York City had finally arrived. As we made our way to the gate, we noticed a monk walking in front of us, and chattered about it being a good omen. After a brief wait, I stood patiently in line waiting fo

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09/26/2012 12:20 PM

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Celebrating and Reminiscing – Five Years of the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival

I started visiting New York City when I was in my teens. My Mom and I would make it all about musicals and Fifth Avenue and living the life of city dwellers during our mother/daughter weekends to the Big Apple. She had a friend who was “connected” and invited us to town for that first weekend. We sat in the second row, center, for Grand Hotel, starring Dukes of Hazzard heartthrob John Schneider. W

Daily Blender

09/13/2012 01:15 PM

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Daily Blender Exclusive: Butcher and Entrepreneur Pat LaFrieda, Jr.

“Butcher to the stars” seems like a ridiculous title, but it’s what Pat LaFrieda, Jr., has certainly become. From profiles in Saveur, the Washingtonian, and many others, the third generation butcher has been at the forefront of a meat-heavy restaurant craze for the past few years thanks to his nearly celeb butcher status, providing cuts and blends for top chefs in New York from Michael Whit

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09/04/2012 12:30 PM

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Chef Ben Bettinger on the Portland Food Community and the Opening of Paley’s Imperial

Most will know Ben Bettinger as the man who put Portland’s gem of a restaurant, Beaker & Flask, on the ‘must dine’ map. When the eatery opened, I was of the understanding that the restaurant, well-lauded from the beginning, was further into the heart of the city. I hadn’t considered that the nondescript building along a main artery in Southeast Portland was anything more than a former office e

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08/22/2012 12:27 PM

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Healdsburg’s Project Zin Serves Up Support of Down’s Syndrome

After a while, food and drink events can start to feel like they all run together. While I have nowhere near as much event experience as Jennifer, I’ve been in it long enough to know that sometimes these events can feel a little…repetitive. But when I heard about Project Zin in Healdsburg – near where I grew up – I knew I wanted to attend. Not necessarily because of the location of the event, but

Daily Blender

08/08/2012 11:35 AM

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Daily Blender Exclusive: Author and Bartender Jim Meehan

My travel to New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail was a little rough. In an effort to get a few extra hours in on my first visit to the city, I had booked myself on a red-eye, foolishly thinking I would be able to sleep, as I had a million times before, on the cross-country flight. When I took to my seat next to two younger women holding a fussy 2-year-old, however, my hopes were dashed. I would

Daily Blender

08/01/2012 11:00 AM

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Feeling it at the 2012 Tales of the Cocktail

You feel Tales of the Cocktail from the beginning, whether it’s the heat and humidity clinging to your arms upon every exit from a comfortably conditioned space or the mishmashing of sweaty bodies crowded around the corner at Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House pre-dawn. The energy is palpable in the gilded lobby of the Hotel Monteleone each time you step in, heading to a session about drink

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07/19/2012 11:15 AM

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Quick Spin: Beverage Director David Mokha of Fontainebleau Miami

After last summer’s interviews with Maui chefs Eric Faivre and Isaac Bancaco of the Grand Wailea, I’ve been more curious about the operations of a hotel, particularly when it comes to food and beverage services. Hotel restaurants are often more complex beasts compared to their traditional brick and mortar cousins, from the seasonal clientele with diverse tastes and expectations to the need for sea

Daily Blender

06/29/2012 11:47 AM

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The Side Dish: Daily Blender Video Adventures

Yep, you read that right. Daily Blender, live and on camera. Now that DB is a few years in – four to be exact – it seems I’ve had more people ask when I’m going to start doing interviews on camera. When they ask, a small part of my stomach starts to crunch and churn, like one’s middle half does when asked to give a speech to a room full of business associates, or throw the opening pitch of a Marin

Daily Blender

06/27/2012 12:00 PM

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Weather and Wins at the 2012 Northwest Spirits and Mixology Show

The weather was a little unstable during this past weekend’s Northwest Spirits and Mixology Show. Situated in a mountain valley in the drier, Eastern side of the state, Bend, Oregon, has a reputation of warm, sunny summers, but this year, the spirits event was a bit more of an adventure, winds whipping at the blue Roaring Lion canopies protecting vendor tables from sun or storm, gloomy skies greet

Daily Blender

06/12/2012 01:00 PM

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Quick Spin: Chef Patrick Warner

It’s a tiny space by most restaurant standards – at least in this town. A beautiful six-top hardwood bar prominently situated along the south wall, a handful of tables and chairs along the north and east walls. At capacity, the area probably seats forty comfortably, though a standing soiree could range from 50 to 100. The sociable servers double as bartenders and sommeliers, the kitchen is a

Daily Blender

06/07/2012 05:03 PM

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With Bowery Bagels, Madigan Brings A Little New York to Portland

Michael Madigan crosses the street like a New Yorker. As we passed his KitchenCru – a culinary incubator designed for small food startups to create and build products – on the way to his Bowery Bagels shop opening next week, I couldn’t help but think Madigan has a reason to walk fast and not bother with petty things like crosswalks. KitchenCru, open for nearly a year and utilized by th

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06/06/2012 12:21 PM

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The Side Dish: A Restaurant Without A Website…

…is like a fork without a knife. …a chef without a sous. …a mirepoix without carrots. It’s been a regular conversation lately, at least amongst the Portland food crowd, about how surprising it is to find that a new restaurant is without a website. In this day and age, it’s not only baffling, it’s inevitably hurting your business. Worse yet, an incomplete website, a list of hours

Daily Blender

06/05/2012 12:00 PM

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The Life of a Chef (and it isn’t all truffles and foie gras, baby)

Today, we’re super pleased to publish this guest post from chef Lisa Nakamura of Orcas Island’s Allium Restaurant. Nakamura began as a prep cook “and eventually graduated to some pretty illustrious kitchens, including at The French Laundry and The Herbfarm”, opening Allium two years ago in the spring of 2010. Let’s begin with what most chefs are NOT. Most chefs are not glo

Daily Blender

05/30/2012 11:08 AM

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Upcoming Book Release Highlights KFC’s ‘Original Celebrity Chef’

How could I not mention the epicness that is Colonel Sanders’s “accidentally” discovered autobiography? Those hard working marketing mavens over at KFC have not only unearthed the tome, apparently written by the Colonel in 1966, they’re publishing it, starting with a handful of Facebook posts leading up to the book’s release in early June. But it’s the title that caught my attention, of course. Co

Daily Blender

05/23/2012 02:11 PM

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Quick Spin: FoodShed’s Brenda Crow

Ever wish you had a trusted food friend? Someone you can call up at any given point and ask, “Hey, what do I do with these fiddlehead ferns?” Portland-based FoodShed, owned by food professional Brenda Crow, is sort of an online version of that friend. While she certainly has had her hand in kitchens, butchery, baking and culinary school, Brenda’s role in food is a little different. Today, she is m

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05/18/2012 10:55 AM

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DISARONNO’s “Mixing Star” Offers Bartenders The Chance At Bollywood

It seems as though it is the season for cocktail competitions. Even though they surely run year-round, like their culinary compatriots, a whole host of comps have rolled through Portland over the past few months, highlighting spirits from light to dark, as well as local mixers worthy of note. The latest was DISARONNO’s “Mixing Star” competition, where nearly twenty competitors fr

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05/15/2012 11:00 AM

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“World’s Best” Noma Staff Contributes to Copenhagen Travel Guide

Experiencing busy streets full of construction work, trash bins overflowing after a happy weekend, and political stickers on every other lamppost are part of the process of rediscovering beauty – the beauty of a story, like an old kitchen cutting board where each line carved by the chef’s knife adds to the value of the wood, like exploring the nature that surrounds you and bringing back the local

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05/14/2012 11:45 AM

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NYC’s Batali and LaFrieda Step Up for Food Stamps

Famed chef Mario Batali has announced that in order to bring more awareness to the cuts looming over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, he’s launched a campaign called the Food Stamp Challenge Friday. According to Crain’s New York, participants in the challenge will live within the constraints of $31 for an entire week of meals – the average “food stamp” weekly allotment. Thus far, nea

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05/10/2012 11:45 AM

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2012 Taste of the Nation Portland

I was beyond excited for this year’s Taste of the Nation. My experience at last year’s event proved quite memorable, demonstrating that it was, quite possibly, the best food and wine event in Portland. All the top restaurants from across the city, many of the top wineries and breweries in the area, and a handful of shining spirits on hand to ensure that guests didn’t leave dissatisfied – and all f

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05/08/2012 11:35 AM

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Quick Spin: Bartender Emily Baker

Three competitors in, an ebullient Emily Baker stepped up to the bar at last summer’s Northwest Spirits and Mixology Show as the newbiest of newbie bartenders. A bit nervous, she worked to create her Mexican Circus Tiger for our panel of judges – some of the finest spirits folks in the country – regaling us with the tale behind the drink’s name. Only a few months into her b

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05/01/2012 01:00 PM

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Daily Blender Exclusive: Chef Aaron Barnett

Chef Aaron Barnett’s French-inspired restaurant, St. Jack, is what I like to imagine as the connection where Portland and Lyon meet. The menu is produce-heavy, the decor a delicate interior design, yet the kitchen isn’t afraid of hearty meat dishes (fried tripe, escargot and bone marrow, without shame, thank you). It’s a welcome combination of elegance inside the restaurant, with a careful,

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04/25/2012 01:00 PM

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Celebrating The Best of Maui at the 2012 Maui County Agricultural Festival

The stage was most certainly perched on an angle when I took my seat at the judging table during the Maui County Agricultural Festival. After participating as a judge in a dozen or so food and drink competitions, it was my first experience doing so from a proper “stage” – even a slightly precarious one. On the grounds of the beautiful Maui Plantation, nestled at the base of the green mountains so

Daily Blender

04/10/2012 01:00 PM

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Maneuvering Through Maui – Restaurant Picks on the Hawaiian Island

When Maui calls, you have to answer. Since my last magical visit to the island, I’ve dreamed of nothing but palm trees and the warm breeze that greets when you when arrive. The solitude of cruising down a sunny two-lane, oceanside highway. The welcoming ‘aloha’, the thoughtful ‘mahalo’. So when I received the call (or the email, rather) inviting me to participate as a judge at this year’s Maui Cou

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04/05/2012 10:30 AM

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Daily Blender Exclusive: Chef Roy Choi

The food scene in Los Angeles is a bit overwhelming. On a recent visit, I had a huge list of recommended and researched restaurants and didn’t even know where to start. Early into the trip, my traveling companion (a very knowledgeable taco connoisseur), our hosts and I were all trudging through the rain near Abbot Kinney Boulevard and as we were waiting in line at a restaurant, the Taco Connoisseu

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04/03/2012 11:00 AM

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Seattle’s Stowell Raises Funds for Fetal Syndromes

I was nearly through my meal at Staple and Fancy in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood when I met chef Ethan Stowell for the first time last fall. Friends with my dining companion, spirits man Rocky Yeh, Stowell stopped by our table that evening after returning from a catering, weary but friendly. General chitchat commenced, shifting from off-site events to restaurant to-dos, when Rocky inquired as t

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03/28/2012 11:37 AM

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Where To Eat and Drink in Indianapolis

I really hadn’t given Indianapolis much thought, particularly on the food and drink front. Growing up in Michigan, I had visited Indy, and a few of its ‘burbs, a handful of times throughout high school and college. The downtown space, with its steakhouses and sports bars, wasn’t much more than a conference-friendly corridor, and certainly not a place where someone wanting a craft cocktail or a bit

Daily Blender

03/21/2012 11:44 AM

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Portland Chef Ken Gordon on Personal Health and Pastrami

In Portland, there are two major players in the food playground, the vegetable – buzzing farmer’s markets, inspired vegan restaurants and dedicated gardening – and the almighty meat, with nose-to-tail cooking, butchery classes and charcuterie found in nearly every corner of the city. Chef Ken Gordon is, and has been, a colossal part of the carnivorous scene in Portland, with his resta

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03/14/2012 11:03 AM

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Quick Spin: Chef Sarah Simmons

The gregarious ginger-haired Sarah Simmons sat two rows in front of me on the airport shuttle to the 2010 Cayman Cookout, her wide-brimmed white sun hat resting comfortably on her head as she chatted with her accompanying friend. Though I didn’t know it at the time, Simmons was there as a guest of Food & Wine that weekend, enjoying the perks and posing for pictures as winner of the magaz

Daily Blender

03/01/2012 12:03 PM

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Peter Meehan, David Chang Talk Lucky Peach

Momofuku chef David Chang and his publishing co-collaborator Peter Meehan made an appearance recently on CBS This Morning to discuss the thinking and planning behind their popular Lucky Peach quarterly. “So, what do you love about it, the whole idea of cooking?” host Charlie Rose asked Chang. “It’s the constant pursuit of perfection,” Chang replied. ~Jennifer Heigl

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02/29/2012 10:00 AM

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Emerald City Love at the 2012 Seattle Wine and Food Experience

I was still eating like a Midwesterner when I moved across the country to Seattle nearly fifteen years ago. Fresh from college – and college fare – I was fierce about my love of chain restaurants and comfort foods. Even in a culinary mecca like the Emerald City, I still clung to my fried mozzarella, my uninspired food service salads, my burgers of questionable meat. A food and wine eve

Daily Blender

02/23/2012 11:00 AM

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Mardi Gras, Portland-style

Any event that starts with raw oysters is my kind of party. Luckily, this past Tuesday, Portland’s Irving Street Kitchen started their annual Mardi Gras festivity with an oyster spread, celebrating through the night in true New Orleans fashion. Emceeing the evening, Yelp master Don Bourassa coordinated guests through the evening’s raffle – with profits donated to Rose Haven Day S

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02/15/2012 08:00 AM

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Eating and Exploring: Event Picks for February and March

Oh, how I wish I could make it to every luxurious food, wine, and spirits event there is. Flying to and fro – Europe, Asia, Australia – eating, traveling, writing. It took Bourdain a few years to finally get to that point, and it’ll take me a few years to get to that point, too, so until then, I’ll just wrap up pleasant little posts on my favorites so that the rest of you can imbibe an

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