CHEWING THE FAT

David, 500 year old hunk          Initially, I’d signed up for a tour that took its participants into the countryside where we’d tour a winery and make ‘afternoon snacks’ called ‘marende’.  Now I lived in Italy and have gone there several times afterwards and I…

The smallest yachts in Monte Carlo.  The larger ones would fill the frame.          There’s something magical about just saying “I’m spending the day in Monte Carlo”.  This postage stamp Principality, which is actually the size of Central Park, simply reeks of money. Towering apartments shoot…

Sanary-Sur-Mer,  Picture Postcard Perfect           Today we visited the town of Toulon, the headquarters of the French Navy, the departure port for ferries to Corsica and Sardinia and a perfect jumping off spot to the magical places of southern Provence.  Every Viking cruise, whether on…

         One of the differences between Viking and virtually all other cruise lines is that each voyage allows its passengers to board the ship and stay in port that day and the next.  This allows its passengers time to explore the ship thoroughly and settle…

First glimpse of The World’s Best New Cruise Ship of 2015          Day 4 dawned rainy and the roof top breakfast room at the Hotel Cram was filled with unhappy tourists.   I could not have cared less.  Because from the rooftop, I could see the…

My kind of town. Even the Medieval City pictured in this mosaic featuredfood stalls outside the city walls. Choose whatever Tapas you fancy. Then count the toothpicks. Five toothpicks at Sagardi rang up a tab of14 Euros with a glass of Rioja. La Boqueria is Barcelona’s…

La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s yet unfinished masterpiece. This facade shows the Birth Of Christ          For some reason, Security at Heathrow in London believes that traveling between Terminal 5, where 747s land and Terminal 3, which will take you onward to Europe, you have…

British Airways Flight 174 JFK to LHR The Cunard Line, whose ships have crossed the Atlantic since 1840, ran an Advertising campaign using the headline “Getting there is half the fun.” This was just as the first jets streaked across the Atlantic in hours instead of…

   Julia Moskin of the Times When I was growing up, my WASP mother often made a dish called “Spaghetti Meat Sauce”.  I loved it.  The recipe came from a neighbor in our WASPiest of WASP enclaves. It later turned out that its author was a…

I was tempted to call this “Kitchen Sink Soup”.  But that would do no justice to this amazing concoction which took the chill out of a very chilly weekend.  It also was so easy to make, I realized that it would entirely possible to make…

         This dish combines two of my favorite ingredients: moist, tender, crispy Chicken thighs and any kind of mushroom you like. If only I had been anywhere near The East End Mushroom Company (www.theeastendmushroomcompany) I would have chosen more exotic mushrooms from their selection of Shiitakes,…

        Something unspeakable happened last week in Bridgehampton.  An extraordinary woman was taken from us as she crossed Main Street in a crosswalk.  A driver, whose license had been suspended, hurtled through town in the dark and struck a local hero. An immensely…

Our key visual, above,  shows our Barbecue Chicken French Bread Pizza with Smoked Mozarella  Chicken Cheesesteaks with Peppers A bargain at $4.99 Somewhere in the back of my mind, I recall reading that there’s a food site with over 400 recipes devoted to a single…

                    Rebel Features communal tables as seen in this overhead shot. “Dear Bon Appétit”, wrote Phyllis Follet of Cambridge, Massachusetts, “My husband and I celebrated our 44th Wedding Anniversary at Ribelle in Brookline, MA.  The caponata was astounding. Would the…