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“I Don’t Want a Restaurant Where a Jazz Band Can’t Come Marching Through.”- Ella Brennan Many of you know we have love affair with the City New Orleans and its very special way of life. Well, no one embodies cialisfrance24.com “New Orleans Living” more than Miss Ella Brennan, matriarch of the Brennan family. And no ...

What is it about food history and culture that keeps us craving more? Recently, I visited the National Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington,DC, to experience its first major exhibition on food history – “FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000.” I enjoyed my visit so much I went back for a second helping two ...

I first met Paulette Satur over a game of tennis. She was pretty good as I recall. At the time she worked in wine sales for Martin Scott. But this Pennsylvania born farm girl had a bigger vision. After 12 years working in wine she decided to buy a farm on the North Fork of ...

Two annual events always signal the holiday season for me aside from Thanksgiving. Both are seasoned with sentiments of delicious years past and take place the same week. The first is the third Thursday of November with the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau. For four years I had the honor- and challenge- of creating and staging ...

Sometimes it’s your first taste of something that you remember forever. Other times it’s the experience you were having, or you you were with, that creates that palate memory, My first wine memory and taste- at age 15- was my Dad teaching me how to properly serve and taste wine. he wanted me to learn ...

The month of November is both bitter and sweet for us. Both David and I lost our fathers in November. Both our fathers inspired our lives in wine. Jack Ransom owned Rivendell Winery in Ulster County where all three of his sons worked. Mel Young taught wine classes for more than 30 years in Chattanooga ...

Baking Expert Dorie Greenspan says she dreams of cookies in her sleep. She notes she has at least 300 cookie recipes to her name. Dorie managed to narrow her recipes down and create even more….to 170 for her just released 12th cookbook “Dorie’s Cookies,” including some very interesting savory cookies (not crackers, she notes!)   Who doesn’t have a ...

Chef and restaurateur Nora Pouillon is Washington, DC’s- and the nation’s – Forever First Lady in the world of organic food and sustainability. When she arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s from her native Austria, our country was on a diet of processed foods and agricultural products treated with chemicals -and in too many communities still is. ...

While many Americans may be gnashing their teeth and biting their nails as we head into the last week of the Presidential campaign, I’m ready to cast my vote for the most impressive women-as-culinary-activists after attending last week’s Les Dames d’Escoffier International Conference in Washington, DC. Not intending to sound political, but just proud of my tribe: “If you ...

The role of food as a cultural identity and brand builder for a country, how food can be used as both a weapon of war and vehicle for peace, and how ethical cooking and a borderless kitchen factor into international relations were among the topics addressed in a presentation by Dr. Johanna Mendelson Forman. With more than two decades ...

There’s not enough space to list all the reasons we were honored to have chef and restaurateur, Rick Bayless on The Connected Table LIVE! October 19th. But we’ve given it a try: ...

The word “authentic cooking” bubbled to the surface at Les Dames d’Escoffier New York’s symposium, “The Next Big Bite: Media’s Influence on What We Eat, Drink & Crave,” which took place October 17 at Institute of Culinary Education. The distinguished panel moderated by CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, Martha Teichner, includedChef/Restaurateur and Co-Host of ABC’s “The Chew,” Carla Hall, Bloomberg ...

A sunset stroll on a warm September evening in lower Manhattan while watching party boats cruise the Hudson River had us reminiscing about the New York restaurants we’d loved and lost. The occasion that prompted this was a dinner at Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) with Chef David Waltuck who was recently named Director of Culinary ...

I grew up Southern and Jewish in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I like to tell people Southern Jews grow up with Bubbas and Bubbies in their families. Brisket was served with biscuits. JELLO molds were our serving of fruit.  What we didn’t have were truly authentic Jewish delis. Well, we had Shapiro’s, but it was a Jewish deli with ...

Cornfields, hogs, Better Homes & Gardens Magazine, “Bridges Over Madison County,” John Wayne and a political “straw poll.” That’s what we knew about the state of Iowa besides its gigantic State Fair which we hope to attend one day, even just for the pie eating. It’s the #1 hog producer and the nation’s third most productive agricultural state ...

Rihanna, flying fish, Bajan hot sauce, amazing beaches, sugar plantations and Mount Gay Rum. This is what we knew about Barbados when we went for one of my New Year’s birthdays. One side of this island is serene surf; the other is wild with shards of coral reef whipping around your legs when you try to swim. We opted ...

Chef David Waltuck and his wife Karen ran Chanterelle restaurant for 30 years, first in Soho and then in Tribeca. Each menu was a work of art as was each dish. Seasonal, locally sourced cooking was David’s style long before “farm to table” became embedded in our culinary lingo. Gael Greene referred to David in ...

If you described your love life like a glass of wine, what would you say? Soft and velvety with a lingering finish? Earthy and masculine? Round and luscious with deep notes of cherry and chocolate?  It’s a question we enjoy asking people at dinner parties to up the conversation game. Another one is, “Describe yourself ...

  “Love, Loss and What I Drank”- The Exes in My Glasses This came to mind after reading Lisa Mattson’s delightful book, “The Exes in My Glass: How I Refined My Taste in Men & Alcohol.” This book is a fun read that documents Lisa’s progression as a young adult hell bent on leaving rural Kansas ...

Julia Child‘s birthday is August 15th. On the August 10th edition of The Connected Table LIVE! we share memories of Julia with her grand-nephew, Alex Prud’homme, who collaborated with Julia on her memoir, “My Life in France. ” When Julia passed away at the age of 92, he continued to work on the book with editor, Judith Jones. ...

President Obama Called Him the “Master of the Crust” Melanie says she grew up in The Crust Belt. It’s the section of the South she fondly refers as “the land of fries and pies where everything is better with batter and butter.” That’s why we’re excited to have Bill Yosses on the show August 10th. ...

Many people associate Bordeaux wines with classic Grand Crus, collectible fine wine that you lay down in a cellar and enjoy with a sumptuous meal. On our first trip to Bordeaux, we were fortunate enough to have private visits to some great houses: Château Le Pin and Vieux Château Certain in Pomerol, Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac and Château ...

She’s called “The Queen of Creole Cuisine.” And we are honored to have a seating with this amazing lady who is truly Louisiana culinary royalty this week in New Orleans when we head to Tales of the Cocktail. That’s right! We’re visiting with the venerable Ms. Leah Chase, owner of New Orleans landmark Dooky Chase Restaurant on our July ...

For 25 years “on the rocks” meant climbing the ‘Gunks in New York’s Hudson Valley and managing rock climbing gyms in New York City for native New Yorker Ralph Erenzo. These days it has a new meaning  for him as Co-Founder of Tuthilltown Distillery, located on a former gristmill in the verdant Gardiner countryside just a ...

We have many reasons to love New Orleans, from the amazing food and architecture to the southern hospitality and good friends and family. It’s our home away from home, and we always find reasons to return as often as we can and look forward to attending the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference each summer ...

  Nieto Senetiner is one of Argentina’s great wine producers.  The history of Nieto Senetiner Winery dates back to 1888, when Italian immigrants founded it and grew the first vineyards in Vistalba, Luján de Cuyo, province of Mendoza. Over the first decades of the last century, the winery was run by several families who succeeded in passing ...

We love celebrating America’s Independence Day and hope you enjoyed as well. We wondered what the Founding Fathers drank to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence. We’ve seen a number of references to Madeira.  Founding Father and First President George Washington owned a large distillery.Patrick Henry owned a tavern. Thomas Jefferson collected fine ...

“The way I see it,” says Melba Wilson, “Soul food is the foundation of American comfort food.” She’d know. For Melba, a Harlem native, or as she likes to say “I am Harlem born, bred, and buttered,” owns one of  most influential soul food restaurants in New York City’s most exciting dining neighborhood, aptly named ...

There’s just something about the name “Persia” that seduces us. We are drawn to the flavors and aromas. Mint, cumin, cinnamon, oranges, pomegranates, dates and honey are ingredients we like add to many of our everyday dishes. Aside from Melanie’s coming of age tour to Israel as a teenager, we’ve only traveled to the Middle ...

It seemed like the perfect plan: Help out Barossa Valley grape growers unable to sell their fruit in a changing market by making wine from their grapes, sell it off in bulk to those who need wine to sell and go play golf for the rest of the year. Well, something like that, anyways… A ...