Breakfast at Tartine in San Francisco’s Mission District is a journey--its flaky pastries and café au lait transport you to Paris the instant they touch your lips. On a foggy morning, I met there over the most beautiful and butterscotch-ey bread pudding to be regaled by travel tales and discuss this winter’s hottest food trends with Jen Catto, Travel Director of Gourmet Magazine.

Jen had recently returned from a trip to France in which she tried something she never had before. On the beaches of Brittany at this time of year, large amounts of algae wash up onto shore. It used to be that this algae was only used for bath salts, but local restaurants in St. Malo made the algae into a butter and then used this butter to prepare fish. The aromatic and briney taste that resulted is something that could only come from that particular region, anchoring the dining experience firmly and wonderfully in France at that season and place.

Photo courtesy of Jen Catto.

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Posted in Bakeries & Sweet Shops, Foodie Souvenirs, Holiday & Seasonal, LSBF '07, News
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Apparently, there’s a dedicated day for everything. Saturday was National Milk Chocolate Day. Had I known earlier, I would have lifted my five month ban on the sweet treat - a decision I made after nearly driving myself into a sugar coma on Valentines Day - to celebrate.

No one put the splendor of chocolate more eloquently than Clay Gordon, publisher of chocophile.com, who said "The processing of the cocoa bean with sugar — and later, milk — were two of the most inspired ideas in gastronomic history."

Ranging from a European chocolate festival to a café in Philadelphia, USA Today’s Buzzy Gordon embarked on a gastronomic journey around the world, discovering 10 great places to milk chocolate for all its worth.

On second thought, maybe I will lift that ban to celebrate. After all, much like birthdays, it’s never too late to commemorate chocolate.

Photo Courtesy of IgoUgo member ccasson.

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“Think Global, Act Local.” I can’t think of a better example of a company that embodies this ideal than Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor. Even if Zingerman’s hadn’t been named as a Travelocity Local Secret, Big Find for Michigan, it would’ve still been at the top of my list of places to visit during the 24 hours I had in town. You see, back in the ‘90s, I was introduced to Zingerman’s as a U of M freshman, and it’s been true love ever since.

This Monday, I moseyed in at high noon to a practically drooling sandwich line that snaked past olives, salami, fresh-baked breads and magic brownies—and was greeted by a cheese wizard named Marshall who, if he hadn’t already had me at hello, sealed the deal when he asked, “would you like to try some of our homemade creamery cheeses”?

It was with the anticipation of a giddy fan that I was then introduced to Head Chef, Rodger Bowser, who took time out of his very busy schedule to chat with me about Zingerman’s considerable connection to the local community.

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Posted in Bakeries & Sweet Shops, Foodie Souvenirs, LSBF '07, Michigan, Restaurants & Cafes
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The year was 2005. The place was Charleston, South Carolina. The temperature was pushing 80 and I was hot, sweaty, in a rush, and--worst of all--insanely hungry. I needed something to eat. I needed something delicious to eat. I needed something delicious to eat fast. Tall order? Well, it could have been. Until I remembered that a place called Ted's Butcherblock had just opened on the street I was driving down. I pulled over. I parked. I ordered. I swooned.

When I discovered two years later that Ted's had been nominated as one of our Local Secrets, Big Finds in the great state of South Carolina, I was hardly surprised. The place is a foodie's dream, with huge deli-style sandwiches (chicken, pancetta, and avocado? What is this, heaven?), to-die-for gourmet sides, an excellent wine selection, and walls and walls of fancy treats that gastronomes may well have a fainting fit over. (Well, I know I did. What can I say? Cheese has that effect on me.) Every month, the eponymous Ted chooses a region--June, for example, is the Caribbean--and offers featured dishes inspired by its culinary traditions. And as you'd expect from a place named Ted's Butcherblock, the piece de resistance is a full-scale, old-school butcher counter boasting an impressive array of all-natural beef, pork, lamb, veal, poultry game, smoked sausages, salami, bacon, and cold cuts. You don't have to be a carnivore to love Ted's, but it helps.

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