Cigarette companies target advertising towards young people because they realize that children are their future … customers.
So why is the wine industry so stuck on baby boomers? They’ve been targeting the same demographic for years. It shows in the numbers, too.
From the mid-80s to the mid-90s wine drinkers over the age […]

OK, no a finger in your ear doesn’t help you when smelling wine. And yes, I liked Sideways. But loved it? Best movie of the year? Isn’t that a little much? It’s quaint, a little movie about two fucked up middle aged white guys–one guy is  a total schlub and the other is going through […]

Anyone who saw the three preview episodes? They were great, outside of a few things….
Bobby Flay  -  He’s a dick. Seriously, I’ve waited on him. Just a short, cocky, prick. Southwestern as haute cuisine?? That’s the sound of New Orleans laughing.
The tasting panel  -  Having chowed down on a few free meals doesn’t […]

Long before petits plats were the rage from New York to Hell-A, there were chefs who were doin it. Chefs who didn’t want the constraint of meat/starch/veg. Little plates mean a chance to play. Run it for a couple of nights and get some feedback.
It’s a chance to get people to try new things. For […]

Everyone goes on and on about Mario Batali. But if they ever had any of his dad Armandino’s homemade salami or prosciutto, they’d forget all about the tubby  NYC chef. I now regulate my visits to the lunch counter, but I always go back to my old standby: a succulent sliced porchetta sandwich […]

One downside to getting back into the grind after the holidays–sales calls.
I hate salesmen. I get frustrated when customers shirk me off with a curt "just looking." But I’m guilty of the same thing. I sweat anxiety when I enter a store, knowing that sick fake greeting is coming. So I try to approach people […]

A Google search reveals that the phrase nice cup of tea appears about 24,000 times on the internet, whereas good cup of tea appears only about 5,300 times. However, good cup of coffee appears just over 18,000 times, whereas nice cup of coffee appear 5,200 times. All in all, tea is nice 4 times more […]

January is always a harsh kick in the nuts–the inevitable crash from the giant sugar rush that is Christmas. I could be politically correct and throw in Channukah, but lets face it–it’s Santa that brings home all the retail bacon. (ooh, I swear that’s no pun intended.)
This week brings the dreaded end of year inventory, […]

 It will always be synonymous with my mom’s pepper steak, and the tool for all those "she works hard for the money" single mothers of the 80’s trying to provide a decent evening meal for their latch key kids. When I got home from school, I was supposed to make a snack to shove into […]

Yesterday, I made a New Year’s resolution to start a blog. Now I’m blogging.
For those too impatient to learn new web skills, typepad rules.
Thinking of, blogging about, meaning to, wanting …
…something more than you’ve got.
Back when I was a morose teenager, my friends and I started a New Year’s tradition-we wrote suicide notes instead of […]