A Q&A with food activist Mark Kastel, co-founder of The Cornucopia Institute. This appeared on Gourmet.com as a companion to my article about Kastel in the November 2008 issue.
Every year my friend Jessica and her sister throw a dumpling-making party for the Chinese New Year. In 2007, I turned that idea into an entertaining story for Every Day With Rachael Ray. The story looked fantastic in print (despite everything going wrong at the photo shoot); the online version is pretty much just the recipes I developed.
A profile of Jerrod and R.J. Melman, the sons of Lettuce Entertain You’s Richard Melman. Published in Time Out Chicago on September 3, 2010. In the middle of the article they call me a “pussy” for not drinking martinis. I have since started.
Several years ago I created a recurring feature at Time Out Chicago called The Artisan. The series (still in existence today) focuses on Chicagoans who are producing great products on a small scale. This profile was one of the first we ran. The name of the artisan is Jessica Volpe, but she goes by Pasta Puttana, a.k.a. “pasta whore.”
My article about Mexican food in Chicago. Published in Gourmet in September 2007.
I traveled to San Juan in 2009. Despite my efforts, I didn’t quite fit in. But I did have my first real mojito, which I write about in this Gourmet.com blog post, posted March 10, 2009.
“Against Bacon,” published in Time Out Chicago on October 22, 2009. This was meant to be a humor piece, but not everybody was amused. One reader wrote in and compared me to Hitler. She then suggested I be deported.
My profile of chef Rick Tramonto, published in Time Out Chicago on October 22, 2009. Cocaine fueled the early part of Tramonto’s career. Now Jesus does.
