Balsamic Pickled Eggs
As the countdown to Passover begins, I find myself immersed in planning our seder and reflecting on holidays past. I liken Passover to a Jewish Thanksgiving, as we are thankful that Pharaoh freed the Jews from slavery and allowed them to leave Egypt. The foods reflect our exodus: Matzo, or unleavened bread, commemorates the hastiness of our departure. We pulled bread out of the oven before it had time to rise, and Pharaoh had the chance to change his mind. I am always thankfu
Turning Lemons Into . . . Preserved Lemons
A beautiful hostess at this busy restaurant was telling my friend and me the other day about the pop-up option for lunch. It's a great restaurant with good food and natural light that flows in through the windows that wrap the dining room, which could account for why the restaurant is so busy. She explained that the pop-up served soups and breads, "kind of like Panera." I suggested to her that such a great restaurant deserves a better description than a comparison to Panera.
Brisket
There's an urban myth about a hostess who stumbles out of the kitchen with a roast, sending dinner crashing to the floor in front of a dining room full of guests. Without hesitation she blurts out, "Good thing I made two," before scooping it up, scurrying back into the kitchen, wiping it off and serving it to her guests. There are two takeaways from this story for me. First, you have to be able to think on your feet when entertaining. No matter the catastrophe, a great hoste
Fig & Olive Tapenade
During the summer before Watershed Restaurant opened its new location in South Buckhead, Chef Joe Truex often found his way to the kitchen of my Inman Park home for weekend dinners with friends. My PR company had represented his last venture, Repast, which had been named among Esquire Magazine's best new restaurants. He was a great chef and a good friend and our dinners would come together loosely, as one or the other of us would pluck whatever looked fresh from the grocery s