I am fully engrossed in my research for our late March trip to Japan and Hong Kong. In and amongst reading endlessly about restaurants and transportation options, I have indulged in some Internet wandering, and somehow happened upon a couple of really great web video series: "Chewing the Fat," the ones with Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain (there appear to be other episodes in the series with Alton Brown), and "Get Toasted" with Eric Ripert.
It all started with a blogspot blog about Tokyo by Abram Plaut. Not someone I know personally, or even a friend of a friend of a friend. I can't remember how exactly I happened upon his blog, just that it had something to do with a Google search about ramen in Tokyo. Then I noticed he had an entry about Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods guy) and the Tsukiji Market, which included the YouTube videos of the show where Andrew Zimmern visits Tokyo. Then, I discovered that embedded with these videos is a menu of similar or related YouTube videos. One video led to another, and I found myself watching these two minute episodes of "Chewing the Fat: Batali and Bourdain on ..." everything interesting under the moon. They're each only a couple minutes long, but they're enormously entertaining. The one on Paris Hilton has some particularly choice dialogue not to be missed.
One of the episodes revealed that Bourdain recently became a father. Nosy and bored, I wanted to find out just how recent, so I looked up more on the chef's personal life, which led me to his purported infamous guest blog entry on Michael Ruhlman's site. Again, I've never heard of this blogger until now, but he had a link to Eric Ripert's blog site.
Just by way of background on my impressions of Ripert - I could not stand him in the early season of Top Chef with his thick French accent and super-serious attitude. He seemed SO pretentious because his accent was SO French it was unreal, and his smiles were so reluctant. This year, he was more extensively involved in Top Chef, hosting the final six contestants at his acclaimed seafood restaurant, Le Bernardin. Either he's lightened up, or his reluctant smiles and stiff attitude were out of nervousness, or somehow he was more able to let his true personality shine through this miniscule bit of additional exposure in a different setting than judge's table, but I glimpsed this time a lightness in him that he never showed before, and saw him laugh in a playful, almost shy and humble, way. I also saw the food that he serves at Le Bernardin, and I was impressed. On a side note, I just have to say that the last few episodes of this season have been a travesty (the episode featuring the culinary legends and their last meals should have been the final, and Fabio should have won with his perfect chicken).
I digress. Getting back to Ripert's blog site - it didn't look that interesting at first (a bunch of stuff about hosting Top Chef contestants at Le Bernardin - did I mention what a travesty Top Chef was this season?!?), but just when I was about to close the window, the link to "Get Toasted" caught my eye, and I thought I'd just click on it and take a quick look before heading back to my Tokyo research. I naturally thought it had something to do with cocktails or wine, but it turned out to be a series of videos, each of Ripert preparing a dish in a toaster oven! I'm thinking as I browse the list that this could be great, or it could be a disaster. It turned out to be great. I'm particularly interested in trying the raspberry clafouti - he tries his own dish at the end of each episode, and he seemed to surprise even himself with how good it was. Ripert's "Get Toasted" series is a testament to what a great chef can do with a toaster oven and very little time.
P.S. Speaking of what great chefs can do with sparse equipment and little time, I'm reminded of Jamie Oliver's "Jamie at Home" episode about mushrooms, where he and Genarro cook up freshly scavenged mushrooms right there on a portable stove in the forest - a few feet from where the mushrooms were growing moments earlier, or really any episode in that series; and the portion of Gordon Ramsay's "The F Word" where he identifies some hopeless, ordinary working folk, and shows them how to cook quick, simple, delicious(-looking) dishes. "The F Word" on BBC America is my favorite new show - SO much better than Ramsay's American shows.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
One more reason to love living in California
Thanks to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which Barbara Kingsolver intelligently advocates for locavorism, I have new reasons to be grateful for California. I've known for a long time that we were the birthplace of the locavore trend (thanks Alice Waters!), but Kingsolver's book provided the factual underpinnings for all the vague, abstract rumblings I always heard in articles, newsletters, and ads, to drive the point home. I finally learned where the buzz words "sustainable," "organic," "grass fed," "free range" and even "local," fit in the landscape of my life.
I also learned that a greater variety of produce grows in California for more months out of the year than anywhere else in the U.S. One of her themes throughout the book is that if you live anywhere East of the Rockies or North of the Sierra Nevada (i.e., her farm in Virginia), and you see produce "out of season" (i.e. fresh greens in December), it likely came from California. Every time I came across one of her “it likely came from California” moments, I rejoiced, because I live in California!
There are many other books on similar subject matter that surely will provide this same "aha!" for people that are interested (i.e., Michael Pollan fans - it was one of his articles that whetted my appetite for the subject), but Kingsolver's book just happened to be the first I got around to reading.
Finally, I’d also like to thank Kingsolver for writing a book that kept me riveted through the last page. Without giving away the ending, let’s just say that I underestimated the drama that could come of turkey breeding. If her novels similarly keep the reader engrossed throughout, I’m bumping them to the top of my reading list. So many other novels I have read recently lacked this important trait (see earlier blog re Nick Hornby novels).
The book is, however, so very rich and compacted with information, that I recommend giving yourself time to digest after every chapter.
I also learned that a greater variety of produce grows in California for more months out of the year than anywhere else in the U.S. One of her themes throughout the book is that if you live anywhere East of the Rockies or North of the Sierra Nevada (i.e., her farm in Virginia), and you see produce "out of season" (i.e. fresh greens in December), it likely came from California. Every time I came across one of her “it likely came from California” moments, I rejoiced, because I live in California!
There are many other books on similar subject matter that surely will provide this same "aha!" for people that are interested (i.e., Michael Pollan fans - it was one of his articles that whetted my appetite for the subject), but Kingsolver's book just happened to be the first I got around to reading.
Finally, I’d also like to thank Kingsolver for writing a book that kept me riveted through the last page. Without giving away the ending, let’s just say that I underestimated the drama that could come of turkey breeding. If her novels similarly keep the reader engrossed throughout, I’m bumping them to the top of my reading list. So many other novels I have read recently lacked this important trait (see earlier blog re Nick Hornby novels).
The book is, however, so very rich and compacted with information, that I recommend giving yourself time to digest after every chapter.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Update on the family
Just by way of update to the post titled "When it rains, it pours," as a testament to my family's good fortune, the cancer scare is no longer. After further examination, it appears that it was closer to not being cancer than to being Stage One. Also, the mentioned pay cut was negated. And anyone who's privy to my Facebook (or Chen Den) posts knows that Mom, Dad, Sally, Sandy, Tommy, Conner, Ashley, Trevor, and I just enjoyed a fabulous week together in LA, where the rain stopped just long enough for our memorable two-day adventure at Disneyland and our extended family from all over LA came over for a fun-filled afternoon on Valentine's Day (Derek and Mark joined us for the Valentine's Day festivities as well). We had an unprecedented nine of eleven next-gen kids altogether in one place (this usually only happens at a family member's wedding, of which we will have two this year!).
So all is good and right with the world again.
So all is good and right with the world again.
All kinds of points, none of the rewards
I am now a member of four hotel chain rewards programs and three airline rewards programs (that I can recall off the top of my head), including United Airlines Mileage Plus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Virgin America's Elevate, Starwood Preferred Guest ("SPG," which includes St. Regis, Westin and W hotels, among others), Hyatt Gold, Leaders Club and now the Ryokan collection, thanks to my plans to stay in a Ryokan in Kyoto. This seems remarkable to me considering my minimal business travel (I fly maybe once or twice a year for business).
But it is so easy to do. Unlike the retail store credit cards (Macy's, Banana Republic, and yes, I even had a Robinsons May card at some point), which I canceled years ago, these have no impact on your credit; and now that you can register (in a matter of a minute or two) and track your points online, there just isn't any reason to not sign up, just in case the stars somehow align and you have enough points and the right opportunity. Or is there?
For one thing, apart from a few free flights from Southwest over the course of a decade, I have yet to make use of any of these rewards. The hotel/airline points are not easy to use. Granted, I don't make accumulation or use of rewards points a priority in my travel planning. Instead, for flights I look first at my preferred travel times (i.e., I like to arrive at my destination between 10am and 6pm), preferred airlines (I like British Airways, JetBlue and Southwest), and price; and for hotels, well, that's a more subtle calculation that includes consideration of historical reputation, likely comfort level of beds, location, year built/renovated, prices, cleanliness (although this one isn't so much an issue at hotels where all other criteria are met), quality of fitness facilities and spa services, and so much more. Every time, there seems to be a different airline that has the best price for the best itinerary, and a different hotel chain that comes out at the top of my list for my next vacation. For instance, we prefer, and are willing to pay for, the St. Regis (which gives us SPG points) in Rome and SF, but in Manhattan, there are so many other choices that have the same location and luxury for less. I don't even know if there's a St. Regis in or near Venice because the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal (a Summit hotel) is ideal for us, and always has great deals. The Leaders Club provided us a great deal for the ultimate Amalfi Coast hotel, Le Sirenuse, and even got us upgraded to full sea view rooms (for those familiar with the list of top 50 hotels in the world: I know!).
Case in point, for my next trip, we won't be staying at any Starwood (W, St. Regis, or Westin) or Leader's Club (Leading Hotels of the World) hotels. No, now that we're venturing into Asia, the hotel chain du jour is the Peninsula. For instance, in Tokyo, the Peninsula is the latest/greatest luxury hotel (we'll also be staying at the Park Hyatt), and in HK, the Peninsula is the historical gold standard (why isn't it the platinum standard?). Besides which, Mark said nine years ago that if we ever went to HK, he would take me to the Peninsula HK for afternoon tea, so we're not going to visit HK without checking that off our list.
For another, it's exhausting trying to earn points at every opportunity without compromising my priorities. The worst sham in my opinion is the UA Mileage Plus programme, where the points "expire" if you go without either earning or using points for a certain amount of time. Luckily, I discovered that UA has so many partners, both airlines and hotels, that I can usually find some part of my trip that will earn me some points. But it's work nonetheless. Also, after three years as a member, I'm finally on the verge of getting a free night at a 5- or 6-star Starwood resort. I need one more stay to push me over the edge, but since I have no plans to go to Europe or the Maldives in 2009, I probably won't earn that free night anytime soon.
I used to concern myself with this stuff, but not anymore. It just isn't worth the time and mental energy. I'll sign up for programmes, because it's easy, but I've completely cut out any consideration of rewards points out of my vacation planning process. Someday, that free night at the W Retreat and Spa in the Maldives, the St. Regis Grand or the Westin Excelsior in Rome, or maybe even the St. Regis New York, will come to me worry free. In the meantime, I haven't seen any rewards programme tied to the Peninsula, so at least I won't be adding yet another rewards programme to my roster.
But it is so easy to do. Unlike the retail store credit cards (Macy's, Banana Republic, and yes, I even had a Robinsons May card at some point), which I canceled years ago, these have no impact on your credit; and now that you can register (in a matter of a minute or two) and track your points online, there just isn't any reason to not sign up, just in case the stars somehow align and you have enough points and the right opportunity. Or is there?
For one thing, apart from a few free flights from Southwest over the course of a decade, I have yet to make use of any of these rewards. The hotel/airline points are not easy to use. Granted, I don't make accumulation or use of rewards points a priority in my travel planning. Instead, for flights I look first at my preferred travel times (i.e., I like to arrive at my destination between 10am and 6pm), preferred airlines (I like British Airways, JetBlue and Southwest), and price; and for hotels, well, that's a more subtle calculation that includes consideration of historical reputation, likely comfort level of beds, location, year built/renovated, prices, cleanliness (although this one isn't so much an issue at hotels where all other criteria are met), quality of fitness facilities and spa services, and so much more. Every time, there seems to be a different airline that has the best price for the best itinerary, and a different hotel chain that comes out at the top of my list for my next vacation. For instance, we prefer, and are willing to pay for, the St. Regis (which gives us SPG points) in Rome and SF, but in Manhattan, there are so many other choices that have the same location and luxury for less. I don't even know if there's a St. Regis in or near Venice because the Hotel Monaco and Grand Canal (a Summit hotel) is ideal for us, and always has great deals. The Leaders Club provided us a great deal for the ultimate Amalfi Coast hotel, Le Sirenuse, and even got us upgraded to full sea view rooms (for those familiar with the list of top 50 hotels in the world: I know!).
Case in point, for my next trip, we won't be staying at any Starwood (W, St. Regis, or Westin) or Leader's Club (Leading Hotels of the World) hotels. No, now that we're venturing into Asia, the hotel chain du jour is the Peninsula. For instance, in Tokyo, the Peninsula is the latest/greatest luxury hotel (we'll also be staying at the Park Hyatt), and in HK, the Peninsula is the historical gold standard (why isn't it the platinum standard?). Besides which, Mark said nine years ago that if we ever went to HK, he would take me to the Peninsula HK for afternoon tea, so we're not going to visit HK without checking that off our list.
For another, it's exhausting trying to earn points at every opportunity without compromising my priorities. The worst sham in my opinion is the UA Mileage Plus programme, where the points "expire" if you go without either earning or using points for a certain amount of time. Luckily, I discovered that UA has so many partners, both airlines and hotels, that I can usually find some part of my trip that will earn me some points. But it's work nonetheless. Also, after three years as a member, I'm finally on the verge of getting a free night at a 5- or 6-star Starwood resort. I need one more stay to push me over the edge, but since I have no plans to go to Europe or the Maldives in 2009, I probably won't earn that free night anytime soon.
I used to concern myself with this stuff, but not anymore. It just isn't worth the time and mental energy. I'll sign up for programmes, because it's easy, but I've completely cut out any consideration of rewards points out of my vacation planning process. Someday, that free night at the W Retreat and Spa in the Maldives, the St. Regis Grand or the Westin Excelsior in Rome, or maybe even the St. Regis New York, will come to me worry free. In the meantime, I haven't seen any rewards programme tied to the Peninsula, so at least I won't be adding yet another rewards programme to my roster.
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