Recent Posts in Travel

Paris: Second Night. Racines
December 16, 2007
Wild man Pierre Jancou's (above) new place, Racines, is in Passage des Panaoramas in the 2nd. Get off at...

In Love With Falai
July 18, 2007
Went with Melissa to a little place awash in white tile and formal crystal chandeliers which could be aggrandizing to...

NYC's Best Wine Store & Wine Bar
March 16, 2007
I was flattered into writing the best wine store and wine bar in New York for New York Magazine Best...

Chateaubriand Take Two
February 28, 2007
Le Chateaubriand isn’t as cute or as packed as it was on my first visit in September. In fact, getting...

Pre-Dive: First Night in Le Havre
February 20, 2007
In Paris when I mentioned I was going to Le Havre, no native French speaker knew what the hell I...

A Wine Bar Cure For the Cynical
February 6, 2007
(This should be a more inspired , but am about to head out to France to taste in the Loire...

It's Always Flattering To Be Blogged About
February 5, 2007
http://riadzany.blogspot.com/2007/02/moroccan-honey-well-kept-secret.html I guess not everyone was happy about my honey article in the New York Times. It is always a...

My Visit to Prague
December 8, 2006
My friend Elizabeth in Rome wrote to me, “You’re looking for cool things in Prague? But Prague is so uncool!”...

Busted in Sacramento
November 4, 2006
Ever notice that the smaller the airport the stupider the security? I got busted in Sacramento. This tiny airport...

Eating Paris: The New Le Chateaubriand
October 9, 2006
Word of Chef Inaki Aizpitarte's new spot has reached all of Paris. I tried to get my editor at Conde...

Is it Time for a Wine Skin?
October 6, 2006
These new security measures are devastating. There is no way to use my trusty trick of smuggling wine onto a...

Is it Time for a Wine Skin?
October 6, 2006
These new security measures are devastating. There is no way to use my trusty trick of smuggling wine onto a...

Tocqueville: Wine List Bargain Sighting
August 6, 2006
At Tocqueville the other night (1e.15th Street), silvery marinated sardines got my vote for best of New York. The wine...

La Cave Café (the Paris spot for les vins sans soufre)
June 17, 2006
I'm trying to write this and everything that pours from me is sounding like a magazine article. Sometimes it's very...

Intro: Fez. Loire. Burgundy.
June 9, 2006
From the moment I stepped off the plane in Fez, it was exotic. I can’t ever remembering an aiport with...

First Stop Fez (http://ww.riad9.com/)
May 28, 2006
I’m visiting my friend Stephen. (he rents, by the way) Check out March’s Elle Décor, where his place is featured....

First Stop Fez (http://ww.riad9.com/)
May 28, 2006
I’m visiting my friend Stephen. (he rents, by the way) Check out March’s Elle Décor, where his place is featured....

Mueseo De La Cultura Del Vino in Briones (ain't your garden variety Riojan musée de vin)
April 29, 2006
The Wine Museum in Briones does not pander. This is not the Disney-esque of London's Vinopolis or Duboeuf musuem in...

Cascina del Cornale and Madernassa Pears
April 11, 2006
The first time I met Elena Rovera, the mother hen of Cascina del Cornale, the organic cooperative store/agritourismo restaurant...

Italy, First Night. Food. Wine. Le Torri.
April 10, 2006
Zipping along at 140km an hour, we anticipated a timely, two-hour ride from Milan. But, even though the day was...

Going To Italy
March 30, 2006
About to leave for Italy in several hours. I usually don't get this personal here, but I got up at...

Restaurants in Oregon
February 28, 2006
Food in Portland is still terrific. Amongst the most exciting restaurants I've been to is Ripe Family Suppers. Ripe Family...

Juveniles Warning/Chateaubriand Changing
February 11, 2006
Because I keep on going to the newer wine bars that focus on my kind of wine, I often neglect...

Le Muse Vin/Lavinia
February 8, 2006
So much for being able to keep in touch on the road. Felled by a lousy cold and hobbled by...

Wine Bars in Paris (#3)
November 2, 2005
Le Vin Sobre (25 Rue Fuillantine, 01 43 29 00 23) is in an equally not happening neighborhood (see previous...

Wine Bars in Paris (#2)
October 19, 2005
After my fifth dinner at Muse I decided I had to expand my horizons. And so I hiked up to...

Up the Douro
October 7, 2005
The one day I had in Oporto I didn’t have my camera on me so I can’t show you the...

Wine Bars in Paris--(1st in the series)
September 11, 2005
....wine bars specializing in AF Approved wines, ones made with no hanky-panky. Don’t expect these wine bars to be high-concept...

Airplane Wine
July 13, 2005
I'm off in a few hours to write about chi-chi shoe rehab in Paris and then to Beaune to...

Syrah et Chaussures
March 29, 2005
In January I headed to the northern Rhone to drink some syrah, visit Hervé Souhaut (see wine recommendations) and do...

Bad Beds and Great Muscadet, part one
February 26, 2005
I recently tagged along to the Loire with the Great Wine Importer, Joe Dressner and his disciples. I like great...

Roasting in the Rhone
December 14, 2004
That's me, this summer in Tain Hermitage. I was roasting in the Rhone, looking upward, wondering just how hot...