Don’t get me started on açai bowls; I am so deeply in love with them – thick and creamy açai berries blended and topped with fresh fruit, coconut, a drizzle of honey, some granola, and a sprinkle of bee pollen (allergy sufferers – take note, local bee pollen will make this season much easier for you!).
First of all, it’s easy as pie, and secondly, it’s packed with good fats, omegas, protein, and mad flavor. Impress your friends at brunch, or simply treat yourself to this paleo-friendly, and absolutely delectable breakfast recipe.
When it’s time to bring the romance, we turn to the kitchen to woo our beloved with a home cooked meal.
It was love at first bite – at Scarpetta in Beverly Hills – when once upon a time, we bit into the ever-so-perfect spaghetti now made famous by chef and restauranteur Scott Conant.
Whenever it was a special occasion or a fancy night on the town, my mom would suggest a restaurant called Grace. To us, it was, indeed, fancy. All these years later, that word, however, isn’t really the best description for what Grace restaurant gave.
When looking at the endless fads and diet trends, and of-the-moment dining delights meant to dazzle, it’s sometimes nice to get back to basics – to the bare bones, shall we say.
Hosting a dinner party is one of life’s pleasures I relish in most – the relaxed revelry, the inadvertent kitchen mistakes that your friends brush off like Bridget Jones’ blue soup, and the breaking of bread as a community – your close knit circle who opt to stay in vs going to a restaurant so you they laugh a little louder, help themselves to extra servings of (well) everything, and play late night poker with reckless abandon.
Friends first, food after. That’s how registered dietitian, Shira Lenchewski, and I could classify our relationship. She is one of my girls — grounded and ambitious, playful and quirky, and she peppers in sentences with the word “AB-soh-luuute-ly” with such an adorable intonation (syllables drawn out, eyes bright, with a slow nod for unintentional dramatic effect) that you will giggle.
Oh, Andy Chabot….my cup runneth over. Especially when he’s pouring. As sommelier and wine director of Blackberry Farm and recipient of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program in 2014, this guy may know a thing or two about vino. And by “may” I mean unequivocally without a doubt, truly, madly, deeply.
When you spend your summers at Le Boudin Blanc, enveloped in the melange of smells that only French food can seduce you with – le beurre blanc browning in a pan, the crisp baguette being pulled from the oven, the sizzling escargots and simmering coq au vin – let’s just say, you don’t necessarily think of Alkaline eating.