A Native Son Who Knows His Grill… It's not often when you get to talk to a Napa or Sonoma native professional. It's not surprising really. A lot of top pros want to come here to make their bones. Being in a great climate and surrounded by gorgeous fields, with incredible wine and dining doesn't [...]
Valentines can't buy her… I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. Seems you just get over spending a lot on Christmas when you got to turn around and blow a bunch on a silly, made up holiday like Valentine's Day. Not that I'm against romance, not at all. If you asked any of [...]
A Gal Who Loves Wine and Fun... The NSI quiz has always meant to be short, sweet, informative and fun. Why? Maybe it's me, but I've never understood the appeal of most food and wine sites, with their eye glazing recipes and tasting notes or their fab experience talking terroir in some grape field. Informative? [...]
Always Up For An Anniversary… A quick peruse of this website will reveal that the Insider is always up for a great meal, party or anniversary. So when I got an invite in my email to celebrate a Vancouver landmark restaurant, CinCin’s 30th anniversary with a terrific 3 courses for $30 offering I couldn’t walk [...]
20 Years and Counting... PERCY BRANDON Vintners Resort offers one of the more special places to stay and dine in Sonoma County. It has an in house spa, wine country tours and a fine dining restaurant in John Ash & Co. Considering all of the amenities Vintners offers, perhaps it's no surprise that its General [...]
Inspires Loyalty... Sommeliers are notorious for not staying with an establishment for no more than five years at the most. Even if they're wildly happy with a place, it just seems to be the nature of the beast that wine people move on. So it was a pleasant surprise when recently conversing with Elizabeth Cahill, [...]
From Ryan Gosling to Sandra Oh … Recently while scrolling thru my Esquire mag feed I came across a headline about actor Ryan Gosling when he was preparing for a role where he was supposed to be so suave and smooth that he had to know how to make an Old Fashioned for his on-screen [...]
Canlis Pivot & Evolves... If you ever visit Seattle, there are certain things that most people do... a visit to the Space Needle (the restaurant for a tourist place is actually pretty good), a stroll thru Pike Place Market with maybe a stop across the street at the original Starbucks. If you like rock n' [...]
A Pierson to Pearson message... A while ago the web gal and I did a tasting at the Robert Mondavi Winery and our pourer recommended a trip across the road for a tasting at Opus One. So we took him up on his recommendation and had a nice tasting on their patio. But before we [...]
Two of The Finest Words ... Happy hour. Aside from love you, are there two better words in the English language? I suppose you don’t need a specific hour to be happy, but there’s something about dropping into a bar or restaurant during happy hour and having a ball. Playwright Everything just lends itself to [...]
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