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Post Modern in Puerto Varas: Donde el Gordito
Puerto Varas may very well be the “Portland” of Chile. It’s lush. It rains a lot. The town is steeped in Chile’s Germanic history yet laid back and modern. It has a stunning natural setting on the shores of the azure Llanquihue Lake with vistas of the conical...
Chilean Tomato and Cilantro Salsa
When you sit down to any table, anywhere in the 2,600 miles of national territory stretching from the border of Peru to the tip of South America, three things will immediately appear: bread (many times homemade), butter, and pebre. Pebre, Chilean “salsa”, is the...
Chile’s Most Iconic Sandwich: El Lomito
Take an informal poll among Chileans of what food they crave when they are in country, out-of-country, any time of the day, and in many cases, would call the “unofficial” national dish of Chile, and they will tell you: El Lomito. This towering, mammoth pork...
10 Reasons Why I Love Wine
Wine has a meaningfulness no other beverage possesses—beyond water. It can convey history; say thank you; it’s the ultimate gesture of hospitality; and cellaring wines is, for me, a way of capturing and storing their warmth to be enjoyed whenever I wish. A...
Cool off with these South American Rosés
As we head into winter in South America, up north, the Mercury is rising. Everybody is heading for the beach, the pool, somebody’s backyard barbecue. Rosé wines have long been associated with beating the summer heat. In fact, they also pair perfectly with many...
For the Love of Bread
Bread junkies. Carbaholics. Chileans are not scared of white flour, or lard for that matter. Maybe that’s why the bread here tastes so damn good. And in fact, to throw out some statistics, they have an annual per capita consumption of 100kg, or 220 pounds,...
The Big Wine Chill: How to Serve Your Wines
Although wine professionals have long been sticklers with serving wines at precisely the perfect temperature in restaurants, among aficionados, there seems to be a confusing gray area surrounding this issue and what works best. A couple years ago, I invested in a US$1...
It’s Hot. It’s Spicy. Don’t Miss this Austrian Pinot Gris.
Two years ago in Chicago, a couple hip colleagues invited me to a little wine bar on Milwaukee named Juicy Wine Co. We gnoshed on slinky Serrano ham and some nutty Manchego while sipping away a Sicilian wine, Tenuta delle Terre Nere, an unbelievably fresh yet earthy...
Water to Wine
Ok, so I need to fess up. There’s something I have not been straight up about…wine is not my favorite drink. Water is. As passionate as I am about tasting wine, understanding where it’s born, the hands that touch it, the magic of making it, when it comes down to...
Turkey Burgers with Merkén Spice Rub
Merkén is the quinessential spice of the Mapuche Indians who populate the southern province in Chile, La Araucanía, about 10 hours south of the capital, Santiago. Cacho de cabra red chilis, shaped like plump, curved fingers, are dry smoked and coarsely ground. Some...
Aereating Young Wines Equals More Palate Pleasure
Wine is a living being. Just like the rest of nature, it evolves over time and is vitally dependent on oxygen to live—the cork is essentially its windpipe. In aging a wine, this process happens slowly, usually over many years. However, what if we want to drink a...
5 Tips for Picking a Wine Blindly
You’ve been there. You’re standing in the supermarket, or liquor store, and have absolutely no idea about any of the wines in front of you. You look around. There is no floor help anywhere in sight. You have to hit the road NOW for a dinner party. Ayy, what to...
Africa meets Patagonia: Afrigonia
Freshly arrived in the Patagonian outpost town of Puerto Natales, after a full day’s schlep from Santiago (4 hours flying, 3 hours driving from Punta Arenas), we are famished. Desperately seeking lunch, our hotel, Indigo , recommends a tasty new place up the...
Tasting Notes: Napa Night
Can a whole dinner revolve around a single wine? Most definitely. I love working in reverse. On Friday, the whole pretext of the dinner was to crack open my friend Melissa’s ’97 bottle of Beaulieu Tapestry . She sent me the Cellar Tracker ) notes for planning. It...
Gravlax…1,2,3
Sleepless in Santiago. Last night I tossed and turned all night long. I caught shut-eye in two hour intervals. In one of the numerous attempts to lull myself back to sleep, I began a rather interesting mind game of taking favorite recipes and converting their...
Party’s On! San Antonio Wine Fest
This coming Saturday, May 2, the tiny little coastal appellation of San Antonio will be getting on its first wine festival from 11am-6pm. San Antonio is about an hour west of Santiago over the steep coastal mountains. In my opinion, San Antonio is hands down...
Saturday Shopping in El Centro
Living on Parque Forestal on the edge of downtown Santiago, I love a Saturday morning (culinary) shopping excursion. It’s a beautiful morning. I head out on my usual route by the the Art Museum and walking towards the centro on Merced. I pop in to Chinese Mark...
Bodega Cruzat: Overflowing with Effervescence
Don Pedro is frantic. The bodega alarm won’t stop shreking. It is shrill enough to hurt our ear drums a little. He greets us shrugging his shoulders and laughing in surrender. Suddenly there is silence. Meet Don Pedro Rossell--Argentina’s primo maestro in...
and the meaningful
