the_maestro
Auro – Calistoga, CA
While still in the shadow of the legacy of the French Laundry, the food at Auro displays creativity, generosity, and heart.
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RESTAURANTS
the_maestro
Aug 184 min read
The Best Bites at the Iowa State Fair
The standard fair fare of corn dogs and funnel cakes can be found at countless stands, but certain pioneering purveyors push the envelope!
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the_maestro
Jul 215 min read
Double Chicken Please – New York, NY
My sister and I, ever pursuers of excellent mixology, are shameless followers of the "Top 50" list of the "best" bars in the world. Of...
180 views
the_maestro
Mar 228 min read
Sonoma Restaurant Week: The Best Dining and Deals
When it comes to food, the residents of Northern California are spoiled. Some of the greatest produce you can find is grown on area farms...
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the_maestro
Mar 27 min read
Ahi – Auckland, New Zealand
I spent two weeks wandering around New Zealand finding myself gobsmacked not just by the natural beauty, but also the quality of the...
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the_maestro
Dec 11, 20235 min read
Eat Like the Maestro at Miami Art Week
A few years back, the art world was shaken to its core when Italian absurdist artist Maurizio Cattelan duct taped a ripe banana to a wall...
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the_maestro
Nov 17, 20236 min read
Born and Bred – Seoul, South Korea
We've all heard of wagyu beef, Japan's absurdly marbled steaks that, according to urban legend, come from cows treated like kings––given...
515 views
the_maestro
Nov 10, 202310 min read
Clues for the Clueless – Sushi in Japan
I like to think I am knowledgable about food and beverages. But sometimes one has an experience that reminds you just how little you...
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the_maestro
Nov 3, 202313 min read
Maz – Tokyo, Japan
Virgilio Martínez was just 31 when he took his Cordon Bleu training and line cooking experience back to his native Peru with a goal of...
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the_maestro
Oct 28, 20234 min read
Street Food in Omoide Yokocho – Tokyo, Japan
Tucked in the belly of the glistening skyscrapers of Shinjuku is Tokyo's own "Memory Lane," or Omoide Yokocho, a narrow alleyway housing...
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the_maestro
Oct 21, 202319 min read
Eleven Madison Park – New York, NY
Pre-disclaimer: At the risk of making it seem like this blog is only about restaurants granted three Michelin stars, this blog completes...
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the_maestro
Oct 14, 202310 min read
Benu – San Francisco, CA
The Bay Area is special to me––not only is it my birthplace, but it was the site of my first big foray into foodiedom. Back when I was...
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the_maestro
Sep 19, 202313 min read
SingleThread (2) – Healdsburg, CA
I've been lucky enough (before this meal) to enjoy Kyle Connaughton's cuisine from SingleThread twice––once at the restaurant in...
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the_maestro
Sep 15, 20238 min read
Noz 17 (and Depression) – New York, NY
Both of y'all loyal readers will have to forgive my spotty (i.e., completely absent) blogging for the better part of the last year. I...
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the_maestro
Jul 18, 202216 min read
Blue Hill at Stone Barns (2) – Pocantico Hills, NY
Regular readers of the blog have doubtless come across at least one of the reviews of my meals at the Stone Barns Center for Food and...
867 views
the_maestro
Jul 4, 202211 min read
The Inn at Little Washington – Washington, VA
Decades before the widespread propagation of the very idea of "fine dining" in America, DC native and self-taught chef Patrick O'Connell...
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the_maestro
Jul 2, 20227 min read
Albi – Washington, DC
As covered previously in the latest installment of the "Eat Like the Maestro" series, during my little road trip out east a multi-day...
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the_maestro
Jun 29, 20224 min read
Eat like the Maestro in DC
Car Talk, my very favorite old NPR show, took calls from all over the country, and whenever Tom and Ray got a call from DC, Tom always...
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the_maestro
Jun 21, 20224 min read
Eeva – Philadelphia, PA
Eater has been doing a pretty cool "Best New Restaurants in America" list of late, and since I found myself with a car and no real...
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the_maestro
Jun 18, 20225 min read
The best lobster roll in Maine, Part 2
Once I'd dropped off my friend's new Bernedoodle puppy in Boston and enjoyed some culinary offerings in one of my favorite cities in the...
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the_maestro
May 17, 20223 min read
Eat Like the Maestro in Asheville
I'm on the cusp of bidding "adieu" to Charlotte for good but have many fond memories of the Queen City, particularly its many green...
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the_maestro
May 7, 20227 min read
Sushi|Bar at Scratch – Los Angeles, CA
Y'all already know the Maestro's first item on his to-do list when visiting Los Angeles––eat sushi. Because of LA's proximity to the...
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the_maestro
Apr 29, 20227 min read
Immi at Turntable/Lord Stanley – San Francisco, CA
Many restaurants made dramatic changes to their operations as a consequence of the pandemic. Lord Stanley, a one-Michelin-starred...
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the_maestro
Apr 20, 20225 min read
Pizza on Two Coasts – L'Industrie and Cheese Board
A little curveball today celebrating Spring Break Round 2 visits to two spots producing some of the best pizza in the country––one from...
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the_maestro
Apr 9, 20223 min read
Eat Like the Maestro in Boston
Oooo kiddos––it's been a busy time in the Maestro's life, and I have a backlog of blogs that resembles a California freeway at 4pm. So...
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the_maestro
Mar 4, 20226 min read
Sushi Note – Los Angeles, CA
If I'm in LA, I'm in the best sushi city in the United States. And that means I am almost certainly seeking out a new omakase to sample....
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the_maestro
Feb 26, 202211 min read
Usu-Zan by SingleThread at Blue Sky Ranch – Wanship, UT
It was a frigid evening and I was about three cocktails deep when a well-agorithmed article found its way to my feed––"SingleThread...
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the_maestro
Feb 3, 20225 min read
Provisions + Dented Brick Distilling – Salt Lake City, UT
Provisions reliably serves some of the best food in Salt Lake City. When Lugano, the previous occupant of the space, closed some ten or...
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the_maestro
Dec 31, 20219 min read
The 2021 Variant of the Big Drunk Gay Awards
Perhaps it was the sense of impending doom resulting from waking up every day in this pandemic, now again in a terrible phase, that...
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the_maestro
Dec 30, 20215 min read
36 hours of fantastic food and bev in Athens
I am woefully behind on blog posts owing to the end of the semester at Davidson and the ensuing whirlwind travel schedule. I know both of...
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the_maestro
Dec 5, 202121 min read
Noma – Copenhagen, Denmark
Years before I came to understand what fine dining really meant––or rather, what it really could mean––my attraction to the best...
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the_maestro
Nov 26, 20215 min read
St. John Bread and Wine – London, UK
It was wonderful to be back in London, the site of a brisk 36-hour layover en route to meet my sister's probably-future in-laws in...
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the_maestro
Nov 24, 20216 min read
Omakase Room by Mitsu – New York, NY
I can't stay away from omakase meals in New York City. My last NYC omakase at Nakazawa just reinforced what I already knew––an excellent...
1,587 views
the_maestro
Nov 20, 20214 min read
Rezdôra – New York, NY
I am bad at making reservations. I tend to wait to book trips until only a few weeks before, and at that point it's too late to get the...
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the_maestro
Nov 17, 202110 min read
Prime Fish vs. O-Ku – Charlotte, NC
Charlotte is a budding food city, and a particularly good locale for many varieties of Asian cuisine. The notable exception is...
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the_maestro
Nov 10, 20213 min read
Taste of Shu – Charlotte, NC
I am having a passionate love affair with Sichuan cuisine these days. This started with my exploration of one of the most classic Sichuan...
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the_maestro
Nov 6, 20214 min read
Futo Buta – Charlotte, NC
When I was first preparing to move to Charlotte, I heard all around that South End was the happening-est neighborhood in town. When I...
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the_maestro
Oct 30, 20214 min read
Lang Van – Charlotte, NC
There are some restaurants that are just too precious, wonderful, and important than can be believed––institutions of food that quietly...
511 views
the_maestro
Oct 27, 20213 min read
Haberdish – Charlotte, NC
Certain areas of Charlotte experienced a mass migration of rural Appalachian and Carolina Piedmont populations, as well as formerly...
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the_maestro
Oct 15, 20217 min read
Log Haven – Salt Lake City, UT
It's hard to pinpoint a seminal dining experience that made me into the insatiable food lover that I am today, but the closest thing I...
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the_maestro
Oct 13, 20218 min read
Atoboy – New York, NY
I've always been a staunch defender of northern California's food scene over New York City's, mostly because that's where I learned to...
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the_maestro
Oct 9, 20218 min read
Sushi Nakazawa – New York, NY
Sushi omakase meals are a dime a dozen in New York City (or, perhaps more accurately, three grand a dozen). The super-high-end sushi...
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the_maestro
Oct 5, 20219 min read
Finding the Best Lobster Roll in Midcoast Maine
The Maine coast has approximately 24,398,423,876,323,907 restaurants serving lobster. This is the land of “lobstah,” especially this time...
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the_maestro
Oct 3, 20216 min read
Pammy's – Cambridge, MA
Boston is one of those cities I feel bad that I haven't spent more time visiting. I finally got up to Boston to see a dear friend's...
21 views
the_maestro
Sep 28, 20215 min read
Kindred – Davidson, NC
I must admit that I have been pretty bad about exploring my new city and environs and seeing what's on offer. When I had dinner with a...
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the_maestro
Sep 24, 20214 min read
An Overnight Layover in Chicago
I hadn't been back to Chicago since my last (brief) visit mid-summer of 2020, when almost everything was shuttered, but my sister and I...
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the_maestro
Sep 12, 202111 min read
Is Las Vegas Undergoing a Culinary Revival? A Case Study
Back in the era of big name European celebrity chefs establishing outpost restaurants, in the heyday of places like the Bellagio, when...
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the_maestro
Sep 1, 20214 min read
Bazaar Meat – Las Vegas, NV
Both regular readers of my blog know that I adore José Andrés, the Spanish celebrity chef who is also the founder of World Central...
141 views
the_maestro
Aug 29, 20219 min read
Mélisse – Los Angeles, CA
When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to visit Mélisse, one of West LA's most storied fine dining destinations, with some regularity, since...
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the_maestro
Aug 22, 20217 min read
The Brothers Sushi – Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles is probably the best sushi city in the United States. New Yorkers may @ me, but much of the better sushi in NYC, while world...
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