Decisions, Decisions...

I have several big ones to make, but am procrastinating. I need to make them because they are looming over me and distracting me from moving forward. Perhaps they're not as major as I make them out to be, but my highly-analytical brain is doing just that.

Let's Not Fight...

Let's not fight, I still love you New York City. How can I resist the fact that on every street corner in every borough, I can find the most fabulous slice of pizza here.

And let's not forgot that no bagel is a New York bagel unless it's from New York. The "bagels" I get here in California are round pieces of French bread with holes in the middle.

Finally, I can always rely on you to provide me after-hours nourishment. Whether in a restaurant or in front of a food cart, I can always find something warm to put inside my hungry stomach when it's after midnight. I don't have to resort to chain restaurants that serve 24-hour breakfast if I want to eat late. I love you New York.

I Love You, But...

Having put out there that I love NYC, I'll admit that it isn't the most amazing place in the world. I think it's impossible for one place to hold that omniscient title. One thing about NYC that drives me bonkers -- at times -- is how it's kinda behind on certain trends. First off, as a food-lover, I don't understand why NYC still doesn't have good Chinese or Mexican food. And before all you people get your panties in a bunch, you're talking to a CHINESE person who grew up in one of the most heavily populated Mexican populations outside of Mexico. NYC has great good from all over the world, but honestly, never had "take my breath away" Chinese of Mexican. The kind that makes me...well, for those who have been around me when I've eaten great food, you know my reaction.

Okay, secondly, I hate how New Yorkers think ramen, Chinese dumplings and Vietnamese sandwiches are the latest food trends. they're NOT. I know the NYT, Time Out and that other dreaded publication has written about these three dishes, prompting self-professed "foodies" (I hate that word, and I shudder as I typed that) and other people (I got nothing) flood the East Village, downtown, SoHo for these Asian staples. On my recent trip to NYC, my friend and I were discussing lunch, and she suggested to me the newest and latest food rave. "Banh Mi"... but she pronounced it "Baaaan-Mee." Okay, seriously...San Francisco ate ramen, banh mi and dumplings 10 years ago.

"Manhattanhenge" photo via jonbell on Flickr. Taken 5/31 on 42nd and 3rd.

Talk Story

Spent a wonderful afternoon having lunch with a Hawaiian family. When I first met them, they wouldn't allow handshakes, it was all hugging. Big hearts, big appetites and a lot of laughs and warmth. One of my co-worker's wife is Hawaiian, and he invited me to have lunch with her, his daughter and his in-laws. I had such a great time chatting and with them and learning about their diverse backgrounds...Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, English. One of the best compliments I received today, "You come to the Island, you will be seen as a local, not a haole." Do you know what a haole is?" Lol.

NOH8

Memorial Day

We may not all support war or agree on the politics of war. I personally believe war sucks. But I do support the soldiers. Every year when I file Memorial Day stories, I get emotional. Whether it's talking to World War II vets or Korean War vets, I always get a little choked up, especially when Taps is played...and especially when I talk to Vietnam Vets. Have to say, I had a very hard time fighting back tears yesterday during a Vietnam War memorial event; I broke down as a journalist and showed that I was just human.

Early Bird Gets...No Sleep

I need to enroll in a sleep study. Seriously, how can it be that I'm exhausted but my body decides to wake up only after 5 hours of sleep. Not good! I report on all these health issues that arise from lack of sleep! I think my problem is, I start to unwind from my day, then I pick up on little bits of work...and end up burning the midnight candle. Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Please Try Your Call Again

Do I defeat the purpose of having a cell phone if I don't check my voice mail? Because I don't...well let's say I can't. I currently have 15 voice mails on it. My phone, you see, is a bit broke. It's a sturdy one, indeed. I've dropped it numerous times, and the last time I did, I lost several pieces of my Nokia. But it still works. It's being held together by duct tape (ghetto, right?). Now of course, if I'm interviewing the Queen of England, I won't pull out my phone in front of her, but it works for me now. I get calls and I make calls.

But I'm one of those people who sees the missed call and I call the person back. I don't check the voice mail, I just call. Unless I tell someone to leave me a message with some important msg, or I'm expecting an interview, or important person (sorry, don't mean to come off snooty), I won't hear your message. And if I do, it would be like a month after you've left it and my phone decides to "beep" to let me know I have a message. So if you call me, and I don't pick up, don't leave a message. Your "missed call" is all I need to know that you rang.

SNL: Motherlover

Too funny. It's the return of the "D*ck in the Box" boys. Is it me or is JT (*swoon*) becoming a better comedian? He and Andy Samberg are great together. This is the censored version from Hulu. OMG! Props need to be given to Patricia Clarkson and Susan Sarandon who are SO cool to play along with this. "I'm gonna be the syrup, she can be my waffle." Enjoy.

What do you read on the subway?

I've always thought this was interesting. Anytime I'm on the train, I always scope out what people are reading. Sadly, this Gawker post kind of proves what I've been noticing more of during my recent trips to NYC -- print is "effed", gadgets rule.

Oh Anna

It's a highly anticipated interview. 60 Minutes will feature Anna Wintour -- editrix of Vogue Magazie -- this Sunday. Only a handful of people know who Anna Wintour is, and a smaller handful care about her and fashion in general. I have followed Anna Wintour since I saw an interview with her on Charlie Rose more than a decade ago. However, I didn't carve out a career path to follow Wintour or to be a Bush league "fashion" writer. There are great journalists out there who cover fashion; but they also have an understanding and command of prose and see the "bigger picture" -- beyond fashion claptrap, wedges for summer and free lipstick as part of a job perk. Don't get me wrong, I've been following Gawker's posts on Anna and will be watching this Sunday, but I know this isn't ground-breaking journalism, it's not life-changing, it won't make the world a better place. It's a fluff piece, done up to air on what many regard as one of broadcast journalism's most respected shows. Morley Safer will be interviewing Anna, and I hope he will bring everyone back to reality. Because in the end, underneath the veneer of glossies, photo shoots and runways, the fashion world breeds a lot of ugliness.

China Marks Quake Anniversary

(Photo courtesy: Jason Lee/Reuters via The New York Times)
A mother sitting among the rubble in Beichuan county on Tuesday mourned the death of her daughter, Xiang Yazi, at left in photo, in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

May 12 is the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China. It still haunts me to think how a few minutes took the lives of -- what some believe -- nearly 90,000 people. Among the largest group of victims, children, who were in school. News of this magnitude always affect me, but having taught in Sichuan, China hit a little bit closer to home. The town in which I lived and taught was very close to the quake's epicenter, and many of my students lived in the villages that saw so much destruction. Last year, I spent the whole day trying to reach my relatives, my former students. Thankfully my family was okay, I heard back from some students, but not all.

The Chinese government has not been very supportive to the parents of quake victims. Officials have recommended parents not visit the quake sites or hold memorials. And as a way to "move on" from the tragedy, some parents were granted permission to have a second child.

The Washington Post has a really good piece and video about how some families are coping with the quake aftermath.

More Pebble Beach Food & Wine pics

At the Saturday Lexus Grand Tasting at Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival. You can't tell here, but I was operating on about 6 hours of sleep in a span of four days.

Let's just say a lot of calories were consumed -- the duck burger from Cindy Pawlcyn contributed to that delicious calorie count.

Ratatat-a-tat-a-tat...

Can't stop listening to them. I know they've been around for a while now. But had a Ratatat resurgence in the past few weeks.

My 3 obsessions of the week:
1. Annick Goutal's Mandragore Body Cream
2. Popcorn, Indiana Kettle Corn
3. Ratatat

Dear Diary...

This is on the top of my book wish list right now. I love the little snippets of Manhattan and slice of life stories I get from the NYT's Metropolitan Diary entries. The best thing is, I can read about them and I can jog my memory to relive some of those New York stories. What is it about Manhattan that sets the scene for these little stories to play out. Not forced, not staged...they just happen, like magic.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I forgot which hole the pulled pork barbecue sandwich stand was at Pebble Beach during the Food and Wine Festival...but it was one of the best dishes I tried in the entire event. (This was during the celebrity chef golf tournament on the first day of Pebble Beach Food and Wine.) I made a new friend, this monkey was right in front of the table, and I couldn't resist. Had to take a few shots with him/her. Say cheez!

Didn't intend on raising my arm up, a gust of wind came through and the picture was taken.

Me and Thomas Keller

Taken a week ago today. The celebrity chef golf tournament at Pebble Beach kicked off the Food and Wine Festival. Things got started with a Cristal champagne breakfast. Thomas Keller of The French Laundry was there. Ming Tsai wasn't there and Colicchio sat out because of surgery. There were other chefs including Rory Herrmann of Per Se (and soon be to Bouchon of Beverly Hills) and David Kinch of Manresa. Aside from golfing, the chefs and invitees enjoyed mojitos, champagne, Patron margaritas and such snacks as Kobe beef burgers, lobster sandwiches, and pulled pork sandwiches along the 18 holes. Pas mal.

Kobe and wagyu burgers for the tired and weary.

Patron, anyone?

From left, Ed Kelly, president and CEO of American Express Publishing Corporation, Rory Herrmann, Per Se and Bouchon Beverly Hills, and Thomas Keller.

The First of Many Pebble Beach F&W Pics

Having a hard time fall asleep tonight. Love the the warm temps, unfortunately hate the sore throat that came with it. I have a jug of lemon water on my nightstand, hopefully that will help me.

Going through my Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival pictures. Have a lot, but half of the pictures I took didn't come out because I had a bad SD card (fail). But what I have, is good. So instead of inundating my blog with pics, I've decided to create an album on Facebook as well as Flickr. I will still post some pics on my blog and through Twitpic. The first batch of photos will be from Thursday (opening night reception at Spanish Bay). Unfortunately, many of the food and wine pics I took on Thursday disappeared. I have pics from the celebrity golf tournament saved on my work computer, and will post those tomorrow. (Darn, forgot to write down which restaurants made these dishes. And I lost the pictures of Daniel Humm's sturgeon sabayon as well as Roy Yamaguchi's spicy tuna roll and fish and braised beef ragout. I didn't photograph one of my favs of the night: Cyrus's oxtail consomme with umeboshi -- Oishii!!!!!)

Homemade marshmallow smore with chocolate ganache and avocado sauce.

One of my favorites of the night: buttermilk poached trout with trout roe -- unbelievable!

Tequila marinated shrimp. I think it was Patron. Need I say more?

The light was really nice. Unfortunately the person taking the photo had shaky hands. This was in Spanish Bay.

Some Pics from Pebble Beach F&W

Omigosh, I have a new favorite toy. It's the Mark van S. digital photobooth. Discovered it at the Patron after-party at the Pebble Beach Food and Wine. Parties or events can rent this booths, and people take self-portraits. It's like those picture booths in malls and amusement parks, only this one takes REALLY nice portraits. Once the photo is taken, it's displayed on monitors across the room. Really cool. You get a print of your pics, and then you can go online to download your pictures and see who else had their pics taken. Here are some with me. The people in the photos with my are my camera guy, Andrew, and a film crew hired to document the festival.
Andrew, Craig, me and Craig's friend.

Craig and me

Haha, funny photo. The third guy is the owner of the photography/film company who was shooting the event.

Found some cool candids from Iron Chef Morimoto and Hubert Keller.

I promise to blog about the festival and upload my pics of the event soon. Stay tuned! Today was rest and run day even though my run this afternoon was brutal! Got home, drank a gallon of water and passed out. Need to go back to gym for some more.

Pebble Beach Food & Wine Grand Tasting

A report on Saturday's Grand Tasting. 60,000-sq ft tent of amazing food and wine...and interesting folks! Enjoy. Check back soon for pics and more posts.

***See below for clip on Cristal Dinner on Friday night.***

Cristal Dinner at Pebble Beach Food & Wine

Am putting together my final piece for the Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival. I've been on a whirlwind running from Spanish Bay to Pebble to Monterey. Promise will post pictures and full in-depth blogs on Cristal Dinner, Keller-Coliccho Dinner, Grand Tastings/Grand Finale Dinner and the Patron after-parties (which my feet are still hurting from after dancing in four-inch heels.)

Meantime, here's a piece a I did on the Cristal Dinner including an interview with Chef Eric Ripert -- and apologies to Chef Portay for butchering his name.

From Beer to Bubbly

Touched a vintage jeroboam of Cristal today. Had a great interview with Champagne Louis Roederer president, Frederic Rouzaud. Also covered the Belgian Beer and Food lunch at Pebble Beach Food and Wine Fest. Wrapping up my package, do a live shot, then will cover the Cristal dinner tonight. Eric Ripert of Le Bernandin will be there, he's cooking the fifth course. Met and hung out with Stefan Richter today, great guy.

Stayed tuned for my post on tonight's dinner. Will cover Cristal/Michelin dinners.

Opening Night at Spanish Bay

How many hours and am I running on...lost count. I'm okay though, the adrenaline from Pebble Beach Food & Wine is keeping me going. I promise photos will be coming soon!

A quick wrap of the day. Celebrity chef golf tournament this morning. Thomas Keller and others were out on the fairway. Unfortunately, no Ming Tsai this year, or Tom Colicchio. Tom C is recovering from surgery. Met up with him at the kitchen inside Spanish Bay, and I like him even more after our interview. Oh, also met the CEO of Louis Roederer Champagne -- or Cristal. The Cristal dinner tomorrow tonight should be fabulous. The Rouzaud family will be sharing -- I believe -- 9 bottles of vintage Cristal. Pretty historic. It will be a vertical tasting paired with amazing food. David Kinch of Manresa will be cooking some of the food. Will be covering that as well as the Michelin Stars of San Francisco dinner.

Quick wardrobe change -- the opening night reception at Spanish Bay was like half Oscars, half Iron Chef, half Napa Valley Wine Tour. Seriously, 20 top chefs cooking amazing food paired with 200 wines. The food -- don't get me started. Some of my favorites of the night:
1. Cyrus - Oxtail consomme with a umeboshi
2. Buttermilk poached trout with trout roe
3. Spicy tuna handroll from Roy's

Wish I had time to sample more...but I was running around reporting. Met Dana Cowin from Food & Wine -- charming woman and wonderful editor. Got an invite to the very VIP chefs' party. Couldn't stay because needed to feed stories over to 10 and 11 shows, and needed to get some well-needed shut-eye. But it looked amazing...and on one corner, boxes of Patron piled to the ceiling. A fun night for all.

Wonder if I can squeeze in quick 10k tomorrow morning before work. Okay, be back tomorrow night with a wrap of the Cristal and Michelin dinners. Stay tuned!

How many magnums?

A short post before I pass out from a long day. Today is the start of the Pebble Beach Food & Wine. On Wednesday night, there was a very exclusive, private dinner for 20 wine collectors in an undisclosed location in Pebble Beach. Basically these folks were flown in from all over the world, and brought in with a motorcade to a home in Pebble. Why the security? Well, they were all carrying very expensive and rare magnums of wine (mainly French). I had to cover this. I arrived at this amazing mansion and...standing there in the front was none other than Chef Thomas Keller from French Laundry. I think I squealed -- while remaining professional.

This was the kick-off to Pebble Beach Food and Wine. The founders hosted the 9-course meal cooked by Chefs Thomas Keller, Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Mark and Sherry Yard of Spago. On the menu: truffles, caviar, frogs legs, kobe beef, Atlantic halibut, etc. I think one of the trio of desserts was chocolate cake with candied orange peel -- to go with an 1863 Madeira.

Need to go to bed now. Another long day ahead of me. Celebrity chef golf tournament is at 8:30a-2:00p at Pebble Beach. Then opening night reception at Spanish Bay 6pm. Will do several "wardrobe changes" as I go from the fairway to the dining room.

Stayed tuned for pictures and more blog posts!

Pebble Beach Food and Wine

Am excited -- we're about a week away from the 2nd annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine. I need to brush up on wines, magnums. and the 30-plus chefs that will put their art to the burners. I have a full schedule on tap, since I'll be covering the whole event (April 16-19), and will have total, full, complete access to everything. Yay!

Last year, my station didn't really cover the event -- I think they didn't think they could get access. I was lucky to meet a woman who took me through the Pebble Beach golf course where I followed the Cristal chefs' golf tournament on opening day. It was pretty amazing to see Thomas Keller, Tom Colicchio, Ming Tsai, Masaharu Morimoto (aka "Iron Chef Japan"), et al hitting the green.

This year should be another exciting event. I'm so thrilled to meet Eric Ripert, Jaques Pepin, Michel Richard, Rick Tramonto, Hubert Keller, Michael Mina, Nancy Oakes -- and looking forward to seeing Thomas Keller and Tom Colicchio again. (Forget Hollywood, these top chefs are my idols). Some highlights this year: the "Tom-Tom" dinner (Keller vs. Colicchio) and The Cristal dinner presented by Champagne Louis Roederer, battle between San Francisco and Los Angeles chefs (Mayors Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa will there!) Also, Stefan Richter and Jamie Lauren will also be there doing a "Top Chef" cooking demo.

Whew, there's a lot more on my plate. Stay tuned for more PB Food and Wine coverage. I will be blogging about the event and will post pictures. Come back soon!