Judith

Real Name:

Judith. Not Judy.

Location:

San Jose

Best meal I ever ate:

Impossible question! There are so many "bests." It's best to enjoy the meal you're eating, the place you are and the people you're with, nothing to be gained by stacking everything up for comparison.

My current drink of choice:

Hemingway Cocktail at Bodeguita. I know it's really some kind of daiquiri, but there's something about it that makes it seem special to me.

My "Go-to" dinner party dish:

Grilled salmon. It's easy, works for nearly everyone, and you can do lots of things as sides, depending on your mood and how much time you have. I also rely on soups as a first course. Curried zucchini/pea soup is fast and tasty, you can make it ahead, and it's good hot or cold. Butternut squash soup and carrot soup can both be made lots of ways, don't require huge skill or preparation, and are good starter courses.

My favorite comfort food:

TK Noodle rice noodle wonton soup.

My top 5 favorite restaurants:

Amber India (Mountain View, CA0, Gary Danko (SF), Kokkari (SF), Le Petit Verdot (Paris), Bodeguita del Medio (Palo Alto, CA)

My most tattered cookbooks:

I keep a file of recipes saved over the years from friends, magazines, newspapers and now of course web-sites. I lost a fairly organized version about twenty-five years ago and still regret some of the recipes that went missing, but I started over and there's plenty of good stuff in there now.