boomfleisher

Best meal I ever ate:

I once had the privilege of interviewing and sharing a meal with Lidia Bastianch. We enjoyed glasses of Bastianich Rosé and Bastianich Vespa White, along with a tomato-bread soup with olive oil and some sort of creamy, earthy, marscarpone-like cheese; perfectly al dente spaghetti with a cherry tomato, almond and basil pesto and fried calamari; roasted halibut with summer tomatoes and red onion; and polenta shortbread with honeyed goat cheese, carmelized tomatoes and basil buttermilk ice cream.

My current drink of choice:

Sparkling pinks, like Blanc de Noir and Brut Rose. I'm into Prosecco, too

I really wish I could:

...afford to buy Barbarescos and Veuve Cliquot, but instead I will have to enjoy these things when someone else shares them with me.

My "Go-to" dinner party dish:

Osso bucco style braised lamb shanks with parmesan polenta

My favorite comfort food:

Pasta puttanesca with extra anchovies, clams and generous shavings of parmesan reggiano

My top 5 favorite restaurants:

Fancy places: Bona Terra, Eleven, Casbah, Kaya. Inexpensive ethic joints: Trams, Pho Minh, Spice Island Tea House, Abay. Out of town honorable mentions: Amada (Philly) and Graziano's Pizza (Charleston, WV)

My most tattered cookbooks:

Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone; Joy of Cooking; the Surreal Gourmet, Bob Blumer. Really want to get the Zuni cookbook and a couple of others.