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From Tom:Having six sisters, I'm kept busy trying to think of ways to torture them, as any good brother would. Rick Bayless's visit this month reminds me of a time when I got to focus my wrath on my oldest sister Kate. We met in Chicago for a weekend where there were only two places on my "must eat there" restaurant hit list. Both were closed on Sunday night so I made reservations for both places on Saturday night - 6:30 at Charlie Trotters and 9:30 at Rick's Frontera Grill. At Trotter's, our intention was a quick five courses. It happened that I was recognized by ex-Seattle Wine Great, Larry Stone, and our quick visit turned into a 13-course, 11-wine extravaganza. At this point, sister Kate was looking a bit pale and a little looped. She couldn't believe I wasn't going to cancel the Frontera reservation. But I had waited years for this opportunity, and wasn't about to skip the best Mexican restaurant in the United States.At Frontera, I ran into a waiter that I knew from Seattle who was thrilled to be working there and insisted that we try course after course of the house specialties, matched with the Zinfandels, Syrahs, and margaritas that compliment the food so well. While I could win an Olympic medal eating like this, my poor, poor sister was still a rookie. If it hadn't been for the dessert and Scotch at the hotel afterwards, she would have been just fine. It's great to have Faith "The Queen of Italy" Willinger in town with her incredible bible for travelers of Northern Italy. Jackie and I used her book Eating In Italy on our first trip there. It instantly became our road map to the culinary treasures found throughout Italy. When we returned five years later, Faith agreed to guide us though the Reggiano and prosciutto factories of Parma. Instead of taking payment for her services, Faith insisted that all she wanted was to be treated like a queen when she next visited Seattle. We look forward to seeing you here to help us roll out the red carpet on April 29th. Riverdance and Chicago are the next big shows at the Paramount and we have tickets to give away. Don't forget to fill those fishbowls with your business cards when you are visiting the restaurants. Who says airline food has to be bad? On April 6th, we catered the first class meals aboard Northwest Airlines inaugural flight from Seattle to Amsterdam. The menu included fresh Dungeness Crab, filet mignon, lobster, beluga caviar, goat cheese raviolis, Indonesian grilled chicken, and many other specialties from our restaurants. This is the 5th year we have worked with Northwest Airlines on their in-flight meals. Thanks to all those who came to Taste of the Nation and supported our local food banks. Because of your help and determination, we raised $200,000, which translates into not only millions of pounds of food, but support for Fare Start, the Women, Infant and Childrens (WIC) programs run by Fremont Public Association and hot school lunch programs across the State. I'm really proud of our efforts and your continued support. Thanks also for your input on the recipes that "have to be" included in the cookbook. There seems to be a common thread. The most requested recipes are:
CHEERS - TOM & JACKIE |
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