Thanks to early warm weather fronts this year, Mother’s Day and strawberry season are converging quite nicely. The strawberries in California seem to be bigger and redder earlier than usual. To make the most of these early season beauties, I decided to bake something I could ship up to my mom in Oregon. It had to be something sturdy enough to survive the USPS experience and still taste good three days later upon arrival. And since I always bake cookies or brownies for gift–shipping, I wanted to try something different. Read on…

I was on call for jury duty the other week. I had called in each evening for four days (that’s how it’s done in LA) and was told not to report the following day, but on Thursday evening (the final night for calling), the recording ordered me to report downtown on Friday morning. So, I reported as ordered and sat through the juror orientation. Then, with all the other prospective jurors, I waited. Around 2:00, the lady in charge said we probably would not get called, so I thought I was going to be released shortly. Read on…

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to attend a wine tasting dinner at Valentino’s in Santa Monica. Valentino Proprietor Piero Selvaggio graciously greeted the guests and, after a brief session sipping sparkling wine and tasting the chef’s salumi selection, we found ourselves seated for the evening. The main festivities commenced with a brief presentation by noted food journalist Luigi Cremona, who is traveling with our evening’s host in the USA and introduced us to the wines of Cantine Briziarelli. Read on…

As with wine, a journalist’s notes improve with age. Well, not really, as you’ll see. Last November, Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine invited me to his press luncheon before the opening of his most recent Stars of Cabernet wine tasting event. It was a great opportunity to spend some time over a very nice meal to hear from representatives of a few top Cab producers and discuss their wines and industry trends with them and some sommeliers and other media folks. The winery folks included Henry Patland, owner of Patland Estate Vineyards of Napa, Pam Harter, Director of Sales & Marketing for Rocca Family Vineyards of Napa, David Arthur Long, owner of David Arthur Vineyards of Napa, and Justin Baldwin, Founder of Justin Vineyards & Winery of Paso Robles. So, let’s just skip over the fact that the wines were all terrific and get to the useful 411. Read on…

I know the month of March conjures up all sorts of themes for people. For the sports–minded, there’s March Madness (college basketball play-offs). For the Irish (and Irish–wannabes), it’s St. Patrick’s Day. And for the Wine Imbiber and me, it’s a month of anniversaries. Well, actually it’s a day of anniversaries—we officially launched Wine Imbiber on our wedding anniversary four years ago.

March also signifies something else important in my world…the dwindling days of Meyer lemon season. (You may or may not be familiar with my affinity for all things lemon, especially Meyer lemons.) Read on…

What’s better than experiencing a new eatery/watering hole that actually lives up to expectations? How about experiencing it a quick drive from your home so you can easily frequent it when the mood strikes! Plan Check, located on Westside Los Angeles’ Japanese restaurant strip known as Little Osaka, is the latest entry into the much–embraced pub–grub scene in Los Angeles. Playing up the theme of the nearby Department of Building and Safety with its polished industrial look; it draws inspiration for some of its menu items from neighboring Japanese restaurants. Quite a juxtaposition feat, we thought after our first visit! Read on…

About 25 years ago, around the time Geoff and Alison Rusack first met, they flew over to Santa Catalina Island (one of the Southern Channel Islands) together and conceived of a dream project—to plant a vineyard on the island and produce wine. A romantic notion indeed! But then, as the song goes, “Twenty–six miles across the sea, Santa Catalina is a-waitin’ for me, Santa Catalina, the island of romance…” Of course, it helps if your family has multi-generational ties to the island (Alison’s maiden name is Wrigley, as in the gum and Wrigley Field fame). After all, they weren’t completely crazy. Flash forward to today and you can now enjoy three distinctive wines that flow directly from that romantic dream. Of course, it was a long and winding road to get there. But that’s another song entirely. Read on…