Chow! Welcome to Good for the Palate. Please, have a look around.
Good for the Palate is a basically a door into my kitchen, so make yourself at home. Grab a seat, take a sip, take a bite, devour a whole post, and enjoy!
Good for the Palate is a basically a door into my kitchen, so make yourself at home. Grab a seat, take a sip, take a bite, devour a whole post, and enjoy!
Here you will find delicious morsels of information, tales of heartbreak and wonder, photos, delicious recipes, restaurant reviews, and more. Take them in, make them yours. Come back for another round on the house.
ABOUT ME:
I live in Maryland, between the big cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C, near the Chesapeake Bay. I am a server by night, and an eater all the time. I have a degree in Photography and some intermediate chef training via L'Academie de Cuisine. If you want to know more, just ask.
A LITTLE MORE:
I have loved to eat since I was a very young child.
When I was four my mother found me, emblazoned by the light of the refrigerator, enjoying a stick of butter as a midnight snack. The next night, it was pepperoni. I suppose it was a good thing as I was a scrawny child.
It's strange though, I don't remember learning to cook. I think I would just hang around the kitchen hoping for a scrap of food and my mother would put me to work. I would steal bites and stir pots. My favorite part of sitting down to family meals was knowing I ate all the good stuff before it even got to the table.
Learning about food encouraged my appetite. When we visited my Mother's Parent's home in New Jersey we would always spend a few evenings in New York City. After dinner in Little Italy Dad would walk my sister and I around China Town. He loved to show us the Peking Ducks, bloated in their mahogany skin, hanging by their necks from the store fronts. And the flat, slimy, whole fish laying on uncovered beds of ice in the hot city summers. Each trip to visit Nana and Papa was a fun chance to learn about food and experience new things to eat.When Food Network hit the New Jersey air waves in 1993 Mom, Nana, and I would spend our evenings sitting in front of the television watching David Rosengarten make smorrebrod (Scandinavian sandwiches) while digesting dinner.
When time came for college I thought about cooking school, or going to school to design kitchens. After a few years of uncertainty in school for interior design, I ended up school for Photography. I enjoyed the classwork, but I loved my part-time job at a gourmet market, where I learned about cheese and charcuterie.
Now that I had an apartment and roommate, I started to cook for everyone. But I quickly tired of the dishes I learned from my mother. My roommate was half Korean and opened up a whole new world of food, teaching me about bibimbap and Korean BBQ. I wanted to try new recipes and new flavors. I loved to experiment in the kitchen with Juilia Child. I found myself reading about how to make the perfect crispy potatoes from Jacques Pepin, while tanning on the beach.
When my last semester came I had extra time I could fill with credits towards a minor. Instead I got myself into a basic skills class at L'Academie de Cuisine. On my 45min-1.5 hr drives to and from class I would listen to American Public Media's The Splendid Table and KCRW's Good Food podcasts, exposing myself to the world of eating and culinary knowledge.
Good for the Palate was created a place for me to catalog my experiences at cooking school, but I was too busy eating and testing, and finishing my degree, to post much. It morphed into a place for me to share the restaurants I enjoyed, and my opinions about food.
When my final semester ended I graduated with a Bachelors of Art in Photography, and I immediately found myself a full time job learning about, and selling wine. I hardly even attempted to find a Photography job. The food bug had bit me, and Good for the Palate encouraged me to learn and grow.
Slowly I realized, although I never wanted to be a chef, I always wanted to be around food. I have changed jobs a few times since then, always seeking a learning environment.
Nowadays, I spend all of my free time immersed in the culture of food. Good for the Palate is where I organize my thoughts. It had become an excuse for me to engage, and an opportunity for me to connect with others who share my passion.
ABOUT ME:
I live in Maryland, between the big cities of Baltimore and Washington, D.C, near the Chesapeake Bay. I am a server by night, and an eater all the time. I have a degree in Photography and some intermediate chef training via L'Academie de Cuisine. If you want to know more, just ask.
A LITTLE MORE:
I have loved to eat since I was a very young child.
When I was four my mother found me, emblazoned by the light of the refrigerator, enjoying a stick of butter as a midnight snack. The next night, it was pepperoni. I suppose it was a good thing as I was a scrawny child.
It's strange though, I don't remember learning to cook. I think I would just hang around the kitchen hoping for a scrap of food and my mother would put me to work. I would steal bites and stir pots. My favorite part of sitting down to family meals was knowing I ate all the good stuff before it even got to the table.
Learning about food encouraged my appetite. When we visited my Mother's Parent's home in New Jersey we would always spend a few evenings in New York City. After dinner in Little Italy Dad would walk my sister and I around China Town. He loved to show us the Peking Ducks, bloated in their mahogany skin, hanging by their necks from the store fronts. And the flat, slimy, whole fish laying on uncovered beds of ice in the hot city summers. Each trip to visit Nana and Papa was a fun chance to learn about food and experience new things to eat.When Food Network hit the New Jersey air waves in 1993 Mom, Nana, and I would spend our evenings sitting in front of the television watching David Rosengarten make smorrebrod (Scandinavian sandwiches) while digesting dinner.
When time came for college I thought about cooking school, or going to school to design kitchens. After a few years of uncertainty in school for interior design, I ended up school for Photography. I enjoyed the classwork, but I loved my part-time job at a gourmet market, where I learned about cheese and charcuterie.
Now that I had an apartment and roommate, I started to cook for everyone. But I quickly tired of the dishes I learned from my mother. My roommate was half Korean and opened up a whole new world of food, teaching me about bibimbap and Korean BBQ. I wanted to try new recipes and new flavors. I loved to experiment in the kitchen with Juilia Child. I found myself reading about how to make the perfect crispy potatoes from Jacques Pepin, while tanning on the beach.
When my last semester came I had extra time I could fill with credits towards a minor. Instead I got myself into a basic skills class at L'Academie de Cuisine. On my 45min-1.5 hr drives to and from class I would listen to American Public Media's The Splendid Table and KCRW's Good Food podcasts, exposing myself to the world of eating and culinary knowledge.
Good for the Palate was created a place for me to catalog my experiences at cooking school, but I was too busy eating and testing, and finishing my degree, to post much. It morphed into a place for me to share the restaurants I enjoyed, and my opinions about food.
When my final semester ended I graduated with a Bachelors of Art in Photography, and I immediately found myself a full time job learning about, and selling wine. I hardly even attempted to find a Photography job. The food bug had bit me, and Good for the Palate encouraged me to learn and grow.
Slowly I realized, although I never wanted to be a chef, I always wanted to be around food. I have changed jobs a few times since then, always seeking a learning environment.
Nowadays, I spend all of my free time immersed in the culture of food. Good for the Palate is where I organize my thoughts. It had become an excuse for me to engage, and an opportunity for me to connect with others who share my passion.
