Chefs
Hi, we are Bryan and Jessie - a recently married couple who enjoys cooking at home, eating at our favorite local restaurants, and trying new restaurants and recipes. We also have two pets - Brew, a black lab, and Alton Brown, a domestic shorthair.
Foods we couldn't live without: blue cheese, potatoes, gin, popcorn, garlic and butter
Number of cookbooks we own: 57 and counting
Favorite kitchen tools: Shun knives, Le Creuset cookware
For more information, click here.
Travel Archive
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A night with Johnnie Walker
As part of my job and this blog, I subscribe to a number of emails focused on events, trends and deals. One of these email groups is Thrillist and since Chicago is the closest city to us, I receive the Chicago-focused emails as well as their national emails. A few weeks ago I was skimming [...] -
Arizona wines pass the test
Until Thursday, I had never had a sip of Arizona wine. I waited far too long. If you’ve seen the movie “Blood Into Wine,” you’re aware that there is a growing movement to establish Arizona as the next great American wine region. We’re in Phoenix for a few days, and decided to spend a day [...] -
Not just any port in a storm
I’ve been a huge port wine fan for years. It’s the perfect finish to a great meal, and a fine port is indeed a wonderful thing. Port is a dessert wine fortified with a neutral grape-based spirit. If you’ve never had a good port, it’s sweet with a high residual sugar content, and typically has [...] -
An Afternoon in St. Helena
On our trip to Napa and Sonoma, we stopped by St. Helena to check out a few places downtown, including WoodHouse Chocolate. The chocolates at WoodHouse Chocolate are outstanding and we had tried a piece of chocolate with wine at Rombauer Vineyards, rivaling chocolates from Europe. In the words of Bryan, the truffles we had [...] -
Morimoto Napa Review
As Bryan’s last post touches on, we were lucky enough to spend a few days in Napa Valley in mid-October. Trying to decide what vineyards we should go to on our first visit proved to be a difficult decision, although we did pick quite a few great places along the way. But figuring out where [...] -
Best bets in Napa and Sonoma
As usual, I apologize for our severe lack of posting recently. I’ve been busy launching a new product, and Jessie has been tied up with loads of top-secret PR work. We did, however, find time to sneak out to Napa and Sonoma, Calif., a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a brief summary: Four giant thumbs [...] -
Comprehensive list of Aspen awesomeness, Part 1: Famous people
Last week we attended the 2010 Food and Wine Classic in Aspen. It was an amazing experience, made even more special by the fact that it was our honeymoon. I tried to write great, glowing prose that would encapsulate all the facets of the experience, but could not. Alas, the little bits and pieces below [...] -
Foodie honeymoon – two weeks and counting
Three glorious days of fabulous food and beverages, seminars with amazing chefs and beautiful Aspen weather. -
Shopping in Amish Country
Bryan and I went shopping in Amish Country today in Shipshewana (Indiana). I’ve heard about Shipshewana from one of my co-workers and, considering her drive to get there is around two hours (one-way), I figured it was well worth a trip, and it was. We took off mid-morning and went right to our planned stop [...] -
Our visit to Craftsteak Las Vegas
Bryan joined me last weekend in Las Vegas and we chose Craftsteak as our final evening meal (located in the MGM Grand). If you have read our posts before, you know we are huge, repeat HUGE, Top Chef fans and we had been thinking about this meal for weeks. After eating one of the best [...] -
My take on our Top Chef tour
As Bryan mentioned in his post, Our tour of chefs who should have won Top Chef begins, we traveled to Atlanta last weekend to specifically visit Woodfire Grill, Kevin Gillespie’s restaurant (Top Chef finalist, season 6). As luck would have it, we were bumped up to an earlier Delta flight and landed in time to [...] -
Our tour of chefs who should have won Top Chef begins
First of all, I apologize deeply for the fact that I haven’t used this blog in, well, forever. We started it for fun when we still lived in southern Minnesota and since then I’ve been promoted and transferred, and my life has become immensely more hectic. Being foodies with no kids and a lot of [...] -
Hawaiian Favorites – Ninniku-Ya
We’ve been neglect on our blog, but for good reason. We went to Hawaii for 10 days and I started a new job. The trip to Hawaii was wonderful. Not only did we get to leave the “ish” of February, we were submersed in sunshine and palm trees for 10 days. The highlight for me on [...] -
Trio’s makes a perfect harmony in your mouth
One of my favorite restaurants, Trio’s, makes one of the most satisfying and flavorful meals I’ve had. If you are ever traveling to South Bend, Indiana, and are looking for a place to eat, you must try Trio’s. The 8 oz. fillet mignon with Boursin mashed potatoes and sauteed broccolini are delicious and you must order [...] -
Celebrating blue cheese and VEISHEA at Iowa State
Bryan and I went to Iowa State two weeks ago for VEISHEA and took a photo by this sign. It is fitting that I’m a huge blue cheese fan since I walked by this photo almost every day on my way to class. Who would have guessed that the process to produce the world’s finest blue [...]