Alan Richman
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Articles by Alan Richman
The N.F.L. Players’ Retirement Plan Is…Making Wine?
Wine and football. Doesn’t seem like a classic match. Nothing like hot dogs and baseball. But somehow the two got together and are now inseparable. These days, an N.F.L. player can’t think of himself as a superstar unless he possesses a cellar filled with wine that he helped produce. Sure, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has Taylor Swift as his girlfriend, but can he be certain that the relationship will outlast a well-stored bottle of John Elway’s excellent 2020 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon?
Patrice Demers is Making Montreal a Culinary Destination Again
In the mid-1970s I moved to Canada to become a sports columnist for the Montreal Star newspaper, a transition that transformed me into a foodie. It was an unintentional career decision that I should have anticipated. For me, food always came first.
Villa La Massa, Outside Florence, Italy, Is One of the World's Best Hotels
A new list recently appeared naming the 50 best hotels in the world as selected by a collection of experts. However, I do wonder whether any of these experts has ever set foot in Villa La Massa, a historic and incomparable hotel located several miles from Florence, Italy. Villa La Massa did not appear on the World’s 50 Best list, yet it is the best hotel on earth.
The Golden Swan Restaurant Opens in New York's West Village
Restaurateur Matt Abramcyk’s first thought when he and his partners decided to buy the Manhattan building was not of its ill-fated past. Who could blame them had they hesitated, which they did not. The building at 314 West 11th Street had been home to the Spotted Pig, also known as the scene of the crime.
Restaurateurs Daniel and Evan Bennett Expand in the Hamptons
They came out of nowhere, or so it seemed, two brothers from Springs, a small hamlet within East Hampton, New York. It was once a quaint farming community mostly appreciated by New Yorkers wealthy enough to collect art. Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning lived and worked there. Daniel Bennett, 37, and Evan Bennett, 34, who operate two Manhattan restaurants, never expected to go into the business. Mother was a nurse practitioner; father, a lawyer.
The Best Restaurants on Long Island's North Fork
The North Fork of Long Island, once known for its potato farms, entered the wine business decades ago with high expectations. Comparisons were made to Bordeaux, the most celebrated of all wine regions. Similar climates! Similar latitude! Similarly surrounded by water! For all anybody knew, those were the secrets to viticultural triumph. Back then, the South Fork of Long Island—better known as “the Hamptons”—was clearly the center of attention.
April 8, 2023 - Air Mail
Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley Ashley Baker Ash Carter Chris Garrett Nathan King Julia Vitale Carolina de Armas Clara Molot Paulina Prosnitz Cazzie David Lisa Henricksson Walter Isaacson Pico Iyer Rachel Johnson John Lahr Jonathan Margolis Linda Wells James Wolcott Lili Anolik Johanna Berkman Joseph Bullmore Vassi Chamberlain William D.
It's Not Just You—New York's Restaurants Are Extra Expensive
The year was 1986, and New York’s new Le Bernardin had just received a four-star rating from The New York Times. As I was leaving the restaurant, a gentleman in front of me blurted out, “I would eat here every night if it wasn’t so expensive!” The cost of the fixed-price, three-course meal back then was $55. The next year it rose to $60. The word “inflation” was on nobody’s mind. New Yorkers these days consider the price of dinner a prime topic of conversation.
Charleston's Chez Nous: The Best Small Restaurant in America Right Now
There are fancier small restaurants than Chez Nous, and ones much easier to find, unless you are familiar with the back alleys of Charleston, South Carolina. You might not be dazzled by the décor, which is that of an 1835 single-family house lovingly but not extravagantly restored, with only the fireplaces and the wide-plank pine floors left essentially untouched. There are quirks to dining here.
At Materia Restaurant, in Connecticut, a Le Bernardin Chef Cooks Italian
The restaurant Materia, which opened less than two years ago in the tiny Connecticut borough of Bantam—nearby Lake Bantam is far better known—reminds me of the small-town, one-Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Italy that I used to love. They were never pretentious, nor were they in the business of re-inventing food. And they were such a point of local pride that nearby farmers would regularly appear at their kitchen doors, offering products they had grown or raised.
Is This New York’s Best Pizza Right Now? – Air Mail
The irresistible Sofia’s pizza comes two ways, hot and ready to eat or at room temperature for easy assembling at home. Is This New York’s Best Pizza Right Now? A critic discovers a four-star chef making mouthwatering takeout in Little Italy By Alan Richman Restaurant food these days consists of pickup or delivery, a desperate form of dining that I conscientiously avoid. Reheating, which I find mandatory, is my least favorite form of culinary enhancement.
Meals of Fortune
I telephoned Danny Meyer, all-knowing New York restaurateur, and told him I had a question about Las Vegas. Before I could continue, he cut me off. “The answer is money,“ he said. “What’s the question?“ It would have been this: Why can’t chefs say no? Today, everybody goes to Las Vegas to gamble, except chefs, who go there with their fortunes guaranteed.
How Jean-Georges Vongerichten Went From ‘No Good’ Kid to 4-Star Chef
The globally prolific chef started out as a small-town truant and troublemaker. Then he got to work. The chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his flagship restaurant, Jean-Georges, on Columbus Circle in New York. Jan. 14, 2020 This is how it began, the career of one of the most versatile, ingenious and adventurous chefs in the history of American cuisine. Jean-Georges Vongerichten can pinpoint the day, the place, the words.
December 14, 2019 - Air Mail
Is there a decent wine in the house? There is, experts say. Here, four house wines from Restaurant Daniel. House Wine! The smart (and cheapish) way to create a great home cellar By Alan Richman One evening in the early 1980s, I learned everything I needed to know about house wines. It was dinner hour at the Quilted Giraffe, Barry Wine’s inspirational and regrettably short-lived restaurant on Second Avenue in New York.
Where Divas Dare to Dine – Air Mail
Chef’s surprise: Aleksandra Kurzak in a Metropolitan Opera production of Hansel and Gretel. Where Divas Dare to Dine He’s eaten at many of the world’s great restaurants. Yet, one table has long eluded this writer: the Metropolitan Opera’s employees-only cafeteria By Alan Richman I’ve dined out for decades and have been to almost every restaurant I longed to try, thanks to my perseverance and an irrepressible appetite.
Matthew Broderick Leaves Behind the Grieving Irish Town That Charges Him with Two Lost Lives
By Alan Richman September 28, 1987 12:00 PM They refer to him as “the American actor” or as just “the American.” They know very little about this famous star, this Matthew Broderick, whose films seldom appear where they live. They are the relatives of Margaret Doherty, 63, and Anna Gallagher, 28, a mother and daughter killed last month in Northern Ireland when their brown Volvo crashed head-on into a rented red BMW driven by Broderick.
Great Balls of Fire
I arrived early, with a mission: to find out why Etxebarri is so celebrated, even though it is fundamentally unlike any other world-famous restaurant. For one thing, chef-owner Victor Arguinzoniz cooks his dishes, even desserts, over charcoal, made on the premises from wood stacked outside in a shed. Cooking with charcoal goes back hundreds of thousands of years. Its use in restaurants is familiar, but Arguinzoniz has made it chic.
Tough on Others, Tougher on Himself: The Perfectionist Behind the Milos Restaurants
He left his hometown, Patras, a port city often called Greece’s gateway to the west, carrying two suitcases, one with clothing, the other with books and records. He was 19, the son of a retired military judge, intending to study criminology at New York University. Nothing went as expected.
At Le Bernardin, the boss is definitely still in
“I would do my homework,” she said. “My brother never did his. I always tried to do the right thing, to learn.” Her career path, as a woman born into an unassuming French restaurant family, seemed predestined: tending to customers while her man cooked for them. The chef, even behind kitchen doors, was the face of the restaurant. The dutiful woman rarely looked beyond the front door. For Le Coze, such an existence was understandable but unacceptable. “They were good parents,” she said.
At Le Bernardin, the boss is definitely still in
“I would do my homework,” she said. “My brother never did his. I always tried to do the right thing, to learn.” Her career path, as a woman born into an unassuming French restaurant family, seemed predestined: tending to customers while her man cooked for them. The chef, even behind kitchen doors, was the face of the restaurant. The dutiful woman rarely looked beyond the front door. For Le Coze, such an existence was understandable but unacceptable. “They were good parents,” she said.
At Le Bernardin, the boss is definitely still in
“I would do my homework,” she said. “My brother never did his. I always tried to do the right thing, to learn.” Her career path, as a woman born into an unassuming French restaurant family, seemed predestined: tending to customers while her man cooked for them. The chef, even behind kitchen doors, was the face of the restaurant. The dutiful woman rarely looked beyond the front door. For Le Coze, such an existence was understandable but unacceptable. “They were good parents,” she said.
Still the Boss of Le Bernardin, Maguy Le Coze Strides On
The reason, she says, was the infidelities of the men in her life: “My father cheated on my mother. My brother had so many women.” Her lifelong passion, it would seem, was none of the men in her life, but her beloved restaurant. She thinks it’s more than that. “It is not possible to have passion for 30 or 40 years,” she said. “That is something you have for four or five years. It is the same with the restaurant as it is with a man you meet.
Alan Richman Returns To New Orleans on HBO's "Treme"
On the heels of his appearance on HBO's "Treme," GQ's Alan Richman explains who hates him, why Anthony Bourdain is not to be trusted, and what it means to be Sazerac-ed Two groups of people hate me. All together, it adds up to 343,830 grudge-bearers. That might seem like a lot, but they all dislike me for the same reason. It’s nice to know I’ve only done one thing wrong in my life. A majority of them, 343,829, comprise the entire population of New Orleans.
Kitchen Savant
In 2007, a little-known chef cooked a legendary meal—and then disappeared. Alan Richman checks in on Michael Carlson and his reopened restaurant, SchwaThe infamous gathering of great chefs at the Chicago restaurant Schwa in October of 2007 included one man whose name you might not know: Michael Carlson. It’s likely the ruinous events that followed would not have occurred had he merely eaten with them. Instead, as chef-owner of Schwa, he was obliged to cook for them.
The Perfect Night Out: GQ's 25 Best New Restaurants in America, 2014
Photo: Courtesy of Derek Richmond Nico Osteria's Madai (snapper) crudo. 10. Nico Osteria Chicago, IL Sometimes All You Want is Italian Food, Exactly What You Love Paul Kahan's food has always been more interesting than everyone else's, and just a little bit unusual, too. At Nico, he's done something out of character. The Italian menu he's conceived is familiar, what we crave. It's also faultless. He's opened the kind of restaurant we all hope to find in the heart of downtown, wherever we travel.
Save the Red Sauce
Long ago, when I was a sportswriter relentlessly on the road, I cherished Italian-American restaurants. This was in the ‘70s, when American restaurants specialized in nearly unpalatable “continental cuisine,” so when I was in need of a soothing meal, I headed for places with names like Maria’s and Tony’s. They—as well as their garlic bread and meatballs—never let me down.
José Andrés: Small Plates, Big Talent
José Andrés is the premier Spanish chef working in America, in part because he keeps his food simple, even when he brings the convoluted principles of molecular gastronomy into play. When I spoke to him for my profile in the December issue of GQ, he talked wistfully of leaving home as a teenager to attend cooking school, and the pleasure he got out of living in a room with one bed, one lamp, and a shared bathroom.
The 10 Best Restaurants in New York 2012 Photos
1. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare _ 200 Schermerhorn St. Brooklyn_ The location: A short stroll down the block from the entrance to a grocery called Brooklyn Fare. The number of courses: Variable, but seemingly infinite. The seating arrangements: Stools, high and hard. The dining experience: So magnificent nothing else matters. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare opened two years ago offering quirky countertop meals in a hard-edged grocery store prep-kitchen.
Diner for Schmucks
Alan Richman heard nothing but great things about M. Wells, one of New York City's hottest restaurants—the food was amazing, the setting sublime, the ambience charming. And, in fact, everything was going quite well. Until... Restaurant reviewing, as you probably suspect, is a nice way to make a living, although spending your waking hours overstuffed is not as much fun as you might think. Being recognized isn't so delightful, either.
Alan Richman’s Epicurean Tour of Italy and France Reveals a Collector’s Obsession
At Ristorante Lorenzo in Forte dei Marmi—a seaside town in Tuscany—manners, not Michelin, set the tone. Here, Jeff Joseph orders Domaine J.F. Coche-Dury Meursault Les Genévrières, a premier-cru white Burgundy. Though we are in Italy, Italian whites, in my friend’s opinion, are charming, whereas their French counterparts are irresistible. As is inevitable, with wine being a bond, they chat. The sommelier knows that a Coche-Dury drinker is a gentleman to be coddled.
Drew Nieporent May Be the Last Old-School Restaurateur Standing
Even as a kid, he didn’t eat like one. For sure, at 5 or 6 he’d kick his older brother, Tracy, under the table whenever his parents took the family to restaurants, but mostly he was paying attention, learning about the food of a time in Manhattan when the top restaurants served German, Swiss or other cuisines that are infrequently celebrated these days.
Air Warfare Expert Christine Fox-Fighter Pilots Call Her "Legs"-Inspires the New Movie
When the fighter pilots at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego hear the sound, they snap to full alert. Click. Radar operators close their eyes and just listen, knowing precisely what is coming their way. Click. Click. High heels in the hallway. Softer than a sonic boom, less penetrating than an F-14 afterburner, the footsteps of 6? Christine Fox, 30, nevertheless carry the impact of a preemptive strike.
This Woman Used a Fork to Apply Her Makeup—And the Results Were Stunning
It seems like Ariel from The Little Mermaid was on to something when she used a fork to comb out her long red tresses. Now, it's that very same tool that's causing a commotion in the beauty world...and it's even got us buzzing over here. So, who's our new Ariel? That'd be Laiba Zaid, who used the lines of a metal fork to create an enviably pristine makeup look, and then posted the flawless results in a video on Instagram.
Why Is it So Hard to Find New Nordic Cuisine in Oslo?
Landmark takes me up a flight of stairs to a restaurant called Hitchhiker, supposedly selling Oslo street food, even though I never see any street food while walking the streets. There I have one of my favorite dishes, locally caught bluefin tuna, uncooked and sliced thin, for dipping in a butter-soy sauce. This is the first dish I eat in Oslo that I think might qualify as New Nordic Cuisine.
Cloudy with a Chance of Stinging-Nettle Flan and Tomato Coulis
How did Portland, a soggy city on the West Coast, come to be the scrappiest, most original gastronomic destination in America, a town where you can eat everything from food-truck feasts to four-star spreads that rival fancier (and way more expensive) places? Alan Richman explores the food world's new promised land—and explains why you should go now, while the good times last"I came here in the early '60s," recalls Roger Porter, food critic and professor of English.
Daniel Rose Is Bringing French Cooking Back from the Dead at Le Coucou
Before he even thought about cooking for a living, Daniel Rose left his Chicago home to study European culture in Paris, "because," he says, "I thought all French girls went topless—I'd seen a movie where they were all wearing only suspenders." That didn't work out quite as he'd hoped, and neither did his first try at higher education abroad, so he decided on the next best thing: to join the "front line of life." The year was 1999, and he set out for the French Foreign Legion.
Alan Richman: In Nashville, Husk is Reborn
The Present: A second Husk opened five months ago in Nashville, in appearance much like the first. Both are located in historic buildings with long porches, both display an abundance of stacked cordwood, and both convey a sense of history. If anything, Husk Nashville is more splendid, set on a roomy lot with parking all around.
Alan Richman: At Estela, An Extraordinary Chef and What Could Be the Steak Dish of the Century (So Far)
The restaurant is entirely nontoxic. In fact, it's a brand new construction, airy and surprisingly tame. Bistro-style globe lights. Marble tabletops. Exposed brick. Votive candles, mirrors, white plates. You know the look. A bar stretching from the middle of the room to the front window has so much space behind it that the bartenders could fit cots there, create a mini-flophouse of their own.
Why We Are Mourning the Death of Fine Dining
With its arsenal of top-flight chefs and iPhone-friendly dishes, the casual-culinary revolution has a rich tradition in terminal condition. Looking back, I can pinpoint the date, the time, the place, even the exact cost of the meal. It was, for me, the day fine dining died. It was 6:29 pm on July 22, 2007, at Momofuku Ssäm Bar in New York. I walked in without a reservation, took a seat, and ate alone for $89.20, including tax and tip.
How to Plan a Trip to Virginia - Three Day Weekend Trip to Virginia
The state of Virginia blessed this country with Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, boldface names from our political past, and added four later presidents as a bonus. Native sons drafted the Declaration of Independence and much of the Constitution, a proud accomplishment, but the state would ultimately falter. Less than a hundred years later, with nearly a third of its population in slavery, Virginia left the Union and Richmond became the capital of the Confederacy.
In New York, Bâtard Brings the Next Generation of Fine Dining
Drew Nieporent re-imagines his hallowed ground. Will the crowds follow? In fact, fine dining seems on the way out. Those who admire the tradition, and I'm one of them, are helpless. How can it prosper when it is revered by so few New Yorkers? Much will be lost: the chivalrous maître d', the nuanced cuisine, the balletic waitstaff. Fine dining is the art form of the food industry, and it seems doomed, like symphony orchestras and opera companies. The price is too high, the virtues no longer beloved.
New York Restaurant Blue Hill Should Be On The World's Best Restaurant List
Over the last decade, Chef Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns has transformed into one of the best dining experiences in America The process has been thoughtful and deliberate. Over the years, whenever I dined there and merely admired the food rather than taking joy from it, I wondered if it would ever become exceptional. I always looked forward to the raw, home-grown vegetables that led off every dinner. I loved walking the grounds.
Joe Allen, Broadway’s Quiet Man (Published 2016)
Joe Allen, the proprietor of a small restaurant empire on West 46th Street, sitting at his regular spot at the end of the bar at his namesake restaurant.Credit...Todd Heisler/The New York Times May 10, 2016 These days he generally sits, very quietly. Joe Allen, owner of the 46th Street restaurant he uncharacteristically named for himself, is unfailingly polite, reluctantly conversational.
Yes, New Jersey Makes Wine-And It's Good
For the month of April, SAVEUR is all about New Jersey, the unsung hero state of American eating. Here's why. Read all our Jersey Month stories here. To most New Yorkers, myself included, New Jersey is incomprehensible and impassible, an urban calamity. The timeworn cities and towns close to Manhattan are linked by decaying roads with incomprehensible signage, accessible only via gridlocked bridges and tunnels.
Montreal is the New Food Capital of North America
Asked to name the best restaurant city in America—meaning the United States—I offered the only reasonable answer: Montreal, a city with the culture, the cooks, the restaurants, the provisions, and the hospitality. (Also of significance is Canada's nicely diminished dollar, which makes dining a deal.) Such a welcome package was neatly summed up by a Canadian pal, Mike Boone, who worked with me at the Montreal Star in the 1970s.
jersey month | SAVEUR
The bustling, multicultural city has been an anchor of New Jersey's Pinoy community since the 1960s; Drew Lazor shows what expats and the next generation are cooking today
The Atlantic City Restaurant Worth a 60-Year Wait
For the month of April, SAVEUR is all about New Jersey, the unsung hero state of American eating. Here's why. Read all our Jersey Month stories here. The manager of the Knife & Fork Inn, a stately Atlantic City restaurant, was walking past the ladies’ restroom at the very moment I was strolling in. Ordinarily, that might be cause for embarrassment, or even arrest, but I had a perfect explanation: I desperately wanted to see the photograph of Mr. Peanut on the wall inside.
Alan Richman: The 10 Best Cheesesteaks in Philadelphia
So many cheesesteaks, so much to learn, even for a Philadelphia native, which I am. Who makes the best, a debate that has consumed the city for decades? Which is the best cheese, sliced provolone or Cheez Whiz, the legendary goop invented by Kraft in the early fifties?
The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die
Alan Richman traveled 23,750 miles and consumed more than 150,000 calories while taking the measure of 162 burgers across the country—with one goal: To find you the best damned assemblage of ground beef and buns this country serves up The hamburger is a symbol of everything that makes America great. Straightforward, egalitarian, substantial, and good-natured, it is also a little bloody at times.
Best New Wine Guide
For decades—centuries, really—the rules of the European wine world were sacrosanct: Plant this. Drink that. And turn up your nose at anything novel. But now a new generation of rebel winemakers in Greece, Corsica, Sicily, and beyond are saying: Screw that. Try this. What's coming out of that revolution is radically tasty, and redrawing everything we knew. Alan Richman helps you navigate the new wine map Perhaps this has already happened to you. If not, consider it inevitable.
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