The Great Chef

There is something magical about unpredictability and non-planning; to go wherever the first train takes you or pick a direction and stop when the fuel tank is empty. In a society like today's, where people have their life planned even before they are born, allowing yourself to let go is the only way to be free. And so yesterday we allow ourselves to be free. No, we did not buy roses, stuffed bears, and chocolates. We actually despise Valentine's day for its commercial meaning and for the sadness that it is having to have a day during the year for people to remember they have someone of a relative significance in their lives. It is another day for expected conventions. It is another ring into the chain that imprison us. We say "I love you" to each other every day, at least once. And we mean it because we do feel it regardless of the calendar. But where does this fit into the whole unpredictability thought? Well, we happened to have tickets for a concert yesterday nigh...

New Haven, CT is known not only for having one of the best Universities in the World but also by its great food options. Most people outside the United States have the notion that Americans eat only hotdogs and hamburgers. They could not be more wrong. Even though one cannot describe in detail what "american cuisine" is (in the sense that the most iconic "american" dishes were brought in during colonial times), the United States offers a bite of every corner of the World, from a more "authentic" approach to all kinds of fusions.  In New Haven county, for example, one can find Japanese, Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, French, Chinese, or Cuban restaurants. There is also a variety of burger , pizza, or chicken wings places, most of them really good. New Haven is, therefore, a good place for a person that enjoys good food. Today I will share with you my experience in one of my favorite places in town: Soul de Cuba Cafe. The name says it a...

When The Study at Yale  opened a couple of years ago, I started to take my laptop and just sit at the cafe, have a coffee and a blueberry muffin, and spend some time there - relaxing, thinking, reading. It became one of my favorite spaces around Yale campus by its classical, clean and quiet atmosphere. I realized, then, that if I turned right, at the entrance, instead of left, I would find a great restaurant - the Heirloom . The atmosphere is the same - a place where elegance and casualty embrace each other in perfect balance. The room is wide and bright. The decoration revolves around wood and leather and a cleaver mirror game gives you a sense of even more space and clarity. Nevertheless, one can find more intimate corners in this restaurant as well as a charming bar. The touch of seasonal fresh flowers adds the sense of life all healthy environments call for. If the space could not, just by itself, make New Haven surrender, Heirloom 's vision about food will make any foodie guil...

When you can appreciate the opportunity that is life you always find things to celebrate. But when to that vibe of thankfulness you add an unexpected, although very much wanted, amazing news you just give yourself the time to dress up, gather some meaningful people, and head to some place where you cherish yourself.  And so, yesterday night, was one of those moments I wanted to cherish myself in good company. We knew Ibiza Restaurant was hosting a visiting Chef from San Sebastian, Spain with a new tasting menu every day of this week. The choice was obvious: we went there to try yesterday's tasting menu by Chef Iker Gonzalez - a six course menu with many Iberian essentials.  Surprisingly, we were not offered any amouse bouche  this time so the meal started with the first dish of the tasting menu - Ajo Blanco , a garlic almond cold soup with coconut and diced pineapple. A good soup (although I am not particularly excited about cold soups, exception made for summer time) wit...

Long time no see, fellow eaters! For those of you who might have wondered if I had lost my passion for writing and for food, I can assure you that both passions are of good health. :) It happened that I had the most crazy month of my recent history: apartment hunting, moving and everything bureaucratically implied, with all my activities and job interviews in between! I did not stop cooking but I just did not have the time or the mind set to write about it. Now that I am settled again, in a beautiful apartment, I am ready to return to my writing. Uff! At last! I missed you! Before all this craziness had began, my husband and I decided to go for a dinner at the only (or so considered) upscale French restaurant in New Haven, CT: Union League Cafe. Even though this restaurant offers a Contemporary French style, we had never been there before because one can feel from the outside the snobbish mood that prevails on the inside, and that is something we cannot stand. Being as it may, we had t...