Food & Wine February 2021

2018 TYLER SANTA BARBARA COUNTY CHARDONNAY ($30) I bought this racy, zesty cool-climate Chardonnay for a virtual holiday tasting I did in December and added a few extra bottles to the order because the wine was too good not to. I have been enjoying them ever since. 2019 SHERRAH SHIRAZ ($27) How can you pass up a Shiraz made by a guy whose name is Sherrah? You can’t, especially when it’s this good—Alex Sherrah’s McLaren Vale version is peppery and vibrant, with a bright liveliness that’s impossible not to like. 2018 ALLEGRINI AMARONE ($90) Have a wintertime special occasion coming up that needs a luscious, utterly delicious Italian red? Allegrini is one of the top names in Amarone, and this wine, with its layers of dark-fruited flavor, shows why.…

EDITOR IN CHIEF Hunter Lewis DIRECTOR, CONTENT STRATEGY Michelle Edelbaum DEPUTY EDITOR Melanie Hansche EXECUTIVE EDITOR Karen Shimizu EXECUTIVE WINE EDITOR Ray Isle DIGITAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ryan Grim MANAGING EDITOR Caitlin Murphree Miller FOOD & EDITORIAL RESTAURANT EDITOR Khushbu Shah SENIOR FOOD EDITOR Mary-Frances Heck FOOD EDITOR Josh Miller ASSOCIATE FOOD EDITOR Kelsey Youngman ASSOCIATE RESTAURANT EDITOR Oset Babür ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR Nina Friend BUSINESS MANAGER Alice Eldridge Summerville EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Antara Sinha COPY & RESEARCH COPY EDITOR Erin Clyburn COPY EDITOR Winn Duvall ART CREATIVE DIRECTOR Winslow Taft DESIGNER Rachel Carney PHOTO PHOTO DIRECTOR Tori Katherman PHOTO EDITOR Dan Bailey PRODUCTION PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Liz Rhoades DIGITAL DIGITAL DEPUTY EDITOR Adina Steiman SENIOR ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Meg Clark SENIOR EDITOR Kat Kinsman SENIOR EDITOR Margaret Eby RESTAURANT EDITOR Maria Yagoda ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Adam Campbell-Schmitt DIGITAL REPORTER Bridget Hallinan DIGITAL PHOTO EDITOR Sarah Crowder DIGITAL OPERATIONS EDITOR Elsa Säätelä E-COMMERCE EDITOR Megan Soll CULINARY DIRECTOR AT LARGE Justin Chapple CONTRIBUTORS Betsy Andrews, Kate Cunningham, Charlotte Druckman, Anthony Giglio, Morgan Goldberg, Joe Harper,…

Cool Beans A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, my younger daughter fished an heirloom Eye of the Goat bean from Rancho Gordo out of a pot of soaking water. I watched skeptically as she nestled the speckled beige-and-brown bean into a damp folded paper towel, placed it into a plastic baggie, and tied the baggie to the latch of our kitchen window with a pipe cleaner. A few weeks later, her science project yielded a sprout. Eureka! We potted and staked the seedling, now a wispy foot-high tendril that leans into the morning light streaming into the kitchen. With a little care and some luck, we’ll plant it outside this spring in one of the half whiskey barrels that are currently home to a few cabbages and collards wintering over. Peace out, brassicas.…

WHEN RESTAURANTS FIRST welcomed diners back during the pandemic, aesthetics took a back seat to survival; makeshift tarps provided separation between tables, and bike lanes became dining rooms. But as the new normal has become a reality for operators, COVID-19’s influence is already noticeable in design choices for both outdoor and indoor dining—and it likely will be for years to come. We asked hospitality and design professionals for their tips and predictions for what’s next in pandemic-responsive restaurant design. 3 DESIGN TIPS FROM RODE ARCHITECTS PRINCIPAL ERIC ROBINSON PRIORITIZE ROOM TO MOVE Eric Robinson, whose firm designed popular Boston spots such as Coppersmith and Dorchester Brewing Company, acknowledges that while six feet apart is the rule of thumb for social distancing, operators should take into account that guests will push back chairs and…

MY PERSONAL TRIVET fixation didn’t become evident to me until recently, when I came into possession of a new table. In the interest of keeping it nice for a time—I can never keep anything nice—I looked around for a trivet and was startled to notice that there were at least three options in my line of vision, and probably more if I hunted around for a moment. It’s not like there was a nest of kitchenware gnomes depositing them on my tabletops and counters in the dead of night, or I spiraled into a retail fugue and woke up to a queue of UPS drivers building a box rampart outside my front door. (I’m afraid it’s all trivets, ma’am. I need you to sign here.) Nope: I had apparently been…

WITH MANY OF US cooking and dining at home more often, the surfaces we’re surrounded by have been drawn into sharper focus. When it comes to countertops, ease of cleaning is absolutely essential, but durability and style shouldn’t fall to the wayside. Below, our favorite trends in countertop design for the next time the heart of your home needs a fresh look. DARING DARKS Blacks, grays, and metallics bring stylish sophistication to any kitchen. For its Dark collection, quartz brand Caesarstone introduced (1) Oxidian*, resembling rusty textured steel, as well as Black Tempal, which layers white across charcoal black. Part of the new Avant-Garde Series of Cosentino’s ultra-durable Dekton material, (2) Laurent is a striking dark brown with gold veining. QUIET COLOR The all-white kitchen—while timeless—is getting a shake-up, with muted tones and off-whites…