by Lisa Richardson | Jul 18, 2022 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
In that moment, savoring, reveling, and taking in the accompanying menu and literature, we spied an upcoming club trip to Catalonia, Spain in June 2022. We were offered Albariño and Tempranillo, then, without pause, we joined Club Marimar and signed up for an adventure in Spain!
by Lisa Richardson | Nov 21, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
Zipping southbound along the shimmering coastline mid-morning, there is a familiar feel and look. Not for long. From La Misión, La Ruta del Vino (the Wine Route) twists east to a vivid contrast of vines and olive trees, the Sonoran Desert and looming mountain...
by Lisa Richardson | Nov 9, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
Astonishing storefronts and restaurants march up and down the Malecón, but my eyes gravitate to the art spectacles framed by the Pacific. As we meander the mile-long esplanade, from “La Nostalgia” (Nostalgia) to “La Rotunda del Mar” (the Roundabout of the Sea) to the...
by Lisa Richardson | Sep 22, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
Heinz. Duquesne. PPG. Brats. Pierogi. Neighborhoods. Primanti sandwich. “Pittsburgh left.” Bridges. There’s something about Pittsburgh. It was the big city across the bridge from the little town I visited as a kid, playing and biking the “Old Road” with eight...
by Lisa Richardson | Sep 18, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
It’s familiar territory, I thought as the descent to SFO began. Au contraire. San Mateo County/ Silicon Valley has altered the City by the Bay and the world beyond belief, yet a visitor to the famed Bay Area might completely bypass its food, festivity and funk....
by Lisa Richardson | Jun 11, 2016 | Food, Food blog
For over a decade, we’ve had the pleasure of dining at Sassi (in Scottsdale, Arizona) alone and with friends and family, celebrating an event or simply the day. The mostly southern Italian-inspired menu with many imported products and housemade pastas tastes sublime...
by Lisa Richardson | Jan 8, 2016 | Travel, Travel blog
It doesn’t seem possible that this is our first visit to Georgia’s first city. SAV airport is sleek and friendly. We’re on our way a little after 10 on New Year’s Eve. Sequined revelers light up Savannah’s Historic Center. Our B&B is off Broad Street, past...
by Lisa Richardson | Oct 16, 2015 | Food, Food blog
“Coastal Italian” is an inviting descriptor for the restaurant on the top floor at Wall and Girard. So I went twice. Initially, we were a group of journalists hosted for Saturday lunch at Catania. The streets were blocked off for the La Jolla Art and Wine Festival. ...
by Lisa Richardson | Oct 6, 2015 | Travel, Travel blog
It’s not as though I was surprised those three days in Carmel-by-the-Sea were so pleasurable. How surely this one square mile penetrated my psyche was the zinger. Homebound along the Salinas Highway, smiling at the fog as it tended the vines in the Highlands beyond,...
by Lisa Richardson | Sep 5, 2015 | Travel, Travel blog
Our 550 km adventure swept us northward from Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal to two regions within Québec, Canada’s largest province. The aerial approach to YUL hinted at the watery proportions below, as did the myriad blue squiggles on my...
by Lisa Richardson | Aug 23, 2015 | Food, Food blog
“I was supposed to be a brain surgeon,” Chef offered, grinning ear to ear. His presence is as bold as his red chef coat. The Persian/ Mediterranean/Californian menu is brilliant. At The Fly Trap, Hoss Zaré builds upon lessons from his mother’s...
by Lisa Richardson | Aug 2, 2015 | Food, Food blog
From the Bay area to the Mexican border, feed your mind at 10 AM Saturday mornings on AM 830. Co-hosted by Andrew Harris and Executive Chef Andrew Gruel, the SoCal Restaurant Show is a two hour broadcast on clear radio, its menu chock-full of zesty food,...
by Lisa Richardson | May 17, 2015 | Food, Food blog
As we ventured south to explore our neighbor in Jalisco, Mexico, new regard took hold. Puerto Vallarta, famed in the sixties when Liz and Dick fell in love during the filming of “Night of the Iguana,” is so much more. Steeped in history and culture, this hilly...
by Lisa Richardson | Apr 23, 2015 | Travel, Travel blog
The little red Fiat took the curves and inclines in 360 degrees of glorious countryside and tiny villages on the Cassia from Firenze. Spring showed its presence in wildflowers, mustard, shocks of wisteria, roses, supernatural green quilted fields, and hints of...
by Lisa Richardson | Apr 12, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
The Tuscan panorama is forever as we make our way on the strada. Here in Montalcino, vineyards, olive and fruit trees share the gentle verdant hills with medieval villages and castles. On one perch, historic Castello Poggio alle Mura (meaning walled hilltop) graces...
by Lisa Richardson | Apr 12, 2015 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
The famed terroir is situated about two kilometers from the imposing fortress in Montalcino. Five hundred meters of cypress trees frame the entry to Tenuta Greppo, home of Biondi-Santi wines in southern Tuscany. We join three other couples and Sabine, our...
by Lisa Richardson | Feb 4, 2015 | Food, Food blog, Recipes
FEBRUARY Macaroon Valentines The image of a mother-daughter embrace with chocolate macaroon in hand caught my eye decades ago while pouring over Sunset magazine. A joy to make and share, these palm-sized, decadent confections were a sentimental, edible...
by Lisa Richardson | Jan 16, 2015 | Food, Food blog, Recipes
Wreathed by images of family and life events colored by food, the cover page of a slim volume for my husband and our two adult sons from Christmas 2011 is inscribed: “For my boys. My love for cooking and many of these recipes were influenced by my mother. The...
by Lisa Richardson | Dec 21, 2014 | Travel, Travel blog
The city beckoned as the 737 landed mid-afternoon at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. We craved NOLA’s offerings and anticipated people and places prepared to satisfy. Four days and three nights later, ten highlights are too delicious to keep to...
by Lisa Richardson | Sep 28, 2014 | Wine & Spirits, Wine & Spirits blog
by Lisa RichardsonPhotos by: John Murphy, James and Lisa RichardsonAn exhilarating adventure is akin to these tasting notes: Balboa Winery, 2009 Reserve, Columbia Valley, Eidolon, Candy Mountain and Pepper Bridge Vineyards — 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah,...
