“A wine shop was open and I went in for some coffee. It smelled of early morning, of swept dust, spoons in coffee-glasses and the wet circles left by wine glasses.” – Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms I promised a week or so ago that I’d bring in a more solid review of the… Read More Wine and Dine

“The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.” – Cindy Sherman, photographer Another of my mini-roundups of places that I’ve checked out recently but that may (or may not) require another visit or two for a full review. A canastita, or “little basket”, at Pizza… Read More Tidbits and Looks Ahead

“I have a deep feeling for Kashmir, and I just had to write this book, … [But] it’s very hard to write about real events. It becomes unbearable. The challenge in writing this book was: how do you write about these things bearably without sweetening the pill?” – Salman Rushdie, author Just over a year… Read More North By Northwest on the Indian Subcontinent

“The story of barbecue is the story of America: Settlers arrive on great unspoiled continent, discover wondrous riches, set them on fire and eat them. – Vince Staten, author It’s the age-old dichotomy between “Americans” and Argentines – it really isn’t the old saw that back at the beginning of the 19th century the US… Read More Cue the Q

“Bart Simpson: Dad, you ate all the free samples. Now you’re eating men’s slacks. Homer Simpson: Eh, it’s still better than Indian food.” I have to differ with the big H, I love good Indian food, and I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t prefer eating men’s slacks – whichever one of you just thought of a… Read More Indi-tinean

“Taxco de Alarcón, mejor conocida sólo como Taxco, es una ciudad del Sur de México, localizada en el estado de Guerrero. Es uno de los centros turísticos más importantes de dicho estado. La palabra Taxco proviene del náhuatl: “Tlachco” que significa “en el juego de pelota” o “en el sitio donde se juega a la… Read More A Touch, Just a Touch, of Mexican in Palermo Chico

“Life is like a salad bar, there’s so many choices but, you can’t help to think to yourself, how often are they changing those beets?” – Joey Gladstone, Full House Maybe a better question is, Who in the World is Juana M? Is there an actual Juana M? These aren’t the sort of questions that… Read More Where in the World is Juana M?

“We are, in truth, more than half of what we are by imitation.” – Lord Chesterfield, British statesman There was a bit of a flutter through the local community about two months ago when a gleaming new lunch spot opened up along Corrientes, at 1743, just off Callao, proclaiming, it was said, to be a… Read More A Branch? A Copy? Nothing Like It?