Stop playing coy with me Mr. Fromagier!

Dear Charles Fromagier,

I know you were just being coy with me when I went to Artisanal in New York for a cheese dinner and you said you thought I probably wouldn’t even want cheese after my fondue with dried apricots and pine nuts accompanied by bread and crudites course.

And I know that when you kept returning to your cheese hole and I had to thrice summon you back to the table you were just playing hard to get.

And I know you were trying to impress me when you told me that investment bankers and gallery directors have been known to become fromagiers...

and that you were also trying to impress me with your stories of your trip to Wisconsin when you were sixteen and that one time you went to Vermont with friends and how you think you might have a distant cousin twice removed in Sicily.

But what I don’t understand is why you think I “wouldn’t even understand” your favorite cheese, epoisses, with all it’s melty French cow’s milk goodness and the honey-slathered walnuts and quince paste and dried fig cakes accompanying it.

Wasn't it you that said that anyone with a "deep enough interest" to "commit the cheeses to memory" could become a fromagier like you? Do you think my love for cheese - er you - is insincere? Do you doubt my commitment? Dear Dear Charles Fromagier, can’t you see that I yearn to melt with you?

Please stop playing games with me. I just know that we are a nice pairing. Please let's let our bold nutty flavors with hints of tang and firm texture and musty aroma finish emerge. I have seen the future and I know it is rich, full flavored, and intense.

You Complete Me

It used to be Meshuggah's everything bagel with cream cheese and extra tomatoes and lots of garlic pepper.


Then it became Ventana's whole wheat bagel with cream cheese, tomatoes, red onions, and capers.

And now, really, it's just any old bagel and any old tomato in any old place.


What can I say? We live in a cynical world. A cynical world. And bagel, I love you. You had me at tomato.

You may call it "eating around"; but I call it "there's too many sides in the sea."

Is it commitment phobia?

I just can’t order an entrée. My mom likes to say that I just haven’t found the right one. But the truth is, I like to dabble with this and that and then move on along. True, I might return to the same restaurant or even the same avocado spring rolls again and again, but I just can’t bring myself to commit to the entrée.

It began with trying to frequent only tapas restaurants – that way I don’t have to feel bad about my, um, “eating around.”

And Mosaic is a great place for that: broccoli and blood orange salad, asparagus gnocchi, truffle chips, hummus, cheese plate with port-wine reduction, artichoke hearts with spicy pepper aioli.

Next I tried to eat at happy hours around town so I could sample freely and not feel bad about not committing to one entrée - half price apps from 5-7pm!

Scape is especially great for that – avocado spring rolls, truffle fries, roasted cauliflower, tomato ricotta hazelnut salad.

But now I am quite open about my, um, “eating around.” I find that life is much more interesting when you can taste this and sample that and not have to face the same EGGPLANT PARMESAN every day for the rest of your life. So I quite openly order sides, salads, and soups to my, um, “heart’s” content and never feel bad!

For example, at Acero, I sampled the Testun cheese with the wine-soaked rind, glazed roasted carrots, garlicky Jerusalem artichokes, grilled scallions, and more!

Life is full of options! I don't need half-priced apps to keep things simple and just have fun!

There are so many sides in the sea!