Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Celebrate Truffles! Napa Truffle Festival


My knowledge of truffles has its limits, despite the delight I take in savoring cuisine boasting the flavor of the extraordinarily renowned fungus.
The Second Annual Napa Truffle Festival promises to add to my familiarity of all aspects of the strangely beguiling yet homely truffle, be it the black Perigord winter truffle or the summer species known as Burgundy: 

In botanical nomenclature, that's Tuber melanosporum or Tuber aestivum/uncinatum.

The Westin Verasa, Napa hosts the festivities that bring together expert scientists and shining stars of the culinary realm. Participants will have opportunities to partake in the culinary bliss of gourmet meals and in stimulating seminars out and about at Robert Mondavi Winery, Raymond Vineyards and Robert Sinskey Vineyards.


Michelin Chefs working their own magic at lunch & dinner events are certain to draw serious food aficionados and wine lovers to reserve a place at the table to they'll in elegant menus prepared by Ken Frank of La Toque; Suzette Gresham-Tognettini, Chef/Proprietor of San Francisco's Acquerello; Michael Cimarusti of Providence, Los Angles; Italy's Marco Gubbiotti of La Bastiglia; and Andrew Zimmerman of Sepia, Chicago.


Images, Courtesy Napa Truffle Festival / American Truffle Company


Monday, December 19, 2011

Glorious Great Dixter ..

Spring Display .. Great Dixter
The Legacy of Christopher Lloyd 
Celebrated garden writer, the Dean of British Gardening passed away in 2006.
I will always remember these magnificent gardens on a tour led by CL himself.
Though I returned whenever travel to England allowed, 
it was that rainy day in May that stands out in my memory.

Springtime Array of Containers ... Maximum Visual Impact!
More to see and read on Alice's Garden Travel Buzz:

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A Most Romantic Garden...

Romantic gardens abound in the English countryside...


One garden visit that remains etched in my mind's eye is the beautifully serene, lush landscape
of   Cothay Manor.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Opulent Epoch .. Wordless in Italy


Hadrian's Villa

Dreaming of Italy....

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Citron Cachet! AIC Ptrizker Garden

Modern Wing of the Chicago Art Institute


I love the sharp tang of citron, or maybe I should say, chartreuse - the color of the chairs
in Chicago's Pritzker Garden.

It's the structure and evergreen forms of the landscape architecture that I'm drawn to when I visit this downtown setting.....