Wine and Spirits Travel

I spent the morning interviewing some of the Food Network’s best before the activities of their Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival began. It was casual and fun, and I had a chance to get to know Pat and Gina Nelly; Robert Irvine; and Sunny Anderson, as well as catch up with Guy Fieri, who I’ve done stories on for a number of publications in the past year*. (You can see my Los Angeles Confidential piece here .) I have to say there wasn’t an overinflated ego in the room as everyone talked about the importance of getting kids to make healthier food choices. After the interviews, my daughter Sam and I headed over to the Robert Mondavi Grand Market. This year they added an Italian Village section (not all Italian, but certainly full of tasty booths) to spread it out a bit more. As always, there is more food and drinks than you can possibly enjoy, so I suggest everyone allow for at least two trips there. This was my first visit during the 2011 festival and I navigated my way o

As strange as the title of this post sounds, it’s a rundown of my first full day at the Food Network Atlantic City Food and Wine Festival . And what a fun day it was. The events weren’t starting until the evening so I used the time to catch up with Michael Green , former Gourmet Magazine editor and current wine and cocktail guru. We had drinks in Trinity Pub at the Shops at Caesars. We were joined by Michael’s partner at Liquid Assets , Andrew Levine, for a fun and informative discussion on the Food Network Festivals (they work closely with Food & Wine Magazine as well as Food Network on all of them).  I was disappointed that I didn’t have any of their seminars on my overbooked schedule, but vowed to catch them at one of the future events . My daughter Sam joined me at the Pier Shops for lunch before we headed to change hotels. As much as I loved Harrah’s (and there’s a lot to love), the events I would be attending were mostly down at the Boardwalk so we were changing to Sh

For the second year in a row, I was invited to the Food Network's Food and Wine Festival in Atlantic City , New Jersey. As much fun as I have in South Beach, this one is extra special to me. The Jersey Shore isn't a television show as far as I am concerned. It's a place where I enjoyed the boardwalk with my family as a kid, and came to enjoy the casinos and the beach as an adult.  And, when you add in friendly chefs, great food, wine from around the world and lots of spirits, it all spells a whole lot of fun. I'm lucky enough to have my daughter Sam helping me out with photos and stories this year (and having fun). We arrived at the Chelsea Hotel , a modern boutique property at the end of the strip, in time for some of their "Bikinis and Martinis" party. The rooftop at Chelsea is a great place for a party and though the only ones in bikinis were the servers, there were plenty of interesting Martinis made with Cruzan Rum . We went straight from the part

I’ve spent a lot of time down in Florida visiting my mom and watching tennis at the Delray Beach Tennis Center , home to a major professional tennis event as well as numerous junior ones. The one thing I haven’t spent a lot of time doing is checking out the restaurants downtown Delray .  Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach is buzzing every night, with visitors and locals walking the streets and enjoying the eateries. The selection down there is varied enough to satisfy everyone’s dining desires, and I got to check out four that are among the best. Mom and I headed down Atlantic Avenue for an evening of restaurant hopping. Parking was much easier than I remembered in the few times I had been downtown. Most of the restaurants have valet, and there’s free parking in the streets behind them. Our first stop was at the opening of the downtown area – Tryst . When you first walk into Tryst, the immediate thought is that this is a nice pub, but as you look around at the European art and antique