Or is it?  I was so delighted the first time I had this fantastic roll, I immediately cursed my foolish self for not toting along my camera to share it with you.  So, of course, a second visit was most certainly in order, and I now proudly present the Pain in the Ass roll, designed [...]

Seth Godin, the marketing guru behind Purple Cow and other books, writes today on his blog about appealing to who he calls "n00bs".  N00bs are those people who are slow at the uptake, who are not savvy, and who are generally not early adopters of any kind.  He writes:
Every interaction with your public runs the [...]

Here’s my food-related quotation of the day, taken from the excellent book Purple Cow by Seth Godin:
“Compromise is about sanding down the rough edges to gain buy-in from other constituencies.  Vanilla is a compromise ice cream flavor, while habanero pecan is not.  While there may be just a few people who are unwilling to eat [...]

Since I’m on a most unfortunate hiatus from regular restaurant outings at home here in California, I thought I would use this opportunity to explain the title of this wonderful blog: Black Napkin.

A black napkin is an indication of extra thought.  Not necessarily luxury, not necessarily expense, but always thought.  A black napkin is typically [...]

The big talk across New York food blogs and message boards is all about this new restaurant in the city named Momofuku Ko, run by chef David Chang.  Now, besides bringing fantastic adventurous Asian cuisine, as evidenced by his James Beard awards, Chang has also brought something new to the restaurant scene: rapid, online, daily [...]

This post is about two things: sliders and mixing savory with sweet.  I apologize for the lack of pictures upfront: I must have left my wherewithal at the door.
Sliders are great.  For those of you who don’t know what sliders are, they are mini hamburgers, essentially 1/3 to 1/4 the size of a regular burger.  [...]

As many of you know, I cling to my Michelin guide like it’s my bible and I genuinely trust and have had good experiences with their recommendations. During my recent travels in Europe, though, specifically in France, I started wondering something. Do Michelin stars awarded in America, in New York for example, actually [...]

Firstly, I want to make a quick and to-the-point apology for leaving my blog so untouched for so long: I’m sorry, ketchup kept me busy. There, now that that’s through with, let’s move on.
I just finished a wonderful trip to Bordeaux with a friend and I was lucky enough to have three outstanding meals, [...]