Sam’s Professional Experience

Food and Wine Journalist, 1982-present Contributing Editor, Wine Spectator, In the Kitchen with Sam (formerly Tastes) Columnist, 1996 – present, Contributing Writer, 1993 – present Specialty Food (formerly Showcase) magazine, Wine Columnist, 1998-2005 Star Ledger, Newark, NJ, Wine and Spirits Columnist, 1995 -1998. San Jose Mercury News, San Jose, CA, …

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Coq Au Vin: The Coq Crows

Julia Child once described coq au vin as “probably the most famous of all French chicken dishes, certainly one of the most delicious.” But according to legend, it was invented by an Italian. Well, sort of. While Julius Caesar was conquering Gaul, the locals sent him an old rooster with …

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Finding Fine Wine

The Fine Wine Importers Alliance is, as the name implies, a group of wine importers. I can’t tell you much else about the FWIA since little about it exists online or in the portfolio notes for the tasting FWIA put on last April at the Plaza Hotel in New York. …

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Bye Bye Friendly Skies

It’s no secret that airline travel is no fun these days. Charges for baggage, no food (as opposed to lousy food), and pillows and blankets a seeming luxury. We can’t even get peanuts anymore because airlines say they are worried about peanut allergies. Just how cheesy (the Velveeta kind, not …

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Supermarket Pet Peeves

As a food writer who tests recipes and products all the time, as well as a person who likes to eat, I do a lot of shopping. And I’m a very good shopper. In fact, I give a class on shopping. One of my supermarket pet peeves is packaged or …

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