Author Archive for jdbernard743

Getaway…

T. S. Eliot wrote that “April is the cruelest month.” For me it’s November. The days have suddenly gone from the warm bright colors of Indian Summer to the rainy grays of approaching winter. The transition comes quickly, and now I have to think twice about whether to wear a rain shell, a down parka or both. Adding to sunlight affective disorder (SAD) is the darkness and impending doom of this week’s presidential election.

M and I used to getaway by getting on an airplane and flying to some exotic destination. It wasn’t so much getting away as getting to, but times have changed. We have aged. Our world is smaller. And, today we focus on local pleasures—especially food and friends. read more

Cracks in the Edifice and What’s Troubling Me…

In fourteen days America will have a new (or old) president, and it is not hyperbolic to say that democracy is at stake. My Inbox is full of doomsday scenarios, pleas for money and hysterical exhortations to get out the vote. Oracles and Cassandras abound. Democrats are raking in millions but need even more to fight off huge money dumps from Trump’s billionaire coven – Elon Musk, Miriam Adelson, Timothy Mellon, the Uihlein’s and Peter Thiel.

It’s the train wreck you see coming but have no power to prevent or ignore. Will they or won’t they? How did we get here? Is our system of government so broken it can’t be reengineered? It feels like it, but maybe it’s always been that way. For 240 years Americans told themselves that the great democratic experiment was working. And it was—but imperfectly. Three equal branches. Checks and balances. Free and fair elections. “One man, one vote.” And, the peaceful transfer of power every four years. Most of these things were philosophical constructs, stories we told ourselves for more than two centuries. The truth is darker.  read more

The Bear vs. Bouchon…

Creating the perfect meal is nearly impossible. Like opera, the most complex of the arts, something almost always goes wrong. Carmy gets locked in the walk-in freezer on opening night. Richie dumps a plate of pasta on a celebrity guest. Donna Barzatto creeps out Natalie while she’s in labor with Danny’s baby. Everyone loves The Bear, the true-to-life fictional TV drama about creating a fine dining restaurant with all its loose ends and tangled relationships.

I know how hard it is to deliver the perfect meal. I’m no Carmy, but in the 80s and 90s I owned, managed and made all the pasta for Piccolo, our small Italian bistro in Sun Valley. I loved it. And, it’s enormously satisfying to feed people – especially people who love food – but with all the moving pieces it’s hard to pull off a superior dining experience with grace and style. read more

Where’s My Walter Cronkite?

It takes reliable information to make good decisions whether you’re buying a new car or deciding who you’ll vote for. But, election cycles always heighten questions of trust and the reliability of news sources. Who can we believe? Who can we trust? Who is most insightful?

In the 4th Century BC, the Greek philosopher, Diogenes, famously carried a lantern around daytime Athens “looking for an honest man.” History doesn’t tell us if he was successful, but wandering around town with a lantern isn’t going to do the job these days. read more

Shame on Boeing…

Seattle used to be a company town. One company. Boeing. The names were almost synonymous. But in 2001, under new leadership, the company relocated its headquarters to Chicago with the disingenuous explanation that it was closer to the big financial centers. In truth, it was a renegade takeover by executives from McDonnell Douglas, the financially troubled company Boeing had rescued and purchased three years earlier. It was a case of corporate sleight of hand. Overnight an aircraft manufacturing juggernaut was transformed into a financial services company slavishly pandering to Wall Street’s emphasis on shareholder value. read more