Eat ’em & weep
ONLY A FEW PEOPLE KNOW THE REAL STORY behind “The Princess’ Palate” my weekly column that has been running in The Aspen Times since June 2002.
The truth is, I’d originally hoped to become Aspens’ food critic.
The concept for the name—and the use of the word “palate”—was intended for my “taste in all things Aspen.” I wanted to write restaurant reviews and go from there, maybe start to broaden it to other things I love as much as food. That’s exactly what happened, though it didn’t go exactly as planned. The editors at the Aspen Times couldn’t risk offending advertisers over a columnist who was new to town and, at least for the first six months of her career at this particular paper, was not getting paid.
So it ended up being about my life, about all aspects of my life, and nothing but my life so help me God: Every private little detail that no one really wants to hear but can’t help themselves but read on … sort of like a traffic accident or a bad smell. I have been able to write about all the things I love, which ended up being (in no particular order) boys, shopping, parties, and clothes.
The one thing I probably didn’t end up writing enough about was food—unless of course I was on some kind of kakameme diet trying to starve myself into whatever ideal I thought the Boy of the Month was interested in at the time. As much as I hate to admit it, there were times that food itself wasn’t on the menu. At one point I actually bragged about what I deemed “The Mary Kate Olsen Diet” of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.
Now that I have a man who loves me for who I am those days are so o-v-e-r. I know that sounds superficial and shallow, but it’s true.
Believe it or not, I do actually have a career as a freelance magazine and newspaper journalist that has afforded me a few opportunities to delve into the foodie world.
In January 2009, I was invited to attend the Cayman Cookoff in Grand Cayman, where I got to rub elbows with famous chefs like Anthony Bourdain (exactly the same as he is on TV), Eric Ripert (as good looking in person as he is on TV) and Ingrid Hoffman (who I’ve never seen on TV but loved the the most). I finally got my first press credential to the Food & Wine Classic that same year to interview Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg for The Boulder Daily Camera. He was as cool as he seemed on the show, with dimples that could melt an iceberg.
But most of my food experience happens at home with my honey where we love to cook and we love to eat. I’ve gone from party girl to foodie nerd, swapping late nights at Eric’s for hours of Food Network shows, reading food magazines and cookbooks instead of Us Weekly, watching “Julie and Julia” on HBO and counting recipes instead of calories. We love to entertain friends with elaborate preplanned menus we’ll prep all day, never skimping on homemade touches like our own bread or the best possible quality ingredients we can afford (and are available).
That means when we go out to dinner we’re going to be as critical as we are appreciative. Our rule is it has to be better than something we could cook ourselves, and it has to be worth the money. Aspen probably has more amazing food per capita than anywhere in the world, but it also has the most expensive food (we have literally cried on the way home from dinners we wished we hadn’t had to pay for).
That’s what this new media series is all about: to take the same no-hold-barred approach I took to my column and bring it here. It won’t just be about the food, but about the amazing people in this town who have a hand in preparing it. It’ll be part personality, part culture, part recipe, and part local flavor, so to speak. Better yet, I hope it’ll be interactive. Unlike the print medium, a web magazine can offer a true dialogue, and we want to hear what you have to say. I only want to enhance the forum that EatAspen has already created, “an honest and true representation of everyone to everyone.”
So I really hope we can talk over dinner someday soon.
Like I wrote in my first-ever column on June 16, 2002, “My palate is clean as a whistle and ready to savor the juices Aspen has to offer.”
Ali Berkley Margo