Woodriver Cellars...

When Dave Buich purchased Eagle Knoll Winery and Woodriver Vineyards, he combined them to create Woodriver Cellars. Today, under the direction of winemaker Neil Glancy, the winery is the largest producer of Malbec grapes in Idaho, and is turning out a number of Malbec-influenced blends, including a very popular Meritage and port, both of which will be poured at this year’s Savor Idaho. Read...

Vino Around the World...

The Brick Oven Bistro has been serving wine for as long as it has served food, and owners Stephanie Telesco and Jeff Nee are pretty picky about what they stock. At the same time, however, they don’t brook any snobbery toward appreciating good wines, and for many years now they’ve been hosting wine classes at their restaurant to share their love of vino with their customers. Read...

Vive Sous Vide!...

In this episode of Au Pair, our podcast series in which John Berryhill waxes culinarily about wine and food pairings, we bring you the unlikely combination of Japanese pillows and a cooking technique that involves vacuum sealing, 160 degree water, and twenty-three hours.  And we do it all naked. Intrigued?  Shake ‘n bake, followers.  To view the video, please visit theBehind the Menu website. Read...

A “Hidden Gem” of a Steakhouse...

If a signature steakhouse in a Holiday Inn sounds like a culinary anamoly, then let us introduce you to Castle Ranch Steakhouse — a concept hatched in the City of Trees by a restrauteur with credentials stretching back to resorts in California, the McCormick & Schmick Seafood restaurants, and the Hilton Corporation.  Meet Ron Unruh. Read...

Peter Blatz Comes Full Circle at Cottonwood Grille...

There are some restaurants that so define our local culinary scene that you can’t seem to think of a time that they weren’t a part of it. Which is why it’s hard to believe that 2009 marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of Boise’s Cottonwood Grille. Only ten years? Really? It was, in fact, 1999 when Chef Peter Blatz and his sommelier spouse, Hilary, moved to Boise from Denver. Read...

Bake ‘n “Shark”!...

I grew up at a time, and in a place, where the term “fish sandwich” was synonymous with McDonald’s — and I suspect its presence on the menu at the Golden Arches was a concession to the Catholics or Lenten observers. Thank the Culinary Gods that we’ve evolved. But even in whilst stuck in the middle of Teenage Wasteland, there was a part of the world that had an entirely different concept of the fish sandwich. It was...