Fall Is Officially Here

The calendar says autumn. San Diego says "we'll see."

Either way, keep an eye on your inbox. A certain seasonal dessert is making its return, and we'll let you know the moment the pumpkin cheesecake is back. Until then, dinner has a new headliner.

Starting Wednesday: The Filet brought a plus-one.

Filet mignon and sautéed shrimp in a garlicky scampi sauce, together on one plate this week.

Pair it with a glass of our 2017 Burgess Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Black currant, mint, a hint of cedar, silky from start to finish. There's enough backbone for the steak, and it's smooth enough that the shrimp doesn't get pushed around.

Worth knowing: Burgess's 1880s winery building on Howell Mountain burned in the 2020 Glass Fire. The vineyards mostly survived. This 2017 was harvested three years before.

"Greece really does feel small sometimes."

That's Denise, writing from Crete. She and Yanni spent a day at Peskesi Farm outside Heraklion, the organic farm that grows the produce for Peskesi, the restaurant everyone in Greece seems to know.

Somewhere between the vegetable beds and the lunch table, she met someone whose cookbooks she already owns.

Who it was, what they ate (Denise has a firm verdict on the zucchini fritters), and how the evening ended are all in her own words, with 27 photos.

P.S. - Fall is dinner-party season.

If you're the guest this year, a Yanni's gift card beats another scented candle.

"Wine is just sunlight held together by water."

- Galileo Galilei