Thanks for posting this article from the NY Times. I read it, but always regretted not saving it for our beach file. Julia Reed is a wonderful writer. For years, she wrote for Bazaar Magazine and now writes food articles for the Sunday NY Times Magazine and some other major publications. I have always wished she would write a book about her Southern roots. Unfortunately, her home in New Orleans was badly damaged by Katrinia and the flooding. But she wrote a wonderful piece about a dinner party there where they were all making the best of things.
Julie Reed also wrote a piece about the late restaurant named Sandor's, which was a tiny European-style establishment located in the Cape Cod-ish building just north of the Seagrove Market and Cafe. We had a dinner there one night than was over the top, as good as any top restaurant in Paris. The chef insisted that we try his flourless chocolate cake for comparison's sake, when he realized we are friends with Thomas Keller of The French Laundry here in the Napa Valley. I was so full, didn't know where we could put even a shared desert. With all due respect to Chef Keller, Sandor's flourless chocolate cake was actually better than than of The French Laundry. The only downside was its pairing with the raspberry sorbet, which was delicious but interrupted the smoothness of that glorioius Valrona chocolate cake. Too bad the restaurant closed, because it was a gem.