I went into Edelweiss Chocolates in Beverly Hills, not to buy chocolates but to buy their white Jordan almonds which I always keep handy in a silver sugar bowl.
“That’s it?” the lady behind the cash register said, casting her eyes in the direction of the case full of beautiful chocolate confections.
“Yeah, that’s it,” I said.
But Steve Zahir, the owner of the shop who was busily arranging his inventory, does not tolerate indifference to chocolate.
“Come in the back. I’ll show you how we do it,” he said.
“Oh,” I said, surprised. ”Okay!” I love it when a minor adventure presents itself unexpectedly.
Four employees were busy in the spotless back rooms of the shop, meticulously cutting toffee bars and dipping pretzels in dark chocolate.
My first taste of Chef Josiah Citrin’s cooking was at the James Beard
“Chefs and Champagne” event in May. Melisse served a Spring Veal with
Anson Mills Polenta, Morel Essence and Red Wine Jus. I went back
several times for more. My second encounter with Chef Citrin was
at "Taste of the Nation". Melisse’s Liberty duck breast… tender, juicy
and like no other duck I’d had before. This time, I sent my husband
back for seconds and thirds. 
It has been a long time since I have been to a restaurant that actually inspired me to write about it. In the period of time from my last write up, I have been fortunate enough to go to a couple Michelin star restaurants, and those did not inspire me. They were great, but I think I expected it. My experience at the newly opened Saint Martha, stirred something in me that had been dormant for a while. Until now. My husband took me to Saint Martha on a Thursday evening, partly to treat me after having some tough work weeks, and partly to celebrate his birthday.
Greenspans is tiny and sandwiched (no pun intended) in between a bar and some tacky Melrose clothing store on the old Tommy Tang strip of Melrose, where Evan Kleiman opened Angeli Cafe all those years ago. Back then all of the good actors in town could be found in Milton Katselas’s Mon and Wed night class at the Zepher Theater just across the street, and Chianti was down the block serving up perfect stracciatella soup. That stretch was something back in its day. (Pardon the walk back 30 years).
We couldn’t even get into the parking lot at Saks, it was 5 of 11 and the 70% discount ended at noon and neither of us had even had a cup of coffee.... (I sometimes think my daughters and I should wear signs around our necks that say “Please feed before attempting to interact with us.”)