But he usually keeps his laser-sharp palate and crystalline prose trained on small ethnic restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
While she manages the restaurant (with a partner, Mei Li) and leaves the cooking to a battery of chefs, Ms. Huang has a keen palate and a sharp eye.
The menu reflects that long history, though Mr. McCarthy has a touch sure enough and a palate sharp enough to cast a new light on this hidebound cuisine.
As an aperitif, which is the way most of us drink Champagne, its liveliness and elegance give a lift to the party, and its sharp acidity clears the palate for the meal to come.
This bottle does the same, washing over your palate with sharp herbs, cutting acidity and a tease of fruit you can't quite have.
Crispy fried squid offered more palate-scythingly sharp batter than actual squid, but were satisfying.
Its soothing food has no sharp edges that jar the palate.
His striking presentations have no sharp edges to jar the palate, and even the cross-cultural stretches (Peking duck tacos, for instance) seem to work because the ingredients have a careful relationship to one another.
The portions are generous, but not ridiculously so; the flavors, sharp and clear without overwhelming the palate.
Later, I'll sample my own small whale fillets and discover, when seared on a hot skillet, there's first the oily sheen of lipids on the palate, then a lean, sharp flavour akin to kangaroo.
Txakoli is the local speciality, a style that revels in its uncompromising spine of acidity, and it can be almost too painfully, eye-wateringly sharp on its own, but makes palate-brightening sense when served with seafood.
