Based on your views, Facebook likes and whatnot, here is our best stories of 2011 with commentary from the pens and cameras.
10. Proprietors LLC debuts ‘Chapter and Verse,’ a test bar in their office
We armed ourselves with a new toy (CineSkates) before heading out to visit Alex Day at his alcohol-filled office in downtown Los Angeles. We shot two different segments: one of what Alex thinks would makes a good cocktail and one of him crafting a drink, on two different Canon cameras. One of the cameras was mounted on top of a CineSkates providing a fluid rolling motion for the shot. After the filming we all wished we had Alex’s job.
Read the stories and watch the videos: Proprietors LLC debuts ‘Chapter and Verse,’ a test bar in their office, The ‘Heads Up’ from Alex Day of Proprietors LLC.
9. Papilles’ executive chef Tim Carey: bistronomy and fishology
Standing next to chef Tim Carey as he prepped the ingredients for the day’s meal made us realize two things: making a new menu each week is hard, and we would be eating the entire menu. We sat down, enjoyed the meal, and shot B-roll of Tim and his crew in the kitchen.
Read the story: Papilles’ executive chef Tim Carey: bistronomy and fishology.
8. Chef Greg Stillman of Ra Pour: a culinary sponge
Greg Stillman‘s story was one that kept building on itself. The more we talked to him, the more his expertise would show. A couple of mentions that didn’t make the story were that Greg is a brick-oven pizza jedi and wine aficionado.
Read the story: Chef Greg Stillman of Ra Pour: a culinary sponge.
7. Dripp, the boutique coffee shop in Chino Hills with world class brews
There’s two things that struck me about Dripp, the quality and the location. The guys over there work hard to make their product the best that it can be, and in Chino Hills of all places. With all the effort that went in there, it’s hard to see them ever failing.
Read the story: Dripp, the boutique coffee shop in Chino Hills with world class brews.
6. Where is Marina del Rey?
After getting the blessing from Marina del Rey’s Official Convention and Visitors Bureau and chef Daniel Roberts of Cafe del Rey, we took a camera crew and two hosts out on a boat for an “ocean to table” experience. We boarded the New Del Mar and caught over 30 fish. Unfortunately more than half of the crew didn’t bring their sea legs. We ended up at Cafe del Rey in Marina del Rey where chef Daniel made dishes from the days catch.
Read the story and watch the video: Where is Marina del Rey?
5. New Belgium Brewing tour + interview with CEO Kim Jordan
Thanks to New Belgium Brewing’s Dallas Byerley, we were able to get time with CEO Kim Jordan during the busy week of the Great American Beer Festival. It almost didn’t happen! But we made our way to Fort Collins in Colorado, toured the brewery, and sat with Kim in her office. We were so excited to be there we forgot to bring our tripod.
Read the story: New Belgium Brewing tour + interview with CEO Kim Jordan.
4. Andrew Zimmern reveals his favorite restaurant right now, holiday plans and more
Believe it or not, we care about people’s time. Meaning, we don’t want to completely waste it when we approach people. But after a brainstorm of what to ask Zimmern during the holidays, we decided to opt for a more lighthearted approach.
Read the story: Andrew Zimmern reveals his favorite restaurant right now, holiday plans and more.
3. Where to go after a night of drinking in Los Angeles
Matthew Kang, who is known for the food blog mattatouille.com and now Scoops Westside came to us with this story in mind. For a man who loves Los Angeles, alcohol and food, we thought he was perfect for this story.
Read the story: Where to go after a night of drinking in Los Angeles.
2. Maple-Sugared Grilled Sweet Potato Fries
With little more than 14,000 pageviews, this recipe created by Becki Kregoski of bitesnbrews.com makes the most viewed recipe on Taste Terminal.
Get the recipe: Maple-Sugared Grilled Sweet Potato Fries.
1. Samuel Adams: an interview with Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company
We were invited to one of the media events hosted in Denver by Boston Beer Company during the Great American Beer Festival. It’s there that we found time to chat with beer industry legend Jim Koch. With over 140 up-votes on Reddit.com, and most linked from around the web, it’s the most popular and most viewed story of ours from 2011.
Read the story: Samuel Adams: an interview with Jim Koch, founder of Boston Beer Company.
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