How To Pair Food & Wine

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

 

I absolutely love to throw dinner parties. I get really into it too, planning out cocktails and hors devours to snack on before the meal and then mapping out an entire menu. I like to set the table nicely and pick up a new centerpiece. The music playlist is always thought out beforehand and I spend hours preparing the apartment Pairing Wineto be guest friendly. The more dinners I plan and parties I throw, the more I care about whether the drinks I am serving compliment the food. It never used to matter. “ People can drink what they want, I don’t have time to figure out whether or not it goes with each course.” I have also always been spoiled having Andrew, our GM and sommelier at M&D, available through text or quick call so if I’m being honest, I never had to learn how to do this on my own. But one day I decided enough was enough and I needed to learn. In the following post I am going to take what I’ve learned about pairing wine (cocktails another day) and condense it to keep it short, simple, and easy to follow.Continue Reading

It Takes Two to Truffle

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

This is it folks. Crunch time. Valentine’s Day is tomorrow so if you haven’t picked up some sweets for your sweet yet, I recommend swinging by the M&D bakery for a box of cookies, truffles, cupcakes, lover’s cake, Custom Valentine's CookieDanish, or anything else to spoil your better half. If you don’t have time to stop by, fear not. You can create decadent truffles at home with just two ingredients.Continue Reading

3 Cocktails for Your Valentine

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Rebecca McKinney

I was born a foodie. My dad is a chef, baker, and restaurant owner and my mom might as well be because she owns whatever kitchen she walks into. I grew up working in my family’s restaurant and bakery in Pawling, New York – McKinney and Doyle. I started behind the bakery counter at 12 years old after begging my parents to let me start working. At 16 I worked as a hostess. By 18 I was serving tables and training behind the bar where I then worked every other weekend throughout my college career. Even now, when I am visiting my family in New York, I help out where I’m needed. To make a long story short, the food and restaurant industry has been my life for as long as I can remember.

I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.

So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!

Eat well & travel often,

Becky McKinney

Latest posts by Rebecca McKinney (see all)

Valentine’s Day is just a hop, skip, and a jump away. Actually, it’s more like just a hop away so if you haven’t made your plans yet, you better get on it! Restaurants tend to book up way early for this lover’s holiday so if you can’t get a reservation for the 14th, why not celebrate early or late? After all, true love doesn’t need a 3 Valentine's Day Cocktailsdedicated day (and all that other mush people say this time of year). If you’re more of the “stay at home” type couple, this post is for you. I’m trusting that you’ve got dinner on lock (and if you don’t, you better call M&D and either book a table or plan your to-go order!) so today, let’s focus on the cocktails.Continue Reading