My foodie resolutions for 2010

My friend Susan called me a couple of weeks ago to ask me about my new year's resolution in terms of food.  She was doing an article for the South China Morning Post and wanted to get my thoughts.  I hadn't specifically made it a point to come up with resolutions for 2010, but I guess there have always been a few things in the back of my mind.  So here we go... the following paragraphs are lifted from the article published on December 31, 2009:  original article can be found here (requires subscription to SCMP.com)

Peter Chang
Financial professional and Diary of a Growing Boy food blogger (chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com)
"I want to go back to Tokyo for a foodie trip and try some of the places that are in the Tokyo Michelin Guide - Japanese and fusion restaurants. People talk about a sushi place called Sukiyabashi Jiro, which has three stars. I also want to try some tempura places. On my last trip, I had an amazing tempura meal at a restaurant nobody talks about and I figure if it's that good at a place no one knows, how much better will it be at a place people say is the best. I'll also try some of the more creative kaiseki places that people on [food blog] Chowhound write about.

"For other food destinations, it depends on work, I'm sure I'll be travelling to Europe and the US, but those trips are pretty busy.

"My wine-tasting group might be taking another trip this year - this year [2009] we went to Bordeaux so in 2010 we might go to Burgundy and the south of France. These trips are focused on wine but, of course, there will be some nice meals at the vineyards we visit, plus one or two meals at [Michelin] starred restaurants. Then I'll make some detours to eat at other places when we leave Beaune or Lyon - I'd like to try Troisgros [in Roanne].

"I'd also like to learn to cook in the new year - I'm not a good cook and I want to learn more. I just bought a place in Taipei and I'll be fitting out the new kitchen. I want to buy a temperature-controlled steamer, and I'm hoping friends can teach me to cook sous-vide. That's my goal for 2010 - to get some good kitchen equipment and learn to cook sous-vide."

OK, I'm not sure that I actually said "I'm not a good cook" to Susan...that may be her interpretation since she thinks that all I cook at home are instant noodles.  Of course I don't cook as well as she does, being a professional chef and all... But I haven't had any complaints so far from the select few friends who have had my cooking.

So the big things this year will be Japan and France, both probably in the second half of the year.  Let's see what happens!