Nakashima Dining Table pt 1 – Preparing the Cleats
Last week I had some time to start working on the table. While Robert from Dikhout was preparing the stock for the posts and the stretcher, I went to work preparing the stock for the three cleats. First, I suppose, it would be good to get the terminology clear so we all know what we’re talking about. In the sketch on the right, the piece marked ‘a’ is the stretcher, the two pieces marked ‘b’ are the feet, the three pieces marked ‘c’ are the cleats, and finally the two pieces marked ‘d’ are the posts.
Royal Root
We all know carrots as those adorable orange roots with the tufted green hairstyle and their promise of superhuman eyesight, but that’s not what they really are. Not what they used to be. In the grand scheme of things, orange carrots are very young. Only a couple of hundred years old. Babies! Still immature and infantile.
The Epicurean lives!
I have been wanting to get into food writing for a long time now, but somehow never felt the need; the time and place was never right. This changed this morning when the first article of a new food column for the University newspaper was published. The column is called The Epicurean and will be published once a fortnight. At least that’s the plan for now.
40th birthday
Birthdays have never meant very much to me, but this one is special. One of the most important restaurant in the history of American cooking, Chez Panisse, celebrates its fortieth year. Chez Panisse, the brainchild of Alice Waters, opened its doors in 1971 and was almost single-handedly responsible for the birth, or at least the maturity, of California cuisine. With a focus on good-quality, fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients, California cuisine is not about complexity, but about simplicity. It is all about making the most out of the best ingredients, allowing their flavours to shine and to combine harmoniously.
My name is Tassos (Anastasios) Sarampalis. I work as a teacher and researcher at the 








