Sharon Burns
Bike
Cresting Washington Boulevard in the Presidio over San Francisco Bay—let’s hear it for Slow Streets!
Eat
Niu Rou Mien in Taipei, preferably a place with mismatched tables and chairs under a bare lightbulb
Drink
Twinings Lady Grey
Sleep
Warm afternoon doze in the hammock after an early morning ride
Sharon’s early years took her from the Boston suburbs to the small river city of Tamsui, Taiwan. As a ten-year-old there, she learned how to navigate the city buses and to dodge taxicabs. Her cousins and classmates led her through the twisting back alleys and street markets to find the best noodles and hambao.
After a stint at the University of Michigan, she left Ann Arbor behind for the rolling hills and cherry orchards of northern Michigan. In Ellsworth, a hamlet of 400, she learned scratch baking from Carl, a pastry chef from Chicago. Pram, a sommelier from Detroit, taught her about wine and fine table service, as did Gail, wife of a dairy farmer and Randy, an elementary schoolteacher. Chad cooked on sauté and on days off guided her through the elms and poplars in search of wild morels and chanterelles.
Sharon and Chad opened and ran Farmstead Table Restaurant in Newton Centre for ten years. These days you can find her practicing Olympic weightlifting and riding the brakes too much on the downhills.