MARIANI’S
January 16, 2004
NEWSLETTER
Charlie
Chaplin in "The Gold Rush" (1925)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDITOR'S
NOTE Readers may now access
an
Archive of all past newsletters--each annotated--dating back to July,
2003, by simply clicking on www.johnmariani.com/archive
.
NEW FEATURE! You may now subscribe (or unsubscribe) anyone you wish to this newsletter by clicking here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~
WHY
BOTHER? A Jeremiad on American
Coffee by John Mariani
NEW
YORK CORNER: Trotter's
by John Mariani
QUICK
BYTES
WHY BOTHER? The Sad Case of Coffee in America
By John Mariani
In
a word, American coffee sucks.
And not just the coffee itself but our entire coffee culture, which begins with the lowest expectations for something merely meant to trigger one’s morning demeanor. "In a sense, caffeine is the drug that made the modern world possible," writes T. R. Reid in the January 2005 issue of National Geographic. "Without that useful jolt of coffee--or Diet Coke or Red Bull--to get us out of bed and back to work, the 24-hour society of the developed world couldn't exist."
I doubt many Americans actually brew coffee in the morning anymore, unless their idea of brewing is a Mr. Coffee machine (below).
It’s so much easier to walk to the end of
one’s
driveway and find six coffee houses within a block of one’s home or
office,
driven by the astounding popularity of Starbucks--which opens four
units and hires 200 people every day and whose best coffee
tastes
abut 1%
better than most American coffee, which is less than 1% better than the
horrendous brown water served on airplanes. And that’s the problem: Americans don’t really care how their coffee tastes, despite our predilections for ordering the stuff in any of 50 varieties, with whipped cream, spices, chocolate, almond extract, and in myriad forms that defy rationality. (I will not even discuss de-caf decoctions as coffee at all.)
Now comes
the announcement that Wolfgang Puck's "Gourmet Latte" (left) is being sold in a
can
that heats itself to 145° in six minutes and stays hot for 30, a
process
designed by something called OnTech. A can will cost about $2.25.
Isn't this what G.I.'s have been complaining about in war zones?We talk a good game. It’s said that one reason for Krispy Kreme’s current sales decline is not just the carbo thing but their lousy coffee; Dunkin’ Donuts, on the other hand, is soaring because they have apparently given increasing priority to their coffee. Espresso now counts for 10% of their annual sales. Whatever the reason, neither serves anything approaching a really good cuppa java.
For starters DD and Starbucks serve their coffee way too hot in plastic or paper cups that hold in the heat—boiling hot, blisteringly hot, as if everyone who
comes
through their doors just snow-shoed in from Siberia and needed to be
de-frosted. I must admit I've developed
a
niggling admiration for the elderly woman who sued a fast food shop for
serving
her
coffee so hot that when it spilled on her, she suffered severe burns.
(I also
think the woman was an idiot for carrying the coffee between her legs
while
driving. . . duh!)Having just this morning been forced by an early flight out of JFK to grab a cup of coffee from a Dunkin’ Donuts, I asked the woman behind the counter to give me “a small cup and please do not fill it all the way to the top,” knowing from past experience how easy it is to spill the damn thing and to blister one’s lips on it. I was then told they don’t have a “small”; this being America, everything starts at “large” and goes up to “humungus.” I settled for a large and, upon opening the lid on the plane, found she'd completely disregarded my request and filled it right to the brim with scalding hot coffee. I got on the plane at 8:50 AM, but the coffee was not cooled down enough to drink until 9:35 AM, by which time I’d lost all interest in the awful-tasting stuff.
Pouring hot, hot coffee into a plastic or paper cup insulates the liquid and keeps it that way, which is pointless unless you have no intention of taking a sip for the next hour or so. Paper and plastic cups are also hideous and impossible to hold. And when the coffee—such as it is—is sipped, you taste nothing until it’s much cooler.
I grew up on good coffee, not because of the brand, which was, as I recall, Maxwell House, but because my mother always percolated it just to the right point and temperature, then served it with heavy cream. It was delicious coffee. Only later, after visiting Europe did I learn to love espresso and cappuccino. (Until the 1980s almost all
espresso in the U.S. was made
in metal pots with two canisters (left),
and it was usually awful, made
from
cheap, bitter, burnt coffee grounds, which is why it was usually served
with a piece of
lemon rind to improve the taste of the sludge. Believe me, a
ten-cent shot of sambuca did nothing to improve it either. What I found in Europe—particularly in Italy, but also in France and Germany—was that coffee was not only taken very seriously but was something well worth enjoying on its own. Espresso, which is usually a mix of fine arabica beans with darker, more robust robusto beans, is made with a machine intended for two purposes only: espresso and cappuccino, techniques invented in Milan at the turn of the last century. The first espresso machine appeared in 1902. The story goes that it was a quick shot of coffee before catching the Milan express trains.
Italy
doesn’t grow any coffee beans
but it does import and roast them. The fellow who makes your
coffee in a cafe or bar is an expert called a barrista,
and he is as
fastidious about the humidity in the air and the correct grinding of
the
roasted beans as he is about the temperature, size, and shape of the
cup. The
machines are kept scrupulously clean and serviced. In fact, a service
contract
is always a part of the purchase of an espresso machine. An Italian
would
never be caught dead drinking coffee from a paper cup.
Thus, it is difficult not
to have a
delicious, well-made coffee in Italy. Believe me, prisoners in the
worst jail
in Palermo get better coffee than most Americans get here, and that
goes for
the diluted junk Italian restaurants generally serve, even when they
buy
$1,000 espresso machines--of which there are dozens on the market--and
expensive Italian beans. Who usually makes the coffee in an American, even an Italian-American, restaurant? The busboy, who wouldn’t know good coffee if it came up and bit him on the butt.
I’ve
never known any cafe in Paris to offer anything called “French roast”
coffee, and the once ubiquitous café
presse, 
whose
ground beans are pushed to the bottom of a glass container (right), is not
seen much anymore, though it makes a pretty good cup of
coffee. Germans and Eastern
Europeans go
to coffee houses and have a highly developed coffee culture.
Increasingly they too are adopting Italian
espresso
as the norm.
Greek and Turkish coffee is very much a matter of taste and tradition. I find people either love or hate the intensity and sweetness of such coffee, boiled thrice and sugared, with the inevitable muddy grounds at the bottom. Caffé cubano is even more intense (but ground-less), brewed like espresso, poured into a small pot, sugared, then served in tiny cups intended to be knocked back in one shot. I love the stuff.
Otherwise I almost never drink coffee in America, not even in good Italian restaurants. If I do I ask the Italian owner to make it for me the way he drinks it himself; eighty percent of the time it still comes out poorly made. I can live without it or make it when I get home. Espresso poured into a plastic or paper cup is a sacrilege and abomination.
In our house we have two espresso
machines, and both are
near
perfect. I use a Lavazza automatic
machine that takes little plastic cylinders perfectly packed with the
right amount of coffee, through
which
hot
water is expressed into my short, impeccably shaped ceramic espresso
cup. The
machine (left) cost me about
$1000 and I couldn't be happier with the results. Indeed, I find the
more complicated espresso machines on the market are less than the sum
of
their shiny parts. Believe me, you shouldn't have to go through ten
steps to make good espresso. Whatever espresso maker you buy,
however, make sure it
is sturdy, has a long-term warranty, and sits firmly on your counter.
My older son, on the other hand, considers himself a barrista extraordinaria, whose investigation into the myriad varieties of coffee beans borders on the manic. He’s always ordering a new blend form Costa Rica or Nicaragua or Ethiopia, with names like Monsoon Malabar and Tanzania Peaberry, and he further mixes his own concoctions from them. These he grinds and puts through a sexy red Illycaffe espresso machine( right), which he experiments with constantly in search of the perfect espresso. I must say he often tells me, "Taste this," and I reel back with astonishment at how wonderful his coffee is.
His machine (below)
runs $650 and up, depending on the
model.
If there is such a thing as a perfect espresso, he will find it. And I’m willing to wait. In the meantime, don’t bother serving me coffee in anything but a warmed cup and don’t fill it to the rim with Brim or any other American coffee. Or else I’ll do a Danny Thomas "spit take," which he always did whenever his agent Buddy brought him bad news: “Danny, Danny! They’re closing the Copa!” Schprrrrriiitzz!
NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani
TROTTERS
175 Main Street
White Plains, NY
914-421-5012
No,
Chicago's Charlie Trotter has not branched out into White Plains, NY
(though he is
expected to this fall at NYC's Time-Warner Center). The Trotters I'm writing about is,
however, in
White Plains, NY, which got its name from a translation of
the Indian word Qua-ro-pas
("white marshes") and is Westchester County's capital city,
about 40 minutes north of Manhattan. White Plains has had plenty
of ups and downs but is currently a boomtown. In the past ten
years the city has grown exponentially, with just about every major
retail operation you can think of in one of its shopping malls or
centers, including Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's.
It has also drawn to it plenty of good restaurants, including chains like Legal Seafoods and Morton's, along with indigenous eateries like the wonderful City Limits Diner and the restaurant under discussion this week: Trotters, which has been around since 1997, but originally as a bar and grill. A year or so ago, however, Anthony Goncalves (above), 35 , a young, impassioned chef just dying to show off his well-earned talents, saw White Plains' fortunes rising and decided he could turn Trotters into a serious but affable restaurant, with a menu that would be innovative anywhere. He has picked up ideas from master chefs all over the U.S. and Europe and they have coalesced into his own big-flavored, generously proportioned style, beautifully plated and fairly priced. Add to this a very commendable wine list of 460, and you have a restaurant worth going out of your way for if you live in the Tri-State area.
You enter through a large bar area and into an L-shaped dining room as handsome and sophisticated as any in the region, wholly unpretentious, with excellent track lighting, effusions of flowers, fine brightly colored artwork, and a hard-working, congenial waitstaff that should be a model of form. Linens and tableware are of quality, the wineglasses thin. Goncalves is always happy to bound out of the kitchen to say hello to regulars and newcomers, which includes a good number of the county's celebrity homeowners like Vanessa Williams, Frank and Kathy Lee Gifford, Michael Bolton, and Chazz Palmentieri, and he's always delighted to tell you about some excellent fish that came in that morning or a great new buy he got on a case of wine. He is a model of exuberance, the kind of chef you trust to cook for you, which he will do in a 5-course tasting menu at $74 or 7 courses for $95.
You might begin with a large pan-seared sea scallop in a sauce far more subtle than you'd surmise from the ingredients--espresso, orange rind syrup and broccoli--which all work together for a good palate spark. In fact, one of the thin virtues I most admire in Goncalves is his ability always to skirt doing too much to a plate while giving you everything a dish needs to raise it beyond the usual. Roasted beets in a walnut dressing is a ubiquitous dish these days, usually done with goat's cheese, but Goncalves substitutes the more pungent surprise of creamy Gorgonzola. Simple but packed with flavor is his bowl of steamed cockles with Portuguese chourico, sea salt, and habanero in a broth of reduced Pinot Grigio.
I shall probably never tire of foie gras as long as smart chefs keep coming up with bright ideas for its rendering, here seared to a pink turn and served with brioche, kumquats, clementine and caramelized Asian pears whose sweetness and tartness worked impeccably. Also wonderful were his ricotta "pillows" topped with a spicy short rib ragoût, and I find it hard not to order his potato gnocchi with a medley of black truffles, oyster mushrooms, English peas, and a Gorgonzola sauce.
There is a raw bar here and several generous salad options, then appetizer and pasta selections. "From the Sea" includes a succulent Idaho rainbow trout, roasted whole, de-boned and stuffed with lump crabmeat, roasted tomatoes and scallions in an orange-lemon-lime olive oil combined with a beurre blanc and dusted with buttery toasted breadcrumbs.
If you want meat or poultry by all means try his "Raised Right Chicken 3 Ways," a terrific combination of hormone-free chicken pan-seared, braised, and fried, served with a potato puree, white-wine garlic sauce and a side of broccoli di rabe. This may not only be his best dish but it is a perfect rendering of three preparations that coalesce into a textbook lesson of precise cooking techniques. His ingredients are always first quality, like his Colorado rack of lamb, pan-seared with figs and capers in a fine reduction of pinot noir with roasted butternut squash. There is even ostrich on the menu, and for vegetarians, stuffed eggplant with a Sicilian tomato sauce.
You might well wonder if he can carry through with desserts at the same level. The easy answer is to order pastry chef Marie Evans' chocolate soufflé, which comes with just the right texture of softness, served with blue and yellow chamomile tea and finished with truffle honey. Case closed.
Trotters is one of those real finds of modern American cuisine, and if Goncalves seems too ambitious in his global approach to his menu, it is clear that nothing appears on it that he has not perfected. Experimentation is not his style: he says his mantra is, “Food is art, and art takes time.” And he makes me believe it as much as I believe he is a real culinary star on the rise.
Appetizers run $9-$15, main courses $19-36 (with Kobe beef sirloin at $59).
DEPARTMENT OF WRETCHED EXCESS
Britney Spears treated her pet chihuahua, Bitbit, to a $200 steak at Picasso restaurant in Bellagio in Las Vegas.
GEE, WE WERE JUST MUTTERING IT TO OURSELVES WHILE THEY TIGHTENED THE RESTRAINTS ON OUR STRAITJACKET
"All over America, serious cooks have often been heard to utter `TGFM,' or its equivalent, `Thank God for McGee'--that is, Harold McGee, America's leading light on the science of food."--Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue (November 2004).
LET ME TAKE YOU ON A SEA CRUISE
Dear
Subscriber,whose
ground beans are pushed to the bottom of a glass container (right), is not
seen much anymore, though it makes a pretty good cup of
coffee. Germans and Eastern
Europeans go
to coffee houses and have a highly developed coffee culture.
Increasingly they too are adopting Italian
espresso
as the norm.Greek and Turkish coffee is very much a matter of taste and tradition. I find people either love or hate the intensity and sweetness of such coffee, boiled thrice and sugared, with the inevitable muddy grounds at the bottom. Caffé cubano is even more intense (but ground-less), brewed like espresso, poured into a small pot, sugared, then served in tiny cups intended to be knocked back in one shot. I love the stuff.
Otherwise I almost never drink coffee in America, not even in good Italian restaurants. If I do I ask the Italian owner to make it for me the way he drinks it himself; eighty percent of the time it still comes out poorly made. I can live without it or make it when I get home. Espresso poured into a plastic or paper cup is a sacrilege and abomination.
In our house we have two espresso
machines, and both are
near
perfect. I use a Lavazza automatic
machine that takes little plastic cylinders perfectly packed with the
right amount of coffee, through
which
hot
water is expressed into my short, impeccably shaped ceramic espresso
cup. The
machine (left) cost me about
$1000 and I couldn't be happier with the results. Indeed, I find the
more complicated espresso machines on the market are less than the sum
of
their shiny parts. Believe me, you shouldn't have to go through ten
steps to make good espresso. Whatever espresso maker you buy,
however, make sure it
is sturdy, has a long-term warranty, and sits firmly on your counter.My older son, on the other hand, considers himself a barrista extraordinaria, whose investigation into the myriad varieties of coffee beans borders on the manic. He’s always ordering a new blend form Costa Rica or Nicaragua or Ethiopia, with names like Monsoon Malabar and Tanzania Peaberry, and he further mixes his own concoctions from them. These he grinds and puts through a sexy red Illycaffe espresso machine( right), which he experiments with constantly in search of the perfect espresso. I must say he often tells me, "Taste this," and I reel back with astonishment at how wonderful his coffee is.
His machine (below)
runs $650 and up, depending on the
model.If there is such a thing as a perfect espresso, he will find it. And I’m willing to wait. In the meantime, don’t bother serving me coffee in anything but a warmed cup and don’t fill it to the rim with Brim or any other American coffee. Or else I’ll do a Danny Thomas "spit take," which he always did whenever his agent Buddy brought him bad news: “Danny, Danny! They’re closing the Copa!” Schprrrrriiitzz!
NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani
TROTTERS
175 Main Street
White Plains, NY
914-421-5012
No,
Chicago's Charlie Trotter has not branched out into White Plains, NY
(though he is
expected to this fall at NYC's Time-Warner Center). The Trotters I'm writing about is,
however, in
White Plains, NY, which got its name from a translation of
the Indian word Qua-ro-pas
("white marshes") and is Westchester County's capital city,
about 40 minutes north of Manhattan. White Plains has had plenty
of ups and downs but is currently a boomtown. In the past ten
years the city has grown exponentially, with just about every major
retail operation you can think of in one of its shopping malls or
centers, including Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale's. It has also drawn to it plenty of good restaurants, including chains like Legal Seafoods and Morton's, along with indigenous eateries like the wonderful City Limits Diner and the restaurant under discussion this week: Trotters, which has been around since 1997, but originally as a bar and grill. A year or so ago, however, Anthony Goncalves (above), 35 , a young, impassioned chef just dying to show off his well-earned talents, saw White Plains' fortunes rising and decided he could turn Trotters into a serious but affable restaurant, with a menu that would be innovative anywhere. He has picked up ideas from master chefs all over the U.S. and Europe and they have coalesced into his own big-flavored, generously proportioned style, beautifully plated and fairly priced. Add to this a very commendable wine list of 460, and you have a restaurant worth going out of your way for if you live in the Tri-State area.
You enter through a large bar area and into an L-shaped dining room as handsome and sophisticated as any in the region, wholly unpretentious, with excellent track lighting, effusions of flowers, fine brightly colored artwork, and a hard-working, congenial waitstaff that should be a model of form. Linens and tableware are of quality, the wineglasses thin. Goncalves is always happy to bound out of the kitchen to say hello to regulars and newcomers, which includes a good number of the county's celebrity homeowners like Vanessa Williams, Frank and Kathy Lee Gifford, Michael Bolton, and Chazz Palmentieri, and he's always delighted to tell you about some excellent fish that came in that morning or a great new buy he got on a case of wine. He is a model of exuberance, the kind of chef you trust to cook for you, which he will do in a 5-course tasting menu at $74 or 7 courses for $95.
You might begin with a large pan-seared sea scallop in a sauce far more subtle than you'd surmise from the ingredients--espresso, orange rind syrup and broccoli--which all work together for a good palate spark. In fact, one of the thin virtues I most admire in Goncalves is his ability always to skirt doing too much to a plate while giving you everything a dish needs to raise it beyond the usual. Roasted beets in a walnut dressing is a ubiquitous dish these days, usually done with goat's cheese, but Goncalves substitutes the more pungent surprise of creamy Gorgonzola. Simple but packed with flavor is his bowl of steamed cockles with Portuguese chourico, sea salt, and habanero in a broth of reduced Pinot Grigio.
I shall probably never tire of foie gras as long as smart chefs keep coming up with bright ideas for its rendering, here seared to a pink turn and served with brioche, kumquats, clementine and caramelized Asian pears whose sweetness and tartness worked impeccably. Also wonderful were his ricotta "pillows" topped with a spicy short rib ragoût, and I find it hard not to order his potato gnocchi with a medley of black truffles, oyster mushrooms, English peas, and a Gorgonzola sauce.
There is a raw bar here and several generous salad options, then appetizer and pasta selections. "From the Sea" includes a succulent Idaho rainbow trout, roasted whole, de-boned and stuffed with lump crabmeat, roasted tomatoes and scallions in an orange-lemon-lime olive oil combined with a beurre blanc and dusted with buttery toasted breadcrumbs.
If you want meat or poultry by all means try his "Raised Right Chicken 3 Ways," a terrific combination of hormone-free chicken pan-seared, braised, and fried, served with a potato puree, white-wine garlic sauce and a side of broccoli di rabe. This may not only be his best dish but it is a perfect rendering of three preparations that coalesce into a textbook lesson of precise cooking techniques. His ingredients are always first quality, like his Colorado rack of lamb, pan-seared with figs and capers in a fine reduction of pinot noir with roasted butternut squash. There is even ostrich on the menu, and for vegetarians, stuffed eggplant with a Sicilian tomato sauce.
You might well wonder if he can carry through with desserts at the same level. The easy answer is to order pastry chef Marie Evans' chocolate soufflé, which comes with just the right texture of softness, served with blue and yellow chamomile tea and finished with truffle honey. Case closed.
Trotters is one of those real finds of modern American cuisine, and if Goncalves seems too ambitious in his global approach to his menu, it is clear that nothing appears on it that he has not perfected. Experimentation is not his style: he says his mantra is, “Food is art, and art takes time.” And he makes me believe it as much as I believe he is a real culinary star on the rise.
Appetizers run $9-$15, main courses $19-36 (with Kobe beef sirloin at $59).
DEPARTMENT OF WRETCHED EXCESS
Britney Spears treated her pet chihuahua, Bitbit, to a $200 steak at Picasso restaurant in Bellagio in Las Vegas.
GEE, WE WERE JUST MUTTERING IT TO OURSELVES WHILE THEY TIGHTENED THE RESTRAINTS ON OUR STRAITJACKET
"All over America, serious cooks have often been heard to utter `TGFM,' or its equivalent, `Thank God for McGee'--that is, Harold McGee, America's leading light on the science of food."--Jeffrey Steingarten, Vogue (November 2004).
LET ME TAKE YOU ON A SEA CRUISE
I will be hosting
a very special
and, I think unique, Mediterranean cruise event this summer, June 4-16
on the S.S. Crystal Serenity.
I have chosen some of my favorite
places in the whole world to visit and dine at, including Alain
Ducasse’s illustrious three-star Louis XV restaurant in Monaco Amalfi
Coast Dubrovnik Barcelona , Monaco Florence Sorrento Rome
My wife Galina, co-author with me of The Italian American Cookbook (which we’ll sign copies of), will also be giving an exclusive cooking lesson onboard I know you will enjoy. Between relaxing and enjoying yourselves onboard and coming with us to the loveliest sites and restaurants in theMediterranean , you will
have a unique and memorable trip and, I hope, become as familiar with
these glorious places, cultures, and people as I am.
Galina and I look forward to seeing you onboard in June! For details, go to http://www.festivalsafloat.com/html/mariani/letter.html
-- John Mariani
QUICK BYTES
* E&O Trading Company is helping Tsunami relief by suggesting customers make a donation to CARE, on a form that explains that any $ amount above what is due for the meal that the customer adds to their total paid will be forwarded to CARE, along with a portion of E&O's proceeds. Donors will be entered in a drawing for a cooking class with E&O's Chef Barney Brown. San Francisco: 415- 693-0303; Larkspur Landing: 415- 925-0303; San Jose:408- 938-4100.
* On Jan. 19 inSeattle chef/owner Thierry
Rautureau, has pledged 45% of his sales to support Mercy Corp and the Southeast Asia tsunami relief effort. Rover’s joins
together
that evening with 30 local restaurants, each designating an amount of
their
profits to be donated to this support organization. Call 206-325-7442.
* On Jan. 19Boston India
* From Jan. 24-26 NYC’s Tavern on the Green will donate 100% of its lunch time à la carte food and beverage sales to UNICEF’s South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts.
* On Jan. 24Philadelphia Washington
Square
* On Jan. 25 Chef Ed Brown of NYC’s The Sea Grill will host 6-course black truffle menu. $140 pp, with wines, $200. Call 212-332-7610. To launch the black truffle season, Chef Brown will also serve aNova Scotia
* On Jan. 25 Les Deux Autres inGlenville , Ill Champagne
* On Jan. 26 over 45 L.A. area restaurants and wine stores will unite to donate a percentage of one day's sales to Operation USA, a local tsunami relief agency: A.O.C., Ammo, Aubergine (OC), Avenue, Bar Celona, Blue on Blue, Buddah's Belly, Chaya Brasserie, Chaya Venice, Elixir Tonics & Teas, Falcon, Fat Fish, GRACE, Granita, Jar, Joe's, La Boheme, L'Orangerie, Lucques, Luna Park, Meson G, Michael's, Minibar, Monsoon, Nook Bistro, Norman's on Sunset, O-Bar, Oceanfront at Casa del Mar, One Pico at Shutters, Pearl Dragon, Pedals at Shutters, Red Pearl Kitchen (OC), Sona, Spider Club, Tamarin, Tanino, The Courtyard, The Little Door, The Lodge (OC), Tantra, Troquet (OC), Valentino, Villa Sorriso, Voda, Whist, Yu Restaurant & Lounge. Wine stores: SilverLake Wine
* On Jan. 27Wine Garden Yountville , CA
* On Jan. 31 Il Fornaio (America
* From now through April 24 Willows Lodge in Woodville, WA, announces its “Day of Wine and Romance” package, with accommodations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., champagne, candles, bubble bath and bath salts, strawberries with whipped crème plus a nostalgic copy of Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.” $220, incl.lunch with wine at Barking Frog Bistro, or $150 not incl. lunch. Call 425- 424-3900 or visit www.willowslodge.com.
* On Feb. 1Boston Piedmont , Italy
Valentine's Day My wife Galina, co-author with me of The Italian American Cookbook (which we’ll sign copies of), will also be giving an exclusive cooking lesson onboard I know you will enjoy. Between relaxing and enjoying yourselves onboard and coming with us to the loveliest sites and restaurants in the
QUICK BYTES
* E&O Trading Company is helping Tsunami relief by suggesting customers make a donation to CARE, on a form that explains that any $ amount above what is due for the meal that the customer adds to their total paid will be forwarded to CARE, along with a portion of E&O's proceeds. Donors will be entered in a drawing for a cooking class with E&O's Chef Barney Brown. San Francisco: 415- 693-0303; Larkspur Landing: 415- 925-0303; San Jose:408- 938-4100.
* On Jan. 19 in
* On Jan. 19
* From Jan. 24-26 NYC’s Tavern on the Green will donate 100% of its lunch time à la carte food and beverage sales to UNICEF’s South Asia Tsunami Relief Efforts.
* On Jan. 24
* On Jan. 25 Chef Ed Brown of NYC’s The Sea Grill will host 6-course black truffle menu. $140 pp, with wines, $200. Call 212-332-7610. To launch the black truffle season, Chef Brown will also serve a
* On Jan. 25 Les Deux Autres in
* On Jan. 26 over 45 L.A. area restaurants and wine stores will unite to donate a percentage of one day's sales to Operation USA, a local tsunami relief agency: A.O.C., Ammo, Aubergine (OC), Avenue, Bar Celona, Blue on Blue, Buddah's Belly, Chaya Brasserie, Chaya Venice, Elixir Tonics & Teas, Falcon, Fat Fish, GRACE, Granita, Jar, Joe's, La Boheme, L'Orangerie, Lucques, Luna Park, Meson G, Michael's, Minibar, Monsoon, Nook Bistro, Norman's on Sunset, O-Bar, Oceanfront at Casa del Mar, One Pico at Shutters, Pearl Dragon, Pedals at Shutters, Red Pearl Kitchen (OC), Sona, Spider Club, Tamarin, Tanino, The Courtyard, The Little Door, The Lodge (OC), Tantra, Troquet (OC), Valentino, Villa Sorriso, Voda, Whist, Yu Restaurant & Lounge. Wine stores: Silver
* On Jan. 27
* On Jan. 27 wine writer and humorist W. R. Tish of "Wine
For All" will lead a
5-course dinner at NYC's Acqua Pazza, with wines. Visit www.wineforall.com for complete
menu. $80 pp. Call 212-582-6900.
* On Jan. 31 Il Fornaio (
* From now through April 24 Willows Lodge in Woodville, WA, announces its “Day of Wine and Romance” package, with accommodations from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., champagne, candles, bubble bath and bath salts, strawberries with whipped crème plus a nostalgic copy of Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight.” $220, incl.lunch with wine at Barking Frog Bistro, or $150 not incl. lunch. Call 425- 424-3900 or visit www.willowslodge.com.
* On Feb. 1
* On Feb. 13
Chef Tony Mantuano
of
*
* MonteLago Village Resort in
* NYC: Trattoria Dopo Teatro (212-869-2849) will offer a 4-course meal with kir royale at $45. . . . Petrosino’s chef Patrick Nuti and wine director Antonio Bellomo will feature a 4-course dinner at $55. Call 212-673-3773.
* Orient-Express packages: "Love on the Lagoon" takes in Bora Bora, Ta’ha, Huahine, and Raiatea. Excursions include private movie screenings, champagne breakfast afloat in a lagoon, and more. Bora Bora Lagoon Resort: 3 nights in an overwater bungalow, canoe breakfasts and daily spa treatments. 10-day Motu Miti package include 6 nights accommodations; yacht include: a motu picnic, river kayak, snorkeling excursions, movie night, champagne lagoon breakfast, sunset trekking, a visit to a botanical garden and traditional pearl farm; Packages start at 9,876 € for two. Call 1-800-860-4095 or visit www.boraboralagoon.com. . . . Charleston Place Hotel, Charleston, SC, offers 2 night’s suite accommodations, roses, carriage tour, dinner at the Charleston Grill with wines, champagne, and chocolate dessert in the suite, drawn bath with tea candles, then breakfast in bed. $2,425 per couple, with a 25% for couples married for 25 years or more. . . ."Love on the Half Shell" at The Inn at Perry Cabin, St. Michaels, MD, offers a 2-night package with Champagne, oysters, dinner at Sherwood’s Landing, chocolates, a string of fine pearls, and Sun. brunch. $1,500 per couple for one night, $1,975 for two. Call 410-745-2200 or 800-722-2949, or visit www.perrycabin.com . . . . "The Love Butlers" package at Keswick Hall, Monticello, Charlottesville, VA, provides romantic CDs, erotic novellas, aromatherapy bath oils and candles, breakfast in bed or in the restaurant, wine, a special gift, arrangements for a private dining room, or a his-and-her day of pampering, afternoon tea, and a dinner by Chef John Brand. $295 mid-week, weekends from $395. Call 1-800-274-5391 or www.keswick.com . . . . "Passion in Paradise" at La Samanna, St. Martin, features a 7-night stay with champagne, spa treatments, sunset cruise, luxury sedan rental, 3-course dinner, and signature robes, at $4,595 per couple for an ocean view room. Call 1-800-854-2252 or www.lasamanna.com. . . . . "1,000 Candles" at the Maroma Resort and Spa, Riviera Maya, Mexico, with a 1,000 candles illuminating the pathways and pools, champagne, breakfasts, dinner (with wine), sunset cruise, snorkeling, round-trip airport transfers, and spa. From $3,005 per couple. Call 1-866-454-9351 or www.maromahotel.com. . . . "Love Potion" at the Windsor Court Hotel, New Orleans, offers 2 night’s suite accommodations, dinner in the New Orleans Grill, and carriage ride to a French Quarter voodoo shop. From $840 for 2 nights in a suite/mid-week, $954 for a 2-night weekend stay. Call 1-800-262-2662 or www.windsorcourthotel.com. . . . "Eat, Drink and Love" at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire, England, offers chocolates, champagne and roses, dinner and English breakfast. From $1,531. Call 1-800-237-1236 or visit www.manoir.co.uk . . . . The Ritz Madrid offers 2 nights in a Classic Room, private chauffeur airport pick up, champagne, flowers and fruit basket, buffet breakfast and dinner in restaurant Goya. From $891. Call 1-800-237-1236 or visit www.ritzmadrid.com. . . . La Residencia, Mallorca, Spain, offers "The Suite Dream" package incl. a luxury suite, breakfast, massage, 6-course dinner, personalized bathrobe. From $2,312. Call 1-800-237-1236 or visit www.hotellaresidencia.com. . . . The Observatory Hotel and Lilianfels Blue Mountains Resort & Spa, Australia, “Sky is the Limit” pkg. of a luxury room or suite, lesson on the star-filled Southern skies, breakfast, and complimentary use of the Spa and Health Club. From $378 for a weeknight stay, $719 for a weekend stay. Call 1-800-237-1236 or visit www.lilianfels.com.a
* Millennium Hotels and Resorts (call 866-866-8086 or visit www.millenniumhotels.com for info) packages: From Feb. 11-15 Millennium Alaskan Hotel, Anchorage: King room accommodations, 4-course dinner, $199 . . From Feb. 11-14 Millennium Biltmore Hotel, LA: Cllub floor accommodations; champagne, dinner at Smeraldi’s Restaurant, $299. . . From Feb. 12-14 Millennium Bostonian Hotel: Overnight accommodations; champagne, breakfast at Seasons Restaurant or room service; $299 for deluxe room accommodations; $399 for classic balcony room; $499 for fireplace room . . . . From Feb. 10-14 Millennium Broadway Hotel, NYC: Premier room accommodations; continental breakfast, champagne and chocolates; $299; dinner with champagne at Restaurant Charlotte, $39 pp. . . From Feb. 1-28 Millennium Harvest House, Boulder: Deluxe room and dinner at the Thyme on the Creek, with wine; $199. . . . Feb. 13 & 14 Millennium Maxwell House, Nashville: Deluxe room with 4-course dinner at Praline’s Restaurant; $150. . . . Millennium Hotel, Durham: Deluxe room; dinner with champagne in Bell Gusto’s; breakfast; $199. . . .From Feb. 1-14 Millennium Hotel, St. Louis: Deluxe room accommodations, champagne and chocolate, breakfast; $179. . . . From Feb. 1-28.Millennium Hotel, Minneapolis: Suite accommodations, room service breakfast, bathrobes with personalized monogram, massage by LiteSpa; $399.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher:
John Mariani. Contributing Writers: Robert Mariani, Naomi
Kooker, Kirsten Skogerson, Edward Brivio, Mort
Hochstein, Lucy Gordan, Suzanne Wright. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical
Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
copyright John Mariani 2004