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MARIANI’S
Virtual Gourmet
October 23, 2005
NEWSLETTER
Jimtown
Store, Alexander Valley, CA (2005) Photo: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery
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In
This Issue
Back to Boca by Edward
Brivio
NEW YORK CORNER:
La Grenouille by John Mariani
QUICK BYTES
BACK
TO BOCA
by Edward
Brivio
Photos by
Bobby Perillo
Once a year, the luxurious Boca
Raton Resort and Club (501 East
Camino Real; 888-491-BOCA, 561-447-3000; click) hosts a “Food
& Wine Appreciation Weekend,” two days that bring together
winemakers from
all over the world as well as top chefs from around the country.
With
just the
right mix of gala dining and informative wine/food seminars, the event
is large
enough to guarantee everyone, from tyro to tycoon, a good time yet
small enough so that you never feel lost in the crowd
or that
you couldn't possibly savor most of what it has to offer--at least in
terms of
food: No one could possibly sample all of the wines being generously
poured into
the 4,000 Riedel glasses put to use over the weekend.
At the "Grand
Tasting" on Friday
night--one of the best walk-around multi-stationed dinners I've been
to--dishes
were prepared by seven of the Resort's own top guns, including the
Resort's own James
Reaux of
27 Ocean Blue and Carey Savona of Lucca, as well as by guest chefs
David Burke
of David Burke & Donatella in NYC, Andrea and Frank Randazzo of
Miami's Talula,
Roberto Donna of Galileo in DC, and Kent Rathbun of Abacus in Dallas.
Upon entering, you are greeted with an
iced shellfish extravaganza. Tables are available
in an adjoining room, so your portion of the Randazzos' lavish wild
mushroom
and baby spinach risotto, or Donna's incomparable cavatelli
with lobster, or Savona's mouth-watering costicine alla Toscana
(barbecued veal ribs) may be devoured comfortably while sitting down.
The list of wines and wineries is just too
long to mention, but the presence of the wooden yacht Far Niente, a
gorgeous
mahogany-paneled salon right out of “Some
Like It Hot,” moored out back, gives you some idea of their
quality.
Saturday's “La Bamba” brunch has a Latino
Street Festival theme, with authentic Central and South American, as
well as Caribbean favorites. An excellent salsa band with
attractive, nimble dancers
keeps things lively, and there is yet another spread of foods and a bevy of beautifully turned-out desserts
abundant
enough to
make a walrus blanch.
Ballroom
banquets can be unbearable, but
even the "Family Affair" dinner that closed the proceedings was a
pleasure. Just
a few, short introductory speeches, seven
delicious courses followed each other, with all the food
tasting
as if had left the stove but a few seconds before. In between, two
large
video screens showed the army of chefs and sous-chefs behind the scenes
making
it all possible. (Oh, for another morsel of the Randazzos' grilled
shrimp
tamale, or Donna's rustic roasted veal ravioli, or David Burke's
pastrami
salmon!)
This year's selection of wines focused on
family-owned wineries in the U.S. and Europe. Seminars,
which
always included tastings, had subjects like "Terroirs of Tempranillo,"
moderated by Alejandro Fernandez, the man who ventured
to make Ribera del Duero back when the only
other winery in that region was the
famous Vega Sicilia. "The Splendor
of the Riesling grape" was presented by Pierre Sparr Jr., whose family
has
been making great Alsatian whites for generations. "Under
the Tuscan Sun," a tasting of
Antinori's Chiantis and Super Tuscans, included their Tignanello, was
led
by
winemaker Alessia Antinori, looking splendid in Pucci. Other seminars
were
hosted by Michele Chiarlo of Piemonte, Beth Nickel of Nickel &
Nickel and
Far Niente, wineries, John Buelher of Buelher vineyards, and James Hall
of
Patz
& Hall, as well as master sommelier Larry Stone of Rubicon in San Francisco presenting Niebaum-Coppola's sensational
"Cask" cabernet sauvignons. The
dozen or so wines poured at the banquet included Antinori's Tignanello,
Niebaum-Coppola's Rubicon, Chiarlo's Barolo Cannubi, Nickel
&
Nickel's "Rock Cairn" Cab, a Patz & Hall Pinot, a Buehler
Chardonnay, and Sparr's Riesling Schoenenbourg.
If
time permits, stay on a day or two
longer, kick back at one of the resort’s pools or on the beach, and
sample the
cuisine at the Resort's signature restaurants. For some of the best
Italian
food in Southern
Florida, head for
restaurateur Drew Nieporent's venture, Lucca (right), located
just off the lobby of the Resort. With towering, arched windows
overlooking the
Intercoastal Waterway, contemporary Italian blown-glass chandeliers,
and an
exhibition kitchen, the David Rockwell-designed dining room is a
perfect
complement to the Tuscan cuisine of Chef Carey Savona, with a decidedly
modern
sensibility.
The only thing I like better than
banquettes are booths. If you're lucky enough to score one of the three
up
against the kitchen at Lucca, you'll have a view of the entire room and
the
Waterway beyond and be able to overhear the chefs at work. A row of some of Italy's best bottlings--lovely and colorful as a
chorus
line--serves as a modesty panel between the bright shiny kitchen and
the simple
yet elegant dining room.
Seafood antipasti modulate between
the distant Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Lucca outdoes the Greek tavernas of Astoria, Queens via Savona’s tender and unctuous octopus, slow roasted
in a
wood-burning oven, and simply dressed with garlic, chiles, lemon and
oregano. Sautéed
soft shell crab, was just about perfect, neither too big nor small, the
crustacean
was sautéed quickly until crisp and placed alongside a pungent
yet refreshing
mint aïoli. The evening's crudo (raw-fish)
combined delicious local wahoo with a
seviche-like mixture of tiny-diced tomatoes, avocados, and cucumbers
dressed
with a racy lemon vinaigrette.
Pastas are not to be missed here, whether
an old favorite made new again with great ingredients and lots of TLC,
like the
chef's spaghetti alla carbonara or
the rarely seen ghitarra, extruded through a pasta machine
rather than pressed in the traditional mold but still some of the most
tender
spaghetti
I've ever eaten, in a sauce of rock shrimp (like tiny langoustines),
tomatoes
and garlic, just the kind of shellfish marinara that I love.
Local waters also provided the yellowtail
snapper for one of our entrees, cooked to a turn and accompanied by
marinated
tomatoes, basil and artichokes. Just as good was the chef's version of
steak alla pizzaiola, a slightly-chewy yet
tender, flavorful skirt steak in an appropriately spicy sauce of stewed
peppers
and tomatoes with oregano, and a tangy provolone crostono.
Antinori's
Vermentino made for the perfect aperitif: crisp, uncomplicated, and
slightly
medicinal, while Alejandro Fernandez' Condado de Haza, and Michele
Chiarlo's
Barbera complemented the main dishes.
For dessert, the chocolate-hazlenut gelato
was good but not great, whereas the warm
vanilla cake was a standout,
an oblong of sponge cake beside a scoop of vanilla gelato
and a sweet sour-cherry compote for just the right acidic
touch.
Antipasti at Lucca run $13-$16;
pastas, $21-$31 (full courses), and main
courses $26-36.
Sitting
on top of a 27-story tower, 27
Ocean Blue's circular dining
room (below) offers diners
spectacular birds’-eye views of the Intercoastal and
the Atlantic beyond. Well-spaced tables on different
tiers allow for unobstructed
sightlines. There are even three cozy "deuces" in the bar set up
right against the floor-to-ceiling windows.
For starters, a soft shell crab po' boy
was a joy, as was an heirloom teardrop tomato salad with wedges of
watermelon,
a fruit and vegetable combo that really worked. The kitchen had just
run out of
the lobster tails for the "Surf and Turf," but the filet mignon
really needed no embellishment.
Swordfish with
Indian
spices was delicious, small rounds of quickly grilled fish tasting of
cumin,
coriander, and turmeric, with a pesto couscous. With dinner we drank
Ceretto's 1999
Barolo Zonchera ($98) a reliable, fruit-forward, though
somewhat
unexciting
wine.
That night's chocolate soufflé lived up
to expectations, tasting of excellent cocoa and a deft hand. Even
better,
perhaps, was a trio of key-lime desserts--Key-lime pie, Key lime
gelato, and
Key lime crème brûlée, each a model of its kind.
The food was wonderful, but the service
that night was something else. The second course followed the first
with
astonishing speed. Almost immediately thereafter, the soufflé
made its solo
appearance, without the Key lime "trio." At this point we spoke
up--things
had happened too quickly to do it before--and the soufflé was
whisked away
apologetically. (To the kitchen's credit, the one that appeared some
minutes
later was freshly made.) Then, as the night wound down and the
restaurant
emptied, idle waiters congregated in one corner telling jokes and
laughing,
which seemed inappropriate behavior in a dining room of this caliber.
Two
courses 2 courses plus dessert average about $70
before drinks, tax
and tip.
The
Resort’s Tower houses some of the
most luxurious accommodations here. Our well-furnished mini-suite on
the 15th
floor was large enough (roughly 600 square feet) to serve as a Manhattan apartment. A full living room, with sofa,
coffee
table and armchairs, opened onto a dining area seating four. A
king-sized,
ultra-comfortable bed filled the sleeping area. Off the bedroom was the
spacious marble bathroom furnished with private label toiletries, an
abundance
of fresh towels, and, that very thoughtful amenity, twin sinks. A
millionaire's
view of a large swath of the Intercoastal and the ocean filled the room
with
sunlight during the day, while at night, the residences of the lucky
few
dazzled with the glow of their innumerable points of light down below.
The core of the Resort, its original and
still most beautiful building, is the Cloister, Addison Mizner's
hot-pink
mozarabic folly on Florida's
Gold Coast. The otherwordly lobby (above,
left)
recalls a Spanish castle with some
Florentine
Gothic, and Italian Renaissance details added to fill in any empty
surfaces. No
one could afford to recreate its ornate decoration today, complete with
wooden
and stone arcaded galleries, marble columns, painted beam ceilings,
valuable
antiques, many brought back from Europe by Mizner himself, a
breathtaking rock
crystal chandelier, with drops the size of oranges as a centerpiece,
and
highly-polished stone floors to cool the space.
NEW
YORK CORNER
by John Mariani
La Grenouille
3 East 52nd Street
212-752-1495
www.la-grenouille.com
Never
in its 43-year history has La
Grenouille been more beautiful and
never has its cuisine hit the heights it now does.
La
Grenouille was opened during a snowstorm in December,
1962, by Charles and Gisele Masson. He had worked at the original Le
Pavillon, opened in 1941 (originally part of the French Pavilion at the
1939 New York World's Fair), which set the standard all French
restaurants to follow for the next 40. Red banquettes, tuxedoed
waiters, copycat menus full of items like hors d'oeuvres variés,
pâté
maison, poulet à la moutarde, and tarte Tatin were the indestructible
and
well beloved, but ultimately tiresome, items on the menus of myriad
French
restaurants of the 1950s and 1960s--all now gone--like La
Chaumiére, La
Chansonette, Laurent, Le Marmiton, Le Madrigal, and many others.
There was also, an entrenched Gallic
hauteur that made regulars feel wanted and newcomers feel unworthy of
partaking in the experience of sitting next to New York's social
elite. I was certainly among those whose first forays into such
restaurants was more than a little intimidating. I recall once wearing
a tuxedo and my girlfriend a long gown to Le Marmiton at a time when
such naive overdressing was only slightly less embarrassing than
it would be now. Heads turned for all the wrong reasons, and the
maître d regarded us with devastating condescension.
Fortunately the girl was pretty enough to merit a table where she
"decorated" the room, but I, tugging at my clip-on bowtie, never
felt so out of place in my life.
A ffectionately
known as “the
frog pond,” La Grenouille reigned as the most majestic and loveliest
of them all, catering to New York society, fashion media, Japanese
businessmen, and South
American divas. Nothing much changed for years, even after the
death
of Charles Masson in 1975, who left his wife and son, Charles Jr., (below) a painter of considerable
flair whose work hangs here, to maintain the restaurant's
eminence. These days Madame Masson spends most of her time in
France but still comes by with the same regal bearing, always as
impeccably dressed as her rich patrons.
In
the last few years, however, Charles,
fully aware that the Old Guard regulars cannot live for ever, has
brought a youthful spirit back and softened everything about La
Grenouille while building in an ebullience
it had lacked for some time. The façade, once somber, is now
well lighted and inviting. The once brassy-green colors have been
replaced by golden lighting and flattering tones in the newly renovated
room and they fall with soft benediction on everyone; the
famous vases of flowers seem more effusive than ever, and the
greeting--from maître d' Armel and Charles himself--is full of
the kind of
bonhomie that makes newcomers feel that they too add to the
restaurant's own glowing spirit. La Grenouille is now more seductive
than ever,
and impossible to resist.
You may still sit amidst New York's
doyennes and what's left of European royalty, and the kind of
people who swear they have never been south of 50th Street.
You will also see a swirl of some of the most beautiful women in
New York, dressed to the nines, with gentlemen who
dutifully follow suit. On any given night it's likely that La
Grenouille's staff knows who's who in the room, as well as how much
discretion to show towards those who are either preening for or
hiding from public scrutiny. The restaurant has never
seemed more glamorous and more welcoming than it does now.
The menu, too, has seen change without
seeming to have been robbed of its essential spirit of French
classicism. Even the physical menu itself, with its cover drawing
of an ever-smiling frog
prince lazily resplendent upon a lily pad, is pleasingly old-fashioned,
with the heft of good paper and a size that is neither flashily too
large nor preciously too small. Within its pages are more options
than ever before, including a 3-course Business Lunch at a remarkable
$39.50 (consider that a sirloin steak at a NY steakhouse will cost you
that at lunch, without a potato!). Otherwise, a more
extensive 3-course lunch is priced at $52, or à la carte, with
main courses at $38. There is also a bar menu with various items
likes warm leek tartlet, saucisson
chaud with lentils, a gratin of spinach, and dessert cart
selection ranging from $8-$17. At dinner the 3-course fixed price
in $87.50, which is, believe it or not, actually $2.50 less than it was in 2002.
(For the record, Restaurant Daniel is $96, Le Bernardin $95, and Alain
Ducasse NY $150.) À la carte, main courses are $47 each,
with a few more expensive supplements than are reasonable, including
frogs' legs Provençale at $10.75 more, and soufflés
(which don't really cost much to make and aren't really very time
consuming either) at $8.75.
The wine list, for the last three years
under sommelier Eric Delcros, is in better shape than it's ever been,
though it offers few bargains and not very much to drink under $50. But
between $50 and $100, you can choose a good bottle that has what seems
a reasonable mark-up.
On a recent evening, with
the entire dining room packed with people, I sat down to a meal of
great refinement, in every way a mirror of the ambiance. There
are little canapés and good bread presented, and those pricey
frogs' legs, lightly garlicky and very crisp, were flavorful little
nubbins of velvety meat. I could eat a score of them. Fresh,
seared foie gras with peaches was
a delightful rendering, though the caramelization and syrup of the
peaches was a tad too sweet. Tomato Tatin, on the other hand, was
pleasing but should have had obtained more natural sweetness from the
tomatoes. Sea scallops, plump and sweet, were sautéed
quickly and served with apples and celery.
Many of La Grenouille's classics
are here, from Dover sole grillée with a sauce moutarde or à la meuniére, to
hearty, old-fashioned quenelles of pike (left) in a creamy sauce lyonnaise and topped with
caviar. The sole was well fatted and came off the bone
unhesitatingly, bathed in good French butter. Duckling was roasted
crisp by being glazed with honey, then dressed with white wine to cut
the sweetness of ripe figs--a lovely dish. There was nothing to
complain about in the quality of beautiful loin of lamb with
chanterelles
and artichokes, except that artichokes seem to turn up on the menu more
than once as a side garnish.
Unable to resist what may be the finest
soufflés in America (right),
we ordered two--chocolate and hazelnut--both ethereal, almost floating
to the ceiling, with the proper balance of egg and sweetness and the
requisite light browning. Raspberry gratin is also recommended.
If I have not yet mentioned the
chef, it is because he has never been given much prominence at La
Grenouille. On the restaurant's website, he
is referred to only as "Matt." But, according to Mr. Masson, Matt
Tropeano "has been with us for three years and he is very, very
talented. But we regard everyone at the restaurant as part of a team,
so we don't single out the chef. I speak with Matt every day about the
ingredients in the market, and while we maintain all our classics on
the left side of the menu, he has freedom to create seasonal dishes
every three or four weeks on the right sight. It's a constant dialog."
Four
decades is a longevity only a very few restaurants in the world have
enjoyed, especially under the same family ownership. Indeed,
in Manhattan I can only think of Peter Luger, Barbetta, Le Veau d'Or,
Patsy's, Gino, and Rao's with such a track record. That La
Grenouille has done so in the service of French haute cuisine, in a
style that now seems evergreen, even as so many others of its type have
dropped away, is to
the credit of the Massons in not allowing La Grenouille to grow old as
it ages. A restaurant better than ever in its history after 40
years is not just remarkable but, perhaps, unique anywhere right now.
WE'LL
TAKE A
WILD GUESS AND SAY
IT'S THE BEER AND THE DOPE
"What is it that draws thousands of
people to stand around on asphalt,
sometimes in the bitter cold and rain? Is it the infectious enthusiasm
of fans in team colors? The spectacle of hilarious costumes and
outlandish vehicles? The wafting aroma of a charcoal fire? The
vast array of tables spread with every kind of food imaginable from the
chilled to the grilled?" --David Joachim, The Tailgater's Cookbook (2005).
BUT
WAIT! WASN'T POPE JOHN PAUL
II POLISH?
Donna
Lee, a Toledo, Ohio, woman who contended that she saw an image of
Jesus on a pierogi while
cooking Easter dinner, offered the dumpling
(kept frozen) for sale on e-bay with a starting price of $500,
receiving six bids on the morning of her posting.
QUICK
BYTES
* From Oct. 23-Nov. 23 in Boston, Brasserie Jo
at The Colonnade Hotel celebrates their 2nd
Annual Pumpkin Harvest Festival. Chef de Cuisine Olivier
Rigaud will serve a sweet and spicy
pumpkin menu. Festivities
also incl. a “Guess
the Weight, Win Dinner for Eight” contest. The patron who
guesses the
closest to the correct weight of an enormous pumpkin on display in
Brasserie
Jo’s dining room will win a complimentary dinner for eight people. Call
617-425-3240.
* On Oct. 26 in Northbrook, IL, Knightsbridge
Wine Shoppe & Epicurean Centre is hosting two wine dinners at Carlos’ restaurant with Burgundy winery proprietor, Monsieur Pierre Meurgey,
featuring the 2003 vintage. $180 pp. . . .
On Nov. 2 Knightsbridge will host a wine
dinner at
Carlos’ restaurant with Napa
winery proprietor, Delia Viader. $139 pp.
Call 847-498-9300.
* On Oct. 26 the vineyards of
Peter Nicolay, Schmitt Sohne and Schloss Vollrads will be at the Hilton
New
York’s Etrusca Restaurant to
celebrate Oktoberfest. $85 pp. Ca;; 212-261-5984.
* From now until Oct. 30, in honor
of Breast Cancer awareness month and a
clean environment, NYC’s Candela Restaurant will feature a
special prix
fixe $32 menu, with a part of the proceeds raised will be donated to
Nurture New
York’s
Nature Inc. (www.nnyn.org). Call 212-254-1600.
* On Oct. 29, 62 Main in Colleyville, TX, presents
"Yes Deer,” with Chef David
McMillan and Rough Creek Lodge's Gerard Thompson hosting an afternoon
of
grilling nd featuring tips on preparing venison, rabbit and other
game.
Samples with adult beverages. $35 pp. Call 817- 605-0858.
*
On Nov. 1, from 11:30-2:30 at Acadiana in
DC, a second "Po' Boy Power!" fundraiser has been scheduled with the
support of the DC chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier International and
the DC and
New Orleans chapters of Slow Foods International, with all funds
distributed
directly to affected farmers through Slow Food International's Terra
Madre Program.
Po' boys will be sold for donations of $25, assembled by 10 female
chefs paired
with politicians and other local personalities with ties to
Louisiana.
*
On Nov. 2 a March of Dimes Gourmet Gala will be held at NYC’s Rainbow Room, honoring Sirio
Maccioni, Director, Le Cirque, Jean-Louis
Dumonet, Executive Chef,
Saks Fifth Avenue, and incoming President of the American Chapter of
the
Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France. Call
212-353-1012.
* From Nov. 2, for
10 days, NYC’s zócalo restaurant
will feature a “Day of the Dead” menu,
décor, and entertainment (Frida Films, from Salma Hayek’s bio
pic, to Sergei
Eisenstein’s classic, “Que Viva Mexico,”
and others played on the flat screen TV at the bar). Call
212-717-7772.
* On Nov. 2 Hugo’s
restaurant in Houston will host a special Día
de los Muertos/Day of the Dead mescal dinner, featuring the
single vineyard mezcals of Del Maguey. $75 pp; Call 713-524-7744. Visit
www.hugosrestaurant.net.
* On Nov. 3 The
Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco’s
Executive
Chef, Sommelier and Florist will share “secrets” of the Ritz-Carlton on
how to
plan and prepare a flawless holiday celebration. Executive Chef
Jean-Pierre Dubray provides a cooking demo of his favorite holiday
recipes,
while Director of Wine Stephane Lacroix will pair wines to complement
each
dish. Floral designer Juan Pinon will create bouquets from the
season’s
most festive flowers and floral accents to complement the holiday menu.
The
afternoon incl. a 3-course holiday lunch paired with wine. $125
pp . . .
On Nov. 8 Director of Wine Making at Joseph Phelps will share inside
secrets to winemaking during a 5-course dinner by Chef Ron
Siegel. $265 pp. Call 415-773-6198.
* On Nov. 3 Chef John Sheely of Mockingbird
Bistro Wine Bar in Houston continues
his monthly wine dinner series featuring
the wines of Marcato and a live opera performance.
Winemaker Enrico Marcato will be in
attendance to discuss the wines. Throughout
the evening, guests will enjoy live performances by international opera tenor Angelo
Ferrari. $95 pp. Call
713-533-0200. Visit www.mockingbirdbistro.com.
* Hotel
Seiyo Ginza in Tokyo is now
featuring packages that include visits to the
Tsukiji Fish Market with Chef Iijima. “The Tsukiji Package” ( $3,600)
incl. a 3-night
stay in a midsized room; Chef Iijima's French menu (incl. wines);
Tsukiji Fish
Market shopping tour followed by Sushi breakfast with beer and sake;
Daily
breakfast (American or Japanese); “The Wonderland "Tsukiji Fish
Market" Package ($3,800) incl. a 4-night stay at Rosewood Suite + all
other items above. Dinner alone is $130
pp. Call 81-3-3535-1111; www.seiyo-ginza.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Bloomberg News and
Radio, and Diversion.
He is author of The Encyclopedia
of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman), The Dictionary
of Italian Food and Drink (Broadway), and, with his wife Galina, the
award-winning new Italian-American Cookbook (Harvard Common
Press).
Any of John Mariani's books below
may be ordered from amazon.com by clicking on the cover image.
copyright John Mariani 2005
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