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the
USA.
Fredericksburg . . . Texas!
by
Galina
Stepanoff-Dargery
NEW YORK CORNER:
AQUAVIT
by
John Mariani
NOTES
FROM
THE
WINE
CELLAR:
Barsac
with
Scallops
and
Duck?
But
Hold
the
Foie
Gras! by John Mariani
MAN ABOUT TOWN
by Christopher Mariani
QUICK
BYTES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fredericksburg. . . Texas!
by
Galina
Stepanoff-Dargery
Settled
by Germans in 1846 and located in the
beautiful Texas Hill Country about 65 miles west of Austin and 65 miles
north
of San Antonio, Fredericksburg is a town of well-maintained and
beautiful
limestone buildings, many along Main Street, made wide so that horse
and
carriages
could easily turn around. The town
has strict historic preservations ordinances, and allows only certain
historic colors for buildings, billboards and chain stores. Fast food
chains are
forbidden in the center of town. Which all makes for a charming town
that avoids
being quaint by being so true to itself and its heritage. This is
Fredericksburg, not
Williamsburg. On my recent, and
first, visit to the
city I found Fredericksburg a trove of activities and entertainments.
Known for
its rich number of art galleries, the natural art is in as manifest in
its fields of
wildflowers, where aficionados come from afar to admire the
bluebonnets,
Indian paintbrushes, winecups, spread like bold palettes of color into
the
landscape. Museums
are
numerous: Gish’s
Old West Museum(right)
is
Joe Gish’s
personal collection of cowboy memorabilia; the National
Museum
of
the
Pacific
War is one of the finest,
in-depth repositories of history devoted to that theater of World War
II; The
Pioneer Complex is a 3.5 acre complex with displays of early
German
settlements in
the area, where Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch is stillreferred to as his “Texas Whitehouse.” Over
a hundred “Sunday houses”
or cottages--small townhouses with one bedroom and a lean-to
kitchen--were
built here from the 1890s through
the 1920s by rural families that would come to town on weekends to sell
their
produce and attend church.Today,
many of these cottages have become popular rentals for tourists. The Hill Country is also one
of
the fastest-growing
wine destinations; in fact, Texas is the fifth largest grape and wine
producer
in the U.S., with more than 220 family-owned vineyards in a $1 billion
industry. The wineries within the Hill Country Appellation, spread over
15,000
square miles in 22 counties—the second largest in the U.S.--produce
more than
2 million gallons of wine annually. The problem with people getting to
know
well-established wineries like Messina Hof, Fall Creek Vineyards and
Llano Estacado
Winery is that most of their wines are
sold out
in state. Not far
from Fredericksburg heading
out on Route 290, “the wine trail”
leads to any number of wineries--Padernales Cellars, Becher Vineyards,
Grape
Creek, and Torre di Pietra ,to name a few open for wine tastings. When it is time for a
meal,
Fredericksburg offers a variety of choices. TheFredericksburg
Brewing
Co.
(left) is a
large, lively restaurant where all the beers on tap are made on the
premises
according to German beer laws, without preservatives.
Several of their brews have won medals at the annual Great American
Beer Festival. The menu at the brewery
reflects the
proletarian crossroads of gastronomy in Central Texas--Mexican, German,
the Deep
South-ranching heritage, and Cajun.
Their most
popular appetizer special features fried slices of pickles the size of
bottlecaps, deep fried jalepeño slices, hot chicken wings, and
mozzarella cheese
wedges with assorted dipping sauces.The
sausage sampler is a generous selection of knockwurst,
bratwurst
and
pepperwurst,
all
made
fresh
and
served
with
sides of red cabbage and
potato
salad. Jäger Schnitzel is a breaded pork chop topped with a
Bavarian-style
mushroom sauce. Chicken fried steak is breaded, pounded steak topped
with
country gravy; crispy chicken flautas –
tortillas fried and topped with shredded cheese
and
sour cream—come with rice and beans. Local
farms
are
big
businessaround here, and one of their
favorite
crops is peaches, which appears in one form or another on almost all
dessert
lists. Local farmers are also growing blueberries and strawberries.Some of the
desserts at the Brewery are
peach cobbler, fudge brownie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip
pecan
pie--easily among the most difficult choices to make in town.
Dick
Estenson
owns
The Hanger Hotel, a 50-room
structure with
antique details; he also owns The Fredericksburg Herb Farm, The
Fredericksburg
Brewing Company, and the Airport Diner,
a
retro-looking beauty at the local private airfield. The Airport Diner (right) is a wonderful
take-off of the old railcar diners, with stainless steel counters,
twirling seats, and red leather booths, all with a great view of the
landing strip. The
place is
referred to as the “$100diner”
because pilots fly their private
planes in here just to have a meal at the eatery, then fly back home.
The choice
of dishes include sandwiches, burgers, salads and soda fountain
specialties
from shakes, malts, floats and flavored sodas. Der Lindenbaum is named
after the linden tree, a symbol of German immigrants’ homeland.
It’s located in one of the
beautiful historic
limestone building
constructed by the pioneers a hundred years ago. The atmosphere is
cozy,
comfortable and friendly.The menu
is strictly German, with Schnitzels, goulashes, sauerbraten, pfeffersteaks,
andbeef and pork meatballs in
caper sauce. August
E’s (left),
is owned and run by Dawnand Chef Leu
Savanh, who is
also a martial arts instructor, a fifth-degree black belt listed as “a
registered weapon,” so I doubt anyone complains about the food here.
Then
again, there isn’t any reason to: Leu serves the most imaginative
“nouveau
Tecas” cuisine anywhere around, an
inspiration of local dishes with Asian influences.Appetizersinclude the
signature crab stack, lump crabmeat with
buttered crostini,
avocado with tomato, greens and wasabi aïoli, crabcakes with
rémoulade
sauce and field greens.The ribeye steak
is mesquite grilled American Kobe with mascarpone whipped
potatoes, grilled asparagus, topped with bacon bordelaise sauce.
Seared sesame
ahi, served with bamboo rice, sautéed Asian
greens and
topped with sake soy sauce.An
extensive sushi menu is available with special handrolls.
The
restaurant
is
located just off
Main Street
has a modern, contemporary décor--a
large room with sage green walls,cement
floor, industrial overhead track lighting. Tables
have white tableclothstopped with
a fern in a vase. Chairs are modern leather highbacks. The large, high
walls
are perfect for featuring local artists’ work, which are all for
sale. Rather Sweet Bakery and Café,
(right)
is not to be missed. Owned by Rebecca
Rather, has been featured in many national magazines. The bakery, set
back on
the street has outdoor tables, set in a garden, and an indoor eating
room
painted in red, hung with whimsical art work, all for sale. Some of
their German
pastries are mixed berry koulachi,
a
yeasty
sweet
dough
with
mixed
berries; a
savory omelet koulachi
is topped with an omelet with
onion, red pepper and potato.Other
choices include blueberry scones, and
orange muffins that are light, fluffy with an aromatic orange
flavor.Their Café is just next
to the bakery on Main Street, where salads, hot and cold sandwiches and
their
homemade desserts and cookies are served.
TheClear River Pecan Company,
with
its
original
floor
and
high
ceiling
in
a
1800’s buildingis
a
fun place to stop between shopping
or sightseeing to have some homemade baked goods, a sandwich or ice
cream,
shakes
orice cream sodas.The
place
plays
music
from
"Grease,"
reminiscent
of
an
old-fashioned
1950s
candy store, decorated with Elvis
memorabilia,
gumball machines, and toy machines.
There is a bounty of art in
Fredericksburg that can keep
you busy exploring all day. If one
happens to be in Fredericksburg in the beginning of the month , the
first
Friday of each month,the town has
an Art Walk, a day full of art and special events in
Fredericksburg’s fine art galleries.Whistle Pik Galleries,
celebrating 15 years here is among the ones that is on
the art
walk, displays some of the finest Western art. In September 2010 the
gallery
will be featuring Gerald Harvey’s western
art, a painter and sculptor
who
specializes in turn of the century Americana and western sagas of
cowboys.Insight
Gallery, opened in 2009 by two sisters, is
housed in a
historic landmark building with 12 foot ceilings and limestone walls is
a perfect settingto
feature
the
finest
painters
and
sculptors
across
a variety of styles and
concentrating on Western art, should not be missed.
Lodgings in the area are varied,
depending on
one’s desires.Just five miles away from
downtown Main
Street is a charming pioneer farmhouse,Palo Alto
Creek Farm(left)
with
4 guest houses situated in a bucolic farm setting. If
a
quaint
cottage
or
bed
and
breakfast
is more to one’s liking and closer to town, Gastehaus Schmidt
can
advise and book numerous cozy lodgings.The
Inn
on
Barons
Creek
is a comfortable hotel just off Main Street.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEW
YORK
CORNER by John
Mariani
AQUAVIT 65 East
55th Street (off Madison Avenue)
212- 307-7311 www.aquavit.org
Up
through the 1950s NYC had a pretty fair representation of Scandinavian restaurants,
the
way
it once did German and Czech. There was Gripsholm, Red Brick,
Wivel, Finland House, Three Crowns, Castlehom, and Swedish Rathskeller.
By the 1970s only Copenhagen and Stockholm were left, and they too
closed. But for more than two decades now, Aquavit, under owner Håkan
Swahn,
has
held high the banner for Scandinavian haute cuisine. It would be
easy enough to say Aquavit's success is due to default, drawing lovers
of Scandinavian food because there is nowhere else to go. But the
fact is that Aquavit, with a line of celebrated chefs that includes
Christer Larson and Marcus Samuelsson, since its inception in other
quarters in Nelson Rockefeller's former townhouse across from the MOMA,
and for the last several years in its present location between Madison
and Park, has been ranked among the top restaurants in the city in any
category.
Its design alone, by Arne
Jacobsen, Paul Kjaerholm and Verner Panton, is exemplary of the
evolution of Scandinavian design, which, rather than dating, has only
become more handsome, from its swank bar-lounge to its bistro and main
dining rooms.
The annual Herring Festival just ended, but in the
fall will come the crayfish festival and holiday specials, all handled
with finesse by young Chef Marcus
Jernmark, who has simplified the cuisine while making it entirely
his. In the casual Bistro you can have a menu
of traditional Scandinavian favorites such as Swedish meatballs,
gravlax and herring. In the dining room there is a 3-course fixed price
dinner menu at $78 and a 7-course tasting menu at $105 (with wine
pairing, $105). There is also "Mamma Mia!" package: Aquavit has
partnered with the hit show with a three-course
dinner then an evening on Broadway, starting at $139 per person.
Recently my wife and I pretty much
allowed Jernmark to choose some of his current favorites along with
items we could not resist ordering from the menu. Since the Herring
Festival was still in full swing, we were presented with six types,
along with vasterbotten cheese and the traditional boiled potatoes. One
could easily make a meal of these well-fatted, pickled fish, but we
were also eager to try the butter-poached brook trout with ramps,
smoked mussels, trout roe, and cucumber, a dish whose light smokiness
played off the green freshness of the cucumbers and the saline
roe. A chilled Maine lobster came with pickled
baby tomato, Belgian endive, asparagus, and celery, while sweetbreads
were smoked over hay very gently, then served with sweep
parsnip purée, fava beans, grilled bread, and a lashing of apple
cider.
Of the second courses, I was particularly happy with the
lustrous seared scallops with butter
poached lobster, sauerkraut and quinoa for textural contrast and
an oyster vinaigrette. Silky Arctic char came with
fennel
cured
char, cauliflower, salted hazelnuts, horseradish
emulsion-- a dish that reads a little complex but so little is done to
each ingredient that they are all simple complements to one another,
not a conflict.
If
you
prefer game, the duck breast roulade--wonderfully pink and
juicy--came with hearty bacon-onion dumplings called kroppkakor, rainbow swiss chard,
English peas, and a light lingonberry jus. Aquavit's lamb comes
from Valhalla Farm (in Washington, not Viking paradise) and is served
cooked just to a turn, with flavorful
mustard greens, artichoke barigoule,
and
garlic
scapes.
The
winelist
at
Aquavit is long, deep, and priced in every category, and of
course there are good beers and a superb selection of aquavits that go
especially well with the pickled herring and other seafood dishes.
Desserts are as beautiful as they
are well married to the kind of creativity and presentation as what
precedes them.
If Aquavit did not exist, NYC
would simply not be the same. Not to have a serious Scandinavian
restaurant would be a major lapse; not to have one as superb and even
trail-blazing as Aquavit would be terrible loss. Fortunately,
Aquavit's success promises that it will continue to be both a beacon
and a reminder of how unusual this food and drink is.
Aquavit is open for lunch Mon.-Fri, for
brunch Sun., and for dinner nightly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
Barsac
with
Scallops
and
Duck?
But
Hold
the
Foie
Gras!
by John Mariani
Aline
Baly winces a little when people automatically order the classic
pairing of
foie gras and a glass of Barsac, which, with Sauternes, is one of the
great
sweet Bordeaux wines.“There’s
nothing wrong with it—it’s a glorious match—but it just limits the
possibilities for enjoying Barsac with so much else,” says the
29-year-old
co-proprietor, with her father Dominique and Uncle Philippe of
Château Coutet,
whose estate dates back to 1643. It was Thomas Jefferson’s favorite
Barsac and
has enjoyed First Growth status since 1885. Aline
and
Philippe
Baly
Baly
was
in
New
York
promoting
her
wines,
and
though
she
is
allergic
to
seafood,
she
recommended
that this writer try a range of Château Coutet
Barsacs with
everything from scallops to softshell crabs, and, finally, pressed
duck, at
Chef Daniel Boulud’s flagship, Restaurant Daniel on East 65th
Street. “It’s
difficult
to convince people that a sweet wine can go with savory dishes,” she
said, “but
they are a revelation once people try them.” And after several courses
paired
to her wines, I had to agree, for the same reason that foie gras and
Barsac or
Sauternes has for so long been a decidedly decadent marriage of fatted
duck or
goose liver with a sumptuously sweet wine. We sampled
three vintages—2004 ($54), 2005 ($65) and 1997 ($65) with the delicate
flavors
of Maine peekytoe crab salad with a tangy, acidic Granny Smith apple
sauce;
crisp softshell crab tempura with fingerling potatoes and sauce
grenobloise
with tart
capers;
and
hazelnut-crusted
sea
scallops,
with
a
woodsy
morels
fricassée
and
a
green
peppercorn
sauce.Usually,
gourmets
might
choose
a
big
white
Burgundy
or
California
chardonnay to enhance such dishes, but the Coutet handily complemented
the
sweetness of the hazelnuts, the zest of the apples and capers, the hot
oil of
the tender crabs, and the assertiveness of the peppercorns. The
showpiece pressed duck (which needs to be ordered a day or two in
advance at
Daniel) is an elaborate dish that dates to the early 19th
century,
prepared by a captain and a waiter tableside.The
legs
and
meat
are
carved
from
the
bones,
which
along
with
the
liver
and
cognac
is squeezed through a silver press into an
extremely
rich elixir that serves as the sauce. Traditionally, a red Burgundy or
Bordeaux
is enjoyed with this famously sumptuous dish, but by pairing it with
the
magnificent Coutet 1997, whose age intensified the fruit and acids
within the
sweetness, the dish resembles a French version of Peking duck, which is
itself
brushed with a sweet soy sauce, carved and served with the sweet
condiment
called hoisin sauce. With
desserts
like warm chocolate coulant with liquid caramel and sea salt, of
course, the
Barsac went impeccably well. But we might just as easily had a
blue-veined
cheese like Roquefort, another classic match-up, or just sipped the
Coutet as a
dessert all on its own. Like most
Barsacs, Coutet’s is made from a blend of semillon, sauvignon blanc,
and a
touch of muscadelle. The Lur-Saluces family, which also owned the
famous
Château d’Yquem, produced Coutet until 1923. The Balys took over
in 1977 and
renovated the estate and cellars (below),
bringing
in
the
newest
technology
and
replanting
many
of
the
38.5
hectares
(95
acres)
of
vines under
cultivation. The
average vine is 35 years old, some older. In
1994,
Philippe
and
Dominique
Baly
signed
an
agreement
with
the
Baroness
Philippine
de
Rothschild,
giving
exclusive worldwide distribution
rights to her
company, Baron Philippe de Rothschild S.A. Barsac, like
Sauternes and the beerenauslese and trockenbeerenauslese wines of
Germany, is
made from ugly yellow grapes shriveled and blackened by the Botrytis
cinerea
fungus, the so-called
“Noble Rot” (below) that allows
the
evaporation
of
water
and
concentrates
the
sugars.
The
grapes
are
hand
picked
as
they
ripen, so that at
Coutet about
80 pickers need at least five days to complete just one pass through
the
vineyards, repeated several times as more grapes ripen over a six-week
period. Coutet’s
ideal
balance is considered to be approximately 14% alcohol and about 130-150
grams
per liter of residual sugar, and aging is 18 months, at which time the
final
blend is made. No matter
how
many times I sample Barsacs and Sauternes, I am always amazed at how
they can
be so densely sweet and complex but never cloying.In Coutet’s wines I taste aromatic, floral flavors, along
with very ripe tropical fruits, and that distinctive, requisite hint of
oak
that provides the wine’s backbone and provides notes of vanilla. The fact
that
Barsacs, even more than Sauternes, are so reasonably priced for such
illustrious wines makes them all the more attractive to try with a wide
range
of dishes.
It
was
a
splendid,
enlightening
evening
at
Daniel,
even
if
I
was
dying
for
a
glass
of
red wine halfway through feasting on the duck. Drinking Barsac
throughout a
meal is not something most people will ever do, but to eschew the foie
gras or
save the Roquefort in order to try Château Coutet with other
savory dishes will
indeed be a revelation.
John
Mariani's weekly wine column appears in Bloomberg Muse News,
from
which
this
story
was
adapted.
Bloomberg
News
covers
Culture
from
art,
books,
and
theater
to
wine,
travel,
and
food on a daily basis.
`````````````````````````````````` A NEW COLUMN:
I
am
proud
to
present
a
new
column
of
goings-on
around
town,
be
it
New
York
or
London, Portland or St. Petersburg. Christopher
Mariani will be reporting in on where
he's been, what he's seen, what he's eaten, and whom he met, making the
title Mariani's
Virtual
Gourmet
even
more
expansive.--J.M.
MAN ABOUT TOWN
by
Christopher Mariani
Rare Bar and Grill—On
a recent balmy New York’s summer evening, I taxied over to the Rare Bar
and
Grilllocated in the
Wyndham Hotel at 152 West 26th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues,
inside Fashion 26, conveniently near the
Fashion Institute of Technology, to celebrate the restaurant’s
grand
opening party held by owner Douglas Boxer (who also owns the first Rare
Bar
and Grilllocated at 303 Lexington
Avenue). Outside, the media were snapping pictures and conducting
interviews,
tall models posed for the cameras, and a bright pink carpet beckoned
invited
guests to the lobby of the hotel and down one flight of stairs to the
restaurant, with wooden floors and tables, and barbed wire motifs in
the
hanging lamps, appropriate for a modern high-end burger place.
There is
one way-out-of-the-ordinary seating space here—a huge charcoal-like
rectangle
where a few diners can eat ”inside the rock.”
There was a sea of about 100 people who were sipping one of the
restaurant’s
signature drinks, the Shark Tale, made
up of Pyrat XO Reserve Rum, Patron Citronge, passion fruit puree, and a
splash
of both fresh lime and simple syrup. About
halfway through my first Shark Tale I ventured downstairs to check out
the main
dining room (right), which
seats around 200 guests. Hors d’oeuvres
were being passed, including a “frickle”--a fried sliced
pickle--followed by a
tasty beef-and-cheese slider placed on a delicious bun. After
consuming a
quick half dozen of these, I made my way to the bar where another
signature cocktail was being poured, The Fashionista,ablend of Patron
Silver, Patron Citronge, strawberry purée, fresh jalapeño
pepper, and a splash
of fresh lime and simple syrup, very bold in its spiciness.
James Beard Foundation Dinner—A
few nights later I had my first dinner at the legendary James Beard
House, at 167
West 12th Street, which several times a month has fund-raising dinners
to spotlight one of America's great chefs. In this case, it was
one of my own personal favorites, Chef Dean Max, of 3030 Ocean
in Fort Lauderdale and other restaurants, who cooked for a packed
house.
When you attend a JB dinner, you enter down a few steps then pass
right
through Beard’s original kitchen, where the
guest chefs are cooking, then
into the beautiful courtyard garden behind this Greenwich Village
townhouse for a glass
or two of the Bellavista Franciacorta Cuvée Brut NV.
I
was enthusiastically greeted by Dean (below)
with
a
big man hug, since I had recently
spent a week with him onboard the M/S
Paul
Gauguin in French Polynesia, where
he’d been guest chef. Dean Had brought a brigade of
his chefs, from Dean James Max DJM Culinary, Inc.: Ellis Cooley
of Amp 150 in Cleveland; Paula DaSilva of 3030 Ocean; Richard Lee
Cheeca Lodge, Islamorada, FL; David MacLennan Latitude 41,
Columbus, OH; Brad Phillips The Brasserie, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
The highlight of the entire evening was Chef Max’s
Hors d’Oeuvres,
consisting of a Zellwood, Florida, sweet
corn
soup
topped with a fried
mushroom (Zellwood is located in the NW corner of Orange County Florida
and is
known for its amazing production of crisp sweet corn during the month
of May and
also hosts the Zellwood Corn Festival); barrel fish escabeche with
Calabrian peppers that were light and delicious; and fresh poke-style
Hillsboro Inlet
Wahoo. We
then went upstairs to what used to be Beard’s living quarters, to begin
our
meal with a seared salt-crusted tuna with ackee purée,
shaved pickled
radishes and cherry tomatoes. (When I read ackee purée on the
dinner menu, I
immediately took a second look to make sure I had read the ingredients
correctly, considering that ackee fruit, a native fruit of West Africa
brought
to Jamaica in the late 1700’s and is now the national fruit of Jamaica,
is
considered to be highly toxic if not prepared correctly!) We then
had Key West pink shrimp with shiitakes, spring onion–ginger
ravioli, and Thai coconut broth; Hickory Acres lamb fillet with foie
gras, Mokum carrot crown butter, and peas; and to finish, smoked
chocolate panna cotta with
Graham Cracker tuile, with
brûléed Marshmallow Fluff, and warm Valrhona ganache--a
very high-class version of s'mores.
Belvedere
Intros
a
New Pink Grapefruit—Poland’sBelvedere Vodka held a launch
party on
West 14th Street in Manhattan to
introduce their newest flavor, grapefruit,
created by mixologist Claire Smith, winner of the UK’s largest cocktail
competition, “Battle of the Giants.” Smith told the party-goers that,
including
the new addition, Belvedere now has four flavors in its line of
maceration
vodkas—Citrus, Orange, Black Raspberry, and now Grapefruit. She
explained
the new vodka to be naturally flavored with whole pink grapefruitcombined
with
fresh
ginger
and Spanish spring lemons, contending that pink
grapefruit, “is
the perfect base for a variety of cocktails and yet just as delicious
served
chilled, neat or over ice.”
Belvedere
is a vodka made from gold rye. I tried each of the four
maceration vodkas
neat as I chatted with local bartenders who attended the event to
scout
out what Belvedere had to offer. The cocktails were served with
some wonderful food items to go
along with the highly exotic blends: Soy marinated tea smoked duck with
watercress and toasted pine nut pesto was accompanied by Belvedere Pink
Grapefruit, plum sake, Carpano Antica Formula vermouth, and chocolate
bitters.
Maguro sashimi, verjuice marinated tomato and avocado espuma went with
the vodka, lemon juice, watermelon and a sweet balsamic
reduction;
and coffee
and white chocolate mousse for dessert, with dry ice-chilled licorice
infused
Belvedere Pink Grapefruit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ QUICK
BYTES
✉ Guidelines
for submissions: QUICK
BYTES
publishes
only events, special dinners, etc, open to the public, not restaurant
openings or personnel changes. When submitting please send the
most
pertinent info, incl. tel # and site, in one short paragraph as simple
e-mail text, WITH DATE LISTED FIRST, as below. Thanks. John
Mariani
* On June 30
and July
17, Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Chicago presents a Grant Park
Music Festival
Package. Dinner at Lawry’s is followed by VIP on-stage seating at the
concert
performed at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. $105 adults, $72
children. Call
(312) 787-5000.
*
On
July
2-3,
Simi Winery
in Healdsburg, CA, Chef
Eric
Lee
will
serve
three
specialty
barbecued pizzas – one red, one white, and one blue-- at SIMI's
Landslide Terrace Pizza Café. 95448. 1-800-746-4880;
http://www.simiwinery.com.
*
On
July 4 in Atlanta, GA, The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar + View presents
Chef
Christian
Messier’s
menu
for
$69 pp.
“Red White & Blue With a View Level” for the kids, $45; kids
ages 6 – 12
dine for half price and children 5 and under eat free. The Bar Level
opens from
5 until 11 p.m. There will be a $30 cover charge including a
nacho
station available from 6 - 9:30 p.m. Call 404-589-7506.
* On
July 7 in San Francisco, CA,
Ame Restaurant at The St.
Regis San Francisco will
host a Three Course Bo ssäm
Dinner, for $55
pp, Shochu Cocktails. Call 415-284-4040.
*
On
July 10 in NYC, Andaz Wall Street Hotel will launch
the Andaz Wall
Street's Farmers Market and will continue on every Saturday until Nov.
20. In
addition to the farm sellers’ stands, the market will also have a live
band,
fresh samples, and monthly cooking classes conducted by Wall &
Water’s
Executive Chef Maximo Lopez May. Call 212-699-1700.
* From July 15 –
July 21 in Washington D.C., Chefs Bart Vandaele of Belga Café, Robert Weidmaier of
Brasserie Beck,
& Claudio Pirollo of Et Voila! – will host a week-long “Belgian
National Day” celebrated on July 21 - commemorates
the day o Throughout the week, a series of culinary-infused events will
be
hosted at the three restaurants. Beer Dinner at Belgian
Ambassador’s Residence, Mussels
Throw Down, Not Your Traditional Belgian Waffle, Mussels from Brussels,
Belgian
Chocolate Fest, and more. Call (202) 544-0100 or visit http://www.BelgaCafe.com.
* From July 16 – Oct. 31,
in South Beach, FL, The Setai will
host the Balinese Hour on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays at The
Bar & Courtyard while
listening to the Balinese Gamelan performance.
Complimentary Satay and Balinese specialties will be served; Visit http://www.setai.com.
* On
July 17-18, in Watkins Glen, NY,
The
Wine
Glass
Company,
Finger
Lakes
Wine
Country
Tourism
Marketing
Association
along
with
participating
wineries
have
joined together to bring The RIEDEL Experience to
the Finger Lakes Wine
Festival presented by Yancey’s Fancy New York’s Artisan
Cheese. Available to 150 participants, includes a two-day VIP
pass to the festival, sensory evaluation
with Georg Riedel, a RIEDEL Vinum XL Tasting Set, several exclusive
tastings,
and a ride around the historic race track in a pace care. $175 pp. Call
866-461-7223 or http://www.TheGlen.com.
* On
July 17Persimmon Creek Vineyards in Clayton, GA presents "Bon
Appetit,
Y’all!," A Bastille Day dinner celebration prepared by Chef Virginia
Willis. $95
pp; call 706-212-7380.
* On
July 18, the L.A. Flea Market
will hold its grand opening in Los
Angeles. It features a Rick Dees Hollywood
Yard Sale, valet parking and gourmet food trucks. Tickets range $5-25
pp. Visit
www.thelafleamarket.com <http://www.thelafleamarket.com/>
or
call
866-966-9495.
* On July 18-25 in Los Cabos,
Mexico, Pueblo Bonito
Oceanfront Resorts and Spasbrings
together
celebrated chefs from across Mexico for the "2010 PacifiCooks" with
custom “All-Star” menus designed by collaborating chefs, cooking
seminars, cocktail receptions and more. Call 011 (52) (624)
142 9999; http://www.pueblobonito.com
NEW
FEATURE: I am happy to report that the Virtual Gourmet is linking up
with four excellent travel sites:
I
consider this the best
and savviest blog of its kind on the web. Potter is a columnist
for USA Weekend, Diversion, Laptop and
Luxury Spa Finder,
a contributing editor for Ski
and a frequent contributor to National
Geographic
Traveler,
ForbesTraveler.com and Elle
Decor. "I’ve designed this
site is for people who take their travel seriously," says Potter.
"For travelers who want to learn about special places but don’t
necessarily want to pay through the nose for the privilege of
staying there. Because at the end of the day, it’s not so much about
five-star places as five-star experiences." THIS
WEEK:
Hidden Treasures in Naples; 50% Off a
Second Hotel Room in Concorde Paris Hotels; Letter from Paris: A Gastro
Chic Restaurant and a Swell Little Bistro.
Eating
Las
Vegas is the new on-line site for Virtual Gourmet
contributor John
A. Curtas., who since 1995 has been commenting on the Las Vegas food
scene and reviewing restaurants for Nevada Public Radio. He is
also
the restaurant critic for KLAS TV, Channel 8 in Las Vegas, and his past
reviews can be accessed at KNPR.org.
Click
on
the
logo
below
to
go
directly
to
his
site.
Tennis Resorts Online:
A Critical Guide to the World's
Best Tennis Resorts and Tennis Camps,
published by ROGER COX, who has spent more than two decades writing
about tennis travel, including a 17-year stretch for Tennis magazine. He has also
written for Arthur Frommer's Budget
Travel, New York Magazine,
Travel & Leisure, Esquire, Money, USTA Magazine, Men's Journal, and The Robb Report. He has
authored two books-The World's
Best Tennis Vacations (Stephen Greene Press/Viking Penguin,
1990) and The Best Places to Stay in the Rockies (Houghton
Mifflin, 1992 & 1994), and the Melbourne (Australia) chapter to the
Wall Street Journal Business
Guide to Cities of the
Pacific Rim (Fodor's Travel Guides, 1991). THIS WEEK:
Family Travel
Forum: The
Family
Travel
Forum
(FTF),
whose
motto
is
"Have
Kids,
Still
Travel!",
is
dedicated
to
the
ideals,
promotion
and
support
of travel with
children. Founded by business professionals John Manton and Kyle
McCarthy with first class travel industry credentials and global family
travel experience, the independent, family-supported FTF will provide
its members with honest, unbiased information, informed advice and
practical tips; all designed to make traveling a rewarding, healthy,
safe, better value and hassle-free experience for adults and children
who journey together. Membership in FTF will lead you to new worlds of
adventure, fun and learning. Join the movement.
nickonwine:
An engaging, interactive wine
column by Nick Passmore, Artisanal Editor, Four Seasons Magazine; Wine
Columnist, BusinessWeek.com; nick@nickonwine.com; www.nickonwine.com.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Robert Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort
Hochstein, Suzanne Wright, and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical
Advisor:
Gerry McLoughlin.
John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Bloomberg News, 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 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.
My
newest book, written with my brother Robert Mariani, is a memoir of our
years growing up in the North
Bronx. It's called Almost
Golden because it re-visits an idyllic place and time in our
lives when
so many wonderful things seemed possible. For those of you who don't think
of
the Bronx as “idyllic,” this
book will be a revelation. It’s
about a place called the Country Club area, on the shores of PelhamBay. It was a beautiful
neighborhood filled with great friends
and wonderful adventures that helped shape our lives.
It's about a culture, still vibrant, and a place that is still almost
the same as when we grew up there. Robert and I think you'll enjoy this
very personal look at our Bronx childhood. It is not
yet available in bookstores, so to purchase
a copy, go to amazon.com
or click on Almost Golden. --John
Mariani