Virtual Gourmet

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IN THIS ISSUE
GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA TAKES WING
By John Mariani

NEW YORK CORNER
FLAMES BAR AND GRILL
By John Mariani

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
DRY CREEK VALLEY SEEKS GREATER RECOGNITION
By John Mariani

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GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA
TAKES WING
By John Mariani

Falls Park on the Reedy

       Greenville is proof positive that visionary city fathers, not least current Mayor Knox White, can change a once sleepy Southern textile town into a dynamic attraction for major corporations like BMW, Michelin and General Electric — good neighbors who have all poured money into the arts and charity, leading to a thriving cultural scene.
    Indeed, the annual Artisphere show that lines “Artists’ Row” in the West End and Gallery Row on Main Street is extremely well attended, and there is also a Culinary Row with plenty of good time music throughout. The eleventh Artisphere will be held this year May 8-10, with between 100 and 120 artists of all kinds exhibiting paintings, sculpture, textiles, pottery, ironworks and ceramics.

Larry and Linda Allen of LA Pottery

Of course there's music, including a fine bluegrass band, street musicians and entertainers, and all those people need to eat and to eat well, not just drop into chain restaurants of a kind that smothers so many Southern cities where the opening of a California Pizza Kitchen is cause to celebrate.
Over the past five years Greenville’s dining scene has approached that mass level—with more than 100 restaurants and bars open along Main Street alone—where it bears comparison to Charleston, Louisville and Nashville for both variety and local chefs with singular talents. The city even has its own Dark Corner Distillery right on Main Street that makes Appalachian moonshine with names like Hot Mama and Cock Lightning.

    In a similar vein, American Grocery Restaurant (732 South Main Street; 864-232-7665) has garnered national attention from Saveur and the Boston Globe for Chef-Owner Joe Clarke’s modern take on the kind of food his grandmother once made for him while growing up in Spartanburg, SC. Clarke considers himself largely a self-trained chef; his early education came from his grandmother’s farm, where the flavors and techniques of Southern cooking became indelible by the time he opened American Grocery with his wife Darlene Mann-Clarke in 2007. That means grilled fresh red royal shrimp ($30) with delicious gnocchi alla romana and some heightened flavors of chorizo, fava beans, asparagus and grilled escarole, as well as a dish that has proven surprisingly popular-- braised beef tongue ($28) with charred onion spaetzle and a smoked tomato cream (below).
    For a starter consider the crispy duck egg with red grits, peas and braised kale at $11, but my favorite was an appetizer of crispy sweetbreads with socca crêpes, mushroom-bacon ragoût, and frisée lettuce ($13). There are artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, as well, including some unusual offerings like Fiscalini “bandage wrapped cheddar” with bourbon cherries, and a Goat Lady Dairy Smokey Mountain Round with maldon sea salt and arbequina olive oil—new to me.
    Meanwhile, Darlene stocks one of the city’s better wine lists of small estates, all naturally compatible with her husband's lusty cooking. She is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and has completed both course levels through the International Sommelier Guild.
    American Grocery is a good-looking, homey place, with brick walls, wooden columns, near Cubist food art, Johnny Cash on the playlist, and the room doesn’t get too loud for civil conversation. There is an artfulness to the food presentations, however, revealing the prettiness in some downhome dishes while showing the savory grit in other more inventive ones.

American Grocery is open Tues.-Sat. for dinner.

    One of the most charming spots and meeting places in Greenville is the wonderfully cantilevered Liberty Bridge beneath which flows white water tumbling over exposed rocks. Believe it or not, much of this splendor was once covered over, but now the river runs under Main Street and beyond, bound by condos, stores and more restaurants. This was once the site for Greenville’s first European settler, Richard Pearis, back in 1768, who built a grist mill here.
      Just off the bridge and Falls Park is Passarelle Bistro (601 South Main Street ; 864-509-0142)--passerelle is French for “footbridge”--a casual new spot where Chef Teryi Youngblood, now cooking in town for more than 17 years, has adapted beloved French classics to South Carolina taste. So you might begin with a blue cheese-celery terrine and pâté with apricot mustard fruits, cornichons and cashews on a crusty baguette, or splurge on a big bowl of mussels ($13) scented with saffron or basquaise. One of her hearty seasonal cassoulets ($23) includes a steaming amalgam of lamb and spicy andouille sausage, veal osso buco, white beans and Swiss chard. For dessert, don’t miss the lemon chèvre pound cake with blueberry compote, Chantilly cream and vanilla lemon curd ($8).
    Passarelle is one of several restaurants run by the Table 301 Restaurant Group that pioneered modern dining in the city two decades ago with places like Soby’s, Nosedive Gastropub, and The Lazy Goat, and they do their homework. The exterior has tables with umbrellas, ideal for brunch (there’s a children’s menu, too), and inside there’s an open kitchen, marble topped counter, and tables with bentwood bistro chairs. Nothing but the cooking is taken too seriously.

Passarelle Bistro is open Tues.-Sat for lunch and dinner in winter; daily at other times.

       One of the most ambitious new dining rooms, Restaurant 17, lies just miles outside of town in Travelers Rest, within the luxurious resort Hotel Domestique (864-516-1254), next to one of America’s most beautiful scenic routes, the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a very modern hotel, without faux-19^th century quaintness, so there are metal bedsteads and abstract art in the bedrooms (left), as well as fireplaces, and every room has a grand view of the surrounding grass- and woodlands of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    In a dining room covered in 50 shades of gray, Chef Adam Cooke, from Missoula and a veteran of Blackberry Farm in Tennessee, here proves himself a master of international cuisine, ranging from house-made charcuterie (below) and artisanal cheeses ($17) to a plated wonder of global cuisine that might include such dishes as Alabama grass-fed hanger steak ($29) with twice-cooked potato Macaire, rosemary carrots and luscious black garlic-foie gras bordelaise with honshimeji mushrooms (the menu changes almost daily). A pasta dish of house-made orechiette ($26) with smoked lamb merguez sausage and a tomato ragoȗt with preserved lemon, ricotta and grilled courgettes was as good as any I’ve had in the South, and crisp pork belly with eggplant agnolotti, artichoke, pine nuts, currants, mizuna, and black olive dust ($14) as an appetizer was overwrought by about three ingredients too many. Rounds of rabbit saddle with baby carrots, ramps, wild mushrooms, and a caraway-scented puree ($26) was much better balanced.
    Desserts were all excellent, from a dark chocolate, praline and espresso napoleon ($9) with Meyer lemon custard and vanilla wafer to a luscious chocolate buttermilk doughnut with the surprise of sesame, candied kumquats and brown butter ($9).
    The wine list is already quite impressive and growing steadily. Cocktails are all $10, which comes as a relief.

Dinner is served Tues.-Sat. Café is open for breakfast and lunch daily.

The hot spot downtown right now is SIP Tasting Room & Rooftop Lounge (103 N. Main Street; 864-552-1916), which overlooks Main Street. Inside it’s a barebones, low-lighted place with communal high tables, and outside there are rattan couches and hassocks on the terrace, with a flow of very handsome people coming and going throughout the evening, before and after dinner. People tend to dress well. People tend to meet new people.
Greenville seems cheese-and-charcuterie crazy these days, and SIP offers a wide array of both, along with “Nibbles” of hummus, crudités, breads and spreads. There are more than two dozen beers, and the first-rate, always changing wine list has 27 wines by the glass, with most in the $8-$12 range. Among the bottles, too, there are plenty of bargains, with dozens of bottlings under $50.

SIP Tasting Room & Rooftop is at ; Winter hours: closed Sun. Mon., and Tues.

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NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani

FLAMES BAR
AND GRILL

533 North State Road

Briarcliff, NY
914-923-3100
http://flamesbarandgrill.com

    I have been happily dining at and writing about Flames since Nick Vuli opened it in 1992 as a paragon of a steakhouse whose quality of beef and other food exceeds that of far better known, much pricier competitors in New York City. In all that time Flames has had some added decorous touches--along with adding “Bar and Grill” to its name--but now, wholly revamped, it has emerged as one of the loveliest restaurants in Westchester County and one of the best looking steakhouses anywhere.
    Now everything about the dining room and a wholly reconfigured bar-lounge, where a lot of people eat after hopping off Metro North, is bathed in a glow of golden and lavender light that softens every surface of fine, polished woodwork, soft leather chairs, and plaid curtains that fit right into this affluent suburban neighborhood, 45 minutes from Manhattan by train or car.
    Mr. Vuli has trained his staff to be alert to guests’ needs within a moment’s notice, and their own generosity of care is mirrored in the generosity of the portions at Flames.   The wine list, cellared in a gorgeous private dining room downstairs, seems in flux, with far fewer whites now available than there used to be, while the stock of reds is still superlative and very reasonably priced.
    Most important, as the quality of beef continues to slide at new steakhouses around the country that profess to serve USDA Prime, there has never been the slightest decline in the excellence of what Mr. Vuli buys after so many years in the business. Back in 1992 he made a commitment to buying the finest, because he knew that it would be a competitive draw outside of NYC, and he’s held to that commitment even as the Real McCoy becomes more and more difficult to find.
    But, even before you get to the steaks and chops, there are decisions to be made from a large appetizer and pasta menu, which includes jumbo shrimp ($15.95) and colossal lump crabmeat ($15.95) that easily live up to their designations. Eggplant rollatini ($9.50) with prosciutto and fontina in a creamy tomato sauce is delicious, as is the ahi tuna ($1.95), quickly seared and given a lick of wasabi and a bed of seaweed. Fried calamari ($10.95) are cut thickly and cooked till tender and golden brown, easily shared by a table of four.
    I haven’t tried any of Flames’s pastas in a while, though I do recall with pleasure the spaghetti alla carbonara ($21.95) “done the right way,” as the menu says.
    There are steamed or broiled lobsters of varying sizes (market price)--three pounders will feed two--and they are always full of meat in body and claw. You’ll probably take home part of your extra thick veal chops ($43.95). The huge lamb chops ($43.95) are, of course, domestic and delectable, as is the bone-in shell steak ($43). I was persuaded that my least favorite cut, filet mignon, should be tried on the bone, and, aside from the unexpected rich flavor of the meat itself, the bone did indeed keep the succulence in a cut so often dried out. Then there are mammoth porterhouses (left) for two ($89.95), three ($127) and four ($170), which are impeccably seared and cooked at 800 degrees precisely the way you order them, then sliced and placed on a very hot serving platter. These prices are less than you'd pay for in NYC by about ten bucks.
    For side dishes, you should order the home fries (not crispy enough on my last visit) and the creamed spinach.
    Desserts are up to you: they’re competently made, including a good cheesecake and the textbook crème brûlée.
    After nearly a quarter century in business, Flames is regarded in Westchester and the surrounding counties as a classic restaurant of consistent quality. For commuters, it’s far easier to dine well here than to navigate their way to Palm or Spark’s or Peter Luger’s, and for those whose appetite for finding the best steakhouses in the region will draw them out of NYC, Briarcliff is less than hour a way.

Flames is open Tues.-Sun. from 11 A.M. to 10 P.M.

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NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

DRY CREEK VALLEY SEEKS GREATER RECOGNITION
By John Mariani

    Terroirs and micro-climates can be confusing for even the dedicated wine drinker who has difficulty enough learning the distinctions between Pomerol and Médoc in Bordeaux, Bolgheri and Montalcino in Tuscany, and Stags Leap and Howell Mountain in Napa. So it is understandable that any mention of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma may bring to mind the winery named Dry Creek Vineyard in Healdsburg, rather than the entire area by that same name. Dry Creek Valley is home to 70 wineries, spread over 2,400 acres, a mid-sized appellation (third largest in Sonoma) whose viticultural history goes back to the California Gold Rush era, when zinfandel became the predominant grape variety planted; today its plantings are surpassed only by cabernet sauvignon.
    The temperatures in the valley almost never reach the extreme high heat more usual in Napa Valley; nights are cooled by oceanic fog, and frosts are rare. Grapes seem to love living there.
    E&J Gallo is a major owner of land in Sonoma, with holdings in Dry Creek, using its grapes to make some of its Signature Series wines and the Frei Brothers label, while other estates, like A. Rafanelli, Frick, Sbragia, Ridge Lytton Springs and others compare with the best from Napa. But therein lies an image problem.
    Ever since the 1970s, led by vintners like Robert Mondavi, Napa Valley has captured the spotlight as America’s wine capital, based as much on full-bodied, well-oaked chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons as on the Silicon Valley billionaires who bought up hyper-expensive vineyards as trophy wineries. With more money to spend promoting Napa Valley, as both a wine and resort destination, the more its profile among wine drinkers and media has grown. Dry Creek Valley, and by extension Sonoma, has in turn been treated more like a California step-sister, who is undoubtedly pretty and talented but lacks the glamour of Napa appellations like Calistoga, Atlas Peak, and Carneros.
       Part of the problem is Dry Creek’s biggest success--zinfandel, which finds its finest expression in the terroir as a bold, rich red wine with plenty of spice and backbone. But, because there is so much run-of-the-mill zinfandel, and because of its association with the enormously successful and cheap but bland, slightly sweet white zinfandel (actually a rosé made from red grapes), the region suffers.
    Another ironic success that hinders Dry Creek Valley’s visibility in the market is that a large number of the region’s estates--95 percent of which are small wineries--sell their wines primarily through mail order. “Selling to a consistent clientele on a regular basis is not just cost-effective but allows wineries to be true to their own style,” says Ann Petersen, a marketing expert appointed Executive Director of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley a year ago. “They are not ruled by the supermarkets that only want a certain kind of wine for mass purchase.”
    Over dinner at Aureole restaurant in New York, Ms. Petersen told me: “Dry Creek Valley’s terroir is actually more varied than most of Sonoma’s. It’s really the heartland of Sonoma County. Our aim is to make our name better known around the world. There’s even a lot of discussion going on about China, which may emerge as a major wine market in the future.”
        Ms. Petersen also pointed out that so many of Dry Creek Valley’s best wines are so much lower priced than comparable bottlings from Napa, and proved it by pouring two superb zinfandels--A. Rafanelli and Sbragia.
    Nevertheless, mass-market buyers of zinfandel have a problem spending more than $10 for a bottle, and getting above that price point is tough for any premium winery in the entire industry. “We also face fierce competition from the craft beer industry and wine imports, which is just soaring in the market. When you know you can buy a 12-ounce bottle of artisanal beer for $4.25 or a six-pack of commercial beer for $12, many of the millennials people are reluctant to consider a good bottle of wine for $20 or more.”
    I noted that, while America is drinking more wine every year, those who pay more than $10 a bottle once a week or less--who are considered by the wine industry as “regular wine drinkers”--are still only about 5 percent of all American wine drinkers. Only a minuscule number can afford to buy $500 Napa cabernets, or $1,000 Burgundies--the Teflon-proof elite of the market. Vintners in Dry Creek Valley need not concern themselves with such label-driven buyers. Peterson said the region's “core, older consumer has no problem spending more than $20 a bottle, and the premium segment is expanding. In Dry Creek we specialize in small-production, high-quality products that just don’t fit into the $10 bottle at retail price point.”
    To prove her point that Dry Creek has an exceptionally varied terroir, and to show off fine examples of zinfandel and other varietals, she brought with her an array of wines most serious wine drinkers would consider very high quality. Collier Falls produces a 100% petite sirah ($40)--a much-neglected varietal not related to syrah/shiraz—from the 2011 vintage. Only 113 cases were produced and it’s a beauty at just 13.8% alcohol, showing rich plum-like flavors in tandem with the varietal’s peppery component.
    Just as delightful was a 2013 grenache rosé by an estate named Kokomo (the owner comes from Kokomo, Indiana), with 12.5% alcohol that makes it easy to drink and more berry flavor without the cloying sweetness of so many California rosés. With just 502 cases made and a price of $24, it should be much sought out, once tasted.
    Sbragia Family Vineyards has a deserved reputation for its zinfandel, and it’s easy to see why upon smelling and tasting its 2012 La Promessa ($48), made from a young vineyard in the warmest part of the valley. The zinfandel is given a fruited boost from 5% petite sirah, but it’s high 15.5% alcohol means it is not destined for longevity and is best drunk now, with something very hearty and intensely flavored like the braised wagyu beef cheek with horseradish we enjoyed that evening.
    An even more appealing and more complex zinfandel was a bottle of 2012 vintage from A. Rafanelli ($39). The grapes are all hand harvested and hand sorted, with fermentation taking place in small open top tanks, where the cap is punched down manually; the new wines are then put into oak tanks and matured for 18 months in new French oak barrels, racked four to six times, and never fined or filtered.
    Nevertheless, the alcohol level is a reasonable 14.7% for a zinfandel with 7% petite sirah. Ideal weather through the year gave the wine impeccable balance, and big ripe flavors. Despite the winery claiming the bottling has “jammy blackberry fruit, thick and juicy,” I found it more luscious than tasting like fruit preserves. It was California zinfandel--not a native grape--at its best, a kind of Dry Creek diadem whose fineness is in good company with other varietals that deserve to be better known.
    Still, Rafanelli, like the majority of Dry Creek estates, sells its wines only at the winery, or through restaurants, which is terrific for Rafanelli and its visitors but not for the rest of us who need better access to such great California wines.

Passport to Dry Creek Valley® is a weekend event when the winegrowing community comes together to celebrate the generations of farmers, vintners and families of the Dry Creek Valley wine region. Over April 25-26, Passport guests are welcomed into 45+ wineries throughout Dry Creek Valley, each offering a unique pairing of premium wine, gourmet food and entertainment. Tickets are limited and are available on a first-come-first-served basis February 1st at 10 am pst. Click here for complete list of part http://www.drycreekvalley.org/events/passport-to-dry-creek-valley.php

"Be prepared for date night with advance reservations and built-in views at these restaurants above some of America's most iconic cities and landmarks. If romance means getting out of metropolitan madness for you, book a rendezvous over the bright lights of the Vegas Strip at Comme Ça."—Ashley Day, “Love is in the air at restaurants with aerial views,” USA Today (2/1/15)

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MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John Mariani. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani, Robert Mariani, Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein, Andrew Chalk, Dotty Griffith and Brian Freedman. Contributing Photographers: Galina Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.