MARIANI’S
Virtual Gourmet
"Carciofi
Turinesi," by Galina Dargery (2013) ❖❖❖ IN THIS ISSUE GRAND HOTEL TREMEZZO, LAKE COMO By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER Polo Bar By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR WHAT I'M DRINKING NOW By John Mariani ❖❖❖ GRAND HOTEL TREMEZZO, LAKE COMO By John Mariani The Panorama from a Room at A
great resort is an amalgam of ten thousand
details, most of them never even noticed by a
visitor too busy taking in the most obvious of
them. For
beyond the architecture of a grand hallway,
the panorama from one’s terrace, the rich
fabrics of the draperies, and the superb food
and wine, there are so many unnoticed details
that en masse enhance all the rest, from the
replacement of flowers in every vase to the
condition of every carpet, from the way tables
are set and the services performed as if by
silent magic.
❖❖❖ NEW YORK
CORNER
By John Mariani THE POLO BAR 1 East 55th Street (off Fifth Avenue) Growing
up in the Bronx in the same era as did Ralph
Lauren, I never thought our paths would
cross until he announced he was opening Polo
Bar, set adjacent to his new flagship
Fifth Avenue store.
Of course, there's been much clucking in the media about what kind of place it would be--long on promotional designs for his company, short on a commitment to fine dining.
Polo Bar, whose name reeks exclusivity, is
Lauren’s third restaurant (his first, RL, is in
Chicago; Ralph’s is in Paris), and, according to
its website, it is inspired by “classic New York
establishments” with dishes that are his “personal
favorites.” It's a fantasy that's part Scott
Fitzgerald, part Frank O'Hara, and part Peter
Arno, but with fresh polish. (Le
Bernardin's Eric Ripert has said the dining room
is "the best lighted restaurant in New
York.") Of course, the classic establishment
that leaps to mind upon entering Polo Club is `21’
Club, three blocks away across Fifth Avenue, whose
own décor includes some equestrian art and whose
menu set a template decades ago for the kind of
food power people want to eat, or at least order,
which includes a whole lot of red meat. What is most impressive is that the entire staff acts as if they had been born on some Gold Coast in the 1920s and never aged a bit, well mannered, secure in their own loveliness. They appear to have just arrived from summer service on a Bermuda yacht or on a Wellesley spring break. How should you dress? Well, without pretense. This is not La Côte Basque. The dining room is down a not very wide staircase (right), and it quickly occurred to me that no one but Ralph Lauren could get away with seating his darlings in such a subterranean, windowless space. The room works because its segments and alcoves are arranged so that those who need to see and be seen are not disadvantaged, even if some social climbers fret about which are the “A” tables. (I cannot imagine the agonies the receptionists must go through listening to people demanding tables when there are none and dropping names when their own are not enough to count.) As noted, the menu strikes no new ground in American gastronomy, and Texas-born Executive Chef Sepp Stoner probably hasn’t much leeway to develop his own ideas just yet. But, with stints under Bob Carter in Charleston, SC, and Laurent Tourondel in NYC, he’s mastered the techniques that make mistakes on such a menu a rarity. You begin, as at Tourondel’s restaurants, with a fabulous, large cheese-enriched popover and good butter--fast becoming the bread roll of 2015--while you peruse a wine list that seems equally balanced between French (RL himself prefers Bordeaux) and California labels, and mark-ups range from very high among bottlings under $100 to more reasonable at the top levels. An Olivier Leflaive Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 2009 at $220 is almost a bargain. The best of the starters I tried was the “ranch house chili” ($15) with a warm pecorino biscuit almost as good as that popover. Chockful of meat and a sensible amount of heat, the dish tells you that the chef was born in Texas. Butternut squash soup with wild mushrooms and sage ($13) was a good choice for a very cold winter’s night, but tuna tartare got a little lost mixed with avocado, mustard greens and crispy shallots with soy ginger dressing ($18). The crab cake here is an oddity. When a high-end restaurant's menu in NYC lists a crab cake it means a fat hockey puck of jumbo lump crab loosely bound; at Polo Bar it comes as a rather flat round, thinly crusted with what tasted like shredded wheat and served with a mustard bell pepper sauce ($17). In addition to four “Steaks & Burgers,” there are eight entrees labeled “classics,” including “Ralph’s corned beef sandwich on marble rye” ($22), which I hadn’t a chance to try, and a finely cooked, well-fatted Dover sole with a delicious lemon butter sauce, which at $54 is somewhat lower than others around town at similar restaurants. The beef (sometimes, it’s said, from RL’s own ranch) is USDA Prime Angus, so I was surprised that the bone-in ribeye ($55), sliced a bit thin, did not have the flavor I would have expected and was decidedly chewy, which ribeyes shouldn’t be. It came with hand-cut French fries I had a hard time keeping my fingers away from. Sautéed garlic spinach was fine enough, and mashed potatoes with plenty of butter were irresistible. An awful lot of items pin “Ralph” to their description—even “Ralph’s Coffee”—and that includes some very good coffee ice cream with dark chocolate shortbread cookies ($10). The brownie is, well, damn scrumptious, and the apple pie (“homemade”) with vanilla ice cream and warm caramel sauce ($10) is just barely bettered by the really excellent bourbon pecan pie with whipped cream ($14). And so, Polo Bar is what it was intended to be, and that is, very attractive, extremely hospitable, a show case for RL style, and at the moment tough to get into—bookings are already a month out. In fact, New York Magazine spent 650 words of pouty text on just that aspect, and the NY Times contends--wink, wink--there is a secret e-mail contact. The food is dependable, of a kind your friends insist is surprisingly good at their country club but never is. Polo Bar’s food is far better than that, and if you don’t go out raving about it, there is plenty of appeal to a restaurant this carefully crafted. Polo Bar is open for dinner nightly. ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
WHAT I'M DRINKING NOW By John Mariani
Nothing
makes drinking wine so appealing as the vast
array of good, solidly made wines at good price
points from all over the world. Here
are some I’m enjoying right now. Rapsani 2012 ($6)—Greek
red wines have turned somersaults in quality over
the past decade, and
whatever problems Greece must overcome
economically, the prices of its wines make them
very attractive.
This blend of organic grapes from northern
Greece—one-third each of Xinomavro, Krasato, and
Tavra—comes from Larissa. With
just 13.5% alcohol, it’s light- to medium-bodied,
and the blend shows itself in layers of flavors,
and the often harsh Xinomavro is tamed by the
other varietals.
Beyerskloof Chenin Blanc-Pinotage 2014
($14)—A unique blend of 82% Chenin Blanc and 18%
Pinotage (a cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault that
has been the most promoted of modern South African
winemaking), is a very pleasant marriage by
winemaker Beyers Truter, who calls it a “white
Pinotage.” It has well balanced sugars and acid
without the brash grassiness Chenin Blanc so often
shows on its own. SKW
Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 ($48)—From the
admirable Steven Kent Winery in Livermore Valley,
CA (left),whose
soils are similar to Bordeaux’s, comes this lovely
wine that shows that California vintners need not
pump up the alcohol (this one comes in at 13.6%)
to provide body.
You get plenty of heft and equal elegance
without overripe plumminess. It
could use a little more backbone perhaps, but it’s
a wonderful wine with every meat or most pastas.
❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's books below may be ordered from amazon.com. I'm proud and happy to announce that my new book, The Hound in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books), has just been published through Amazon and Kindle. It is a novella, and for anyone who loves dogs, Christmas, romance, inspiration, even the supernatural, I hope you'll find this to be a treasured favorite. The story concerns how, after a New England teacher, his wife and their two daughters adopt a stray puppy found in their barn in northern Maine, their lives seem full of promise. But when tragedy strikes, their wonderful dog Lazarus and the spirit of Christmas are the only things that may bring back his master back from the edge of despair. WATCH THE VIDEO! “What a huge surprise turn this story took! I was completely stunned! I truly enjoyed this book and its message.” – Actress Ali MacGraw “He had me at Page One. The amount of heart, human insight, soul searching, and deft literary strength that John Mariani pours into this airtight novella is vertigo-inducing. Perhaps ‘wow’ would be the best comment.” – James Dalessandro, author of Bohemian Heart and 1906. “John Mariani’s Hound in Heaven starts with a well-painted portrayal of an American family, along with the requisite dog. A surprise event flips the action of the novel and captures us for a voyage leading to a hopeful and heart-warming message. A page turning, one sitting read, it’s the perfect antidote for the winter and promotion of holiday celebration.” – Ann Pearlman, author of The Christmas Cookie Club and A Gift for my Sister. “John Mariani’s concise, achingly beautiful novella pulls a literary rabbit out of a hat – a mash-up of the cosmic and the intimate, the tragic and the heart-warming – a Christmas tale for all ages, and all faiths. Read it to your children, read it to yourself… but read it. Early and often. Highly recommended.” – Jay Bonansinga, New York Times bestselling author of Pinkerton’s War, The Sinking of The Eastland, and The Walking Dead: The Road To Woodbury. “Amazing things happen when you open your heart to an animal. The Hound in Heaven delivers a powerful story of healing that is forged in the spiritual relationship between a man and his best friend. The book brings a message of hope that can enrich our images of family, love, and loss.” – Dr. Barbara Royal, author of The Royal Treatment. ❖❖❖
❖❖❖
FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
that the Virtual
Gourmet is linked to four excellent
travel sites: Everett Potter's Travel Report: 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."
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).
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.
To un-subscribe from this newsletter,click here.
© copyright John Mariani 2015 |