New York’s foodie media largely neglect the restaurants within the warren of streets in Chinatown in favor of holes-in-the-wall elsewhere; rarely do the big, banquet-hall size Chinatown restaurants like Jing Fong, Golden Unicorn and Peking Duck House receive any coverage. But Hutong, way uptown in the vast space that used to be Le Cirque near Bloomingdale’s, has too much of a presence and pedigree to be ignored, and most reports have been very positive.
    The 140-seat space itself, with 83 in the lounge, is a dazzling, shadowy room evoking the Shanghai 1920s Art Deco era of shiny surfaces and a very high ceiling, which I thought would make for a very loud decibel level but somehow, through careful design, it’s not. There is also a good deal of color in the banquettes and a double wall of lighted wine bottles. There is, in fact, so much décor that I thought that Hutong was going to be more spectacle than fine Chinese cuisine, more like Tao or a restaurant out of a Mission Impossible movie designed to be blown into a million pieces in slow motion. It is not.
    Hutong is the first U.S. restaurant from Aqua Restaurant Group, which also operates in Hong Kong (where the original opened in 2003), Beijing and London, so, although it’s posed as a “Northern Chinese” menu by Executive Chef Fei Wang, it’s not specific to any region of China, drawing, instead, from Beijing, Sichuan, Hunan and Shanghai, all with a definite lightening up on the oil and fats you’d find at restaurants in China itself.
    The greeting is warm, the pacing well-co-ordinated, and the menu just long enough to entice, not the screed of hundreds of dishes you find in Chinatown. Expensive exotic cocktails are well promoted, and the wine list is applaudable for this kind of cuisine. Mark-ups on wine bottles are about average for New York. “Signature dishes” are noted on the menu.
    The best approach to the dim sum at Hutong is with a platter of eight pieces ($34), enough to share, with morsels of lobster and squid ink; rosé Champagne chili cod; and spinach. Honey-coated okra lashed with wasabi ($13) is an unusual item that fortunately lacks the slimy aspect poorly cooked okra can have. The crispy vegetarian spring rolls ($14) are stuffed with mushrooms, cabbage and glass noodles and have the right crunch and complexity of fillings. Hot and sour pork Xiao ($12) is spicy but balanced in its flavors; so, too, is branzino in chili broth ($45), whose heat does not overpower the taste of the fish’s flesh.
    Among the main courses, a dish called “Red Lantern” ($48) comes with a waiter’s warning, that it is extremely hot from the chilies used. Take him at his word. Like Nashville’s hot chicken, Red Lantern will test the stiffest upper lip of confirmed chili heads. With mis-placed bravado, I insisted I loved very hot spicing, but ten seconds after the first bite of the dish, composed of deep-fried soft shell crabs on a basket of dried Sichuan chilies, my eyebrows were ascending into my scalp, my eyes bawling and my tongue scorched.  I still recommend the dish for being both out of the ordinary and delectable, but do not pop one of those chilies in your mouth.
        Wok-fried kai-lan broccoli with ginger garlic ($16) is more traditional and quite tasty, and the chef’s fried rice ($12) is a good balm for the heat. The roasted whole Peking duck ($84), which can be ordered as a half, is meant to share, and it comes in two stages: Tableside carving brings the meat and brittle skin to the warmed plate with Chinese pancakes, sliced cucumbers and a sweet Hoisin-based sauce; then you receive lettuce cups into which you scoop minced duck meat, soong style, with sliced green beans, peppers and spices.
    For dessert there is something called bao and soy milk ($17) and some pretty good ice cream ($6).
    So, in addition to its size and flashy splendor, Hutong is serving fine Chinese food in a most hospitable way along with a good focus on wines and spirits. Unlike in Chinatown, where being Chinese really helps to get the best out of the kitchen, Hutong delivers at a high level for everyone.

Hutong is open daily for lunch and dinner.

 Michael Rooney and winemaker Luis Guemes of Bodega 202

  I recently spent a week in Spain in the Rioja Denominacion de Origen wine sub-region of Rioja Alavesa as a guest of the Asociación de Bodegas de Rioja Alavesa wine association. While there, I visited a dozen wineries, ate Basque tapas, or pintxos, and visited the local wine museum.
      Rioja has three official sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Oriental (formerly Rioja Baja) and Rioja Alavesa; the latter is the only one located in Basque country, where grapes have been grown and made into wine since Roman times. Located between the Ebro River and the rugged Sierra Cantabria mountains, Rioja Alavesa is the smallest sub-region with the highest elevation. The Sierra Cantabria and the river create a microclimate that protects the area from the cold, humid wind off the Atlantic and helps regulate temperatures, and the calcarous clay soil contributes to the production of wines with significant aging capability. Vineyards are planted at high altitudes (1,300 to 3,900 feet), where they are exposed to cooler evening temperatures, allowing the grapes to acquire and retain good acid levels and color. An average annual rainfall of only 20 inches makes the vines push deep into the soil seeking water.
      There are now about 300 wineries in Alavesa, most family owned and most fairly small; a vineyard with 100 acres of vines would qualify as very large. Many of the current wineries have vines 40 years old or more, yielding grapes and wines with highly concentrated flavors.
     As in the other two Rioja regions, Tempranillo grape vines dominate, accounting for about 80% of plantings. Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano are the other red grapes. Traditionally, Rioja wine has been made by blending the different grape varieties, although now it is also common to find single variety wines. White Rioja wines are made from Viura (Macabeo), Malvasía and White Garnacha.
      The winemakers of Rioja Alavesa have been successful at preserving traditional wine making methods while adopting new technologies. For example, many of the wineries still use the traditional production method of carbonic maceration, during which whole clusters of grapes are placed in tanks filled with carbon dioxide but no yeast. The grapes then release natural enzymes that work to create alcohol. Most red Rioja wine is aged in oak, originally French, but as the cost of these barrels increased many producers began to buy American oak. Both are now used.
  A few years ago the Asociación de Bodegas de Rioja Alavesa began to explore forming a new denomination that would allow Alavesa producers to include information on the label that reflected terroir, lot and winemaking process, meaning the labels would no longer show the Rioja designation. The discussion is ongoing, but a change of labeling requirements has been approved, so wineries can now write "Rioja Alavesa" on the front label.
  The 12th century town of Laguardia (above) is the center of Rioja Alavesa. It has a number of good restaurants and pintxos bars. The charming restaurant on the town square, Hospederia los Parajes, has local Basque dishes and an excellent wine list and cellar. We stayed at the Hotel Villa De Laguardia, just outside the town walls. It has comfortable rooms, bar and restaurant. Excellent, robust lunches are served at many of the wineries, including local specialties such as Jamon Iberico (cured ham), suckling lamb, potato soup, ham and potato croquettes and different varieties of peppers, including the local piquillo.
  The Villa Lucia Wine Theme Museum in Laguardia is a must, showing the local history of winemaking in a very interactive way. In addition, its amazing, award-winning 4D experience "In Dreamland" is a 3D film with sensory effects, such as moisture falling when a glass of wine is overturned.
      Here are some of the excellent wineries I visited, most small and family owned.

Bodegas Casa Primicia

  At Casa Primicia, which is in the heart of the town of Laguardia in one of the oldest buildings in the town, Iker Madrid is the winemaker and is using carbonic maceration to produce several organic wines. Their line of Julian Madrid wines includes an 80/20% Tempranillo and a 100% Garnacha. The Cofradia label of 100% Tempranillo comes from vines more then 80 years old. 

 Familia Valdelana Viños de Rioja

  The Valdelana family has been making wine here for fourteen generations. Pedro Valdelana, the first vine grower in the family, was born in 1615, and laid the foundations of the winery; Juan Jesus Valdelana is the current overseer of the newest winery, established in 1980. His daughter, Judit, is making some lovely white wines, including a 100% Malvasia. Their Baron Ladron de Guevara and the Agnus Reserva Tempranillos are carefully made and excellent. The family is graced with one of the oldest plots of Tempranillo, with vines 100 years old or more, which makes them pre-phylloxera. This plot produces the Centum Vitis, a dense rich wine. The tasting room includes a wine museum. 

 Bodega 202

  This is a new winery, established in 2014 by Francis Rooney, a U.S. Representative from Florida's 19th Congressional District, and his wife, Kathleen.  Working with winemaker Luis Guemes and his wife, Marta Ortiz Arce, who is Commercial Director, the Rooneys purchased several acres of vineyards throughout the region, including some older ones, and a winery was constructed.  Their Ansa label includes a Tempranillo from vines 70 to 100 years old. It shows a dark berry nose and lovely fruit notes. 

 Dominio de Berzal

  After growing and selling grapes for many years, the Berzal family, now three brothers, began creating its own bottlings and built a winery in 1999. Inigo Berzal is making both white and red wines. In addition to different Tempranillo blends, he makes a 100% Graciano Dominio de Berzal. He also does a seven-grape variety blend that is full of fruit. 

 Bodegas Estraunza

  A second-generation family winery started in 1990, where Inigo Medrano is winemaker, the Bodegas produces white, rosé and reds, all of which are Tempranillo blends. They are one of the wineries in the area that produce a Gran Reserva, which ages 24 months in oak, then 36 months in their cellars. The current release, 2007, has strong cherry and vanilla notes. Their Reserva spends 24 months in oak and over 18 months in the cellars. 

 Bodegas Zugober Belezos

  This small family winery was founded in 1940. Fourth generation Manuel Gomez Bernardo makes an impressive 100% Viura white and several Tempranillo blends. The Belezos Ecologico is an organic 100% Tempranillo that shows fresh fruit and good balancing acidity. The Belezos Sierra Carbon comes from 50-year-old vines and has distinct mineral notes.

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