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THIS WEEK NEW YORK'S MASTER RESTAURATEURS: An Interview with Thomas Keller By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER LINCOLN RISTORANTE By John Mariani THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES CHAPTER EIGHTEEN By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR BORDEAUX FACES PRICE DECREASES By John Mariani ❖❖❖
MASTER
RESTAURATEURS:
An
Interview with Thomas Keller
By John Mariani Photos by Deborah Jones The Kitchen at The French Laundry Not until he turned thirty did Thomas Keller have any name recognition in culinary circles. Born in 1955 in Oceanside, CA, and raised in Palm Beach, FL, he began cooking in restaurants as of 1974; ten years later he was doing stages in some of France’s finest restaurants, like Taillevent and Guy Savoy, then began garnering attention in 1985 at Raphael in New York as a chef’s chef known for his attention to detail. In 1990 he opened his own restaurant the city, Rakel, where he was recognized as one of the young innovators of modern French cuisine. Before Rakel, where did you work? Before Rakel I was the chef de cuisine at Restaurant Raphael in New York City. What were you trying to do at Rakel in terms of direction? Some called us innovative then, and some described our food as modern American-French fare. We wanted to celebrate classical French cuisine and the fundamentals, but in an approachable way. We had an à la minuit style where we encouraged the team to iterate at the moment and respond to the ingredients, the guests, and the moment. This perspective extended to our family meals, when everyone had a say in our menu and wine program. Why did you relocate to Los Angeles after Rakel? It felt like the right thing to do then—to explore the west coast. Why did you stop cooking to make olive oil? I wasn’t just making olive oil; I was cooking private dinners around Los Angeles. Both were a means to an end. By then, I was pursuing The French Laundry. I couldn’t take another job as a chef and try to buy the restaurant. I needed to focus on the goal of buying The French Laundry and not be distracted. So, the olive oil and private dinners were a means of paying rent. You told me you used to work at The French Laundry so many hours that you’d fall asleep on the kitchen table. When did that stop and how were you able to open Bouchon and Ad Hoc? How did I wake up?
Bouchon opened four years later and by then we
had a new kitchen and a bigger
team. Things were much different by
then.
No. I wasn’t
thinking
about it at all. But when the opportunity
arose at Columbus Circle, it was an
inspiring moment for me. I knew then that I
would return but had never planned
on it. Twenty years ago did you
envision the kinds of international
recognition you’ve received? Of course not! When
one
of our restaurants receives recognition, we
celebrate, but I remind them that
it’s really not about awards, for they are
given to you for what you did
yesterday. We are a restaurant group always
looking to tomorrow—where our greatest
challenges and gratifying successes lie. There
are so many more stories of
success and failure, but the one thing that
remains with all of us here at the
end of the day is the desire and commitment to
return to work tomorrow with the
one goal of doing a little better than the day
before. That one goal continues
to drive us to new heights and
accomplishments. When and why did you branch
out to other cities? Since your cuisine is so personalized, are you concerned about how it is being done when you cannot be in all 11 of your restaurants and bakeries? Our staff has been trained to treat one guest at a time. While I cannot be everywhere at once, I trust that my staff runs the kitchen with the same urgency and collaboration I once did. Ultimately, a great meal is about something other than the food and wine. A great meal is an emotional experience. We make it an extraordinary one by establishing a beautiful place filled with a staff that cares about it as they do about their home, where we treat one guest at a time. With this approach, we care for you, and you become the central focus of your experience. Our chefs are meticulous about culinary details, fundamental techniques, and a kitchen that delivers the best products of the earth to the table. No detail or element can be less important or more important than another. A great meal does not necessarily fill you up. A great meal is a journey that returns you to sources of pleasure you may have forgotten and takes you to places you haven't been before. ❖❖❖
NEW YORK
CORNER
LINCOLN RISTORANTE
Lincoln Center 142 West 65th Street 212-359-6500 By John Mariani The
opening
of Lincoln Ristorante in 2010 was a signal
moment both for Lincoln
Center and the Upper West Side, which had
nothing like an upscale Italian restaurant
at that time and certainly no
dining edifice within an all glass trapezoidal
shape. Designed by Diller,
Scofido + Renfro, Lincoln was unique in every
way, set on the north side of
Lincoln Center Plaza in view of the Henry
Moore statue set in a shallow
reflecting pool and across from the Vivian
Beaumont Theater and Juilliard. The roof,
topped with a grass lawn that
functions as a small public park, is slanted
and inside the ceiling provides
for both a very open and airy dining section
with another to the rear and a
section of booths across from the gleaming,
well-lighted glassed-in kitchen and Negroni Bar and Prosecco Bar, which
stocks 350 wines on
the list, many from small producers,
overseen by the affable bartender Mario
Jurkovsky. Open
Tues.-Sat. for dinner. ❖❖❖
THE MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES By John Mariani CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Neither
Katie nor David had ever been to Ireland, so in
the little time they had before
boarding an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, they
boned up on the city and got
their contact sheets in order. David would see
if the sources provided by his
Irish cop friends would open any doors, while
Katie would call on Church
officials and try to locate some of the girls
who had emerged from—Katie felt
“survived”—the Magdalene Laundries. © John Mariani, 2018 ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
BORDEAUX’S VINTNERS WORRY
ABOUT DECREASE
By John Mariani
Global turmoil in the world’s wine
industry hasn’t caused major wine regions to
curtail production—at least not
yet. But in Bordeaux there are fears of a
cut-back in consumption at a time
when there is a global glut of wine. I spoke
with Tara Albini (below), head of
clients
and marketing for Wine Lister, consults who
offer strategic recommendations for
producers, regional associations and
merchants, as to why there is now high
anxiety in the industry about en primeur
sales, which are first prices
set for the new vintage in the trade before
release to the public. Bordeaux,
like Burgundy and most wine regions, has shown a
decrease in price performance:
8% in 2023. What are the principal reasons for
this slow-down? Over
the past four years,
socio-economic instability has cut the spending
power of many of the buyers
that once drove demand for the world’s premium
fine wines, with the market
taking a notable hit in 2023. With global economic
turmoil incited by two major
wars, ever-rising inflation, and ongoing
recuperation from the pandemic,
consumers around the world have been forced to
tighten their purse strings. Why
does Bordeaux suffer from “market fragility?” Bordeaux’s
production volumes are
higher than in Burgundy or California, and there
is a reported surplus of its
wine available on the market due to demand slowing
down. This means that
consumers will be less sympathetic to major price
increases and feel less
urgency to acquire its wine during periods of
economic instability. One
specialist U.S. merchant tells us, “Many of my
buyers, who are collectors in
other regions, don't collect young Bordeaux
because they know they can get
wines entering or firmly in their drinking plateau
from standard distribution.”
You
report there is “anxiety” over the higher
production in the 2023 harvest. What
impact will that have on prices? Higher
production volumes as an
isolated phenomenon would not cause anxieties,
yet, in the context of the
current Bordeaux market, it has added to existing
worries surrounding the
surplus of stock on the market. Several trade
members cited the lower quantities
of recent vintages, such as the 2022, as a factor
for inciting demand in the
future, despite their augmented prices. With
volumes back to normal, or in some
cases above average, scarcity cannot be used as a
selling point for the 2023,
meaning that prices will need to be more
attractive in order to encourage
demand. Yet
your report says that Bordeaux’s “popularity” is
up 8%. How does that coincide
with the decrease in prices? Wine
Lister’s regional popularity
ranking is a relative measure based
on Wine-Searcher search data on
the top 20 wines by Wine Lister pro score in each
region
(Bordeaux, Burgundy, California, Champagne,
Piedmont, Spain, and Tuscany).
Each region has seen average searches decrease for
the top 20 fine wines
examined over the past two years, but Bordeaux's
popularity has fared better
than Burgundy, California, Champagne, Spain, and
Tuscany, hence its relative
position being up 8%. This is likely a result of
Bordeaux’s strongest fine wine
brands being so established over centuries, and
being less subject to passing
trends. What
are the top five “pro score improvers” in
quality? Wine
Lister’s Quality score comprises
an aggregation of our partner critics’ tasting
scores (Jancis Robinson, Vinous
(Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin), Jeannie Cho
Lee, Bettane+Desseauve, Jasper
Morris and Le Figaro Vin) and a modest
weighting for aging potential (the
average length of our partner critics' suggested
drinking windows). Berliquet
sees the greatest increase in Quality score over
the past year (16%), followed
closely by d'Angludet, which misses the top spot
by decimals. Durfort-Vivens
and Dassault appear in third and fourth place with
15% and 14%, respectively,
while Fonroque takes the fifth spot with a 12%
increase. What
programs or efforts are being made to improve
demand for the 2023 en
primeur
campaign? Bordeaux
châteaux are putting more
effort than ever in marketing their wines and
communicating with trade members
and consumers. Having worked with over 100 of the
world’s leading fine wine
producers on various strategic consulting and
marketing activities, Wine
Lister’s communication division has seen increased
interest from the region’s
top producers over the last two years. We have
worked with 18 Bordeaux estates
on various types of PR collaborations, event
organization, and marketing
strategy advice. These estates recognize that, in
an increasingly competitive
fine wine market, it is not the time to rest on
your laurels, and are instead
making significant effort to connect with those
that drive demand. You
surveyed 57 people in the global wine trade as
to whether a decrease in average
market price vs compromised sales of existing
stocks of recent back vintages
would help sales, and the great majority (91% )
of the Americans polled said
there would be no impact. Why would lower prices
not affect the market? There
is consensus that demand for
recent back vintages is compromised as a result of
ever-increasing prices, with
a feeling of disillusionment towards the en
primeur system taking its toll on the
region’s wines as a whole. Ten of the
leading trade members surveyed explain that a
pricing reset is needed to
reinvigorate interest in both the en
primeur system and existing stock of recent
releases. One major Bordeaux négociant
explains that “if the deal is
good, and the trade can make a profit, demand will
arise [and would] create
goodwill. […] Prices will naturally rise again,
making the old vintages
attractive once more.” Additionally, nine
respondents cite the quality and
limited volumes of recent vintages as factors that
would spur demand despite
their pricing being relatively higher. Seven trade
members explain that en primeur
pricing strategies do not
affect in-bottle sales, due to a separation in the
consumer groups for these
two streams, and general expectations for higher
in-bottle prices, with one top
tier U.K. merchant noting, “You expect to
pay a premium for wine in bottle.”
Are
the prices of the First and Second Growths going
higher? Has demand slipped
with those rated as crus? There
is no obvious trend among First
and Second Growths when it comes to post-en
primeur release price appreciation. When
looking at the relative percentage
change between release prices and current market
prices by wine (vintages
2018-2022), Lafleur sees the greatest appreciation
(103%), followed by Les
Carmes Haut-Brion (42%). (Petrus
and
Le Pin were not included in this analysis as they
don’t release via the Place
de Bordeaux system). Carruades de Lafite comes in
third place (37%), with its
demand no doubt catalyzed by its association with
its Premier Cru sibling;
Lafite Rothschild, which conversely appears in
22nd place on the list.
Similarly, Margaux’s Pavillon Blanc appears in
fifth place (29%), while the
First Growth Château Margaux appears in 21st
place. Do
you expect heavy discounting this year on
Bordeaux? This
is something that has been
unanimously called for by leading trade members in
all corners of the
international fine wine sphere, as revealed in our
recent survey of 57
merchants, négociants,
auction
houses, and retailers from around the world
(featured in Part I of Wine
Lister’s 2024 Bordeaux Study). They believe that
only a significant pricing
reset can renew consumer confidence in buying en primeur and invigorate interest
in Bordeaux as a whole. When
asked the question of what they believe to be the
maximum viable release price
for the 2023 vintage versus 2022, our respondents
suggest an average discount
of 30% (with some suggesting as much as 50%
discount would be appropriate),
though the response from the Americas was less
extreme, with a 20% discount
called for on average. We have just returned
from 10 days
tasting in Bordeaux, and nearly every château we
spoke to confirmed they would
reduce their price vs 2022. The news on the
grapevine is that these decreases
will be significant for certain top estates, who
are also planning to release
very early on, beginning on 29 April. Only time
will tell whether these
discounts will be substantial enough to answer the
prayers of the international
fine wine trade. What
was the 2023 vintage like? The 2023 vintage
required
a watchful eye and sharp reactivity from
winemakers across both banks of the
Gironde. The growing season was marred by climatic
challenges: with a wet and
warm spring, mildew put many vineyards at risk,
relying on the expertise and
rigor of vineyard teams to ensure healthy vines.
Fortunately, two heatwaves in
the second half of August and early September
encouraged excellent ripening and
yielded high-quality harvests across the region.
Once again, careful and
patient planning was imperative to picking grapes
at their optimal ripeness.
The resulting wines show great freshness, depth
and complexity—a profile that
several of Wine Lister’s producer partners have
described as “classically
Bordeaux.” ❖❖❖
GELATO PROVEN TO CAUSE
HAVOC ON THE STREETS! "Milan is
poised to ban sales of ice creams after midnight in
ongoing efforts to clamp down on nighttime revelers
sowing havoc on the streets of Italy’s financial
capital. The new rules devised by the city council
will ban the sale of takeaway drinks and food,
including pizza and ice cream, in 12 of Milan’s
liveliest districts."—Food & Wine. ❖❖❖ Any of John Mariani's books below may be ordered from amazon.com. The Hound in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books) 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 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. ❖❖❖
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
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