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MARIANI’S
Virtual Gourmet
May
4, 2008
NEWSLETTER
"Bières
de la Meuse" by Alphonse Mucha (1899)
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In
This Issue
EATING AROUND AUSTIN by John
Mariani
NOTES
FROM THE
WINE CELLAR:
Texas
Wines Can Take the Heat
by Mort Hochstein
NEW
YORK CORNER: Bar Boulud by John Mariani
RESTAURANT MAGAZINE
ANNOUNCES 50 BEST RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD by John Mariani
QUICK
BYTES
EATING
AROUND AUSTIN
by John Mariani
Photos by Jack
Plunkett, Bloomberg News
Aside
from an admirably
rowdy music scene and the boozy college hijinks along Sixth Street,
Austin, Texas, is a fairly sedate city now in the midst of a building
boom. Buoyed by the headquarters of Dell and the public weal of being
the state capital, Austin's downtown development has given it a dining
scene that now runs from great barbecue to upscale sushi.
I suspect most people visiting
Austin for the first time go in search of the former rather than the
latter, and there’s plenty of ‘cue around: Stubb’s
Bar-B-Que (801 Red River
Street; 512-480-8341) is famous for its Sunday gospel brunch; Lambert’s
(401 West Second Street;
512-494-1500), in a landmark 1873 building, has the widest
variety of “fancy” appetizers and a lively late-night bar and music
scene. (Wherever you go, do not
let anyone drag you to either of the local County Line BBQ places, which are as
awful in service as they are for 'cue for the masses.)
My own favorite is Iron
Works BBQ (100 Red River
Street; 512-478-4855), near the Convention Center. The old
structure still shows signs of the terrible 1935 Austin flood (holes in
the floor are covered with license plates). These days it’s decked out
in Texas kitsch, and has hosted Kevin Costner, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bob
Dylan, and Jay Leno. I find Iron Works’ sliced beef brisket ($9) and
beef ribs ($11.95) to be paragons of Texas smoking and grilling. Their
hot sausage and smoked turkey have the perfect pungency that requires a
side of fine, creamy potato salad and the sweet beans, along with a
bottle of Shiner Bock beer plucked from an ice chest.
Mexican
restaurants abound in Austin,
led by the very beautiful Fonda San Miguel (2330 W. North Loop; 512-459-4121), here since 1975,
serving a classic style of Mexican fare. Far more downhome is El
Chile Café & Cantina (1809 Manor Road; 512-457-9900; below),
which does a mix of Mexican and Tex-Mex, and is especially good for its
antojitos (appetizers)
like mildly spicy tilapia ceviche with lime
juice, tomato, onion, and cilantro ($6.95); grilled quesadillas with
chorizo and Chihuahua cheese ($6.95); and a terrific tortilla soup in a
rich chicken broth with avocado, queso
fresco, tortilla strips, and laced with cream ($3.95).
Having recently been introduced to
breakfast/brunch at Curra’s Grill (two locations), I can’t imagine
going anywhere else in Austin for the first meal of the day, when you
tend to run into local and visiting musicians for whom this might be
the end of a long, long night. The Garcia Prado family bases its
cooking on the food of their hometown, Nueva Rosita Coahuila, and it is
all clearly made with familial pride. At the East Olthorf Street
location (left), I sat down to
huevos con machado
($7.95), lightly scrambled eggs with shredded beef and barracho (“drunken”) sauce, and a
large platter of migas
($6.50), scrambled eggs with shredded corn tortillas, chorizo, and a
hot pico de gallo salsa, all
washed down with excellent coffee. At
other times of the day there are fish tacos, and tacos with rotisserie
pork.
Another of my favorite casual Mexican eateries
(which also does a terrific breakfast) is Las Manitas (211 Congress Avenue; 512-472-9357),
whose decor would barely make it into the ranks of "no frills"
design. Out back there's a patio, reached by walking through the
kitchen (a quirky idea but one that proudly shows the kitchen has
nothing to hide), and the tacos and chalupas
are carne asado
are among
the best items.
For generous, traditional Italian food in a very
casual
atmosphere, Stortini (1917 Manor Road; 512-391-9500) does
a commendable job, starting with a delightful white bean and sausage
soup with basil and Parmigiano to a good selection of pastas (though
some are oversauced), and a very good cioppino seafood stew and a juicy
braised leg of duck with a light cherry glaze, butternut squash
ravioli, and a rich sage butter. The pizzas need work. The
prices are easy to get along with, with pastas $9-$15 and main courses
$14-$17.
If you wish to eat a little higher on
the hog, I highly recommend the new Parkside
(301 East 6th Street; 512-474-9898),
with a hip downstairs raw bar (below)
serving up small plates, from ten
species of oysters to a fried egg sandwich. The main dining room
menu features an appetizer selection of classic steak tartare ($11), an
onion-and-goat’s cheese tart ($9), fried calamari reddened with smoky
paprika ($8), and addictive hot crab fritters ($10) you dip into a
garlicky aïoli.
Chef
Shawn Cirkiel’s nightly specials offer the most creativity, from a
light lobster bisque ($7) and a plate of thick, oozy marrow bones with
an herb salad ($12) to grilled bass with green olives and almonds
($18), and succulent pork loin with mustard greens ($18). For dessert
don’t miss the cinnamon dough nut holes gussied up with apple butter,
butterscotch, and laced with brandy ($7).
Longstanding
successes in Austin
include two very fine upscale restaurants, Jeffrey's
(1204 West Lynn Street; 512-477-5584)
and Hudson's on the Bend
(3509 RR 620 North;
512-266-1369). Both have evolved from continental-style
dining rooms to modern American, both with a little Texas twang, which
at the latter has on occasion included rattlesnake cakes. The Driskill Grill (604 Brazos Street; 512-391-7162) in
the historic and wonderfully refurbished Driskill Hotel has emerged in
the last few years as one of the top dining destinations in the state
with good reason, with refined cuisine like lobster minestrone with
cannellini beans and farfalle; braised short ribs with apricot chutney
and a serrano glaze, and pistachio-crusted sea scallop with a scallop
quenelle and truffled herb salad. Prices rise to the $40 entree level.
The Driskill's casual 1886 Cafe & Bakery is a fine
choice for breakfast pastries and they do a first-class overstuffed
hamburger later in the day.
For something more decidedly romantic there is Aquarelle Restaurant Francais (606 Rio Grande Street; 512-479-8117),
set in a darling turn-of-the-century house furnished like a country
home in Provence, with a wine bar and small patio that the locals find
dreamy even when the temperature and humidity head into the nineties.
Chefs Teresa Wilson and
Jacques Richard set a
menu of modern French cuisine that does not try to be daring but to
take advantage of the seasonal larder. This translates into a delicious
“trilogy” of foie gras dishes ($26)—a lush crème brulee, fresh
foie gras with pineapple chutney, and a foie gras ice cream.
Panko-crusted soft shell blue crabs with a lemon beurre blanc, fried onions, and
capers ($14) were superbly rendered to keep subtle and tangy flavors in
balance, and a duo of duck dishes ($45)—a leg confit and pan-roasted
breast with turnips, rutabaga, and a maple syrup demi-glace was a very
honorable marriage of the earthy and the sweet. À la carte
prices
run high—with entrees $27-$45, but there is a 4-course “menu rapide” at $40, a 3-course
vegetarian menu at the same price, and a 6-course tasting menu at
$80—all bargains.
I noted that Austin also has a high-end
Japanese restaurant. It’s called Uchi, but I did not have a
chance to try it, an omission Patricia Sharpe, food editor of Texas Monthly, chided me on,
insisting it’s the most exciting restaurant in Austin. Next time I’m
back, I’ll be there in a New York minute.
NOTES
FROM THE WINE CELLAR
Texas
Wines Can Take the Heat
by Mort Hochstein
Entrance to Fall Creek Vineyards, Tow, Texas
Sometime
in the early 1980’s, I visited Texas as a judge for the wine
competition sponsored by the Dallas Morning News. As far as I can recall, there were no
Texas entries. I tasted, however, a few local Chenin Blanc wines, not
very good, with one exception.
That one came from Fall
Creek Vineyards, operated by Ed
and Susan Auler. More than a quarter of a century later, it
is still a delightful wine and the centerpiece of the Fall
Creek roster, which now includes an award-winning Cabernet
blend, Meritus, and a surprisingly good Viognier, along with more
popular
varietals such as Chardonnay, Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscat Canelli
and Malbec. At their wine estate 40 miles northwest of Austin, the
Aulers continue to experiment with varietals and blends, seeking grapes
to fit their vineyards off Lake Buchanan and flavors to satisfy the
taste of Texans.
In truth, the first Texas wines I tasted were
brought to New York several years earlier by Bobby Smith, an
osteopath. Dr. Smith farmed grapes and made his wine in an area
which was dry, so that he had to sell his product a few miles down the
road in a community which was more tolerant of alcoholic
beverages. Dr. Smith’s pioneering efforts and story were
better than his wines.
The Aulers travel frequently and communicate the Texas
wine story much the same as Robert Mondavi in his early
days proselytized for California and Allen Shoup at Château
Ste.
Michelle promoted the then-young Washington state wine industry.
As leaders they understand that everyone profits when they advance the
cause of their regional wines.
"Go Texan" is the slogan promulgated by the Texas
Department of Agriculture to promote both food and wine products. The
Texas Ag Department is much more supportive of winegrowers than
similar agencies in New York and New Jersey, even in California. It has
created a series of food and wine programs and its schedule of linked
events that goes on almost continuously throughout the year. The
Ag
department proudly claims Texas as fifth-largest wine producing state
in the nation and there are now more than 220 wineries in the state,
many recent arrivals.
Texas growers seem
to have realized that their future lies with Mediterranean grapes,
which are suited to the hot climate. “You can’t grow a bad Viognier in
this state,” says Ed Auler who was an early adapter after experiencing
it for the first time at Fernand Point’s famed restaurant, Le Pyramide
in Vienne, while visiting wineries in the Rhône. That
conversion is similar to an earlier epiphany when the
Aulers determined that their soils were similar to the
terroir that produced the great reds of Bordeaux while touring that
region.
After a whirlwind four days of tasting at the Texas
Hill Country Wine Festival,
I am not inclined to argue with Auler’s decision to go with
Viognier. Texas Viogniers are extraordinarily rich in the
floral tones that distinguish the varietal. Some,
however, are a bit sweet, in order to (as several winemakers told me)
accommodate
the sweet tooth of Texans. I found that true, even with a most
agreeable Viognier from Flat Creek and the peach and apricot-laden
Viogniers coming from Brennan Vineyards.
Texas growers are experimental. While many make the
noble grapes of Europe, Cabernet, Chardonnay and Syrah,
many believe Texas is more suited to Mediterranean
varietals and have planted Grenache, Mourvèdre, Marsanne
and
Rousanne, and Italian varietals such as Sangiovese, Vermentino
and Pinot Grigio, as well as the Tempranillo of Spain. Alamosa
Wine Cellars in Bend is a small producer with a strong line
of the Mediterranean varietals.
I can’t say that Riesling belongs in this terrain, though
several houses try to tame this grape, which definitely is better
suited
to a cooler climate. On the red side, with the exception of Fall
Creek’s Meritus and the blended reds, Sandstone II and Sandstone II
from Sandstone Cellars,
Texas has a long way to go before it can
approach the level of a good California Cab. One other wine on my
tasting chart the slangily-named but really classy Kick-Butt
Cab from Texas Hills
Vineyard, belongs in that group.
Where the Texans really surprise is in the
sweet and more spirited wines. Caris Turpin (right) of Lightcatcher
Winery makes a dry
Orange Muscat that is worthwhile and a challenging Dulce d'amore,
loaded with sweet papaya, apricot and citrus flavors. Look
for Port from Grape Creek
Vineyards and Pillar Bluff,
and an
extraordinary Madeira from Haak Vineyards from the unlikely
grapegrowing fields near Galveston. The Haak is based on an
indigenous local grape Jacquez, and I would take it over the more famed
Madeira from across the ocean.
Gary
Gilstrap of Texas
Hills Vineyard, the man who created Kick Butt Cab, is a fan of
the Italian varietals, Pinot Grigio and Sangiovese. The red, he says,
is often a victim of the wide swings of Texas weather. “Things change
so much year to year,” he observed, “that I make a Sangiovese in the
good years and a Rosé in the off years.” While many producers
see Viognier as the white grape of the future for Texas, Gilstrap
argues for Pinot Grigio. And though he feels Cabernet Sauvignon does
well locally, he sees Tempranillo as the best of all possible reds for
the region.
I’ve seen it often at the Farmers Market in
New York where visitors will come up to the Anthony Road winery stand
and say “Oh, I didn’t know they made wine in New York.” That sort of
thing happens even more often in Texas where far fewer
restaurants and retailers promote the wines of their native state.
Local recognition is one problem and for those
who want to taste Texas wines.
Just finding the wines can be difficult. Most producers are small
and do the greater part of their business, as the French say,
out the cellar door. Several do travel across state lines,
and Fall Creek, Flat Creek, Beckett and Llano Estacado (above) are among a
handful of Texas wines available outside the Lone Star State.
Mort
Hochstein, former editor and producer for NBC News and the Today Show,
and former managing editor of Nation's
Restaurant News, has written on wine,
food and travel for Wine Spectator,
Wine Business Monthly, Saveur and other food and wine
publications.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEW
YORK CORNER
by
John Mariani
Photos by E. Laignel
BAR
BOULUD
1900
Broadway (across from Lincoln Center)
212-595-0303
www.danielnyc.com
Daniel Boulud grew up in Lyons, and, after rising rapidly, though
dutifully, under the French system, through the kitchens of Roger
Vergé,
Michele Guèrard, and Georges Blanc, then upon arrival in
États-Unis,
built an enviable reputation at the Polo Lunge, Le
Régence, then
Le Cirque, and finally triumphed at his own Restaurant Daniel as of
1993, still consistently ranked as one of the finest French restaurants
in the world. He himself has won about every prestigious culinary and
master chef award possible.
Boulud’s legendary attention to detail and consistency in the
kitchen has been a hallmark he has always passed onto to superb chefs
de
cuisine like Alex Lee and Andrew Carmellini. In recent years
Boulud has
expanded his holdings considerably, first to the wonderful Café Boulud, then
to db Bistro Moderne--both in
New York. His reach then extended
to Palm Beach (a reasonable facsimile of his Manhattan Café, but
still a facsimile) and an admirable brasserie in Las Vegas.
All of which concerns me, because
a cook can only put his fingers in so many pots. Yet thus far,
while maintaining his presence at his flagship, he has managed to keep
his other enterprises humming smoothly. Now, across from Manhattan's
Lincoln Center, the master has opened Bar
Boulud, which has been a
stunning success since the night it opened a couple of months
ago. Boulud has never pretended he is cooking in his outlying
restaurants, instead proudly promoting those chefs who work for
him. At Bar Boulud he has put his faith in Executive Chef Damian
Sansonetti, Chef de Cuisine Laurent Kalkotour, and a team of
fast-paced, well-educated professionals, including wine director Daniel
Johnnes and sommelier Steven Meir, who somehow keep the
cheerfully frantic ambiance at Bar Boulud from becoming mayhem.
He has also enlisted the charcuterie talents of
Sylvain Gasdon, who’d worked for years with Paris’s renowned Gilles
Verot, and the wide range of charcuterie is at the heart of this new
restaurant; the flavors of everything suggest that this is
precisely
the kind of artisanal sausages, pâtes, and terrines Boulud ate
while growing up in Lyon, including fromage
de tête (below), joue de porc, compotée de lapin,
pâté grand-mère, pâté de
campagne aux foies de volaille, andouille de Vire, saucisson cuit
à l’ail, pâté en croûte, saucissons Lyonnais,
and much more. I have never had better charcuterie anywhere.
You are cordially greeted
and seated by Maître d’Hôtel Carrie Sumner, and if you just
drop by, you might want to sit at the counter where you can just point
to the wide range of charcuterie in front of you and have the cooks
dole it out, as much as you want, as much as you can handle, as
much
as you can pay for. The complete menu is also available here.
Otherwise the 100-seat dining room, with its
beautiful vaulted ceiling and backlit gravel wall, wooden booths,
tables with textured mats ands Riedel glassware, is appended with
a “Tasting Table in the Round” for up to 14 guests enjoy food and
wines chosen by a sommelier in the center.
Bar Boulud’s winelist, 500 labels strong, is
dedicated to great French wines of the Rhône valley and Burgundy,
whose
varietals are the basis of the pickings from California,
Oregon, New Zealand, Australiia, Chile and beyond.
There is a good selection of wines at every price level, so trust the
sommeliers to guide you to something particularly interesting.
It is very easy and very tempting simply to
gorge on all that wonderful charcuterie and an array of wines, not to
mention the excellent breads by Mark Fiorentino, the butters, and
cheeses. But this is a bistro too, and I wouldn’t want you to
miss the other dishes, starting with a generous frisée
lyonnaise of peppery chicory, chicken liver, poached egg ,
lardons, and
sourdough bread. You may feast on platters of seafood with an
aïoli, or delight in grilled scallops, with mustard ,
winter slaw, and a tangy red cabbage marmalade.
Among the main courses—here called “Plats de résistance”—there
is a marvelous, classic coq au vin
with fresh pasta, lardons,
onions, and mushrooms, its braising
sauce very dark from red wine. Wild striped bass swims in a sweet
pepper stew with chorizo, and haricots
coco, and skate is stuffed with a wild mushroom fricassée
and spinach with a butter-rich, syrah glaze. Big appetites will
relish the
braised flatiron steak with carrot mousseline and onion confit,
and if steak frites Is your
measure of a good French bistro, you will
be enchanted with the version here. For those who love blood
sausage, Boulud’s boudin noir
with caramelized apple is terrific, and the confit of duck with tarbais
beans and vegetable fricassée textbook perfect.
There is a selection of impeccably
maintained cheeses, like brie de
meaux and 22 month-old mimolette,
and then there are chef patîssier Ghaya Oliveira’s
scrumptious bistro-style desserts, from a tarte fromage blanc with blueberry
compote and sorbet to a gâteau
basque, rich custard cake with brandied
cherries.
Despite ill-informed grumblings about the
demise of French cuisine in New York, Bar Boulud, like Bar
Blanc,
reviewed here recently, and the just opened Benôit, along
with a
slew of older bistros, indicate strongly that the classic tastes and
bonhomie of food cooked from the heart will never, ever disappear.
Bar Boulud is open for lunch Mon.-Fri.,
Brunch Sat. & Sun., and dinner nightly. Full bistro menu including
pre-theater and after-theater dining. Prix fixe pre-theatre 3 courses from $39.
RESTAURANT
MAGAZINE
ANNOUNCES 50 BEST RESTAURANTS IN THE WORLD
by John Mariani
The
London-based industry journal Restaurant
Magazine has announced its annual list of the "50 Best Restaurants in
the World," sponsored by San Pellegrino, and the results are
a tad dismaying.
The list is put together from votes of what is
called
"The Nespresso World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy," the voters being
food media, restaurateurs, and connoisseurs from 23 regions around the
world, each with a chairperson who selects the voting panel within his
region; total votes cast, 3,410. The rules state, "There is no
list of nominees; each member of our international voting panel [about
30 on each panel] votes for their personal choice of five restaurants.
They may vote for up to two restaurants in their own region, the
remaining votes must be cast outside their home region. Nobody is
allowed to vote for their own restaurant and voters must have eaten in
the restaurants they nominate within the past 18 months." I was
one of those voters.
It is that last requirement that has bothered
me ever since I was asked some years ago to chair the North American
panel, from which I resigned the following year. My reason, as I
explained to the editors, was that most of the potential North
American voting panelists I contacted were rigorously honest in stating
that, while they dined constantly within their region, they had not
spent much time outside of it and very little visiting restaurants in
the rest of the world, especially not in the last 18 months. I
shared their concerns, for even though I do travel extensively outside
of North America, many of those restaurants I consider among the
greatest I simply haven't dined at in the last 18 months.
How, then, I asked the editors of Restaurant, was it
probable that restaurant critics and media from South Africa,
Australia, Japan, India, and Europe had actually eaten at so many of
the restaurants voted as among the best? Since the two top picks--El Bulli in Roses, Spain, three
hours' drive from Barcelona, and Fat
Duck in Bray, England, 45 minutes from London--are constantly
booked months in advance (El Bulli is only open six months of the year
for one seating of 50 guests each night), how could so many of those
panelists have possibly eaten there in the past 18 months?
One has to wonder how many
panelists have dined at places like Noma
in Denmark (No. 10), Hof van Cleve
in Belgium (No. 28), and Le Quartier
Francais in South Africa (No. 50). Alinea in Chicago (No. 21) has been
open for less than two years: how many panelists could have dined
there? Not providing the number of votes restaurants actually
accumulated in order to make the list puts everything into
question. What if only six people voted for Le Quartier Francais?
The reader has no way of knowing, just as with the Zagat surveys, which
do not provide the number of votes for restaurants listed.
I am not quibbling over the
quality of this or that restaurant on the list--they are all highly
commendable--nor in any way impugning the credibility of the magazine's
statistics. Indeed, the list may well reflect conventional tastes among
food media and people in the hospitality industry as to what
constitutes greatness. But it is well worth noting--perhaps
with a yawn--that, as ever, the list is overwhelming
dominated by fancy, fussy French restaurants, despite El Bulli and Fat
Duck at the very top. I count at least 26 restaurants out of 50
decidedly French
or doing French cuisine, and several others that are as close as a chef
could come without wholly betraying his own Italian, Danish, Brazilian,
or British culinary traditions.
That French haute cuisine still
rules the gastronomic roost would not be so surprising if highly
experimental restaurants like El Bulli and The Fat Duck were not so
resolutely non-French. (The
on-line menu for Fat Duck lists "roast foie gras Benzaldehyde," "Salmon
poached in licorice gel," and "nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ream. One
of Chef-owner Hester Blumenthal's creations is shown at right.) Still,
the chances of a great American restaurant serving American cuisine are
slim indeed to make this roster. There is not a single restaurant here
from Japan (despite the Michelin
Guide this year giving more stars to Tokyo than to Paris!),
China, India, Mexico, Canada, Dubai, New Zealand, or anywhere in South
America, except for a single Brazilian entry (although the magazine
publishes a separate regional list of notables). Among U.S.
entries there are but eight restaurants--and every one except Alinea
is. . . French!
(For the record, if I recall correctly,
I voted for Le Bernardin and The French Laundry; if invited to
vote next year, I could not vote for those restaurants because I
haven''t been to either in 18 months.)
Again, I have no complaints with any of these
restaurants being on the list, but as a list representative of the
excitement of what's going on in the world's gastronomy today, this
seems glaringly out to lunch.
For the complete lists go to www.theworlds50best.com/2007_list.
NEXT
WEEK, "FAT ELVIS FRIDAYS"
An Oakland, Pennsylvania bar, the Garage
Door Saloon, held a Wednesday night promotion called "Wetback
Wednesday"--Corona beers for $7 and 75-cent tacos.
In reaction, some
University of Pittsburgh students tried to boycott the bar because they
believed the promotion to be racist stereotyping.
"I've seen 'White
Trash Wednesdays' and 'Trailer Park Tuesdays,' and they haven't
received any kind of hype," said the bar owner.
OR THEY COULD HAVE WORKED AT
A GORDON RAMSAY RESTAURANT
“The waiter had two black eyes, so we knew we were in the
country; you rarely see a London waiter with a facial injury, though
whether this is because they are too pussy to get into fights, I can't
tell you.”—Zoe Williams,The (London)
Telegraph
QUICK
BYTES
*
On May 13, Savoy in NYC will
host its eighth annual Calçotada, a traditional Catalan onion
festival that marks the start of spring. Attendees will sit at
communal tables and drink rosé wines from porrons , while live
flamenco music is featured. The following night, the festivities will
be repeated at Back Forty
(Savoy's sibling). $75 pp at Savoy; $60 at Back Forty. Call
212-388-1990.
*
On May 17 Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery in South Coastal
Massachusetts., welcomes Hannahbells Artisinal Cheeses for an
Early Summer Wine & Cheese Dinner. $75 pp. Call 508-636-3423.
*
In Chicago, during May, Marigold’s
Taste of India Menu will feature the Taste of Goa – Beyond the
Vindaloo. Every Tuesday, Marigold will offer a three-course menu
featuring dishes from the Indian region of Goa, priced at $25 pp. Visit
www.marigoldrestaurant.com or call 773.293.GOLD .
*
On May 24 in Chicago, Marigold and
ChicaGourmets will host
a dinner with Raghavan Iyer, author of 660 Curries. $55 pp for
ChicaGourmets members, $65 for non-members. Call 708-383-7543; visit
www.chicagourmets.org.
*
On May 24 the Shangri-La Hotel,
Beijing and AFC Wines present Robert Parker with a partnership
with Brian McKenna, chef de cuisine of Blu Lobster, to create a wine
dinner on the Great Wall of China. Incl: Dinner, limo transportation to
the Great Wall ; 2 nights’ accommodation in a Valley Wing Premier Room
or Diplomat Suite, May 23 and 24; Enchanted Journey treatment in CHI,
The Spa at Shangri-La . Call for rates and info (86 10) 6841 6824
* In Woodinville, WA, The Woodinville Chamber of Commerce and selected
Washington State visitor’s bureaus, restaurants, wineries and travel
partners, present the 3rd annual
Washington Wine Highway over Memorial Day weekend at Chateau
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. Tasting pavilions represent Yakima
Valley, Walla Walla Valley, Columbia Valley, Red Mountain and Puget
Sound, and feature each region’s wineries, restaurants, tour companies
and accommodations. Proceeds go to the Woodinville Chamber
of Commerce and Washington Wine Industry Foundation.Tickets are $75 for
a single day pass, $125 for two days. Visit
www.washingtonwinefoundation.org.
* From May 26-June 1
at Curtain Bluff, Antigua,
Chef André Soltner will be hosting 2 cooking classes and a
special dinner. From Chef Marc Bauer of the French Culinary will
be in residence July 20-26, giving cooking classes to guests at
Curtain Bluff free of charge. Call 1-888-289-9898 or visit
www.curtainbluff.com.
*From May 26-29 in Hyannis, MA, Cape Cod Life Publications will
celebrate the “Cape Cod Life Food
& Wine Festival,” showcasing the region’s finest chefs and
40 restaurants through a series of wine dinners and “Cultural Happy
Hours” that capture the area’s art, history and nature– the Highfield
Hall in Falmouth (May 27), the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in
Brewster (May 28), and the Wellfleet Harbors Actors Theater in
Wellfleet (May 29). The festival kicks off with the Grand Opening
Tasting at the Rectrix Aerodrome in Hyannis. Visit
www.festival.capecodlife.com. Call 508-775-9800.
* Steenberg Hotel & Winery in
South Africa is featuring a Wine & Whale Package, which
consists of 3 nights in a Standard Luxury Room, breakfast daily, a
half-day private Constantia Winelands Tour, incl, a private wine
tasting with a wine steward at the Steenberg, a full day Hermanus whale
watching tour, with entrance to the Old Harbour Museum and the Harold
Porter Botanical Gardens, a 3-course dinner at Catharina’s Restaurant
and free transfers to restaurants and shops, Valid from Sept.-Oct. 31;
$701 pp. Call 0 21 713 2222 or e-mail or visit www.steenberghotel.com.
NEW
FEATURE: I am happy to report that the Virtual Gourmet is linking up
with two 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." To go to his
blog click on the logo below:
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). Click on the logo
below to go to the site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Robert Mariani,
Suzanne Wright, John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort
Hochstein, Brian Freedman, and Dotty Griffith. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical
Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin
.
John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Bloomberg News and
Radio, Diversion., Forbestraveler.com, and Cowboys and Indians.
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), and other books below..
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 Pelham Bay. 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
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© copyright John Mariani 2008
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