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IN THIS ISSUE STAYING AND DINING AROUND LUCERNE By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER AUREOLE By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR NOT YOUR FATHER'S CHIANTI By Geoff Kalish ❖❖❖ STAYING AND DINING AROUND LUCERNE By John Mariani ![]() Bürgenstock Resort, Lake Lucerne
It
seems a given that anyone visiting the beautiful
city and region of Lucerne, Switzerland,
will be asked more than once if they have
visited Bürgenstock, the vast eagle’s nest
resort at the top of a 3,600-foot Now composed of four hotels, private residence suites, two spas, a wellness center and nine restaurants, the resort dates back to 1873 as the Grand Hotel and then the Park Hotel. From 1925 to 1996 the complex was owned by the Frey-Furst family, and immediately a parade of international notables came to marvel at the resort’s vast splendor, from Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn to Sean Connery, who stayed there while filming the Alps section of the 1964 movie “Goldfinger.”
In fact, Bürgenstock has the remote look of a
fabulously wealthy Bond villain’s lair, and the
funicular would make for a great action scene.
After several transfers of ownership and
management over the subsequent years, the resort
was bought by the Qatari
Diar Real I haven’t the room in this column to detail all the attractions and amenities of the Bürgenstock, except to say that it ranks with the best of its kind as a mountain resort anywhere in Europe or the U.S. Its modern rooms have been carefully situated to take full advantage of the stunning panorama of Lake Lucerne, the trails into the woods are as very beautiful as they are restful, and the pool and spa offerings as up-to-the-moment as any. I was able to dine at two of Bürgenstock’s restaurants, the casual and very handsome Spices and the more formal gastronomic dining salon, The Ritzcoffier.
At the time we dined at the Ritzcoffier, a new, more casual dining room and open kitchen (below) was being built for the restaurant—now open—but we dined splendidly in an adjacent, more formal room, where we put ourselves in the hands of Chef de Cuisine Bertrand Charles, who works with France’s Marc Haeberlin on the sumptuous menu. Courses are remarkably well priced for this level of haute cuisine: three courses for 125CHF, four for 155CHF and five for 185CHF, with tax and service included.
Among the
dishes we thoroughly enjoyed was Haeberlin’s silky
foie gras with gelée and brioche bread we learned
was made with equal amounts flour and butter; the
season’s sweet white asparagus with crayfish, a
dollop of caviar and
More rustic and cozier is Wirsthaus Taube (Burgerstrasse 3, +41 41 210 07 47), with stucco and wood walls, graceful archways (right) and both a local and tourist clientele that pack the place, not least for the modestly priced menus and huge portions, including a two-course offering of the day’s soup or salad and fried pork schnitzel for 21.80CHF or char filet for 28.80CHF. The menu is large, the wine list poor, so have a good Swiss beer like Ur Bräu. One of the heartiest of dishes is rösti potatoes with a fried egg, tomato, bacon and melted cheese that requires a good walk afterwards.
The pastas number eight selections, and we very much enjoyed the potato gnocchi (right) with sweet tomatoes (a special that day for 21CHF or 27CHF for small and large portions) and light, delicate ravioli stuffed with eggplant in a tomato basil sauce (21CHF/27CHF). There is a mixed grill of local seafood (48CHF) and calf’s liver alla veneziana with sweet onions and balsamic vinegar (39CHF). The wine list is largely Italian and not cheap. They also offer a children’s menu. Remember, service and tax are included in the price of the food, so tipping should be minimal, no more than 10 percent for special service. ❖❖❖ NEW
YORK CORNER
By John Mariani AUREOLE
One Bryant Park 135 West 42nd Street (off Sixth Avenue) 212-319-1660 ![]() The very civilized, now classic, Aureole continues, after more than a quarter of a century, to perform in the top ranks of New York restaurants and, therefore, of any U.S. city. It is a beautiful but not highly formal dining room, wonderfully lighted from overhead and done in soft colors with panels papered in a jazzy art deco graphic and centered with a bountiful vase of the season’s flowers.
Once located in an East Side townhouse, Aureole
is now in the Bank of America Tower on 42nd
Street, near Bryant Park, with a casual bar area
called the Liberty Room with a separate menu and
the restaurant adjacent to it, happily avoiding
the noise of the six o’clock crowd next door. To
the right is part of Aureole’s magnificent wine
cache, stacked behind a dramatic glass wall. The
list is one of the best and finest in New
York—55 pages
long, 1,425 labels and 9,200 bottles—not
just in breadth and depth but in selectivity,
and many of the trophy wines are priced
considerably below the same As most everywhere else, the price of dinner at Aureole has gone up, but not outrageously. Six years ago the fixed price was $89; now it’s $104, with a six-course tasting menu at $165, plus $85 for wines. My wife and I went for the latter and allowed sommelier Candace Olsen to choose the wines.
German-born Executive Chef Christopher Engel, with impressive credentials in European hotels and restaurants, follows the line Aureole has always maintained: cuisine based on a single main ingredient of impeccable quality enhanced with flavors that are both wholly complementary and somewhat unexpected. (By the way, the breads are addictive.) We began with a creamy foie gras terrine (right) with summer’s pickled strawberries and a rhubarb compote with butter-rich toasted brioche. White asparagus (now past their season) came as a lustrous ivory velouté with the delightful surprise of goat milk ricotta ravioli and crunchy rosemary croutons.
A rosy roasted lamb loin in a classic crust (left) was
the meat course, with a hearty bean cassoulet,
grilled asparagus, smoked eggplant and the
acidity of an Amalfi lemon—a dish somewhat out
of character and a bit heavy in texture. A perfect crème brûlée was brought for dessert, with the charming addition of caramelized white chocolate and a blackberry sorbet (right). Other desserts include a cherry pie with a caramelized pie crust, Morello cherries and sour cream sorbet, and a dish of rich coconut tres leches, mint and strawberry sorbet. Readers of my articles know I arch an eyebrow at chefs who run multiple restaurants all over the map, and I can’t say how much time Charlie Palmer spends in New York overseeing Aureole. But the professionals he has in place, not least chef Engel, know what he wants and what he expects, which is precisely what I want and expect—and get—at Aureole. Aureole is open for lunch Mon.-Fri. and for dinner Mon.-Sat.
❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
NOT YOUR
FATHER'S CHIANTI
By Geoff Kalish ![]()
With
its chalky, weathered sandstone vineyards
stretching from just north of Florence to
slightly south of Siena, Italy’s Chianti
region has been producing wine since the
13th century. Yet wine from the area wasn’t
officially known as Chianti until the early
18th century, when producers around the
towns of Gaiole, Castellina and Radda formed
the “Lega de Chianti” in order to jointly
market their bottles. Unfortunately, many brands, particularly those that reached U.S. shores in the 1950s and ‘60s, were often flavorless, sometimes rancid, products that came in squat, straw-encased bottles (fiaschi) that, once emptied, were frequently used as candleholders on red-and-white-checkered-cloth-topped tables in more than a few Italian restaurants. And, while in 1932 the “Chianti Classico” designation could be used only for wines produced in and around the original 18th century area, it was not until the late 1970s and ‘80s that a union of producers, “Consorzio del Vino Chianti Classico,” was formed to improve the quality and promote the wines of the demarcated Classico region, which currently includes over 500 producers. Now the wines from the area must contain at least 80% Sangiovese and no juice from “white” grapes, with three levels of wine specified: Chianti Classico; Chianti Classico Riserva; and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, which must be made from at least 80% Sangiovese and only from “estate grown” grapes.
Based on a recent visit to the Chianti Classico region and a series of tastings over the past six months, the following 18 labels are my choices (by style) for sensibly priced Chianti Classicos available in the U.S market—albeit some of the Gran Seleziones may dent the wallet a bit.
Colle Bereto
LIGHTER In general, these brands are rather simple and straightforward, with fragrant bouquets of ripe plums and an easy-drinking, pleasant taste with hints of raspberry and a smooth finish. Also, while rarely benefiting from bottle aging, these wines usually make excellent mates for hors d’ouevres ranging from mild cheeses to boiled shrimp and smoked salmon as well as everyday main course items like hamburgers and grilled chicken Caesar salad.
2017 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico ($16) 2017 Antinori Chianti Classico (Peppoli) ($15) 2016 Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico ($25) 2017 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico ($21) MEDIUM-BODIED The
hallmark
of these are the lively acidity in their
finish, and they range from those that show
concentrated flavors of plums and ripe
cherries with hints of herbs to those with
classic Burgundian flavors of strawberries and
undertones of violets and truffle (think
Chambolle-Musigny). Match these wines with
baked chicken, game birds, veal chops, or
pasta with truffles 2016 Luiano Chianti Classico Riserva ($25) 2015 Castelli Villa Chianti Classico ($25) 2016 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva ($35) 2016 Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva (Berardenga) ($32) 2015 Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva ($48) 2015 Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Riserva ($21) 2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico ($33) FULL-BODIED In
general,
these bottles show bouquets of cherries and
cassis with complex multilayered flavors of
exotic herbs, almonds and fruit, with a long
smooth finish. Most benefit from 2016 Luiano Gran Selezione (Ottantuno) ($55) 2013 Colle Bereto Riserva ($65) 2015 Fontodi Gran Selezione (Vigna de Sorbo) ($78) 2015 Castello di Verrazzano Gran Selezione (Sassello) ($29) 2015 Castello di Ama Gran Selezione (San Lorenzo) ($42) 2016 Felsina Chianti Classico Riserva (Rancia) ($55) ❖❖❖
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MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Publisher: John Mariani. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani,
Robert Mariani, Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Gerry Dawes, Geoff Kalish,
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