The iconic photo by Fabrizio Ferri of actress Monica Bellucci in Esquire Magazine (Sept 30,
2001). For more photos from the shoot, click
here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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TO:newsletter@johnmariani.com.
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2003, by simply clicking on www.johnmariani.com/archive
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GOOD
NEWS!Esquire.com
now
has
a
new
food
section
called
"Eat
Like
a
Man,"
which
will
be
featuring
restaurant
articles
by
John
Mariani
and
others
from
around
the
USA.
THIS WEEK: A
Gentleman's
Guide
to Dining Etiquette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
☛ IN THIS ISSUE
London
Keeps Its Edgeby
Christopher Mariani
NEW
YORK
CORNER: 5 Napkin Burger by Misha
Mariani
MAN ABOUT
TOWN
by Christopher Mariani
QUICK
BYTES
````````````````````````````````
London
Keeps
Its
Edge
for
Eating
Out by Christopher Mariani
London’s
dominance
as
one
of
the
great
restaurant
cities
carries on
with new entries like Bistrot Bruno Loubet and Joël Brasserie, which are beating the Parisians
at their own game; Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen, serving up
dynamic flavors using top ingredients while he still
finds the
time to mentor the city’s future culinary talent; and Nahm,
an evolution of traditional Thai cooking into fine cuisine. The
city’s reign in the culinary world
as an exciting dining destination for modern restaurants was showcased
during the London
Restaurant
Festival
which began in 2009, running for two weeks last October.The 2010 festival is projected to have
over 800 restaurants throughout the city, offering limited menus at
very
affordable prices (some dinners are listed under 10 pounds), similar to
NYC’s
Restaurant Week, along with cooking demos and special events like
charity
dinners cooked by Chef Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Boulud on the London
Eye, the
city’s 443-foot tall ferris wheel on the Thames. I just returned from London
to
learn more about the Festival and to survey the gastro-landscape and
found the
energy enormous and good taste everywhere.
Bistrot
Bruno Loubet French
bistros
have
long
been
a
staple
in
major
restaurant
cities around the world, but not many have done them as well
as chef
Bruno Loubet (below), who
early on made his mark in the London food scene in the
mid-90’s with award-winning restaurants like Bistrot Bruno and
L’Odéon.After spending nearly the
last decade
in Australia running Bruno’s Tables and Baguette in Brisbane along with
Berardo’s in Noosa, Loubet has returned to London to open up his
namesake
bistro. The
restaurant is located in the Zetter
Hotel
on Clerkenwell Road,
part of a
trendy section of the city filled with a large concentration of
innovative
restaurants fueled by young chefs.
The main dining room,
with 85 seats, is done in clean, crisp lines, with wood polished
floors,
floor-to-ceiling windows with very limited decorations on a pleasantly
simple
white background; an outside café
sits
next to a picturesque cobblestone road.Away
from
the
large
windows
sits
the
bistro’s
semi-circular,
ten-person black
marble bar with purple velvet seats placed next to an open kitchen
where Loubet
and his creative team work diligently. I began the evening toasting to
“the
joy of travel” with a perfectly proportioned margarita, straight up,
and the
company of my beautiful cousin, Kira, who lives in London.I dug into delicate Mauricette
snails and moist, bite-sized meatballs with royale
de champignons while she ordered the guinea fowl boudin
blanc with silky leek fondue and chervil sauce, both very
lush appetizers.We also shared
the beautifully presented mackerel and piccalilli relish tart with
green gazpacho
dressing.For my
entrée, the boneless quail and
pistachio dodine with spinach and egg yolk raviolo was highly recommended, and I was very pleased.
My
cousin ordered the rich confit of lamb shoulder with white beans and
preserved
lemon puree with spicy, hot green harissa.The
evening
ended
with
a
decadent
Valrhona
chocolate
tartlet, served with caramel and salted butter ice cream.
The food and service
far exceed the price, and that is why Bistrot Bruno Loubet is one
the
real steals in
the city right now, with appetizers ranging from ₤6.50-€8 and entrees
between ₤12-€18.5.
To stand out in London, a city with such an
abundance of culinary talent, is far from easy these days, but Chef
Joël
Antunes (below) has
done so with his return to London by opening the new Brasserie Joëllocated inside the Park Plaza Hotel
Westminster Bridge.Chef Antunes
has a résumé that speaks for itself, cooking throughout
the 1980’s at
three-star Michelin restaurants like Troigros, Gagnaire, Maximin,
Moneau, and
Bocuse, then going on to open one of the finest restaurants in Bangkok
at the
Oriental Hotel; his last project prior to opening in London was
Joël
Brasserie
in Atlanta, Georgia, one of Esquire’s
best new restaurants of the year in 2001. Brasserie
Joël’s
dining
room
is
extremely
sleek,with
a
dark
wood décor
throughout
and a focus on a large glass wine rack that
stores
some of the restaurant’s fabulous selections.I
took
a
tour
of
the
kitchen
with
Chef
Joël and was happy to
see it exceptionally well organized, with tantalizing aromas that only
increased my
eagerness
to sit down and eat. I
started with the Andalusian gazpacho, full of heat and seasoning, a
brave
preparation I wish more chefs would have the guts to produce, centered
around a
light tomato sorbet.Next, I tried
the seared diver’s scallops, perfectly crisp on the outside and
succulent in
the middle, surrounded by peas and gnocchi romaine, which only teased
my palate
for a pasta course.Joël
offers flavorful pasta and rice dishes like oxtail tortellini and baby
artichoke risotto with parmesan cheese and sweet sun-dried tomatoes.For my main course I ate the roast lamb
cooked in a French style, medium rare, bordered by artichoke, courgettes trompette and a fantastic
basil jus.The meal ended
with a rhum baba and creole ice cream and cannellets that
truly
tested
my
will
power
after
having
two.
Appetizers ₤6-₤9, Pasta ₤12-₤14,
Entrees ₤12-₤22.5
(Prime NY steak ₤29)
Jamie
Oliver,
one
of
London’s
most
recognized
chefs,
is
not
only creating great
dishes but using his culinary talent to give back to the community with
such
projects as the School Dinners campaign, an attempt to
educate
school cafeteria personnel on how important it is for students to eat
healthy.Oliver has also been
running an apprenticeship out of the kitchen of his very own
restaurant,
Fifteen, offering troubled young adults between the ages of 18-24 a
career as a
chef, yet somehow he also finds the time to produce some of
London’s
finest
Italian
food, do TV shows, and write cookbooks. The restaurant, which owes much of its
success
to executive chef Andrew Parkinson, presents a forgotten group of
youths with an
opportunity to train as highly skilled chefs.The
12-month
program,
launched
eight
years
ago,
recruits
its
students
from housing offices, youth
centers
and
takes
recommendations
from
local
probation
officers.The
chosen candidates spend the next year transitioning into a demanding
schedule,
cooking three days a week at Fifteen under the supervision of its chefs
while
also attending classes at Lewisham College studying for their NVQ2
qualifications.The program, which
accepts 18 students per year, is funded primarily by the restaurant’s
revenues, along with donations given to The Jamie Oliver
Foundation, which is a way for
Oliver to
give back to the industry that made him so successful. Fifteen
is split into two separate restaurants, the ground floor Trattoria (right), with a
casual
atmosphere, serving classic Italian dishes like pasta e
fagioli and linguine alla
carbonara, and the more formal downstairs dining room, where I ate,
with a
more complex menu selection.The
downstairs room is known for its unique, bright pink carpet, open
kitchen, and
walk-in glass wine showcase housing a selection of terrific Italian
reds. I started my meal
with buffalo
mozzarella, with flavors and textures few mozzarellas capture--cream,
salt, and
a soft consistency with just the right amount of elasticity.For my main course I ordered the pan-seared
fillet of sea bream with the English asparagus named Jersey Royals,
black
olives and lemon crème fraîche, a very light
entrée, perfect for lunch. Dessert
was a delicate and creamy basil panna cotta (left) with sweet
English
strawberries and shortbread, the highlight of all the desserts I tasted
throughout my visit to London.
With branches of Fifteen in Cornwall,
Melbourne, and Amsterdam, Jamie Oliver is doing something caring and
nurturing for people beyond merely satisfying them, a
commitment I hope to see more chefs follow.
Trattoria Antipasti ₤7.5-₤12.5
Pasta ₤9-₤10.5 Entrees ₤14.5-₤22.5; in the downstairs dining room the
nighttime tasting menu is fixed priced at €60.
In
many
of
the
great
food
cities
around
the
world,
one of the questions asked by forlorn food lovers is, “Where can
I find authentic Thai food?”Even
if
I
were
asked
this
question
in
NYC
or San Francisco,
I would take some time to respond. But when asked that question in
London, the
answer is easy: Nahm, the only Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in the
entire
UK. Nahm,
opened in 2001 under the supervision of executive chef David
Thompson, is located in the luxurious and
prestigious Halkin hotel, on
the southeast corner of London’s beautiful
Hyde
Park. The restaurant quickly gained praise from the city’s food
community and critics and has continued to do so for the past nine
years.While staying at the Halkin
recently, I
dined at Nahm and got exactly what I was looking for--traditional Thai
flavors,
ingredients, and a whole lot of heat.Chef
de
cuisine
Matthew
Albert
has
held
onto
the
restaurant’s Michelin
star and seems only to have improved on the food over the past decade. My nahm
arharn,
atraditional Thai
meal, consisted of many wonderful flavors and
dishes including kanom krok bpuu, small
coconut cupcakes with red curry crab.I
also ordered the plaa hoi shenn, a Scottish scallop
salad with coconut, Asian citrus and the
beautiful scent
of fresh lemongrass.For my
main course I had the lon gapi, prawns
with shrimp paste simmered in coconut cream with braised mackerel and
white
turmeric.Chef Albert does a
fabulous stir-fry called pat het ton
grataim, mixed with “chicken of the wood” mushrooms and wild
garlic leaves.
For those with an
irresistible urge for
Thai food, make it a point to drop the Halkin and book a reservation at
Nahm. There is a
₤55
fixed price dinner; À la carte ₤9.50-₤18.50.
Nowadays,
many
Japanese
restaurants
seem
to
have
lost
their
food
focus by becoming
part of the pan-Asian fusion trend, serving every dish possible,
including sushi
rolls, Peking
duck, kung pao chicken, thai
crab cakes, egg rolls, and filet mignon on
one
menu.When I dined at Ichi, just across
from Big Ben at the Park
Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, it was refreshing to read a menu
that
concentrated on
just one Asian cuisine, Japanese sushi. Ichi,
seating
only
30,
is
a
small
restaurant
consisting
of
a handful of tables and an
eight-seat sushi bar where guests can sit and watch head sushi chef
Sadayuki
Okamoto (below) from
Hiroshima, create their meals.Okamoto
has
been
working
with
sushi
for over 30 years
and does an outstanding job of locating the freshest fish possible
along with
assembling the sushi in very artistic displays. Along
with
an
order
of
cold
edamame beans,
I tried Ichi’s specialty drink, the Primo Maneki Neko, made with
Japanese
whiskey, sweet vermouth, cherry brandy, and dash of bitters.One of
Okamoto’s signature starters is muzuku, seaweed grown
on rocks, served with sweet vinegar, something I have never tried
before, with a
slightly
slimy texture but a great combination of seaweed flavor and the right
amount of
acidity and sweetness from the vinegar.
I then sampled a wide
range of Ichi’s nigiri sushi,
like pristine tuna, fatty soft salmon--my favorite--warm eel,
and sea
bass.All were of the highest
sushi quality and screamed freshness.For
a dish somewhat heavier, try the crispy softshell crab
roll made with an entire softshell crab
lightly
flowered, sautéed, and served hot with the crab meat, as juicy
as could be.Ichi may only few a few weeks
old, but
its food and service are already well polished as might be expected
from a chef with such long service in the tradition..
Starters
₤3-₤6.5
Sushi
rolls ₤4.5-₤8,
Sashimi (2
piece per portion) ₤6-₤9.5, Nigiri (1 piece per portion) ₤2.5-₤5.50.
People
love
taking
credit
for
the creation of something great, not least the
American hamburger. Food items that have gone by the
name hamburger can be dated all the way back to the 19th century,
but these were not what we now associate with the modern day hamburger
sandwich.There have been many claimants
for its creation, not least Louis’ Lunch in New
Haven, CT, as of 1900, for having first cooked ground beef patty
on a patented cast iron broiler,
between two slices of white bread, but not a bun. Louis’ Lunch is still
open and still
considered
one of the best burger spots in the country.
The simplicity of the
hamburger idea has opened the doors for
others to capitalize, expand, re-invent, embellish on, and feed
off
our unconditional love for the item. Years ago Chef Daniel Boulud, on a
whim, at his DB
Bistro Moderne put a $55 burger on the menu made with short tribs,
foie gras, and black truffles (now $32 without foie gras) that kicked
off the fad. In 2005, Danny Meyer opened Shake
Shack, a small, upscale, handcrafted burger joint in Madison Park,
NYC, fueling a craze that has caused the opening of numerous burger
shops
and the
attempts of distinguished chefs to re-invent the burger. In
2003, before the fad really started, one burger had already
established
itself as among the best in NYC; found on the menu of Simon Oren and
Andy D’Amico’s Nice Matin restaurant,
the
"5
Napkin
Burger"
was born. Because of its success
and popularity, together with partner Robert Guarino, they
decided to open up a 5 Napkin Burger resto
in Hell’s Kitchen and went on to open up two more, one on the
upper West Side and most recently,--thank you, Andy!--just two blocks
from
where I
live here in Astoria, Queens. All
three restaurants have been designed with the same blueprint and motif,“butcher shop chic” as they call it,
with white tiled walls, meat hooks hanging from the ceiling intertwined
with
old-fashioned filament light bulbs, black and white square tile
floors, chalk boards
with funky drawings, antique scales butchers used to
weigh out meats, and one of my favorite touches, antique seltzer
bottles,
ranging in color from rich greens, cobalt blues, clear glass and shapes
and
designs highly sought for their rarity. So
let’s get to the burger:
it's
made
of 10 ounces of ground beef,
supplied by Pat LeFreida meats (another
driving force in the current hamburger craze)
handcrafted and cooked to perfection on a griddle. The trademark “5
Napkin
Burger” (above) is then topped
with Gruyère, onions, creamy rosemary aïoli and
nestled on a toasted buttery brioche bun. This burger definitely
ranks
amongst the top burgers I’ve eaten, nicely caramelized meat, one of the
benefits of cooking on a griddle, sweet onions to balance out the sharp
Gruyere, and a
perfect
lean/fat ratio that allows the meat to hold onto its fat instead of
just
rendering it to the griddle to be shamefully scraped away. The burger
is juicy,
full of flavor and impeccably cooked. To accompany it, all
the burgers are
served with a generous portion of golden, crisp fries. If
it’s your first visit, don’t miss that signature burger, but if you
feel
you
want to venture farther into the menu offerings, there
is a great
array of other dishes that fit in seamlessly with their staple. For
starters the Deep Fried Pickles, wrapped in pastrami and served with
sauerkraut and mustard oil
are an
absolute must, crispy and utterly decadent. Other starters are great
Pork Taquitos, tasty little hard shelled tacos, only three inches long,
filled with
braised pork, sour cream, and salsa, and their Hell’s Kitchen Wings
come
with green
tomato and pineapple ketchup. There are also other burger options, like the
Ahi Tuna
burger with Asian condiments; the Italian Turkey burger with
mozzarella, tomato
sauce and vinegar peppers; or the Inside Out burger, for those watching
their
carbs, wrapped in lettuce--all outstanding alternatives. There is also
a
burger for two, one pound of beef with a choice of any two
sides--certainly
a good burger, but I would definitely opt for two singles first, for
the reason
that the former is comprised of two thinner patties as opposed to
one large one.
And if
you’d like to avoid burgers
entirely,there is a 8-ounce Kobe beef
hot dog and a variety of entrées ranging from Milanese chicken
tender, Lobsters
Roll Sliders, and Steak Frites, along with fabulous sides like corn
meal
battered onion rings, house-cured pickles, or vinegar-based cole slaw
that is perfectly light and refreshing to balance out the
burger and the fries. 5
Napkin
Burger
also offers a signature cocktail list, with drinks like
their
Tennessee Tea or Citrus Cooler, and an extensive beer list as well as
tap beers
brewed just for them. The hours the pace is open are ideal so that no
matter the night of the week or the time of
the day,
there is really no bad time to go to 5 Napkin Burger for a bite to eat.
Open daily till midnight.
Brunch on Sat. & Sun. Starters run $$7.25-$10.75, burgers
$11.95-$22.50, main courses $15.50-$19.75.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MAN ABOUT TOWN
by
Christopher Mariani
W Retreat and
Spa in Vieques and Alain Ducasse--The W Hotel
Worldwide recently opened
the doors to its first beachside Retreat and Spa within North America,
eight miles
east of Puerto Rico on the small, 55-square mile island of Vieques,
following
the success of the W’s first Retreat and Spa in 2006 on the island of
Maldives. The
Vieques
hotel
is set on
30-acre of beachfront, with 157
guestrooms, and
promotes its “new way to escape” by experiencing the island’s natural
beauty on
and off the property. Patricia Urquiola designed the Retreat with
the
idea of replicating the natural surroundings of the island throughout
every
inch of the venture, including the rooms, spa and outdoor lounges, said
to be a major factor in the attempt to “de-tox and refuel” the guests.
The
retreat
will
also
host
Chef
Alain
Ducasse’s
inspired
signature
restaurant Mix on the Beach, offering French
influenced Latino-Caribbean dishes. Ducasse has
appointed executive chef Dagan Lynn, previously at Alain Ducasse
at the Essex House and Mix in New York City.
Ducasse's team is also said to be
responsible for the retreat’s two other restaurants, along with all
food and
beverage items found on the room service menu.
Room rates from $249 per night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THIS IS NEWS?
According
to
government
documents
examined
by
USA
Today, many
meals served to passengers on major airlines are prepared in
unsanitary and unsafe conditions that could lead to illness. Food
and Drug Administration inspectors cited numerous
catering facilities that prepare airline food and found food stored at
improper temperatures, unclean equipment and employ workers "who
practice poor hygiene," along with cockroaches, flies, mice and other
signs of inadequate pest
control.
Cartoon by Nicholson from
"The Australian": www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au
SAY
WHAT??
"If the fried
ge da is like verbal sparring with Katharine Hepburn, the ge da soup is
like
holding hands with Audrey Hepburn. Afterward, if
you need help jump-starting your carb digestion, try a foot massage."--Thi
Nguyen, "Beijing Restaurant," Los
Angeles Times (6/25/10).
``````````````````````
QUICK
BYTES
✉ Guidelines
for submissions: QUICK
BYTES
publishes
only events, special dinners, etc, open to the public, not restaurant
openings or personnel changes. When submitting please send the
most
pertinent info, incl. tel # and site, in one short paragraph as simple
e-mail text, WITH DATE LISTED FIRST,
as
below.
Thanks.
John
Mariani
* Beginning July 26 in San Francisco, CA, Chez Papa Resto
hosts “Wine Nights with the Wine Director.” Wines selected by Wine
Director George Aknin up to 55% off the current list price, plus
no corkage fee charged on these evenings. Call 415-546-4134 or visit chezpaparesto.com <http://chezpapasf.com.
* On July 26,
in NYC,Spina will hold a 4-course
"Mystery Dinner" featuring Damiani Wine Cellars from the Finger
Lakes. Damiani viticulturist Phil Davis will be on hand to discuss
these wines and guests can win prizes by answering questions
about the
menu and wines. $65 p.p.
Call 212-253-2250.
*
On Aug. 5
in Louisville, KY, The
Brown Hotel will host a special dinner featuring the Californian
wines of
Napa Cellars. Exec chef Laurent Géroli
have created a five-course menu. Guest
speaker will be Mr. Joe Shirley, winemaker
from Napa Cellars in St. Helena, California. $65 pp. Call
502-736-2998 or nward@brownhotel.com.
* On August
5, Urban Farm Table on the Plaza in Washington, DC, will host a 4-course dinner
with
wines under the stars on Woodrow Wilson Plaza. Among participating
chefs
are Todd Gray (Equinox) and Tiffany MacIssac (Birch&Barley and
ChurchKey).
$70 pp. Email Wineandfoodeventsdc@gmail.com
for tickets; 202-466-6286.
*
On
Aug.
7
in
Cincinnati, OHDaveed’s
restaurant will host FARMbloomington’s
chef Daniel Orr for a 12-course meal of platters of dishes from Orr’s
award-winning cookbook, FARMfood -green
living with chef daniel orr. $45 pp,Call
512-721-COOK.
*
On Aug. 8, in Atlanta,
JCT.
Kitchen & Bar will
host the 2nd annual "Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival "to benefit
Georgia
Organics. The event will celebrate some of the South’s best
chefs,
farmers and mixologists. Live entertainment from The Spazmatics.
$50 pp., $45 for Georgia Organics members, if purchased by
Aug. 1 ($65 after). Visit http://www.georgiaorganics.org
or http://www.peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com.
*
On Aug. 7 in Cincinnati, OHDaveed’s restaurant
will host FARMbloomington’s chef Daniel Orr for a
12-course meal of platters of dishes from Orr’s award-winning cookbook,
FARMfood -green living with chef
daniel orr.$45 pp, Wine selections
from the portfolio of Vintner Select. Call 512-721-COOK.
* On
Aug. 8 in Dallas, TX,
Stephan
Pyles
presents
A Tasteful Pursuit,
multi-course dinner and
auction benefitting Share Our Strength. Participating
restauyrants chefs incl. Stephan Pyles, Samar by Stephan Pyles, Dallas;
Matt
McCallister, Stephan Pyles, Dallas; Teiichi Sakurai, Tei-An, Dallas; RJ
Cooper,
formerly of Vidalia, Washington D.C.; Celina Tio, Julian, Kansas City;
Randall
Copeland and Nathan Tate, Ava Restaurant, Rockwall and Maggie Huff,
Stephan
Pyles, Dallas. $175 pp. Call 888-273-6141.
* On Aug. 9
in Charlottesville,
VA, Keswick Hall & Sieg Wine Distributors will host the Virginia Wine Crush Golf Tournament on
Keswick’s golf
course. Participants will enjoy a gourmet boxed lunch, sample amazing
wines as they proceed
through the 18-hole course and the tournament will conclude with a Wine
Cocktail Reception and prize giving. Proceeds benefit the
Charlottesville
Music Resource Center. $150 pp. Call
434-923-4363 or email Mairi Kincaid at mkincaid@keswick.com. To
book
accommodations, please call 888-778-2561.
*
On
Aug.
10
in
London, The Stafford London by Kempinski will
introduce
an
event
series
titled “Pub Talk.” The series kicks off with “Cellar
Talk” led by resident Master Sommelier Gino Nardella., who will share
his tips for building, expanding, and storing a personal
wine collection, along with recommendations of “wineries to watch.”
Guests will
also enjoy a guided tasting of some of his current favorites
accompanied by
light canapés. The event is free. Call +44-20-7493-0111.
*
From Aug. 13 – Oct. 31, in South
Beach,
FL, The Setai’s Fifth Anniversary
celebrationwill present a special Dim Sum and Champagne menu
every Friday from 7pm to midnight, eight plates of
signature Dim Sum and new refined additions and includes Taittinger
Champagne. $75 pp, with a luxury Dim Sum Menu available at $175 pp with
a
gladss of Vintage Comte de Champagne 1998. http://www.setai.com
.
*
From Aug. 14 – Sept. 14 in Pennine
Lancashire,
England, the Pennine Lancashire
Festival of Food and Culture will encompass 60 events incl. the
World Gravy Wrestling Championships, culinary
canal cruises, opera and strawberries, steam train lunches, ale trails
and
medieval food markets. E-mail louise.procter@blackburn.gov.uk
NEW
FEATURE: I am happy to report that the Virtual Gourmet is linking up
with four excellent travel sites:
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." THIS
WEEK:
CAPTURING THE NATIONAL PARKS
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).
Family Travel
Forum: The
Family
Travel
Forum
(FTF),
whose
motto
is
"Have
Kids,
Still
Travel!",
is
dedicated
to
the
ideals,
promotion
and
support
of
travel with
children. Founded by business professionals John Manton and Kyle
McCarthy with first class travel industry credentials and global family
travel experience, the independent, family-supported FTF will provide
its members with honest, unbiased information, informed advice and
practical tips; all designed to make traveling a rewarding, healthy,
safe, better value and hassle-free experience for adults and children
who journey together. Membership in FTF will lead you to new worlds of
adventure, fun and learning. Join the movement.
nickonwine:
An engaging, interactive wine
column by Nick Passmore, Artisanal Editor, Four Seasons Magazine; Wine
Columnist, BusinessWeek.com; nick@nickonwine.com; www.nickonwine.com.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Christopher
Mariani, Robert Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort
Hochstein, Suzanne Wright, Elin Jeffords and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers:
Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical
Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.
John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Bloomberg News, and Diversion.
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).
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 PelhamBay. 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