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MARIANI’S
March
13,
2011
NEWSLETTER
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"Irish
Garden Potatoes," Photo
by Christopher Hirsheimer for The
Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews (2010)
Happy
Saint
Patrick's
Day!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
On March 1, owners Tony and Marisa May
of NYC's SD26 hosted John
Mariani’s book launch luncheon for his How Italian Food Conquered the World.
Media
guests
included
Owen Dugan of Wine
Spectator, Manuela Hoelterhoff
of Bloomberg News, Colman
Andrews of The Daily Meal,
Genevieve Ko of Good Housekeeping,
Michael
Wilson
of
La Cucina Italiana,
Francesca Leoni of RAI-TV, Everett Potter of Everett
Potter's
Travel
Report, Ryan
D'Agostino
of
Esquire,
Jocelyn McClurg of USA Today,
David Lincoln Ross of The Daily Beast,
and
President of
the Gruppo Esponenti Italiani Lucio Caputo. John Mariani
paid tribute to an array of attending chefs and restaurateurs who, he
said, were crucially important to the evolution of Italian food in
America, including Marco Maccioni of Le Cirque, Pino Luongo of Centolire, David
Greco of Mike's Deli, Danny Meyer
of USHG, and SD26’s
Tony May. A superb meal of classic and modern SD26 dishes was prepared
by Chef Matteo Bergamini.
Left to right, Marco Maccioni,
John Mariani, Tony May, Pino Luongo, David Greco.
PUERTA VALLARTA
by Carey Sweet
It might have
been: “Take your clothes off. You’re going to jump.” Perhaps it
was:
“The bats may skim your face, but they won’t eat your dinner.
Then again, a
strong contender for one of the most memorable things said to me while
in
Puerto Vallarta could be “Ma’am? You need a boyfriend rental? I’m a
good buy."
Whatever had
been my expectations for this coastal city known as the Mexican
Riviera, I wasn’t
prepared for its offbeat charms. Any town that features an area called
Hotel
Zone generally isn’t my cup of tequila, and indeed, big, boxy,
all-inclusive
hotels greet travelers directly after they’ve passed the gauntlet of
hawkers
lining the airport arrival lobby. There’s a Romantic Zone just past
downtown,
too, brimming with cheap curio stands and throbbing nightclubs cranking
out
expensive, watered down drinks.
Yet then, as I
stood at the top of a waterfall, a gregarious young man named
César directed me
to shed my jeans for my swimsuit underneath, and to leap into the icy
cold
swirls below. It was a surprisingly risky suggestion, considering the
touristy-sounding Vallarta Adventures Sea Safari
package I’d signed up for. He
laughed as I emerged seconds later, choking water – I should have
risked
looking un-cool and held my nose like he had recommended – and said, “I
want
you out of your comfort zone.”
It’s easy
enough to do “safe” Puerto Vallarta, with its endless shops, art
galleries, and
massive hotels that encourage you to never leave the property with
their
package drinks, dinners and poolside discos. But if visitors
never get past the city, it’s a mistake. Puerto Vallarta blooms with
beauty in
its quieter nooks and crannies off the southern waters of Banderas, the
second
largest natural bay in the world. To get to the waterfall, César
and I had just
ridden horses through the Sierra Madre rain forest atop a tiny village (below), where he
had pointed out colorful tropical plants - sour guanabana “ugly fruit,”
green
almonds, pomegranate, mango, yellow cherry, avocado, papaya, agave, and
a
brilliant stand of what was exquisitely marijuana.
Next, we would
go snorkeling in a serene cove off the Los Arcos marine reserve, up
close and
personal in the clear water with puffer fish, jellyfish, and clown
fish, and
not far from Devil’s Canyon, one of the most dangerous scuba diving
drops in
the world. Later, the wind and sun would dry my salty hair, as our
inflatable
boat soared 40 mph past towering rock monuments, to deposit us at a
private
beach in Pizota for lunch and cocktails and kayaking. A barbecue was
prepared
by chefs in white jackets and toques under a palapa, and after a minute
sitting
cross-legged on a bamboo mat on the beach, my meal crunched wonderfully
with windblown
sand.
For many,
Puerto Vallarta is best associated with massive cruise ships flocking
the
Pacific Ocean, and indeed, the boats do dock there, sized to block out
the sun,
and with people on the decks looking like ants. But a more
exciting side of this former fishing town in Jalisco can found in the
food,
where ants – real ants – are on the menu. As I ducked over my plate to
avoid
another flitting bat swooping past my patio table at Café des Artistes (below) in the
city’s downtown, I took my first forkful of escamoles, or giant black ant
eggs. They look like barley, taste
like nutty, buttery sweetbreads (the restaurant is owned by French chef
Thierry
Blouet), and are surprisingly appealing scooped with warm, pliant bits
of
tortilla and nibbled with a wheel of roast corn.
It’s easy
enough to avoid the bats by sitting inside, of course, but then I might
as well
have been in a big city lounge, complete with a piano bar and sleek
furniture.
Something about eating outside, by candlelight beneath ivy-draped trees
in a
hillside jungle garden with knobby, terraced pathways moodily up-lit
like fog,
made it seem entirely natural to dine on delicacies such as an
appetizer of
blue corn chips and guacamole rounded out by orange slices sprinkled
with worm
salt, which is indeed, dried worm mixed with salt. That it was a full
moon the
night I dined made the meal nearly surreal.
There are more
approachable, non-insect dishes at this elegant French-Mexican eatery
in a
100-year-old building –
luscious duck confit chilaquiles melt in oodles of
cream and a splash of Port reduction, while prawns are some of the best
to be
found, inventively accented with warm avocado custard, crispy pork rind
and
what the chef calls “cauliflower delightful.” Blouet is a master with
seafood,
searing a ruby red hunk of tuna, ladling it with a smoky tomato-red
chile
sauce, and adding a sweet-tart statement of spinach braised with mescal
and
raisins alongside a pumpkin flower buñuelo.
He also puts a twist on short rib,
the fall-apart-tender meat glazed in mole,
accented
with
aromatic
hoja santa
herb for a licorice-mint note, and served with truffle potato puree.
“They’re
grasshoppers,” shrugged Carmen Porras, owner of El
Arrayán, (below)
another
excellent
downtown
destination
for
its
regional
Mexican food. “They come in a jar
from
Oaxaca.” But her version of traditional chapulines is different from the
typical, since the bugs are roasted in lime, not fried, and caught by
net in
organic sesame fields – the sesame may or may not add a bit to the
crunchy
critters’ flavor. Which, by the way, is a bit like crisp, moldy
cardboard, so
the chef wisely disguises the tiny bugs in a sauté of red onion
and cilantro,
wrapped in mini tacos and smothered in tomatillo and avocado salsas.
As she visits
tables, Porras’ personality is as low-key as the ambiance of this
café done in
saltillo tile, rafter ceilings and exposed brick columns, anchored by
an
exposition kitchen so casual that looks like it should have a takeout
window.
Yet there is plenty of flair to the menu, which dresses a quesadilla
with
hibiscus flowers, turns duck into taquitos
glazed in sweet-spicy tamarind, (above)
and
presents
rustic
Yucatán
style
pigs'
feet
on the same table as a
lavish,
18-ingredient mole poblano
over chicken. The rest of the pig leg ends up as cochinita pibil, a mild
stew slow cooked in banana leaves then spiked
with
habanero salsa.
Her carrot cake
doesn’t taste like carrots, dense with nuts and chocolate chips under
Grand
Marnier frosting, but there is suave sophistication to a plantain
empanada with
chipotle garlic salsa that beguiles like a soft, sweet fritter pancake.
More culinary
surprises were waiting at the waterfall. In Quimixto, a village of
perhaps 400
residents at the base of the jungle, the main economy is raising
horses, and
these animals trek tourists up and down rain forest canyons which
aren’t steep
but narrow. The horses themselves are crazily small and skinny, more
like
Twiggy-esque dogs than equines, and still, my knees brushed against the
rock
walls.
At the top of
the trek, as it has been for 35 years, sits a tiny restaurant. Visitors
walk
across a rope-plank bridge to a deck directly next to the waterfall,
and for a
tariff of 50 pesos per table, can order snacks like fish filet, tacos,
or
octopus cocktail. You eat your nachos, the water thunders just feet away,
and
your waiter finally breaks into a smile when you offer him an ample tip
for
balancing your plates across that rickety bridge. It’s nearly
mandatory to slam a raicilla here, which is strong, green agave tequila
with a
smoky, astringent character, sort of like wood furniture polish crossed
with
Listerine. The spirit goes well with churritos, small sacks of soggy
pork skin
nuggets doused in chile and lemon. Still, it’s better to hold out for a
margarita made with a higher quality liquor, perhaps El Retiro, which
is one of
the most widely drunk brands in Puerto Vallarta.
And for the
best margarita, few can compete with the cocktail served at Trio
(below) downtown. The
two-story building brims with colorful paintings, al fresco painted
walls,
Tiffany-style windows, and elaborate tile floors around an open
courtyard and a
sandstone fountain. The bartenders keep their margaritas tart and
honest, not
cloyingly sweet. Yet the Mexican accented Spanish-Italian fare from
chefs
Bernhard Güth and Ulf Henriksson steals the show. There’s little
pretension on the plates, just delightful good cooking and pure
flavors, such
as oven roasted rabbit in robust garlic-parsley sauce, an excellent
garlic
glazed grilled sea bass fillet over spinach-watercress salad with
pecans, and
an inventive Caesar salad topped in barbecue boneless quail with
mushroom
crostini. This is also where vegetarians are treated like royalty, for
indulgent dishes like Parmesan baked cauliflower crepes studded with
mushrooms
under savory roasted vegetables and tomato Provençal.
After dinner, I
stopped at La Bodeguita del Medio
(below), an
enormously popular offshoot of the
original Bodeguita in Havana (reputedly Hemingway's favorite restaurant
there).
It would have broken my anti-tourist trap rule, except most of the
guests
seemed like locals, sipping mojitos, smoking Cuban cigars, and dirty
salsa
dancing to a live group headed by a gorgeously decorated singer who
might or
might not have been a woman. The two-story concrete bunker with New
Orleans style
windows was impossibly loud, and I pulled out a pen to carve my name
into the
wood table alongside every other
autographed surface from floor to ceiling.
Over the years,
Puerto Vallarta has developed into an ex-pat Mecca for U.S. and
Canadian
citizens, and homesick tourists can get a taste at the farmer’s market
which
sprang up in Old Town near Los Muertos beach in the fall of 2009. It’s
still a
work in progress – I was hoping for more regional flavor rather than
the
Guinness beef potpie offered by the Leek
&
Thistle booth, and the Xocodiva
artisan chocolates come from a resident Canadian – but I still enjoyed
the
homemade tamales, flan, and café
de
olla, which is a traditional coffee
brightened with cinnamon and piloncillo brown sugar. Ponche is another local
specialty, served at the market as a hot tea fragrant with crab apple,
hibiscus, prune, guava, sugar cane and cinnamon.
As I wandered
the bustling river-stone streets on my way back to my hotel that
afternoon, I
pressed tight on the skinny sidewalks against roaring buses and
chugging cars,
and munched fresh roasted corn I had bought from one of the many street
food
vendors that line the Malecón. It comes in a plastic cup, tossed
in a busy
blend of mayonnaise, chile powder, queso, lemon, and
cream.
I
saw
the
ample
historic
–
and
planned
– beauty to Puerto Vallarta. By actual city law,
downtown must look folkloric, and so plein air painters craft their art
on the
boardwalk, while architecture remains a tribute to the 1800s, anchored
by a
church with a spectacular gold crown paying homage to Mexico’s empress
of the
late 1860’s. Hired marching bands parade up and down, and there is a
Papantla
Flyers trapeze act that performs from a 100-foot tall flagpole. Yet
earlier
that weekend, and just minutes away, I had lounged on the boat at Los
Arcos,
watching magnificent frigate birds descend like pterodactyls on the
dark rocks.
Black mask seagulls, turkey vultures, brown pelicans and blue foot
boobies
clustered the skies and among dense trees clinging to outcroppings.
At the edge of
the bay, where craggy boulders meet the saltwater, I had seen a large
spider
spinning a web that glittered like gold. It was as strong as steel,
César had
explained, and the silk was stronger than Kevlar. As I neared my
hotel now, a grinning gentleman popped out of a nightclub, waving a
brochure,
and cheerfully offered to be my lover for the evening. Memorable,
indeed.
NEW
YORK
CORNER
by John Mariani
Caravaggio
23 East
74th Street (near Madison Ave.)
212-288-1004
caravaggioristorante.com
A
little over a year ago
Caravaggio opened in the former premises of Cocopazzo on the upper east
side—a
neighborhood sorely in need of a good, modern Italian restaurant. Expectations were high, especially
since the new owners were the Bruno brothers—Cosimo, Gerardo and
Giuseppe, Antonio—who also
run the excellent San Pietro on East 54th
Street and Sistina on
Second Avenue and 81st Street. Caravaggio’s
location
is
in
the
heart of Manhattan affluence, and the new décor is
stunning—a long hall
and well-lighted bar leads to a large dining room (below) done with spindly trees,
finely set tables, and a wall of open-mouthed cartoons that dash any
whiff of pretense. Cosimo is the
Bruno always on duty
here, and he knows how to treat his clientele with both deference and
good humor.
The problem with
Caravaggio at the beginning was that the Brunos said they were going to
have an
Italian menu like no no other in NYC, an avant-garde approach that
meant
small
portions of ultra-designed plates of food with extraneous ingredients
and more
than a little gimmickry. None
of
that
clicked,
especially
with the conservative crowd in that neck of the woods whose
taste
for Italian food was based on models that dated to the 1970s—the usual
spaghetti with tomato and basil, an overcooked veal chop, and a shared
tiramisù. Without going that
retro, the Brunos have instead brought those and other classic Italian
dishes
into the 21st century while
adding a great deal more in the way of
bright innovations that now make Caravaggio one of the most enticing
Italian
restaurants in NYC and certainly the best on the upper east side.
Much
of its excellence has to do with the quality of ingredients, colorfully
evident
in the antipasto platter of prosciutto, Speck, hot and sweet
sausage, marinated
artichokes, cipolline onions,
buffalo mozzarella and Parmigiano—enough to
satisfy two or more people as a starter. Other options include a
carpaccio of
tuna with citrus, pickled onions and red pepper sauce, and braised and
stuffed
octopus with baby artichokes and roasted fingerling potatoes in a
lemon-artichoke broth.
Chef Massimo
Bebber, who hails from Trentino, makes an array of superb pastas, like
pappardelle with a lamb Bolognese ragù
(left) the tender
egg noodles incorporating
just enough of the rich sauce to enhance, not smother them. Tortelloni
are stuffed with veal and porcini and
dressed with veal-onion-white wine reduction alla Genovese, and the risotto
here is cooked with consummate skill. I
loved the hearty risotto
trevisano, the radicchio, green peas and rich
Gorgonzola finished with a goat’s cheese crumble and veal reduction—so
full of
good, irresistible flavors that are true to form.
The
fish and meat dishes are just right in number—four
each
(with
nightly
specials), and the the
striped bass with
a ragù of oven-dried
tomatoes, pickled onions and arugula is redolent of the
Bruno Brothers’ origins in Campania. Indeed,
their
way
with
southern Italian seafood is
nonpareil in the
city.
For
meat they do indeed have a veal chop, a generous cut of great
tenderness,
roasted with new potatoes, chiodini
mushrooms and a parsnip puree in an intense
veal reduction. Roasted chicken
breast comes with tender farro grain, a cranberry bean stew, roasted
golden
delicious apples, cranberries and Swiss chard—a showy dish but one in
which all
the various ingredients really do complement one another to savory
effect.
Caravaggio
boasts its serves “the best Italian desserts,” and that is not hollow
boasting.
They are very, very good, especially the ricotta bombolini with caramel saucer
and cinnamon pastry cream and the napoleon with strawberries. You’ll love their cheesecake with
fruit compote, and for something different try their version of
floating island
here called isola galleggiante
of poached meringues in a rich sea of vanilla
custard.
I had my
doubts that Caravaggio would survive its first few months with its
overreaching
menu, but now the balance, and most of all, the taste of the food seems
to have
guaranteed a long run and a very faithful crowd who know what they want
to eat
but are happily guided by the Brunos to move up to modern cucina
Italiana done
with marvelous brio.
Caravaggios
is
open
for
lunch
Mon.-Sat.,
and dinner nightly. Antipasti
at
dinner
run $18-36, pasta full portions $22-$28, main courses $26-$42.

MAN ABOUT TOWN
by
Christopher Mariani
RARE
Bar
&
Grill
152
West
26th Street (between 6th and 7th
Aves.)
212-807-7273
www.rarebarandgrill.com
The
hamburger,
with its endless ingredient combinations and its
ever-growing list
of tasty toppings, is easily one of the most versatile sandwiches
imaginable.
Not only are burgers delicious when
they are done right but now they can found almost
anywhere in Manhattan, including bars and pubs, elegant restaurants
that five
years ago would have frowned on this American prole food classic (but simply
add truffle shavings and ground up Kobe meat and suddenly
they are acceptable), and even appear on the menus of ethnic
restaurants that
place their own personal spin on the ground meat patties. And yes, NYC
has many
trendy, high-end burger joints, some good, some not so good, so it is
understandable that almost every New Yorker swears their
burger spot is the best.
I can’t validate their claims nor
can I tell you where the best burger exists (even though 5 Napkin
Burger, with three NYC locations, is pretty damn good), but I can
tell you that if you are in
Chelsea,
Rare Bar and Grill is definitely serving up some terrific and
innovative
burgers. The key behind Rare’s juicy list of diverse burgers is using
quality
beef and placing that beef on a great bun.
The
restaurant sits inside the trendy Hilton New York Fashion District
hotel and is
an absolutely grand space. There is a long, chic bar on the hotel’s
lobby
level
that bustles with a young well-dressed crowd drinking Rare’s
jalepeño
infused “Sexy
sexy” tequila cocktail, a downstairs dining room that has a two-story
high
ceiling, and even a rooftop lounge that looks out on the Empire State
building
from the hotel's 22nd floor.
After
walking down the arched staircase to the main dining room, my date and
I sat in
the middle of the room and watched as hot plates filled with “frickles”
(fried
pickles) hit the surrounding tables, along with all different types of
thick burgers
that whizzed by, releasing whiffs of sautéed onions, bacon and a
spiciness
from a
chipotle puree spread. For starters the lollipop wings are good, with
all skin and meat frenched off the base of the bone (an absolute
sin), leaving
your hands
as
clean as when you started. Quesadillas come filled with shredded beef
brisket and are
sided by a
homemade sweet and slightly spicy salsa. The frickle is a generous
portion of addictive fried
sliced
pickles, slightly overbattered but still delightful.
Rare
does offer four different steak selections, but it is clear that the
burgers
are the way to go, especially one of the steakhouse burgers. The Grand
Canyon (left) is a cheese
lover's favorite, topped with cheddar, mozzarella,
crispy pancetta and served
with a beefsteak tomato salad. My favorite was
the
T-bone, a blend of ground sirloin and strip cuts flambéed in
tequila, wrapped
in applewood-smoked bacon and covered by cheddar cheese and thinly cut
crispy
onions. The
meat was tender, juicy and had just the right amount of fat for a rich
and hearty flavor. For sides, the beer-battered onion rings were a
perfect proportion of sweet onion and fried batter,
while the parmesan truffle
fries were
all parmesan and no truffle.
Desserts
are all high notes, starting with the warm chocolate bread pudding and
finishing with the homemade apple pie. Both desserts are very large,
either one
sufficient for sharing.
The
service is attentive and very personal. Our waitress was a lovely young
girl
from out west who was confident in her menu recommendations and not shy
about
what items to stay away from, an honesty I value highly.
After
dinner, I ventured up to the 22nd floor to have an after-dinner drink
at the restaurant’s
rooftop bar and lounge (right).
The
space
has
been beautifully renovated and is
now
sectioned off by two open areas that look out on Manhattan and
the
Empire State Building, along with a enclosed wooden bar where one can
order
drinks or sit table side and order appetizers from Rare’s rooftop menu.
The view
is stunning and there is not a building within ten blocks, as if the
city
itself fell away to create such a stellar view. The rooftop is
completely
covered in
the winter, but come spring and summer this is easily going to be one
of
Chelsea’s
hippest hang outs for happy hours and posh parties.
Open
daily
for
breakfast,
lunch
and
dinner. Appetizers range $7-$12.50, burgers $9-$23, and steaks $22-$28.
The rooftop
has a DJ Tuesday-Friday.
To
contact
Christopher
Mariani send an email to christopher@johnmariani.com
`````````````````

AND FOR DESSERT,
CREAM OF SUM YUNG GAI!
McDonald's
chains
in Hong Kong now offers wedding packages, including
a baked apple pie wedding cake, party balloon dresses, and Happy Meals.
WELL, OF COURSE, THEY
LOVED IT. ALL THEY EVER GET IS HOSPITAL FOOD!
Hester Blumenthal of The Fat Duck in Bray, UK,
who in the past has served customers snail porridge
and mustard ice cream, is also serving lunch at
Alder Hey Children's Hospital, with a pizza topped
with mealworms. Said Blumenthal, ‘The
kids loved it. '
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* Launching this month, chef de cuisine Jean-Luc Mongodin will lead BLT Steak Atlanta’s
premiere cooking class series offered through August. Each two-hour
demonstration class is made complete with complementing wine pairings
and a presentation by the sommelier. The six classes will guide guests
through the intricacies of preparation, plating and wine pairing,
embracing a different theme to reflect seasonal ingredients at their
peak. All classes will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. and cost $65 per
person, incl. wine pairings and samples of the dishes prepared.
Classes are limited to the first 30 reservations; call Alina at BLT
Steak at 404-577-7601.
*On Mar. 13 in DC,
COCHON 555
continues its 10-city national culinary competition promoting heritage
breed pigs and breed diversity. The tasting event will challenge
5
chefs, incl. Adam Sobel (Bourbon Steak), Tarver King (Ashby Inn), James
Leeds (Hanks Oyster Bar), Bryan Voltaggio (Volt) and Scott Drewno (The
Source by Wolfgang Puck) to prepare a menu created from 5 heritage
breed pigs, nose to tail. Pig-loving epicureans will have a chance to
sample these dishes along with wines from 5 different small wineries,
incl. Alysian Winery, Copain Wine Cellars, Red Car Wine, Adelsheim
Vineyard and Sokol Blosser, as well as the opportunity to help select
the ³Prince or Princess of Porc.² In addition, guests
will be treated
to whole pig breakdown demonstrations, followed by a whole roasted
heritage breed pig and dessert. General admission tickets start
at
$125pp and are available at www.Cochon555.com.
* On March 14
in NYC,
the 9th Annual Taste of Greenwich
House
will welcome 40 of NY’s
finest restaurants as they serve up tastes from the kitchen in support
of the
variety of urban social service and art programs offered through
Greenwich
House. Featured chefs from restaurants will be in attendance. General
Admission
$125pp., VIP $200pp. Call 212-991-0003 or visit
greenwichhouse.org/taste2011.
* From Mar. 16-18, in Brooklyn, NY, at 7:30 p.m., The Vanderbilt will hold offer a
prix fixe St. Patrick's Day menu featuring classics such as crispy
fried eggs with blood sausage and slow-roasted lamb shoulder by
Executive Chef Saul Bolton. $35 pp; call 718-623-0571 or email
info@thevanderbiltnyc.com.
*
On
March
19
in San Francisco, CA, Chez Papa Resto
hosts an Alsace-Languedoc Wine Dinner beginning at 7:30 PM. Winemakers
Melanie Pfister and Genevieve Vidal will be in attendance. The 4-course
meal with pairings is $80 pp. Call 415-546-4134 or visit www.ChezPapaResto.com.
* On Mar. 20 in Chicago, COCHON 555 continues
its 10-city national culinary competition promoting heritage breed pigs
and breed diversity. The tasting event will challenge 5 chefs,
incl.
Michael Fiorello (Mercat de Planxa), Stephanie Izard (Girl and the
Goat), Chris Pandel (The Bristol), Mike Sheerin (3 Floyds Brewpub), and
Andrew Zimmerman (Sepia) to prepare a menu created from 5 heritage
breed pigs, nose to tail. Pig-loving epicureans will have a chance to
sample these dishes along with wines from 5 different small wineries,
incl. Alysian Winery, Chase Family Cellars, Copain Wines, Red Car Wine
and Elk Cove Vineyards, as well as the opportunity to help select the
³Prince or Princess of Porc.² In addition, guests will
be treated to
whole pig breakdown demonstrations, followed by a whole roasted
heritage breed pig and dessert. General admission tickets start
at
$125pp and are available at www.Cochon555.com.
*On
March
22
Arturo's Uptown Italiano
in Houston, Texas,
will host A Tour of Italy. Dr. Francesco Visani, manager of Antinori
Toscana, will guide guests through the wine selections pared with a
five course dinner. $75 per person Please call 713-621-1180
for
reservations or visit www.arturosuptown.com.
* On Mar. 23, Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House in
Naperville, IL will host a Louis M. Martini wine dinner. Sommelier
Christopher Rowell will lead guests through each selection of wine
paired with a 5-course menu by Executive Chef Jose Sosa. $95pp. Call
630-548-3764 or visit www.hugosfrogbar.com.
*On Mar. 23 in Denver, The Ritz-Carlton's signature restaurant, ELWAY'S Downtown will host a Calera Wine
Company four-course pairing dinner featuring a seasonal menu by
Executive Chef Justin Fields and ELWAY'S Chef Robert Bogart . Attendees
will get to meet the winemaker, Josh Jensen. Selected wines include
Viognier -Central Coast, 2009, Pinot Noir - Central Coast, 2008,
³Ryan Vineyard² Pinot Noir - Mount Harlan, 2007 and
³Mills Vineyard² Pinot Noir -Mount Harlan, 2000. $100 pp plus
tax and gratuity. Call 303-312-3107; www.elways.com
* On March 23
in Larkspur, CA, Left
Bank Brasserie hosts a Supper Club Dinner with a three-course
“classic
Americana” prix fixe menu and live music, $38.00 pp. Call 415-927-3331.
urbantavernsf.com.
* On May 28 in New Orleans, COCHON 555
continues its 10-city national culinary competition promoting heritage
breed pigs and breed diversity. The tasting event will challenge
5
chefs, incl. Mike Lata (FIG), John Currence (City Grocery), Stephen
Stryjewski (Cochon Restaurant), Adolf Garcia (Rio Mar) and Erick Loos
(Besh Restaurant Group) to prepare a menu created from 5 heritage breed
pigs, nose to tail. Pig-loving epicureans will have a chance to sample
these dishes along with wines from 5 different small wineries, incl.
Matthiasson, Elk Cove Vineyards, The Scholium Project, McCrea Cellars
and Peay Vineyards, as well as the opportunity to help select the
³Prince or Princess of Porc.² In addition, guests will
be treated to
whole pig breakdown demonstrations, followed by a whole roasted
heritage breed pig and dessert. General admission tickets start
at
$125pp and are available at www.Cochon555.com
* On Apr. 3 in Denver,
COCHON 555 continues its
10-city national culinary competition promoting heritage breed pigs and
breed diversity. The tasting event will challenge 5 chefs, incl.
Jennifer Jasinski (Rioja), Alex Seidel (Fruition), Kelly Liken
(Restaurant Kelly Liken), Frank Bonanno (Osteria Marco) and Lachlan
MacKinnon (Frasca Food and Wine) to prepare a menu created from 5
heritage breed pigs, nose to tail. Pig-loving epicureans will have a
chance to sample these dishes along with wines from 5 different small
wineries, incl. The Scholium Project, Elk Cove Vineyards, Failla Wines,
Chase Family Cellars and Domaine Serene, as well as the opportunity to
help select the ³Prince or Princess of Porc.² In
addition, guests will be treated to whole pig breakdown demonstrations,
followed by a whole roasted heritage breed pig and dessert.
General admission tickets start at $125pp and are available at www.Cochon555.com
* On
Apr.
5,
in
San Francisco,
"Devils Gulch Ranch Dinner" at
Baker & Banker. Chefs/Owners Jeff Banker and Lori Baker have
teamed up
with Mark Pasternak to create a 5-course menu, to support Haiti
charity. $75pp.
Call 415-351-2500 or visit bakerandbanker.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Any of John Mariani's books below
may be ordered from amazon.com.
My new book, How Italian Food Conquered the World
(Palgrave Macmillan) is a rollicking history of the food culture of
Italy and its ravenous embrace in the 21st century by the entire world.
From ancient Rome to la dolce vita
of post-war Italy, from Italian immigrant cooks to celebrity chefs,
from pizzerias to high-class ristoranti,
this
chronicle
of
a
culinary
diaspora
is
as
much
about
the
world's
changing tastes, prejudices, and dietary fads as about our
obsessions with culinary fashion and style.--John Mariani
" A fact-filled,
entertaining history [that] substantiates its title with hundreds of
facts in this meaty history of the rise of Italian food culture around
the
globe. From Charles Dickens's journey through Italy in 1844 to
20th-century
immigrants to America selling ice cream on the streets of New Orleans,
Mariani
constantly surprises the reader with little-known culinary anecdotes
about
Italy and its people, who have made pasta and pizza household dishes in
the
U.S. and beyond."--Publishers Weekly
"Equal
parts
history,
sociology,
gastornomy,
and
just
plain
fun,
How
Italian
Food
Conquered
the World tells the captivating and delicious story of
the (let's face it) everybody's favorite cuisine with clarity, verve
and more than one surprise."--Colman Andrews, editorial director of The Daily Meal.com.
"A
fantastic and fascinating read, covering everything from the influence
of Venice's spice trade to the imnpact of Italian immigrants in
Amerioca and the evolution of alta cucina. This book will serve as a
terrific resource to anyone iunterested in the real story of Italian
food."--Mary Ann Espositio, hosty of PBS-TV's Ciao Italia.
"John
Mariani
has
written
the
definitive
history
of
how
Italians
won
their
way
into our hearts, min ds, and stomachs. It's a story of
pleasure over pomp and taste over technique."--Danny Meyer, owner of
NYC restaurants Union Square Cafe, Gotham Bar & Grill, The Modern,
and Maialino.
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FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report that the Virtual Gourmet is linking up
with four 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." THIS WEEK: Seeking the Sun in Sarasota;
A Review of How Italian Food
Conquered the World.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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).
The Family Travel Forum
- A community for those who
"Have Kids, Still Travel" and want to make family vacations more fun,
less work and better value. FTF's travel and parenting features,
including
reviews of tropical and ski resorts, reunion destinations, attractions,
holiday
weekends, family festivals, cruises, and all kinds of vacation ideas
should be
the first port of call for family vacation planners. http://www.familytravelforum.com/index.html
ALL YOU NEED BEFORE YOU GO

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, and
Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, Bobby Pirillo. Technical
Advisor:
Gerry McLoughlin.
© copyright John Mariani 2011
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