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"South Beach Bathers" by John Sloan (1908)

DRIVING CALIFORNIA'S PACIFIC COAST, Part Three
by Christopher Mariani

NEW YORK CORNER
MONTMARTRE
by John Mariani

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
Re-Thinking Red Wines in Summer
by John Mariani

DRIVING CALIFORNIA'S PACIFIC COAST
Part Three
by Christopher Mariani

    After four days of driving up the California coast, Katrina and I pulled into Carmel-by-the-Sea and nestled into this charming city on the Monterey Peninsula. We arrived in the late afternoon as the sun’s rays were beginning to wane. We parked downtown and decided to stretch our legs with a relaxing walk through quiet streets. Art galleries and boutique shops were in abundance, as were small eateries and specialty bake shops. There were sweet shops, fudge shops, and smoke shops.  The cool evening breeze was gentle, beckoning us to break out the only light sweaters we had packed for our trip.
    As the day turned to night, we headed to the legendary Cypress Inn for our one-night stay in Carmel--hands down, my favorite stop along the way. We were whisked past the check-in counter and brought directly to our lovely room, where we were greeted by a lighted fireplace and a bottle of amber sherry. Our room keys were quietly placed as our gracious bellhop closed our door and left us in the privacy of our magnificent rooms. Our suite was fitted with a balcony, overlooking the street below, a warm living room, a connecting bedroom (below) and a bathroom fit for a prince. As modern and sophisticated as the accommodations were, we still felt as though we were in the comforting hands of a bed and breakfast. In this case, a bed and breakfast on steroids.
    
The Inn dates back to 1906, when artist Sidney J. Yard built Carmel’s first art gallery on the site, rebuilt in 1929 to look as it now does, then called "one of the show places of the Monterey Peninsula."  Then, in the 1980s,  business man Dennis LeVett and his wife, Hollywood star Doris Day, took over the Inn and gave it its current name.
    After a quick nap, we dressed and headed downstairs to Terry’s Restaurant and Lounge. We sat at the inn’s bar and ordered two old fashioneds and admired the cocktail list’s initial quote by Humphrey Bogart, “The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” After attempting catch-up with a second round of drinks, we thanked our bartender and headed one block over to L'Auberge Carmel (below, left), whose restaurant Aubergine  was set for a dinner to remember.
    After years of high praise from the media, the accolades for Aubergine continue to roll in. Just this year, Food & Wine’s best new chef of 2013 award went to chef Justin Cogley. Congratulations chef!
    We entered Aubergine (below) and were greeted by a tall, handsome gentleman who knew exactly who we were. We  sat at our spacious table and immediately took notice of the attractive simplicity of our surroundings. Beige and sandstone colors coated the walls, the furniture splashed with hints of polished dark wood. The space is small and intimate, exactly why the experience is so special and impressive on every level. That evening, we ordered off the four-course prix-fix menu ($98) and opted for a conservatively priced bottle of wine (not easy to find on such a stout wine list) rather than the sommelier’s wine pairing, worth $110. Dungeness crab bathed in a pool of rose water and coconut with a subtle hint of the floral geranium flower. Bone marrow came smoked, served in a highly concentrated broth of burnt vegetables and topped with beautifully presented pickled maitake mushrooms. Next, a single Maine diver's scallop sat in its shell floating in a lemon balm soup. The highlight of our meal was chef Cogley’s Japanese kampachi, gracefully decorated with dates and smoked roe, finished with traces of vanilla and saffron. Chef Cogley did a superb job of never overpowering his main ingredient, even when toying with such powerfully distinct flavors.
    We were also lucky enough to enjoy Aubergine’s beautifully marbleized Japanese Kobe steak, a rarity in terms of quality and authenticity. (The price reflects such legitimacy.) Desserts were equally impressive, including a Nyangbo chocolate bar topped with grapefruit and peanut butter. Also notable, a sweet cooked pear with celeriac mouse and wood sorrel. Cogley’s dishes were leaders in presentation and flavor, a common remark by anyone who has had the opportunity to dine at Aubergine. After our final glass of wine, we slowly walked back the Cypress Inn for a good night’s sleep.
    In the morning, we headed back down to Terry’s for their famous breakfast layout, all centered around just-made, hot, buttery popovers that come out in batches of twelve, filling the entire first floor of the inn with the tantalizing aroma of fresh baked goods. I must have had at least four popovers before my girlfriend recommended I save some for the other guests. I reluctantly moved on to sliced fruit, French-style scrambled eggs and home fries. This meal gave us more than enough nutrition needed for our next leg of the road trip, Napa Valley.
    A few exhausting hours later, all due to the miscalculations of our un-trustworthy navigation system, we pulled into the parking lot of Auberge du Soleil (below), where I experienced one of the loveliest meals in my entire life.
    The vineyard-caressed Auberge was the first deluxe places to stay in the Valley, opened in 1985 when wine country tourism was burgeoning. The resort is done in a Provençal style dear to owner Claude Rouas' French heart, and recently remodeled. We walked through the front doors of the Auberge and were immediately awed by the stunning view that lay ahead. its pool area is a remarkable setting fitted neatly into the hillside. The all-wood balcony looks out over Napa Valley and all its beauty. We sat down, wide-eyed, and stared out at vineyards that stretched for miles and miles, with the great hills of Napa in the distance.
    We started with two glasses of the property’s very own reserve sparkling wine from one of the finest, award-winning wine lists in the world, and quickly moved on to half-glass options, presented on Ipads, of Sonoma chardonnay, pinot noir from Carneros and big cabs from St. Helena. We were taking in Napa with each breath of crisp air and each sip of delicious wine. Our late lunch began with a generous portion of Chef Robert Curry's tender lamb tartare and a roasted Kurobuta pork belly with fresh avocado, buttery brioche and smoked tomato. For a mid-course, juicy pulled lamb topped potato gnocchi, fava beans, Niçoise olives and a subtle orange sauce. Entrees included savory short ribs and bacon-wrapped veal served with sweet plums, rich mascarpone cheese, pecans and a Marsala sauce.
    Desserts were also terrific, but there is one I’d like to single out.  And that was the dark chocolate-filled dumplings accompanied by extra virgin olive oil. The combination was one I was leery about until I tasted it, but the chef’s vision and innovation trumped all my doubts that it would work. The meal ended with two glasses of Dolce dessert wine and our gazing over the tranquil Napa Valley.
    Our next stop was Napa’s renowned Meadowood resort just down the Silverado Trail and more great food at Goose & Gander. Stay tuned.   

  Part four of this article will appear soon.

NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani


MONTMARTRE
158 Eighth Avenue (off 18th Street)
646-596-8838 

http://montmartrenyc.com

    Gabe Stulman is a cautiously ambitious restaurateur, for while he doesn’t rule empires as large as Michael White’s and Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s, in a more concentrated way he has expanded rapidly, now with Jeffrey’s Grocery, Joseph Leonard, Perla, Fedora and Chez Sardine within his domain. Montmartre is the latest, following Chez Sardine by only a few months, a blend of French bistro and Asian culinary styles, under Chef Tien Ho (below).
    The menu has evolved from its initial offerings, when it was more French, but these days Ho has brought with him the innovative sensibility he plied at his prior workplaces, Momofuku Ssam Bar and Pêche, both under the peripatetic David Chang. If the marriage of Franco-Asian cuisine is not always seamless at Montmartre, the food is almost always tantalizing.
    There is a raw bar here, with offerings like fluke, King crab, and oysters. “Premiers” (appetizers) at the moment lists heirloom tomatoes, close to their peak (it’s been a weak year for tomatoes everywhere), here mixed with Adirondack kunik (a triple crème cheese), olives, watermelon rind and a little basil, all of it sharing the plate like the best of friends on a picnic blanket.  The boudin chinois (below) is a terrific French blood sausage packed with assertive seasonings like five-spice powder and set upon a reduction of sweet-sour balsamic vinegar and Sichuan pepper oil.
    Snail toast, which could easily have been a dud, was delicious, the blandness of the snails perked up with spices and garlic cream, served with a rich tomato confit on country toast.
    Many kitchens just can’t get the hang of cooking trout, but Ho’s rendering, with beluga lentils, roe, parsley and ginger-laced beurre blanc, is a textbook example of how good this fish out of water can be.  So, too, mussels with frites (below, left)—that classic of French bistros—is intense with flavors, bringing in those Asian elements of coconut milk, chili and coriander to liven things up. And those frites are irresistible. So, too, a “Garniture” of eggplant with red curry, tomato, fish sauce and Thai basil would be justified as a main course on its own, so savory was the assemblage.
    The pot-au-pho (a play on the French pot au feu) is a signature dish at Montmartre and a generously proportioned one, too, served for two, with short rib, oxtail, leeks, Thai basil and sweet hoisin sauce mixed in, which makes for a better autumnal dish than a hot summer’s indulgence.
    I mentioned to Stulman (whose Perla was one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants when it opened) that a lot of new places these days seem to be listing dishes prepared only for two, though he reminded me that restaurants, especially bistros, have long done so on their menus.  Montmartre has three such dishes, the pot-au-pho, grilled whole turbot, and roasted and braised duck.
    The desserts work well within the stylistic context here—crispy mille-feuille with chocolate mousse and cherry compote, rhubarb crumble with lime crème fraîche, and cheesecake with strawberry jam and tuile cookie.
    Given the modest size of Montmartre, I suppose a modest wine list is to be expected, and there are plenty of out-of-the-ordinary wines from places like the Languedoc, the Jura, and the Finger Lakes, though I’m not sure how many people want to pay $64 for a bottle of La Carinne Farm 2011 Semillon Blend.
    Stulman is not known for opening large restaurants, and Montmartre is anything but spacious.  There is an open-air patio, delightful when the summer heat allows people to sit out there. Otherwise, inside, people are saying “excuse me” whenever a chair moves and waiters angle themselves between tables.
    There is a bar up front, manned by a master bartender named Brian Bartels,  a  small dining area downstairs, and the main dining area is done with off-white walls and slatted wood benches, with an array of black and white Parisian photos and prints on the walls.
    The one serious demerit at Montmartre is the noise. The crowd gets louder and louder as people struggle to be heard above the din, not helped by a lack of sound absorbent surfaces.  At the height of the evening, enjoying your meal can lead to a yearning to be set free from the 100+ decibel level, which is too bad, because it would be nice to linger over a glass of cider or cognac.
    Still, Montmartre is packed most nights, and Stulman wisely allows for a number of walk-ins.  Convivial it most certainly is, and the menu is now where it should be, which means full of dishes you won’t find anywhere else.

Open for lunch and dinner daily, brunch on Sat. & Sun.; Dinner appetizers run $9-$24, main courses $14-$34.

This article first appeared in  Bloomberg News.

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HUH????

"Critics of California kitchens, usually East Coast guys trained in the complexities of classic French cuisine, have been known to describe what local chefs do as more assemblage than cooking, as nothing more than arranging superb local produce in Instagram-friendly arrays."--Jonathan Gold, "Barnyard's deceptive simplicity," LA Times.













WHICH MAY EXPLAIN WHERE "JEOPARDY" CONTESTANTS
GO ON THEIR BREAK. 

Researchers at the University of East London School of Psychology in England published a paper in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience contending that  when adults drink water, they tend to have better concentration and perform better on mental tests. Study subjects who ate nothing the night before were given a cereal bar, the next,  a cereal bar and about 3 cups of water.  When the participants were given a reaction test where they had to press a button as soon as they saw something pop up on a computer screen, those given water had a reaction time 14 percent faster.

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