Margot
Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in "Wolf of Wall Street"
(2013)
HAPPY
VALENTINE'S DAY!
❖❖❖
IN THIS ISSUE BALMY BERMUDA
By John Mariani
NEW YORK CORNER
CAFÉ BOULUD
By John Mariani
❖❖❖
BALMY BERMUDA
By John Mariani
All the destination
islands of the Caribbean have, more or less, their
own appeal, but Bermuda is decidedly not a
Caribbean island. It is in the Atlantic Ocean, 640
nautical miles east of the U.S. mainland, which
makes it much more of a year-round attraction and
one I tend to prefer for its own particular,
fairly subdued character.Call it
British reserve, if you like, but Bermuda does
exude a far more genteel spirit than do the
British Virgin Islands or Jamaica.
The pink sand beaches are truly
spectacular, nudging along a rugged coastline of
dramatic beauty, and, when it’s not being pummeled
by a hurricane—the last was Gonzalo in 2014—it has a
subtropical climate with average monthly
temperatures in the low 60s in winter (the record low is
43°) and in the low 80s in summer. When I was there
in June many of the more secluded beaches were
nearly empty, and, since you can’t rent a car on the
island (only scooters and bicycles), the pace of
traffic is very civilized indeed.
Mark Twain was a regular after
the Civil War, proclaiming, “You go to heaven if you
want to, I’d rather stay right here in Bermuda,”
where he found “no rush, no hurry, no money-getting
frenzy, no fretting, no complaining, no fussing and
quarreling; no telegrams, no daily newspapers, no
railroads, no tramways, no subways, no trolleys, no
Tammany, no Republican party, no Democratic party,
no graft, no office-seeking, no elections, no
legislatures for sale.”
Well, that was then, and
Bermuda now is far more modernized, with its major
industry being re-insurance, which has had its ups
and downs in the global recession.But,
largely speaking, the island retains that calmness
of which Twain spoke; the buildings are in every
shade of pastel, the water as blue as anywhere in
the Atlantic, and the pace of life unrushed.
As did Twain, I stayed at the Hamilton Princess &
Beach Club, long nicknamed the Pink Palace.The
original structure dates to 1885 and took its name
from Queen Victoria’s daughter Louise, who’d visited
Bermuda a few years prior.Affluent Americans were the
intended targets for the hotel and they’ve never
stopped coming.During World War II, the hotel became an intelligence
center nicknamed ''Bletchley-in-the-Tropics'' after
the English country house where the ''Enigma'' code
was broken.
Today the
hotel is sister, though not twin, to The Fairmont
Southampton on the island’s south shore. In
2012 the Princess was sold to the local Green family
under the Fairmont aegis and has been renovated to the tune of $100
million; the
main lobby is now a veritable museum of modern art,
including works by Andy
Warhol, David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Banksy and
others spread throughout the resort.
The 400 rooms and 43 suites are
flooded with light and are all in view of Hamilton
Harbor, with modern amenities, excellent bathroom facilities, dependable WiFi, access to
the Inner Sanctum Spa and Riddell’s Bay Golf and
Country Club.Booking jet skis, kayaks, even a catamaran
from K.S.WaterSports,
gives you freedom to sail through gorgeous seascapes
in view of some of the grand mansions built on
Bermuda’s hills.
There is also a new 60-berth marina, which will be
official host to the 35th America's Cup.
There are three dining options at
the hotel, including the open-air 1609 Bar and
Restaurant, set on the marina, and the Crown &
Anchor Bar, Restaurant & Terrace, which is
open for very good breakfast, lunch and dinners.The big
news when I visited was the opening of celeb chef
Marcus Samuelsson’s vast Marcus’ restaurant (below), with a
menu that fell way short of expectations.Marcus
himself played the natty greeter at the opening
party, but was headed back to New York the very next
day. A $20 appetizer called “Aunt Bonita’s crab and
codfish cake with charred mango, salsa, bacon, and
salsa verde” was third-rate; the catch of the day,
wahoo ($36), was overcooked; the blackened redfish
and grits ($38) were bland, and Samuelsson’s much
ballyhooed fried chicken for two—$75!—could not even
keep its crust on the meat.
Otherwise,
dining out in Bermuda can be trying—and
expensive—with the hotel restaurants trying to
please everyone with similar menus that pretend to
offer a few questionable items of Bermudian cuisine,
which, I’m sorry to report, is barely identifiable
in any case.I
asked repeatedly of the locals where to eat
something that resembled true Bermudian cooking,
and, after visiting a few recommendations, found
none that would give any foreign traveler much to
talk, much less rave, about.Avoid at
all costs The Spot in Hamilton, a kind of diner with
terrible food.You’d do as well at the numerous pubs, like
the Frog &
Onion at the Royal Navy Dockyard, and, for
a taste of something as downhome as you’ll find, Art Mel’s Spicy Dicy
is a place where you line up to get a good fried
fish sandwich, then eat it at the nearby park (but
watch out for the beseeching beggars already on
their third beer).
The best restaurant I dined at
was very, very good: Little Venice in Hamilton (below). It has
been around for 40 years and has fine-tuned every dish, along
with the ebullient patter and opera singing of
owner-chefs Umberto and Tony, who have earned the
respect of their guests enough to ask them for “Proper attire"--no tee shirts, tank
tops, bathing suits, or baseball hats."
They also stock a wine list of tremendous breadth
and depth.
Even though the food is not
particularly Venetian in style, I would return again
and again for Little Venice’s roasted octopus
brightened with lime juice and a pesto
sauce along with roasted potatoes ($20.75) and any
of the housemade pastas, such as the tortelli
filled with pumpkin and crushed amaretti in
a butter-sage truffle sauce ($25.75), gnocchi filled
with pumpkin and ricotta and sauced with a
tomato-basil coulis ($24.75), and Mario’s ravioli alla caprese
($24.75).
Equally impressive was a risotto
made with Arborio rice, rich with seafood and
colored with squid ink ($29.75).For
dessert consider the torta caprese.
While
Hamilton is a fine town, though on the verge of
overdevelopment, historic St. George’s, a World
Heritage Site, gives you a much more relaxed sense
of the island’s past. Settled in 1612, it is quiet
and low in density, with its center at King’s
Square, where the Bermuda National Trust Museum is
located. Otherwise, one could spend every daytime
hour walking the miles of pink beaches on Bermuda,
reveling in being, in the truest sense of the word,
isolated from the rest of the world.
❖❖❖
NEW
YORK CORNER
By John Mariani
CAFÉ
BOULUD 20 E 76th
Street (off
Madison Avenue)
212-772-2600 cafeboulud.com
Daniel Boulud has not been the
first master chef to trade his prior principles
for a huge profit.Once he swore he would
never have a restaurant in Las Vegas, and now he
does (an earlier entry failed); he said he
needed to be in his kitchens to guarantee the
level of excellence he demanded, but now he runs
sixteen restaurants on three continents,
including seven in NYC, so that's a tough
commitment. I assign no blame; it's become
what celebrity chefs do.
Like his French colleagues Guy
Savoy (with seven),Joël Robuchon (24!), Alain Ducasse (25!!),
and Jean-Georges Vongerichten (30!!!), Boulud no
longer pretends to keep his finger in every pot,
even infrequently.Nor are his restaurants all carbon copies
of each other, ranging from his deluxe namesake
NYC flagship to his Épicerie pastry shop and
charcuterie-driven Bar Boulud.The
quality of these units varies, of course—many are
little more than management contracts—but of those
I’ve dined at, the quality, overall,remains
at an admirable level.
Café Boulud was Boulud’s second
restaurant in NYC, after moving Restaurant Daniel
from East 76th Street to much larger quarters on
East 65th Street.From the start Café Boulud was to be
somewhat more casual than Daniel, though its Upper
East Side regulars tend to dress well to dine at
the Café, and the service staff is first class,
from the suave manager, Sherif Mbodji, to the
highly affable sommelier,Eduoard
Bourgeois, previously at Hôtel de Crillon’s
Restaurant Les Ambassadeurs in Paris, Château Les
Crayères in Reims, and Restaurant
Daniel. Café
Boulud’s menus have long been “inspired by
Daniel Boulud’s four culinary muses: la
tradition, classic French cuisine; la saison,
seasonal delicacies; le potager,
the vegetable garden; and le voyage,
flavors of world cuisines,” all executed by
Executive Chef Aaron Bludorn (below) at
breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.It’s
a daunting undertaking but on any given night
the place is doing turnovers of seatings until
ten o’clock. The
wine list is impressively international, with some
excellent moderately priced choices on up through
some of the most expensive bottlings in the world,
with 35 wines by the glass, kept fresh via the
Cravin system.
Over
the years I’ve tended to slide towards the la tradition
and la
saison, with occasional choices from the
other menus, as anyone might; you need not stay
within a category.The prices are à la carte at dinner, but at
lunch you may opt for two courses for $39 or three
for $45.
My recent winter’s night
dinner, with a Champagne producer, allowed for a
bit of lagniappe on Chef Bludhorn’s part, which
included a barely coddled egg with shavings of
white truffles, with which there is no more
perfect match than a fine Champagne, in this case
Charles Heidsieck. The foie gras dishes here—offered both
seared with hazelnut, quince, parsnip brioche, and
vanilla ($29), or as a roulade with mustard and
“hidden rose apple” ($26)—are always among the
most dependably delicious choices, but a dish of
plump panzerôti
pastacame
with a drab tomato sauce that seemed more
ratatouille than Italian. Maine peekytoe crab
became a fad item a decade or so ago and I for one
wonder why: The shreds of meat have very little
flavor, and combining with green apple, yuzu,
crème fraîche and hackleback caviar ($29)did
nothing but make it taste salty.
This being the start of game
season, New Zealand venison with sausage, sweet
potato, Swiss chard, Seckel pear, pecan crumble
and red wine jus ($46)
was very appealing, and I also loved a roast
breast of pheasant that was a special that
evening. Poulet
aux chataîgnes with chestnut pasta, braised
leg ragȏut, salsify and jus de
volaille ($39) was a superb example of what
happens when you take a first-quality chicken and
cook it to perfect succulence and add autumnal
notes.
In the same seasonal style,
Pastry Chef Ashley Brauze brought a “Caramelia
blackout” biscuit with pecan bavarois, caramel
popcorn and dark chocolate ice cream ($15), a
coffee délice
with coffee mousse, espresso granité,
cocoa nib and condensed milk ice cream ($15), and, from the le voyage
section, a marvelous cardamom-scented kulfi
pistachio cake with pomegranate coulis ($15). Mont
Blanc vacherin with Mandarin orange sorbet, Cognac
cream, cinnamon meringue and chestnut ice cream
($15) was lighter than one might imagine and
thoroughly refreshing at meal’s end.
The dining room itself is a
stunning example of NYC sophistication, adorned in
colors of cream and dark brown and perfectly
lighted from above, with added color from artwork
and sprays of flowers. Café
Boulud is one of those restaurants whose
consistency seems not just a product of having
been around long enough to make things go
smoothly, but, with an ever-changing menu and
dependence on the seasons, it is the result of
everyone there caring, starting with the man whose
name is on the door.
BUT ONLY AFTER SHE COURTEOUSLY DEMANDED
THE COOK REMOVE ALL THE GRIDDLE POCKETS FROM HER WAFFLES
According
to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, at
a Waffle House in Kennesaw, Jennifer
Mary Nicholson (left) was
arrested for allegedly "stripping
off all of her clothes off in front of Waffle House
staff and patrons during a suspected excited delirium
state,” then
punched another customer in the nose and heaved
several platters at people and the window in the
restaurant. . . .Meanwhile two
employees at an Arkansas Waffle House location were
fired after they were caught on camera using kitchen
equipment to wash and style their hair. . . . And
wait, there's more! A customer at a Waffle House in
Charleston, S.C. opened fire on and killed a
would-be robber but and will not be charged for the
shooting, police said. “No one was hurt, which is the
best part,” Waffle House division manager Brandon
Rogers told the Post
and Courier. “No one was injured — besides
the suspect.”
ALL IN HOMAGE TO AN AUTHOR
WHO NEVER SET FOOT IN SEATTLE
"One hundred and 16 years after his birth, and 54
years after his death, Ernest Hemingway hasn’t lost
his allure. Over the past year, Papa’s life or works
have inspired three local [Seattle] restaurants.
Wallingford’s Manolin is named for a character in `The
Old Man and the Sea.' Ernest Loves Agnes, a
2-month-old Italian restaurant on Capitol Hill, pays
homage to the real-life love affair behind `A Farewell
to Arms.' Kirkland’s Bottle & Bull nods to two of
the legendary writer’s many passions: bullfighting and
imbibing." --
Providence Cicero, "What would Papa Hemingway eat?" The Seattle Times.
❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's
books below may be ordered from amazon.com.
I'm proud and happy to announce that my
new book, The Hound
in Heaven (21st Century Lion Books), has just
been published through Amazon and Kindle.
It is a novella, and for
anyone who loves dogs, Christmas, romance, inspiration,
even the supernatural, I hope you'll find this to be a
treasured favorite. The story concerns how,
after a New England teacher, his wife and their two
daughters adopt a stray puppy found in their barn in
northern Maine, their lives seem full of promise. But when
tragedy strikes, their wonderful dog Lazarus and the
spirit of Christmas are the only things that may bring
back his master back from the edge of despair.
“What a huge surprise turn this story took! I was
completely stunned! I truly enjoyed this book and its
message.” – Actress Ali MacGraw
“He had me at Page One. The amount of heart, human insight,
soul searching, and deft literary strength that John Mariani
pours into this airtight novella is vertigo-inducing.
Perhaps ‘wow’ would be the best comment.” – James
Dalessandro, author of Bohemian
Heart and 1906.
“John Mariani’s Hound in
Heaven starts with a well-painted portrayal of an
American family, along with the requisite dog. A surprise
event flips the action of the novel and captures us for a
voyage leading to a hopeful and heart-warming message. A
page turning, one sitting read, it’s the perfect antidote
for the winter and promotion of holiday celebration.” – Ann
Pearlman, author of The
Christmas Cookie Club and A Gift for my Sister.
“John Mariani’s concise, achingly beautiful novella pulls a
literary rabbit out of a hat – a mash-up of the cosmic and
the intimate, the tragic and the heart-warming – a Christmas
tale for all ages, and all faiths. Read it to your children,
read it to yourself… but read it. Early and often. Highly
recommended.” – Jay Bonansinga, New York Times bestselling
author of Pinkerton’s War,
The Sinking of The Eastland, and The Walking Dead: The Road To
Woodbury.
“Amazing things happen when you open your heart to an
animal. The Hound in
Heaven delivers a powerful story of healing that
is forged in the spiritual relationship between a man and
his best friend. The book brings a message of hope that can
enrich our images of family, love, and loss.” – Dr. Barbara
Royal, author of The
Royal Treatment.
Modesty forbids me to praise my own new book, but
let me proudly say that it is an extensive
revision of the 4th edition that appeared more
than a decade ago, before locavores, molecular
cuisine, modernist cuisine, the Food Network and
so much more, now included. Word origins have been
completely updated, as have per capita consumption
and production stats. Most important, for the
first time since publication in the 1980s, the
book includes more than 100 biographies of
Americans who have changed the way we cook, eat
and drink -- from Fannie Farmer and Julia Child to
Robert Mondavi and Thomas Keller.
"This book is amazing! It has entries for
everything from `abalone' to `zwieback,' plus more
than 500 recipes for classic American dishes and
drinks."--Devra First, The Boston Globe.
"Much needed in any kitchen library."--Bon Appetit.
Now in Paperback,
too--How Italian Food Conquered the
World (Palgrave Macmillan) has won top prize from the
Gourmand
World Cookbook Awards. It 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
"Eating Italian will
never be the same after reading
John Mariani's entertaining and
savory gastronomical history of
the cuisine of Italy and how it
won over appetites worldwide. . .
. This book is such a tasteful
narrative that it will literally
make you hungry for Italian food
and arouse your appetite for
gastronomical history."--Don
Oldenburg, USA Today.
"Italian
restaurants--some good, some glitzy--far
outnumber their French rivals. Many of
these establishments are zestfully described
in How Italian Food Conquered the World, an
entertaining and fact-filled chronicle by
food-and-wine correspondent John F.
Mariani."--Aram Bakshian Jr., Wall Street
Journal.
"Mariani
admirably dishes out the story of
Italy’s remarkable global ascent
to virtual culinary
hegemony....Like a chef gladly
divulging a cherished family
recipe, Mariani’s book reveals the
secret sauce about how Italy’s
cuisine put gusto in gusto!"--David
Lincoln Ross,
thedailybeast.com
"Equal parts
history, sociology, gastronomy, 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 impact of
Italian immigrants in America and the
evolution of alta cucina. This book will
serve as a terrific resource to anyone
interested in the real story of Italian
food."--Mary Ann Esposito, host of PBS-TV's
Ciao
Italia.
"John Mariani has written the
definitive history of how Italians won their
way into our hearts, minds, and
stomachs. It's a story of pleasure over
pomp and taste over technique."--Danny Meyer,
owner of NYC restaurants Union Square
Cafe, The Modern, and Maialino.
❖❖❖
FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
that the Virtual
Gourmet is linked to 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: HELSINKI
Eating Las Vegas
JOHN CURTAS has been covering the Las Vegas
food and restaurant scene since 1995. He is
the co-author of EATING LAS VEGAS – The 50
Essential Restaurants (the fourth
edition of which will be published in early
2016), as well as the author of the Eating Las
Vegas web site: www.eatinglasvegas.
He can also be seen every Friday morning as
the “resident foodie” for Wake Up With the
Wagners on KSNV TV (NBC) Channel 3 in
Las Vegas.
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. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani,
Robert Mariani,Misha
Mariani,
John A. Curtas, Edward Brivio, Mort Hochstein,
Andrew Chalk,Dotty Griffith and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographers: Galina Dargery, Bobby
Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry McLoughlin.