Audrey Hepburn and
Humphrey Bogart in "Sabrina" (1954)
❖❖❖
IN THIS ISSUE CARTAGO, COSTA
ROCA By John Mariani
NEW YORK CORNER
HYUN
By John Mariani
NOTES
FROM THE SPIRITS LOCKER
BRINGING IRISH WHISKEY
AND GIN UP TO DATE
By John Mariani
❖❖❖
AN
ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT TRAVELING AND CORONA
VIRUS
Day by day
the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus invades
more nations around the world, and while nations
like Italy have taken heroic steps to contain
it, travel into and out of heavily infested
countries has been severely restricted. As the
publisher of Mariani’s Virtual Gourmet
Newsletter I need note that I do not wish to
advocate for travel anywhere that the virus is
still raging. (As I write this, Costa Rica,
which is my lead article this week, has 13
cases.) I myself have cancelled one
European trip for next month and am considering
my options for upcoming trips in the next two
months. That said, I have to assume the virus
will at some point disappear and the world will
get back to normalcy. With regard to
restaurants, especially in NYC where they have
been told to reduce their capacity by 50% and
are going empty many nights of the week, I will
continue to write about places I like very
much and hope they thrive soon and refrain from
writing about those I think might lose a single
customer because of my remarks. So, I
will take a wait-and-see-attitude on others, I
look forward to a safer, happier time in the
near future when I can in good conscience begin
to recommend the joy of travel everywhere in the
world.
❖❖❖
CARTAGO, COSTA
ROCA By John Mariani
Irazu Volcano
As capital
and largest city in Costa Rica, San
José draws the most tourism and industry. But as
a whole Costa Rica is one of
Central America’s most sought-out eco-tourism
countries, and the city of
Cartago, southeast of San José, is a good place
to stay while exploring the
verdant rainforest of Tapanti Macizo de la
Muerte National Park and the
still-active 4,700-foot Irazú Volcano to the
northeast. The Lankester Botanical
Garden displays a thousand orchid species alone,
and serves as a research center
within the University of Costa Rica.
Within
Cartago itself, which was the country’s
capital from 1574 to 1824, there are several
historic sites that bespeak the
city’s origins as a Spanish settlement by Juan
Vásquez de Coronado in
1563.Critical
to the city’s
decline were major earthquakes in 1822, 1841 and
1910. Today Cartago cannot be
called a modern city in the way San José so
manifestly is, but its folklore and
location give it a great deal of quiet charm based
on a strong Catholic faith.
According to legend, in 1635 an
indigenous girl
found a statue of a black Madonna (“La Negrita”)
that kept mysteriously
disappearing from her house despite repeated
retrievals, then eventually
vanished. Today a statue of La Negrita inside the
Basilica de Nuestra Señora de
los Ángeles (left)
adorns a rock where the original was supposedly
found, and pilgrims
eagerly come for faith cures, often climbing the
Cathedral steps on their
knees.
The most famous of Cartago’s
historic sites is
Santiago Apóstol
Parish (below),
dating to 1575, which was left in stark ruins,
like a
Mayan temple, after significant damage from the
1845 and 1910 earthquakes. (The
latter destroyed most of Cartago’s colonial
buildings.) It is set in the Plaza
Mayor and has a strange quiet about it, similar to
that at Barcelona’s
unfinished Antoni Gaudí Cathedral, as if the ruins
were cloisters in which to
meditate.
The nearby City Museum,
opened ten years ago,
is actually located within the former police
headquarters, originally designed
by Lluis Llach, now beautifully landscaped. It
exhibits local and national
artists, while soft music plays within the rooms
and hallways.
Outside of
town, with Irazú Volcano looming
over the landscape, are the Costa Rica Highlands,
with some of Central
America’s most glorious forests, populated by more
than 400 species of exotic
birds with wonderful names like highland tinamou,
ochre-breasted antpitta,
black-bellied hummingbird, green-fronted lancebill
and Cabanis’s ground
sparrow.
A unique place to stay, eat and
explore the
region is the Hotel
Quelitales (Peñas Blancas; 506-2577-2222),
set up a rocky
road called Calle El Bochinche (which curiously enough
means “gossip road”),
spread over 10 acres bordering 30,000 acres of a
forest reserve, run by the
very affable and knowledgeable José Albas, who is
also the chef at the
on-premises Restaurant
Casa José. The tropical-colored rooms and
suites are all
within individual cottages and overlook the
gardens and forests. (While I
visited over the course of a half-hour I must have
spotted a dozen species of
birds in the trees outside the window.)The hotel has well-working Wi-Fi, but there
are no TVs in the rooms.
It’s also a good central
location from which to
visit attractions in the Highlands like the Guyabo
National Monument, which
preserves the ruins of a powerful town from 1,000
BC; the lake at Laguna
Angostura; and the Catie Botanical Garden.
Albas’s
restaurant would be quite remarkable
anywhere in Central America, for it is very
personalized and very much
dependent upon what he finds locally, seasonally
and in peak condition. I sat
down to an extensive lunch, for just $30, that
began with an omelet cooked in
butter with sprouts of quelites,
a
Nátuatl word meaning edible herb. It was served in
a bowl of chicken broth that
tasted like the chicken had just been plucked from
its nest that morning. A
simple and delicious salad of tomatoes, onion,
winter cress and olive oil came
next, followed by a trout from local waters (left),
grilled and served with sweet
shrimp, onions, garlic and oil, with a squeeze of
lemon juice and a salsa made
from Lizano, which is to Costa Rica what Tabasco
is to Louisiana.
The
next course was a hefty, rare t-bone with a
big slice of habanero pepper on top, sided with
plantain and onion. For dessert
was a kind of bananas Foster Costa Rican-style
flamed in brandy, and delicate
crêpes with ice cream and Bailey’s Irish Cream
sauce—all to the sounds of birds
singing and a breeze blowing through the trees.
❖❖❖
NEW
YORK CORNER
By John Mariani
HYUN
10 East 33rd Street (near Fifth Avenue)
917-261-6217
Hyun is a
highly unusual,
perhaps unique, restaurant. It’s very high
concept and built around one
ingredient: Japanese A5 wagyu beef, flown to New
York in the form of butchered
whole cattle rather than just the loins and
ribs. This allows owner Jae Kim to
use every part of the animal as different cuts
presented in different ways,
whereas most restaurants that buy Japanese wagyu
usually receive only the
ribeye cut or filet.
The whole issue of the easy
availability
of wagyu beef, with its feeble knock-offs from
Texas, Australia and Oregon, is
a mystery I’ve yet to solve. Not even five years
ago the rarity in America, or
anywhere else outside of Japan, of true Kobe wagyu
beef—especially from the
famous A5 Prefecture—made its appearance on a menu
a very big promotional deal.
Today, however, it seems any restaurateur,
especially steakhouse chains, can
obtain this once-precious meat merely by dialing
up a local purveyor. Be that
as it may, I am fully convinced that the certified
A5 wagyu at Hyun is the real
McCoy: You can readily see it in the intricate
marbling and taste it in a
single bite.
Hyun, though, is not an
actual Japanese restaurant. Kim and director
Euikyu Bang are from Korea, and
they originally sought to create a modern, very
high-end Korean restaurant
using the highest quality Korean beef, but they
were unable to obtain it on a
regular basis. Switching to Japanese product has
made them even more focused on
the idea of all-beef menus cooked on a flattop
Korean induction barbecue set
within the dining table, which is set with
hand-forged brassware and table mats
done in a traditional Korean lacquer technique
—which makes the cheap paper
napkins very much out of place.
The overall design is
minimalist,
done in brown woods and gray
walls, beginning with a long corridor flanked by
tables and leading to four private dining booths
with slatted doors that are
partially closed during service. The service
staff, usually with Bang at the
ready, pretty much explains, prepares and tells
you how to eat your meal
throughout the evening.
There is the requisite new
cocktails list, though the selection of liquors is
small (no rum at all and
only one tequila), but makes up for it in sakes of
different quality levels and
a modest wine list. The Asian beers go well with
this cuisine, as well.
The tasting
menu is
available every day and the price is based on the
Chef’s Cut ounces, with 3 oz.
at $165 a person, 4 oz. at $180 and 5oz. at
$195. (An omekase menu is
still being conceptualized to serve around sixteen
courses at an enclosed
five-seat bar.) There a are some à la carte entry
items like the silky
smooth Chawanmushi,
a Japanese
style steamed egg custard, and Kimchi
Biji-Jeon, a soybean curd residue. Our tasting meal began with beef, then more
beef. First was Chadol Jjim,
which is steamed A5 beef brisket wrapped in
perilla leaf with enoki
mushrooms
and a few drops each of Yuzu Ponzu sauce and honey
soy bean paste. (You’ll
definitely ask for a refill.)
Next came another
appetizer, Yookhwe,
bright red raw A5 wagyu tartare
from the chuck, with Korean pear and sea trumpet
seaweed. Our appetite was most
certainly roaring by that point. Then came slices
of ribeye and tenderloin,
grilled to medium as the chef recommends,
accompanied by Korean
traditional pickles brined in wild garlic, perilla leaf
and pepper, with sea
urchin. By then, I was dying for a substantial
vegetable and starch, but all
that was offered was a couple of slices of Greek haloumi cheese and grilled
vegetables. A small bowl of sot bap,
rice that takes 45 minutes to
prepare to order, is served only after the final
course of beef. By this point
our hunger was wholly sated, but for dessert there
was bland shiso
sorbet and hijicha ice cream.
It should be obvious that
anyone mad about wagyu beef will find Hyun a form
of earthly paradise, though
for the richness of the product it’s hard to
imagine returning more than once
or twice a year. Others might find so much of one
very fatty ingredient a bit
off-putting, and, since Hyun is not tied to any
traditional Korean or Japanese
template, I would encourage Kim to consider
varying the courses and adding
non-beef alternatives.
Hyun is quite an
experience—a very expensive one— and you won’t
find its kind anywhere else in
New York. Knowing that, you’ll have nothing short
of an adventure at Hyun.
Open Tues.-Sun. for
dinner
❖❖❖
NOTES FROM THE SPIRITS
LOCKER
BRINGING IRISH
WHISKEY
AND GIN UP TO DATE
By John Mariani
Founders
of Glendalough Distillery Brian Fagan,
Kevin Keenan, Barry Gallagher
and Gary
McLoughlin.
With
St. Patrick’s Day upon us and many parades
cancelled, imbibing a dram or two of the whiskey
might buoy our spirits, whether it’s an old
favorite like Jameson, Bushmills, Powers or
Paddy, or some of the newer brands in the
market, such as Glendalough, which was founded
only in the past decade. I spoke with
Glendalough’s “forager,” Geraldine Kavanaugh (left), who
is responsible as well for the brand’s complex
gin.
Q: Why did you decide to make gin
as well as Irish whiskey?
Glendalough was
founded by a group of guys who always loved Irish
whiskey. We'd meet up for a drink and talk a good
game. Eventually, we convinced ourselves to leave
the safety of our city jobs, and headed into the
mountains to take a chance on something more
meaningful. Together we built Glendalough
distillery near our favorite spot in those
mountains, Glendalough. We started to make Poitín
and gin and in 2019 we started distilling Pot
Still Whiskey. The Glendalough whiskey on the
market currently is either contract distilled to
our recipe or purchased stock that we finish
ourselves in barrels we have hand picked from
around the world (Japan, Spain, France and
Dublin).
Q: How would you
distinguish your gin from others in the market? In seven
words: It is made fresh from the
wild. This is a labor-intensive, thoughtfully
crafted, small-batch spirit that captures the true
essence of Glendalough. Using wild ingredients
from mountains surrounding our distillery, each
sip will transport you to our home in the Wicklow
Mountains. The fresh, foraged botanicals are added
to the still each day, within hours of picking,
which allows their essential oils to be captured.
Classic
gin botanicals like juniper, coriander seeds and
a few others form the foundation of the gin.
Then our local, wild ingredients are carefully
balanced to add layers and depth, and the nuance
of a terroir-style spirit. The heavier, more
sturdy botanicals macerate in our copper pot
still. The lighter ones are suspended in baskets
to allow the vapors to pass through and extract
the more delicate flavors gently.
The wild plants are carefully
and sustainably foraged, so that we don't
adversely affect the areas we find them in. That
means sometimes using scissors rather than picking
to make sure the roots aren't pulled, or maybe
skipping a few before picking the next one to make
sure the area can recover for the next season.It is
painstakingly slow-distilled with cut-points
determined batch-by-batch through smell and taste.
Nothing is timed or automated, each batch is done
as if it was the first.
Filtering is a delicate
business. We need to make it crystal clear without
removing too much of the oils that give it all
that flavor. Our aim is to leave no trace that we
were ever there. It means harder work, but it's
worth it to keep our mountains the way we like
them—wild.
Q: How did you get into
the business in the first place. How did you
come by investment money? We have had
relatively modest financial investments from
friends and family over the early years. We used a
lot of favors and good will, doing everything on a
shoestring. With a lot of passion and some luck we
survived those initial, crucial years as a
start-up. Four years ago Mark Anthony Brands
International took a stake in Glendalough and at
the end of last year they purchased the company
outright. We do not share specific financial
details.
Q. The Irish whiskey
market has been soaring. Do you have the
most current figures of sales and distribution? Last year
dollar sales for Irish whiskey were +10.3% versus
the year before. IWSR [an industry data company]
recorded 30 new Irish whiskey brand lines in the
U.S., priced in the premium and above sector.
According to the Distilled Spirits Council, the
high-end premium Irish whiskey category,
representing SRP [suggested retail price] of $20
to $35, grew 1,106 percent between 2002 and 2018.
And entries over $35 grew by a staggering 3,385
percent. Overall U.S. Irish whiskey sales topped
$1 billion in 2018 and now account for 12 percent
of the spirit market by value.
Q: Your website says
Glendalough was started by a “group of friends”
but says nothing more about them. Who are they? Glendalough’s
five founders all worked in and around the drinks
industry. Two were drinks analysts in a Dublin
investment bank, two were in advertising and
branding agencies and one was selling whiskey for
another Irish Whiskey brand. They always wanted to
cut their own path in the drinks game and had a
real passion for Irish spirits. One evening over a
drink they decided to start a craft distillery in
the Wicklow Mountains and make a go of it. Over
the next four years, one by one, they left their
corporate jobs and put their hearts and souls into
developing Glendalough Distillery.
Q:One
of the distinctions of your Irish is that it
spends time in a different finishing oak barrel
after the initial aging. Is this unique to
Glendalough or is anyone else doing it? Double- and
triple-barrel finishing is not unique; however,
we’ve gone to great lengths to source exceptional
wood in which to mature and finish our whiskeys.
Taken in its entirety, we believe we have one of
the most unique wood programs you're likely to
find out there. Our focus is on quality and
craftsmanship, attention to detail, and finding
something special every time.
Q: How many Irish
whisky labels are now available and how many
distilleries are there now? There are 31
distilleries in Ireland now distilling Irish
whiskey.
Q: There is some
controversy over the concept of “vintage Irish
whiskeys,” which go against the tradition of
blending to maintain a consistent brand style
year after year. Has Glendalough made any? We have
launched a number of aged/vintage whiskeys over
the years. Our most noteworthy to date has been
our 13-year-old single malt aged in first-fill
bourbon casks before being finished for up to a
year in Japanese Mizunara oak. Jim Murray of
The Whisky
Bible wrote that it is “probably the most
sensuous chocolate finish in the history of Irish
whiskey. Incredibly thick mouth-feel, different
and adorable.” Later in 2018 it was named in the
top 20 whiskeys in the world by Whiskey
Advocate. We have recently
launched two new aged whiskeys: a 17-year-old
single malt, and it is something very special.
Never has an Irish whiskey spent so long in
Mizunara. It’s a numbered, single-cask release,
spending twice as long in Japanese oak as its
13-year-old predecessor. After 15 years in a
first-fill bourbon cask, it was already an
exceptional single malt. It had vibrant citrus
notes over the long, sweet honey and vanilla you
would expect. However, it was the rare, Japanese
Mizunara that brought the unexpected. The
smoothness from the initial aging carries you
through the depth and intensity of the wood
spices, incense and earthiness within, while the
sweetness of the bourbon cask creates harmony with
these drier, woodier notes.
It was a
risk to finish this liquid in notoriously leaky
and expensive Japanese oak, but the extra two
years in these rare Japanese casks were worth it.
We have released 6,000 bottles. The U.S. has
received 3,000 of them.
Beyond rare and more than
unique, our 25-year-old single malt is a world’s
first. It is the first ever Irish single malt to
be aged in Irish oak casks. [Before that] there
weren’t any Irish oak casks. They were the first
casks made from the first trees felled by
Glendalough in the woods surrounding the
distillery. This is a monumental moment for
Glendalough and the history of Irish whiskey.
There
is very little whiskey of this age in Ireland.
However, looking past the age statement, the
liquid itself is sublime, with each of the three
casks and two predecessor liquids adding to its
taste in both the right measure and order. The
luxurious sweetness of the heavily charred
American oak bourbon cask is followed by the bold,
round flavors of toasted Spanish oak, Oloroso
casks, while the lively last word is left to the
virgin Irish oak spices. This is all clearly
discernible in chronological order through an
exquisite smoothness. Five casks produced 1,700
bottles. Two casks (752 bottles) have been
allocated to the U.S.
Q:What
are the current U.S. prices for those
whiskies available?bottling? (Glendalough is
now sold in 17 states.)
Double Barrel
suggested retail of $34.99
Pot Still suggested
retail of $54.99
17 yo Mizunara
Finish suggested retail of $299
25yo Irish Oak
Finish suggested retail of $499
Wild Botanical Gin
suggested retail of $34.99
Rose Gin suggested
retail of $34.99
❖❖❖
DEPARTMENT OF. . . DUH!
According to HuffPost, here are some of the
25 Mistakes Tourists Make While Visiting Iceland."
1.Not respecting the weather
2. Skipping the Shower before swimming.
3. Failing to check road closures
4. Ignoring the signs
5. Getting in unsafe water
6. Driving the wrong kind of car
GOD FORBID WE'D EVER USE THE WORD
'SCENE' WITHOUT
QUOTATION MARKS TWICE IN ONE SENTENCE!
“Now, there are
probably at least a few of you out there that scoff
at the suggestion that a restaurant anywhere near
Midtown could be compared to a fixture of the
downtown ‘scene’ like Carbone, and to that we say,
good luck out there being the coolest person ever,
and also stop using the word ‘scene’ You sound like
an asshole. We’ve actually heard from a few people
that we trust (and who are pretty cool) that they
prefer the old school Italian grub here to the stuff
at Carbone, and that’s got our attention.”—Chris Stang, “Quality Italian,” The Infatuation.
❖❖❖
Any of John Mariani's
books below may be ordered from amazon.com.
The Hound in Heaven
(21st Century Lion Books) 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
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:
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 (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.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Publisher: John Mariani. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher Mariani,
Robert Mariani,Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Gerry Dawes, Geoff Kalish,
and Brian Freedman. Contributing
Photographer: Galina Dargery. Technical
Advisor: Gerry
McLoughlin.