MARIANI’S
Virtual
Gourmet
❖❖❖
IN THIS ISSUE DINING IN DUBLIN Part Two By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER LA BRASSERIE By John Mariani ANOTHER VERMEER CHAPTER 25 By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR THE BEST OF SPIRITS By John Mariani ❖❖❖ On this week's episode of my WVOX
Radio Show "Almost Golden," on Wed. June
29 at 11AM EDT,I will be
interviewing Ian Macallan, author of a
history of Italian American Food entitled
RED SAUCE. Go to: WVOX.com.
The episode will also be archived at: almostgolden.
DINING OUT IN DUBLIN, PART TWO By John Mariani GLOVER ALLEY BY ANDY MCFADDEN
The
diversity of Dublin’s dining scene now takes in
as many ethnic restaurants as any city in
Europe—plenty of Italian, Middle Eastern, Asian
ramen, Indian and so on. But it’s at its best
when the food reflects the bounty of Ireland’s
provender and seas. Here are four current
standouts. The chef at Glovers
Alley by Andy McFadden (128 St.
Stephen’s Green) puts his own name on the
line, and he has every reason to. This is one of
Dublin’s finest and most serious dining
experiences, set on the second floor of the
Fitzwilliam Hotel, with the awards to prove it.
There is an à la carte menu, but the better option
is to accept the €90 three-course menu, with four
courses at €105 and a seven-course dinner of
“Glovers Alley Classics”
at
€150. There are also supplements, as well as
vegetarian and vegan menus. Peploe’s
(16 St.
Stephen’s Green) has the look and feel of a
timeless restaurant, though with a 1990s ambience,
serving French and continental cuisine via owner
Harry Canny. There are three rooms, all of them
quite cozy and comfortable, with maroon
banquettes, small table lamps, flowers and linens.
A smart bar draws a crowd for their well-made
signature cocktails, and the dining room to the
left features a mural of what appears to be the
restaurant’s
own clientele. Further on is a smaller room that
sits a single table, which is the coziest of all,
surrounded by books and bottles and the least
loud. Lighting flatters everyone, and women do
like to dress well, sitting against beautiful
murals or a wall of books.
❖❖❖ NEW YORK CORNER
LA BRASSERIE
411 Park
Avenue South 212-567-8282 Food photos by Teddy Wolff
The re-opening last
year of the space that had been Les Halles
Boucherie Rotisserie as of 1991 in the
architecturally historic Foltis-Fischer
building is a welcome addition to the Park
Avenue South neighborhood in need of good
restaurants. In the 1990s this is where the
late Anthony Bourdain was once chef, though,
despite his eventual celeb status, the food
and service never rose above the mediocre
(given his own description in his book Kitchen
Confidential of a drug-fueled staff,
such was to be expected).
Dinner
nightly; lunch Mon.-Fri.; brunch Sat. &
Sun.
\❖❖❖ ANOTHER VERMEER CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Prof. Alexandra Janson agreed to see
Katie on Monday at her apartment on Riverside
Drive, near the Columbia campus. As Katie
expected, the apartment was completely covered
wall to wall with books, as was Prof. Mundt’s on
the occasion she visited him. In the living room
the coffee table had more books piled on it, and
there were stacks on either side of the sofa
Katie was invited to sit on. There was no offer
of tea or coffee. © John Mariani, 2016 ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE SPIRITS LOCKER
THE BEST OF SPIRITS By John Mariani Donna Reed and Montgomery Clift in "From Here to Eternity" (1953)
Liquor
used to be so easy to buy when there wasn’t
all that much to choose from. In my father’s liquor
cabinet there was a bottle each of Dewar’s and Cutty
Sark Scotch, Gilbey’s gin, Bacardi rum, Canadian
Club rye and maybe Smirnoff vodka. Options were more
than sufficient at the liquor store but he, like
most people in those days, found a favorite label
and stuck to it.
Rhum J.M, Martinique’s
largest distillery, now owned by Group Bernard Hayot
and dating to 1845 Macuba at the foot of Mount Pelée,
has launched its EDDEN Project aimed to maximize its
rhum’s sustainability movement by innovative sugarcane
harvesting and volcanic soil cultivation; water
waste treatment techniques and reduction of
emissions by more than 90%.
. They produce a range of rhums from 40% to 55%
alcohol, including being aged in re-charred bourbon
barrels and a 15 Year Old ($280) at 41.7%.
Old Elk Double Wheat
Straight Whiskey out of Fort Collins, Colorado, is a
combination of two of their other products: Old Elk
Straight Wheat Whiskey ($70) and Old Elk Wheat Bourbon
($55), which yields a higher proof (107.1),
emphasizing its fruity character after aging for six
to eight years, with a mashbill of 71.5% Wheat, 25%
Corn, and 3.5%, released at 53.55%. France’s Mirabeau now
makes a Dry Rose Gin ($43) of a very pretty color and
flavors from botanicals growing wild near Saint
Tropez. It uses a 100% grape-based neutral spirit with
botanicals that include lemon, coriander as well as
orris and angelica roots, rose petals, lavender, bay
leaf, thyme and rosemary. It would make what in the
19th century was a favorite cocktail called pink gin
that got its color from bitters. Keeper’s Heart ($54)
is an unusual marriage of Master Distiller Brian
Kinsman in collaboration
with David Perkins, founder of High West Whiskey, to
combine Irish Grain, Irish Pot Still and the Peppery
American Bourbon. The former two give it an earthier
quality while the bourbon’s corn provides sweetness. Speyburn, which has
been around since 1897,
has gone pretty far in coming up with a range
of “expressions,”
from its 10 Year Old Speyside Single Malt ($35) and 15
Year Old Speyside Single Malt ($70) to a smoky Hopkins
Reserve ($51) to Arranta Single Malt ($45) aged in
bourbon casks and the sweeter Companion Cask, the last
two sold exclusively in the U.S. Master Brian Kinsman of Glenfiddich
this spring released a 26 Year Old Grande Couronne
Single Malt Scotch for a whopping $600, finished in
Cognac casks and released at 43.8% alcohol. A tad
downscale is its
Grand Cru 23 Year old at $300 and a Grand
Reserva 21 Year Old at $180. For a peatier style,
Glenfiddich also makes Fire & Cane, finished in
Latin rum casks with 43% alcohol ($50). The Balvenie is made
in Dufftown in the region of Speyside, and its range runs from a Doublewood 12 Year Old
($60), aged in a traditional oak whiskey barrel and
European sherry casks, to Caribbean Cask 14 Year Old
($75), which uses Caribbean rum casks. There is also
one aged in Port wood ($225). Zacapa is a Guatemalan Highlands
rum, now made by Master
Blender Lorena Vásquez at a high altitude of 7,500
feet, which prevents temperature swings. They are
designed to be sipped, not as mixers. Zacapa No. 23 ($45) uses rums
aged between 6 and 23 years, while its Rum XO ($99)
contains some 25 year-old spirits, aged in Cognac
barrels. ❖❖❖
OUR JAWS
DROP
Eater.com's Jaya Saxena reviewed
the new ELEVEN MADISON PARK HOME BOX, whose contents
change all the time, at $300 a pop, writing, "What
you get is an uneven, mostly fine, single day’s
worth of eating, at the cost of what most people
spend on groceries over the course of a few weeks."
The menu for that one day: breakfast of coconut chia
yogurt and a granola bar; vegetable minestrone soup
and a gem lettuce salad for lunch; root vegetable
chips for a snack; and for dinner, wild mushroom
rice with a dessert of double-chocolate espresso
cookies that should be made in a convection oven.
that's it: For $300. ❖❖❖ 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. WATCH THE VIDEO! “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. ❖❖❖
❖❖❖
FEATURED
LINKS: I am happy to report
that the Virtual
Gourmet is linked to 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."
Eating Las
Vegas John Curtas has
been covering the Las Vegas food scene since
1995. He is the author of EATING LAS
VEGAS - The 52 Essential Restaurants,
and his website can be found at www.EatingLV.com. You can find him
on Instagram: @johncurtas and Twitter:
@eatinglasvegas.
MARIANI'S VIRTUAL GOURMET
NEWSLETTER is published weekly. Publisher: John Mariani. Editor: Walter Bagley. Contributing Writers: Christopher
Mariani, Misha Mariani, John A. Curtas, Gerry Dawes, Geoff Kalish.
Contributing
Photographer: Galina Dargery. Technical
Advisor: Gerry
McLoughlin. If you wish to subscribe to this
newsletter, please click here: http://www.johnmariani.com/subscribe/index.html © copyright John Mariani 2022 |