MARIANI’S Virtual
Gourmet
May 11, 2025
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ![]() "The Joy Luck Club" (1993) Happy Mother's Day
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THIS WEEK SPLIT, CROATIA, PART ONE By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER SOCARRAT By John Mariani HÔTEL ALLEMAGNE CHAPTER ELEVEN By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR A WIDE RANGE OF ROSÉ WINES By John Mariani ❖❖❖
SPLIT, CROATIA, Part One By John Mariani ![]()
As Croatia’s second largest city,
Split has
been enjoying remarkable success
over the last five years as a quieter,
cheaper alternative to Italy’s tourist
crunch. Split is especially popular with
French, German and Austrians who come for
the
surrounding natural beauty of the
mountains, white beaches, hiking and
biking. Many rent the same apartments
overlooking the sea year after year, and
last year nearly 800,000 Americans visited
Split and its sister cities of Zagreb
and Dubrovnik. Up until 15 years ago Split
was an industrial city, but now
tourism has become a major industry.
Originally a Greek
colony, Split
was long one of the Roman Empire’s largest,
best located cities, with a population of as
many as 60,000 people. In 293 AD
Emperor Diocletian began construction of a
vast fortified retirement palace,
which itself could house 10,000 people. Over
the next millennium Split was constantly
fought over and sacked by those who
recognized its strategic location, including
the Byzantine
Empire and
the Republic of Venice; in the 19th
century Napoleon took the city; on his defeat
in
1812 the Austrian Hapsburg ruled, then after
World War I
Croatia became part of
Yugoslavia, with Split as its most prosperous
city.
In 1991 Croatia declared its
independence,
which led
to four years of brutal
war with Serbia, and creating a massive
refugee problem. There are few vestiges of
that conflict now in Split,
although many of the houses and
apartments surrounding the center of the city
are mundane cement and red
tiled-roof remnants of an era when
alternatives
were not possible.
The palace’s
ongoing restoration has meant a rapid
acquisition of spaces converted to
apartments, boutiques, cafes, even a sushi
restaurant. New modern hotels have
opened in the old town, including Vestibule
Palace (Iza Vestibula 4)
––“since 305 AD”––and indeed you really
I
was being thriftier, booking a splendid Airbnb
called Riva City Rooms (they
have five locations; right) just
outside the
Palace walls
and overlooking the Riva
for €90.
Nearby,
in the town of Strobeč, is very much a local
favorite restaurant, Konoba
Nikola (Ivankova 42)––konoba
means
I
will be following up with a report on
more of Split’s best restaurants but let
me for the moment give you some tips about
local customs. ●
Both Uber and Bolt are readily
available, with some of their cars parked
right at the Riva, and they are
cheaper by far than the taxis, which are not
easy to find unless your concierge
calls one and you pay for the pick-up. ●
At restaurants a ten percent tip on the
bill is considered standard. ● Split
has
hundreds of ATMs all over town but use only
those with a bank’s name
on it. Do not use the red, yellow,
blue or green ATMs. I did on my first
day and ended up paying a whopping twenty
percent service fee. ● If
you sit by the Riva for coffee, snacks or a
full meal at the restaurants
there––all of which have more or less the same
tourist menu––do not take a
table far to the left (facing the street),
because for some reason the sickly
stench of sulfur rises from below the
pavement. ● It
would be difficult to find any resident of
the, or elsewhere in Croatia, who
doesn’t speak very good English, and the
populace is exceptionally welcoming
and helpful to America visitors.
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NEW YORK
CORNER
SOCARROT248 MULBERRY STREET 212-219-0101 By John Mariani ![]()
What makes the ideal paella?
Indeed, that brown-black
crust is the most desirable part
of paella, the festive dish of Valencian rice and
other ingredients cooked in a
wide circular paella pan over an open fire. My
first reaction to the dish, in
the highly regarded paella restaurant La Pepica in
Valencia, was that the drama
of the cooking and serving and the scraping up of
the socarrat outweighed my
impression of its flavor, which was a bit bland.
But at Socarrat,
with
locations
in Chelsea and Nolita, I loved what I ate of the
steamy, softened rice,
chicken, shrimp, mussels and more, all of it fully
flavorful right down to the last
crunchy, smoky morsel of the socarrat itself.
There
was much more that I liked at the NoLita branch
I
recommend your table share the wooden board of campero––a
selection of
Serrano ham, chorizo and salchichón along
with Manchego, Idiazabél and
Mahón cheeses with almonds and olives.
There
are seven paellas, including the thin noodles
variant called fideuá de Mar y
Montaña with Brussels sprouts, The
house paella is called “Socarrat,”
made with an abundance of meaty chicken, chorizo,
shrimp, white fish, squid
mussels and fava beans peppers and tomato. I liked
even more the carne of
pork chop chunks simmered in the juices with
chicken chorizo, snow peas and
mushroom whose socarrat perfectly crispy and
nutty.
Six
deserts end off the meal with delectable
renderings of classic Basque
cheesecake with strawberry sauce; caramelized
brioche soaked in milk with lemon
curd (right); a rich, velvety flan; and my
favorite, fried churros fritters to be
dunked in hot chocolate sauce.
Socarrat has an admirable wine
list of
Spanish bottlings, but I took a chance on a
pitcher of sangria, which I loved
because it was neither too sweet nor boozy.
New
York has far fewer true Spanish restaurants than
it should, and many years ago
“Spanish” really meant more Cuban because of where
the chefs came from. But no
one can dispute the seriousness with which Lolo
Manso takes what he
believes is his mission. You can tell by
the
smile on his face that is returned in kind as he
goes from table to table. Open
for lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner nightly;
brunch Sat. & Sun. ❖❖❖
HÔTEL ALLEMAGNE By John Mariani ![]() CHAPTER TEN
After the interview with Dr. Baer,
David said, “Did you get a slight sense that she
warmed up to us?” then, arching his eyebrow, “I
thought the handshake was a big step forward.” © John Mariani, 2024 ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR
A WIDE RANGE OF ROSÉ WINES By John Mariani
It is that
time again when all wine
writers are required to file an article on rosé
wines simply because so many
people tag them to Mother’s Day, springtime,
summertime and other warm weather
events. But far be it from me to perpetuate
the idea that rosés are to
be forgotten when cool weather drifts in, and to
my mind there is no better or
more celebratory than rosé Champagnes and
sparkling wines. So here goes,
with a bunch
of refreshing and sometimes surprising rosés for the
next few months’ easy
drinking. Konstantin
Frank makes a
series of dry roses that belie the idea that roses
are “sweet pink stuff.” The
producer’s Dry Rosé ($17) is an
intriguing blend of led by Saperavi––a Georgian
favored in
the Finger Lakes for body––and Pinot Noir, while
its Dry Rosé of Pinot
Noir ($20) has lovely floral notes and echoes
of red Pinot Noirs. They
also make a Dry Rosé of
Blaufränkisch ($20) made from an Austrian
varietal grown and picked from the Seneca Lake
vineyard, It is quite crisp and
has an acid edge that makes if good with charcuterie
and cheeses. The
Pale Rosé 2024
($18). This was created by the renowned Sacha
Lichine
of the Whispering Angel line. It is crisp and has a
pale rose color,
made from Grenache, Rolle, Syrah and Cinsault for
layers of flavor, with a pretty
in pink Jazz Age label. Vilarnau Brut Reserva Rosé
Cava ($16). A
Spanish beauty made from organically
grown Garnacha and Pinot Noir, aged on the lees for
a minimum of 15 months, so
it has some heft while remaining a refreshment and
bubbles enough for any light
food. The grapes are chilled so as to
preserve the aromatics in their
skins; the varietals are fermented separately in stainless steel tanks for 30 days,
blended and put through a second
fermentation lasting six weeks then the cava
remains on
the lees for 15
months.
Champagne
Nicolas
Feuillatte Réserve Exclusive Rosé NV
($70) is
crafted
from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and
Meunier, with charming notes of raspberry and
strawberry, a high quality non-vintage
sister of its vintage Champagnes from this
illustrious house. The dominance of
the Pinot Noir expresses its fine fruit while the
other give it nuance.
Planeta
Rosé
2024 ($20), You can imagine that a
Sicilian rosé (rosato,
in Italian) will be bigger bodied than most, and
this blend
of Syrah and Nero
d’Avola is a nutty, robust quality that
is excellent with seafood of any kind and ideal for
an aperitif wine at a god
price for parties. Gassier
Côtes
de Provence ($25).
Rosés are
the stand-outs of Provence wine and this blend of Grenache,
Cinsault,
Syrah and a touch of Rolle has a touch of the
Mediterranean sea salt
air n it, making it perfect for hearty seafood
dishes like bouillabaisse, crabs
and ,lobster
Invivo
X,
SJP Rosé 2024
($20).
A youthful rosé from South
Provence made
in a family estate partnership with actress Sarah
Jessica Parker as a Traditional
blend
of Grenache, Cinsault, and Syrah that is properly
dry and goes with the
food of the region like fowl and lamb scented with
Provençal herbs. Bertani
Bertarosé
2024 ($18). Italy’s highly
regarded Bertani from Veneto
has produced this since the 1930s, now made from a
blend of Corvina, Molinara,
Corvinone and Rondinella planted on the inland hills
of Italy’s Lake Garda on
young Valpolicella vines. So you get considerable
complexity, with berry and
spices flavors and a delectable acidity that will
accompany dishes like lake
fish or pasta with seafood very well. Billecart-Salmon
Brut Rosé ($90). Stock up for summer on this
superlative rosé Champagne Gérard
Bertrand French Cancan Brut Nature Rosé NV
($30). A fun, uncomplicated
sparkling blush wine pf Pinot Noir, Cinsault and
Chardonnay, aged for six month, partially
on the lees for more body and including some wines
from the 2020 vintage. ❖❖❖
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The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink by John F. Mariani (Bloomsbury USA, $35) 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. |
"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.
"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.
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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.
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© copyright John Mariani 2025