MARIANI’S Virtual
Gourmet
July 6, 2025
NEWSLETTER Founded in 1996 ARCHIVE ![]() Hibiscus Tea Room, Burdine's, Miami, Florida
❖❖❖
THIS WEEK AWAY IN DALMATIA By John Mariani NEW YORK CORNER LE BERNARDIN By John Mariani HÔTEL ALLEMAGNE CHAPTER EIGHTEEN By John Mariani NOTES FROM THE SPIRITS LOCKER NEW TEQUILAS By John Mariani ❖❖❖ AWAY IN DALMATIA
![]() BRELA ON CROATIA'S DALMATIAN COAST The Dalmatian
coast on the
Adriatic has seen a dramatic increase in tourism
just in the last five years, not only for its
historic cities of Dubrovnik and Split but for
those smaller, quiet towns that line the coast and
offer a more localized sense of Croatian culture.
As a
result of this interest, these towns have acquired
a number of restaurants offering both traditional
and modern cuisine on their menus at remarkably
affordable prices.
Fortunately I found a
splendid restaurant named Feral (Obala
Kneza Domagoja 30) just down the beach (open
just four days a week) The décor is minimal, with
a bar that does craft cocktails and has a very
good wine list, with many Croatian and Dalmatian
bottlings, and
the very friendly owner-chefs come to every table
to advise you on the night’s best dishes, which,
on my two visits included five varieties of fried
seafood with potato salad; domaći njoki
kozicamatender gnocchi with fresh shrimp (right);
wild asparagus with a poached egg; perfectly
cooked Also along the coast is the
town of Makarska,
(left) from which people take the ferries
to the island of Brac, that is, if the powerful,
cold wine called Bura is not churning up the
waters. There is a wide walkway
along the bay, bobbing with painted rowboats, and
above the town is a nature preserve. In town
Makarska’s distinction is an odd, small museum,
once a monastery, that now houses a collection of
sea shells, which, if you are fascinated by
bivalves, will keep you entranced for hours. I had a delightful lunch
at Gastro Diva (Kalalarga 22)
inside the old city (below). It’s a rustic
three-room affair much beloved by the
Imotski, is a crossroads city near
the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an
appropriately impressive medieval fortress that
looms over the valley. It is also adjacent to two beautiful
lakes, one tinted red from the iron minerals in
the surrounding wall of rocks, the
other a very
pure blue, both of which are said to connect
through underground channels to the sea. They are
excellent places to go hiking.
❖❖❖
❖❖❖
NEW YORK CORNER LE BERNARDIN 155 West 51st
Street 212-554-1515
By John
Mariani
For the first 25 years of our
marriage, my wife and I celebrated our anniversary
at the great classic French restaurant in New York
named Lutèce, now closed. And ever since then we
have done so at the only other restaurant in New
York to compare, albeit in a very different style.
Indeed, by placing
ourselves in Chef-owner Eric Ripert and partner
Maguy Le Coze’s hands, my wife and I have never
had the same dish twice over the past fifteen
years, even though a few dishes have been on the
menu since the restaurant opened in 1986.
The tables are large, set with
thick linens and napery, lovely show plates, China is of the highest
quality, silverware is just the right weight and
stemware elegantly fragile. Opened
by
Maguy Le Coze and her chef brother
Gilbert, Le Bernardin immediately won the highest
praise from the media, including four stars from
the New York Times and three from the Michelin
Guide. Sadly, Gilbert passed away in 1994
but his second-in-command, Eric Ripert stayed the
course, eventually becoming a partner with Maguy.
A few dishes abide on the menu from the
restaurant’s inception—classics like seafood
carpaccio that Le Bernardin pioneered and everyone
since has copied. But while keeping within
the kitchen’s traditions, Ripert has masterfully
allowed the menu to evolve with myriad
On our anniversary visit this year my wife
and I, as usual, left the menu up to Ripert, which
began with kombo salt-cured with Japanese
madai, with fresh hearts of palm
dressed with a tangy calamansi vinaigrette. Then
came lightly steamed lobster with kumquat and
charred cucumber
in a spiced shellfish-citrus broth.
Quick, even cooking is the essence of
Ripert’s cuisine, always maintaining the seafood’s
essential flavor, so that Faroe Island salmon
(right) is slowly baked and topped with
Royal Osetra caviar and a horseradish emulsion one
might think would overpower the fish. Instead its
subtlety buoys the dish’s saline and briny
flavors.
Le Bernardin has a splendid cheese cart
from which we each chose four cheeses each.
Dessert was very simple: a dish of summer
strawberries with Tahitian vanilla
Chantilly. Chocolates and cookies followed.
If I did not go into greater detail in
describing each dish it was because I want to save
room to mention all the other aspects of Le
Bernardin that make it unique, even among New
York’s French restaurants. Each of those aspects
have been so carefully honed and modulated over
three decades that what may go unnoticed is part
of a seamless enactment of exquisite taste.
The dining room itself is done with the
same unaffected sophistication, its large tables
widely separated, flourish of flowers, artwork
reflecting the sea and ideal lighting so one can
see the rest of the room as well as the beauty of
the dishes served. Despite the room’s capacious
size, it is never loud, the noise
soaked up by carpeted floors, fabric chairs, thick
linens and draperies.
When you enter you find all the staff, led
by directeur de salle Tomi Dzelaja, impeccably
dressed (better than some of the male clientele).
The cordial greeting immediately indicates the
refinement of what is to follow. The host turns
you over to a lovely smiling young woman who shows
you to your table.
Wine and beverage director Aldo Sohm (who
is partner in his namesake wine bar across the
breezeway) has a passel of sommeliers who are
intent on finding you the right bottle for your
taste and budget from an extraordinary wine list.
Three kinds of bread are presented with a
ramekin of soft butter that is replaced whenever
you’ve used half of it. Special spoons or forks
accompany certain dishes, as are wine glasses,
which are always refilled without your needing to
ask for it.
Captains and waiters carefully spoon or
swirl the sauce onto your dish at the table, lest
it grow cold on its way from the kitchen.
You will not be continuously interrupted
mid-meal to be asked how you like a dish; only
after you finish one might you be so queried.
The sorry news about Le Bernardin is that
it is not easy to get a table, even weeks in
advance for prime hours. Which is precisely why
you will have better luck requesting an early hour or one
after 9:30. And now, in the heat of summer, with
so many regulars out of town, lunch is easier to
book. You may also eat in the posh lounge, if you
like, which has its comprehensive menu and dozens
of wine by the glass.
All of this determines why Le Bernardin is
expensive, but not as much as many others in New
York, and considerably less than Parisian
counterparts. At Le Bernardin a four-course meal
$215, the chef’s tasting menu $350. But a
four-course lunch is only $135. You not only get what you pay
for at Le Bernardin but you get more than you
expected, which goes just as much for the décor
and the service aa for the nonpareil cuisine,
which is all the more remarkable for a restaurant
now in its fourth decade in New York.
Open for lunch
Mon.-Fri.; Dinner Mon.-Sat. ❖❖❖
HÔTEL ALLEMAGNE By John Mariani ![]() CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Everything
seemed
to be within walking distance in Marseilles, and
the two Americans found that Marciano’s © John Mariani, 2024 ❖❖❖ NOTES FROM THE SPIRITS LOCKER
TEQUILA SALES RISE WITH MANY NEW ONES FOR A NICHE MARKET By John Mariani ![]() Megan Thee Stallions shows off her new vodka
Global
tequila sales have been rising since
2004 in impressive numbers, with nearly 32.2
million 9-liter cases sold last year––a two
percent growth over the previous
year––and it remains most popular with the age
group from 24 to 34, which has otherwise
shown a decline in the consumption of many other
spirits. The
U.S. is the top importer; and José Cuervo
is the top seller.
CAPE HORN
BLANCO ($50). All
these new tequila have back stories, and Cape Horn’s
is that it is made by Navy
rescue swimmer Taylor Grieger, who sailed around
Cape Horn to “shed light on
the invisible battles
Veterans and First Responders face with PTSD, a
struggle he experienced
firsthand,” told in the documentary Hell or High Seas, as part of
the Skeleton Crew
Adventures nonprofit
offering free adventure therapy to help Veterans and
first responders heal. Profits from
Cape Horn Tequila help
support Skeleton Crew’s work to end Veteran suicide.
Until now it’s only been available
for purchase online and in select Texas locations
but is no sold in 24 states.
It is made in small batches at 40%
alcohol, and the blanco (they also make reposado and
añejo) has a fine citrusy,
peppery flavor
and comes in a handsome
rectangular bottle. ![]()
THE
LOST EXPLORER TEQUILA BLANCO ($50). Renowned
tequila master Enrique de Colsa’s
inaugural bottling made in small batches “made with
the rhythm of nature” at
the El Magnífico distillery in the
Valles region near El
Arenal, Jalisco. No additives are used, it is
double-distilled and produced in
collaboration with local farmers, using regenerative
harvesting practices. The
agave is grown for 8-12 years till at its ripe peak.
It is 40% alcohol. It
makes a superior margarita, with some pineapple
notes. ❖❖❖ ![]() WHY THERE'LL ALWAYS BE AN ENGLAND In London at Love My Human Townhouse in Chelsea dogs can order from a dog menu including chicken breast and pumpkin, along with dog doughnuts. At Brindisa in Battersea they may enjoy tapas, arroz con pollo or huevos rotos con bacon. At Islington’s Bellanger, homemade biscuits, and at Frenchie a canine is served at the table from a silver bowl at the table. ❖❖❖ Any of John Mariani's books below may be ordered from amazon.com. ![]() 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. ❖❖❖
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 2025 |