...more recent posts
stack the food high so i can see it better than add a couple sexy greens and a dab o'special sauce so my eyes can wiggle a round in bliss-----my posts are my views as all of yours are to you, they are like the scripts to our movies-----my movie is about food, wine, others brain changers, ecology and travel
but what matters is the taste or is it how sexy the room and the people are next to me-----if i wasnt in the food biz i would go out to eat to eat food i cant cook or dont have the time too or to get something in my belly-----i go out to eat to see whats up, visit clients, entertain, learn...-----for some reason El Cid came to mind today @ 322 W 15th
the wine company i am a partner in is about soul, we try to find the "spirit of wine", this means how does the sun & soil influence the vino, the winemaker is the alchemist or the chemist-----a pure wine is an expression of the vintage on the soil blessed by the energy of a human-----there has been in the last few years many changes in the wine making many of these changes have been called "spoofalations"-----reality may be "spoofed" so maybe wine is ok to be also, but not to me-----food can also be "poshed up" but the soul is still the guiding force
at El Cid i tasted some baby squid in garlic sauce that was pure, a wonderful authentic sauce, the wine list is old school but gen-u-wine, clams in a spicy sauce that needed to be licked dry, no posh, no spoof-----i have seen the twisted modern fermenting technique's, doing the malo in barrel, toasty new oak, very posh, very spoof-----i am blessed to have true un poshed friends whom are searching for soul amongst the spoof--YOU ARE THE BEST
i will never be a rock star but i felt important the other night at Vong after dinner with an Alsacian winemaker, we had an excellent tasting menu with an extra course adding without asking and they also sent us out an amazing (and very expensive) dessert wine, we had ordered some great wines and were very very pleased over all but when they brought me the bill they said "here's the bill for the wine and water the dinner is on us"--did this ever happen to jerry garcia??
had a truely yummy meal in Boston couple nights ago, clean pure and well flavored, fresh and vibrant
Veritas. 4? east 20th street (5th/broadway.) How was the food? Doesn't matter. How was the wine? Better find someone with an expense account to take you.
Oh my god.
I'm only mentioning it in case some rich friend offers to take you anywhere you want to go. This might be where you want to go.
I would be scared to walk into this place with the wheel.
Tangerine. 228 west 10th street NYC. 212.463.8585
Tangerine is a new Thai restaurant in the west village. If my sources are correct this is the first US venture for a prominent Hong Kong restaurant group. The space is sleek and modern. I think it looks good. The details (glasses, flatware, dishes, chairs) are some of the best I've seen. Obviously someone who knows about design is involved.
The food was quite enjoyable ranging on up to superb. The lobster pad thai was a personal fave. Lots of stuff for the fish and veggie crowd. The service, in marked contrast to everything else, was verging on comedy. I think there is some sort of language and/or cultural barrier adding to the mayhem. It didn't wreck our meal, but others, or even myself in a different mood, might have felt different. They are new, and I think they'll get it together, but for now don't expect too much in that department. On the other hand, maybe that will keep the crowds down for the time being. Quite empty when we went last week, but I bet it won't be for long. I guess this all amounts to a recommendation.
"Waiter? Bring me shad roe."
I love food that marks the season and for me early spring (april-may) means shad roe. I remember last year having a great breakfast on Shelter Island, and although I have trouble remembering the exact ordering of events, I know it must have been a year ago because it featured shad roe. It's sort of like a caviar hotdog. We just fry it up in a little olive oil (low heat, maybe 10 minutes, YMMV) and serve with scrambled eggs. I guess people use capers and other stuff, but the taste is so strong, I don't think they're necessary. MB did a repeat performance this morning (with a side of leftover brocolli rabe) and I was in heaven. Spring is in the air. She bought that great piece at Incredible Edibles in Grand Central Station, but I'm sure you can find it all over right now. Here's some info on the mighty tasty shad. Give it a try. You won't be sorry.
Restaurant Al Ponte in Sommacampagna very near Verona is one of the best eating experiences in Italy for 20 buck a head you can have 4 pasta courses plus all the fresh veggies you can eat, dessert plus all the Bianco di Castoza you can swallow--there is another restaurant (Merica) in town too that is supposed to be sweet and very regional cooking also, inexpensive and they have rooms to sleep (thank goodness as Verona food is bad, i dont know how/why)
going out to a fancy restaurant is always fun as long as you get a good meal for your hard earned money--the only factor IMHO is the fact that people are starving in this world and what the effect is on the enviroment to procure these yummy's--that being said we had a true orgasmic meal in Bergamo Italy at the 2 star Michelin Da Vittorio--Bergamo is a beautiful town at the base of the Alps famous for thier Art History etc--thier focus is fish--everyone in the room looked like a millionaire and the room was too poshed up for my taste but the food WOW--a twisted Frito Misto to begin followed by lightly cooked Langostines with very rare Zolfino beans (this was the best dish), than a pasta with mussels and clams that was singing, into tuna with a salad and a veggie medly that eaten together blended like no other i,ve tasted--we drank 92 Chambolle Amourese by Vogue followed by 90 Drouhin Charmes into 85 Daumas Gassac for the 2nd best cheese course in my life, all of them ripe to purrfection and had fruit sides that just rocked--than the fun began--a campari jello with white chocolate froth, followed by rich little multitextured treats and a Moscato from the island of Pantelliera--we were so happy and content but it didnt end--a roasted herbed pineapple came out which they served with some sauce sided with a hot pepper cake--well we said enough NOT, next they removed the flowers and put down a bouquet of lollipops some flavored marshmellow and others were hard and made from mint with red pepper, than they covered the table with little treats everwhere the best being these little balls that explode when you eat them filled with sambuca and coffee beans--i must go back but only after i donate many times what was spent to Oxfarm, Unicef, Earth Island etc.....
Welcome home Wheel. Look what happened to the food page while you were gone - now it's all about art or something. Good to have you back around. I'm hoping your going to post something about all those italian meals.
Drunken Cowboys (detail)
Bill Schwarz
date uncertain
In this charming image, two hardy sons of the west are shown drinking together convivially. The photo is a rare example of the "emulsotype" process, used in primitive versions of the "instant photo booth," a popular attraction at Western carnivals and rodeos. This image is a detail from a larger contact sheet, which is approximately 8 inches in height and somewhat faded from its original dark sepia hue. Little is known about Mr. Schwarz, the photographer; researches into the better known emulsotype practitioners have yielded ambiguous information. The provenance is further complicated by a persistent rumor that Schwarz isn't the photographer at all, but an "appropriation artist" from the late 20th/early 21st Century. Appropriation, an artistic practice based on the theories of Marcel Duchamp and Karl Marx, flourished for several decades and greatly interrupted and confused the historical record with regard to fine photography. Be that as it may, this image survives, even if little is known about the milieu in which it was actually produced.
hour left on these boys
off to Italy today will probably not report till back but we will visit the recently 2*'d Arnolfo in Colle di Val d'Elsa (Tuscany), the venerable 2 *'d Da Vittorio in beautiful Bergamo, along with the awesome one * Trattoria Della Posta in Montforte, and lots of non stared local yummy's--SUPER CHOW
when you get an tingle for some old Tempier at the current retail for ten year younger bottlings head up here we had 1989, 1988, 1990 La Tourtine and La Migoua and the very rare 1988 La Louffe--the food is very very good--cellar loaded with many other value (like 1982 Peyre Rose Clos Ciste @ $24) along with fair priced splurg wines (best Tempier is 88 La Tourtine by the group vote)
palladin calls 71 clinton a shack.
the market is spring forward--my two favorite people are back--the east end fish folks and the organic man--i bought 10 flounder for 11 bucks and last years roots that were left through the winter to sweeten (rude a begger, carrots, turnips, garlic....)
last nights meal at Meigas was the best yet, not all dishes in the seafood tasting menu were wonderful but some rocked, expensive yes but if could just stop going to Veritas after dinner's in NYC i might be able to afford my rent...
just back from Virot's bar--two excellent wines (99 Boxler Riesling Harth @ $50 and 96 Ch. Simone Blanc @ $65) and 4 Bar Menu offerings (best were--Oysters au Gratin with mushrooms and Baked Clams!!!)--looooking forward to dinner
last night we ate at Locanda Vini & Olii--and i loved it--we had to make a trek to an old part of Brooklyn that was beautiful--wide streets--i got a great vibe from the locals!!! the wines were interesting and well priced--the apps were all excellents--good pasta--yummy not over sweet desserts--fantastic cheese plate--the place was also well designed, hope to go back soon