mondosapore

A peak experience in Modena

On our last stop before heading to Rome for the flight home, Jeff and I stopped at an enormous wine installation outside Modena.  We were there specifically to discuss the wines of a small producer that makes methode Champenois Lambruscos -- extraordinary wines that make the designation "Lambrusco" seem pathetically undescriptive and unjust.  (Made from the Sorbara subvariety, not the more common Grasparossa.)

We had tasted the wines at Vinitaly.  We liked them then and loved them now.  Stay tuned for further developments.

The CEO heard that we have our wines in several Mario Batali restaurants here in New York.  He insisted on taking us to lunch at Hosteria Giusti, an old and very small restaurant in the center of Modena, since the late Adriano Morandi and Batali's father struck up a friendship many years ago, and it is been carried forth by the younger generation.  Here Matteo Morandi runs the place with the kitchen magic of his sister Cecilia and especially his mother Laura.

You enter the restaurant through the salumeria ("Enogastronomia Famiglia Morandi"), which faces the arcade running down the length of the street.  The enogastronomia is a small jewel of the finest foods of the region -- the best salamis and prosciuttos, cheeses, breads, wines, olive oils, Modena vinegars -- and the aromas are intoxicating.

You step past the counters, down a couple of steps, zigzag a bit and find yourself in a traditionally-decorated Italian dining room. (Heavy on the lace.) Roughly 14-16 people at a time eat as well as anywhere in Italy, I imagine.  

The walls are lined with relics of old vertical tasting dinners -- Ch. Petrus springs to mind -- and old pictures of Modena and the Morandi family. 

By the way, there is another entrance, outside of which is a tiny courtyard area for drinks. The name of the street is Vicolo Squallore -- Squalor Lane.  If this be squalor, roll me in muck.

The meal was by no means one of those gut-busters that Italy so often presents to you at midday.  But it was probably the most satisfying either Jeff or I had ever had.  The starter was a small zucchini stuffed with pork and parmigiano, delicately spiced, prepared in a big padella (skillet).  The cotechino fritto with zabaione, which is featured in one of Batali's books, is a stunning marriage of savory and sweet -- and, by the way, a superb pairing with the most fined of "our" producer's spumantes. 

Aside from the spectacular "home cooking" (which it is if your mother is a culinary genius with her pick of the best ingredients anywhere), the warmth and good humor of the Morandis made a marvelous meal an unforgettable experience. 

Matteo was proud of the Batali connection and noted that several of his family's recipes had shown up on Mario's menus. "We are collaborators," he beamed.

By the way, Hosteria Giusti is booked till February at this point. Reserve your part of the table, hock your diamonds and GO. Telephone: +39 059222533

Poor Kiefer. And other tales of the bartender

I met Erick for dinner at In Vino a couple of weeks ago.  I hardly recognized him because I hadn't seen him in well over a year, and he had grown a "K" at the end of his name, which his mother and I wouldn't have considered for one second.  We discussed serious matters of family, health and money (or lack thereof), and then we talked about our economically productive lives.  Such as they are.

Erick/Eric's real vocation is heading up a neo-punk band called Golden Error.  One of their popular ditties is "Fucking in the Fitting Room."  Whatever you may think of the music (Eric writes the lyrics and...sings), I wholeheartedly wish him success.  My dream is that he will support me in a not-too-abusive nursing home some day.

To keep body and soul together, Eric works in the food-and-beverage-service industry, of late most often as a bartender.  He was at Employees Only on Hudson Street in the West Village after a couple of years.  Now he works at Dark Room on the Lower East Side -- on Ludlow Street just down the block from Katz's Deli!  He has many rollicking tales of the high life in the big city.

Eric says Dark Room is one of those places that is relatively cool on weeknights with lots of LES bohemians and NYU students and less cool but more remunerative on weekends, when the B&Ts (bridge and tunnel crowd) pours in from New Jersey and Long Island.  This group is young, rich and senseless, and they spend money like water.  They're also obnoxious.  Eric told me of one incident where the customer didn't think the bartender (Eric) was moving fast enough on his order. The joint was packed.  The guy started yelling at Eric, "Hey you fucking asshole, where's my fucking drink," etc.  At which point young Mr. Hughes pushes the guy off the stool, then runs round the bar to wale on him sprawled on the floor.  The bouncers toss the guy out and laugh when he screams from the street, "Come out here, you punks," etc., etc.  The guy eventually stumbled away, ears stinging with the sounds of much derisive laughter.

One of my favorite tales concerns Kiefer Sutherland, aka "Jack Bauer" on 24. One night he walked into Employees Only very late, already drunk, and managed to be served a couple of drinks.  He stood up on the bar and sang, then fell off.  The staff told him to go home, but he went outside and was too fuddled to hail a cab.  They took him back inside and, though it was closing time, tried to sober him up a bit.  "Where do you live?"

"I dunno."

Finally they discovered his address.  But he couldn't stand up to go outside and hail the cab, so one of the staff did and took him home in the dawn's early light.  I just hope Kiefer paid him back.

Good times, everybody, good times.  

Cool places: Some new venues for Domenico Selections wines

It's happening, friends, step by step, resto by resto, wine store by wine store, consumer by tipsy consumer:

This is what I'm talking about.

Read this: "I like them. What are they?"

Read "I like them. What are they?" on Muddy Boots.

While you're at it, tell me what this type of eatery should be called. 

A presto!

Domenico Selections Website: Live at Last!

Domenico Selections dot com.

We asked for something simple, clean, functional.  With a warm, sunny look.  Suggesting Mediterranean light and vitality.  Free of red-white-and-green clichés.

Yes, we do have the useful traditional map of Italy with clickable regions where we have producers.  Short but sweet regional intros - not the standard boilerplate, either, but a personal viewpoint based on our experiences and observations.  Ditto the producer profiles.  Short, factual wine spec sheets.

And watch this site grow. More producers are on the way.

Still missing: the Muddy Boots blog.  Soon, kids, soon.  And the listing of where you can find the wine, mainly because this is in flux. 

Bookmark this link.

Baci per May Matta-Aliah, who designed the Domenico Selections corporate identity program as well as the site.  She is the owner of Red-Dot-Solutions here in New York. 

Best regional cuisine in Italy? My say

I've been busy the past few days and unable to sit and write at all.  Tastings, visitors from Ohio (sp?  Is it "I-O-W-A"?), going out to eat (Barbone!) and drink (Morrell's Wine Bar!)...sorry, sorry.

I did want to tell you that I appreciate your thoughts on the best regional cuisine in Italy.  August journalists and others aside, I find individual experiences and preferences quite interesting.  Now, as for my own preference -- which is not to suggest that the stated preferences of others are "wrong" or "lesser" than mine -- I have to vote for Puglia.

The seafood is stunningly delicious and fresh, the beef sensationally flavorful and the various meats of the pig are amazing in the depth and richness of their perfumes and savory yumminess.  (Clever how I repeated the same thought with all different words, eh?  That's why they pay me the big bucks.)

The olives, the fruits, the vegetables -- also tasty and full of their respective whatnesses.  You know, such olivey olives, such tomatoey tomatoes, etc., etc.

The bread's good too.

I wish I could say the wines of the region were on the same level as the foods.  Alas, no.  Most of Puglia's wines are rough and overdone, often taste badly adulterated, and maybe I'm not too wild about the local grape varieties.  Zinfandel doesn't do much for me, and neither does its genetic doppleganger Primitivo.  Negroamaro has its moments but not many.  Uva di Troia -- please.  Get outta here.

If I had to make a sweeping generalization, I'd say that the food of Puglia, as produced and prepared, outdid that of Campania by a little.  But the wines of Campania outshine Puglia's the way the sun outshines the moon.

That's my story, kids, and for the foreseeable future I'm sticking to it.

Best regional cuisine in Italy?

While I was chatting with Jacopo Sardi Giustiniani, owner of Bar Felice on the Upper East Side, we hit upon the topic of food in Italy.  It turns out that we agreed on the region that has the best food in all of Italy.  Foods of all kinds -- meat, seafood, vegetables, olive oils, etc. -- which are bursting with flavor and freshness. 

I won't divulge the identity of this region.  Not yet.  I'd like you to chime in with your bets first.  I'll even make it easier by narrowing Italy's 20 regions to 6:

a)    Tuscany

b)    Emilia-Romagna

c)    Sicily

d)    Campania

e)    Piemonte

f)    Puglia

Come on, folks, this is audience participation at its best.

  

One cheer for the Upper West Side

If you live in New York, you're pretty much aware that the Upper West Side isn't a haven for foodies.  In fact, even the run-of-the-mill neighborhood places don't hold a candle to similar places on the East Side, let alone the East Village, the Lower East Side, Chelsea, etc.

So it was good to read Frank Bruni's column in the Times today, in which he assigns a star to two restaurants in the UWS.  All the more because, as he notes, "While their kitchens aren’t consistent enough or their menus quite original enough to brand them destination restaurants, they have real talent in their DNA and bring serious food to a patch of Manhattan that, for all its recent strides, could still use more of it."

Speaking of DNA, though, I am reminded of the words of a well-known caterer a few years ago.  (I won't name names because I wouldn't want to cost him business in any part of town, not even the Upper West Side).

"There are three kinds of clients in this town.  There's the Downtown group, who want something different, edgy, surprising.  Then there's the Upper East Sider who wants everything to be perfect. And there's the Upper West Side -- they don't care what it is as long as there's a lot of it."

I guess this is one reason why Joan Rivers (Fifth Avenue) won't visit her daughter on the West Side.  She sends the maid instead.

Assenzio is now Cannonau

Ever since I first wrote about the Sardinian restaurant Assenzio in Alphabet City, people have come to this site seeking info about it.  After a recent flurry of hits, I feel it my civic duty to report that Assenzio is now called (note link to new site) Cannonau.  Still at the same location, still Sardinian in its food and wine culture.

Here is the link to my ancient post. 

Enjoy your carasau. And don't overdo the mirto. 

A plug for the good guys: DiPalo Selects

I just got a message from the lovely and talented Bronwen that the enterprising DiPalo family has also launched an online shop-and-ship site for their delectable Italian goodies, called DiPalo Selects.

The DiPalo siblings -- Lou, Sal and Marie -- offer 300 types of cheeses, and that's just for starters.  Their shop's always packed and the wait time can get a bit long, so shopping online may be a good alternative to schlepping to Grand Street. 

The only drawback in shopping online:  you can't get a little taste of this and a little taste of that, which they offer you all the time.  Believe me, it makes a nice light lunch. 

No wine sales, though.  State laws forbid. 

At least there are plans, to be executed after the new year, to expand the food store and break down the wall to the enoteca -- here the word is used in its Italian meaning as a (serious) wine store, not a wine bar.  As I said the other day, the synergy's there and the shared store traffic will be too.  Young Sam already offers his customers a little taste of this and a little taste of that in the best family tradition.  When the work is completely done there will be a room downstairs for tasting events, classes, etc. 

One thing you should know: DiPalo's is a popular stop for visiting Italian tourists and business people.  It really smells and tastes like you're in Italy.

Quickie: Zereoue

I met Wolfgang Weber, owner of spume, for lunch yesterday at a place I found on Menupages.  He wanted to meet near the Empire State Building, so I obliged.  I was so glad -- this place on E. 37th Street was lovely and very reasonably priced.  A real find.

Zereoue is the brainchild of a former NFL running back Amos Zereoue, a native of the Ivory Coast, and the food reflects both France and West Africa in delicious ways.

The space is lovely and the subject of some discussion in the mainstream media.  The staff was welcoming and most attentive, no doubt because we wre the only two people here for lunch.  The hostess said, "You're lucky.  It's very busy at dinner."  I sure hope so, because the food was wonderful.  For lunch I had a sensational 2-course prix fixe ($17!!) consisting of an omelette aux fines herbes that was worthy of Paris and then a huge curry chicken salad that we both ate and couldn't begin to finish.  The flavors were lively and the food was both colorful and different enough to command attention. 

New Yorkers, go to this place.  The price is right and so is the food -- a marvellous blend of two traditions.

13 E. 37th St. (between 5th and Madison)

212-679-9355

www.zereoue.com

Open Forum: Food and wine mismatching

One of my enduring frustrations in eating at good, innovative and often relatively unknown restaurants is that the food is usually far better than the wine that's available.  I wrote about a minor instance of that the other day (partly my fault for ordering from their special wine pairing list), and I've touched on it a number of times in the past.  (Like here regarding the wines the resto forced on my hosts.)

What are some of the more extreme cases of food/wine mispairing that you've experienced? 

What about the state of the food menus vs. the wine lists at your favorite haunts? 

It's all grist for the mill, and I think a lot of us would like to share our pain, or simply our frustration, with this phenomenon.

Quickie: L'Ecole, SoHo

If you haven't been to L'Ecole, the resto of the French Culinary Institute in NYC, you've missed a treat.  We went last night for the early bird special, a four course prix fixe menu (42 bux a head) with the option of a 3-wine pairing menu at 21 zlotys.  (My choice.)

Nice room too. Ideal for Crackberrying

The food, which can vary wildly depending on the talents of the student chef, was outstanding.  I had a cool  avocado cucumber soup (they called it gazpacho) with shrimp, then this:

Grilled Tuna Loin
Chilled Jasmine Rice Pilaf, Sunchoke Purée and Tomato Caper Sauce

It was delicious, the tuna was flavorful and very rare. The puree and tomato caper sauce were perfect accompaniments to the tuna.  And the pilaf, while it looked like it was spiked with frozen mixed veg, was refreshing and tasty.

Dessert was a wonderful lemon thingie, which is absent from the menu I linked to.  Dommage.  (You like my technical language?)

The food was delicious, and the guy or gal in the kitchen deserves to find a splendid job somewhere. 

Ah but there is always a fly in the erntment.  Il vino.  While the bartender was terrific and made me a wonderful Gosling's rum and tonic, the wine pairings, based on the by-the-glass list, weren't so successful.  This was one of the many times, alas, when the wines weren't up to the food.

To be fair, the full wine list is huge and fairly impressive, with many well-priced bottles from round the world  But no one was in the mood for a bottle when they could mix and match.  Scroll down the link above to see the formidable carte de vins in full.

To reserve your place at a budding chef's final exam phone (212) 219-3300. 

L'Ecole is located at                          462 Broadway, NYC

                         Phone: (212) 219-3300

Cooooool reds

Eric Asimov loves red wines in summer.  So do I.  Please note his intelligent advice about serving them in all seasons:

Even the best red wines need to be a touch cool to flourish — 65 degrees maximum, not 75. If only more restaurants understood that ice buckets are better suited for cooling off reds than over-chilling whites. Yes, an especially hot place is reserved for those who serve their reds too warm and their whites too cold.

He's touching on one of my pet peeves, the serving of red wine at a "room temperature" that makes everything taste pretty awful and unbalanced. 

For his pleasing summer recommendations for chillable reds, follow this link. 

Lambrusco resurgent

I was invited to a fringe event of the Fancy Food Show* last night.  It was billed as a biodynamic wine event featuring a collection of small Italian producers.  It was being held at the Michelin-starred Del Posto.  It was a select event, 15 people max. 

I was intrigued.  Even though I cannot, by my skeptical nature, buy into the full-bore biodynamic "philosophy," aka crackpot mysticism, I do like the way the wines often turn out.  Quindi I was eager to attend.  I wanted to meet the starry-eyed visionaries who bid fair to transform Wine as We Know It.

Before I divulge how my expectations were met, or not, I am happy to report that I met Philadelphia wine-and-food blogger David McDuff, who sat by me at the dinner, a survival technique:  Italian was the language of choice.  We met at Del Posto early for a drink and a chat, then went out for a beer afterwards to chat for another hour.  What a smart, interesting guy, especially for one who lives in Philly.  (Humor.)

We discussed the vagaries of site traffic.  I suggested the sure-fire cure for lagging visits based on Google searches: peppering your site with pictures of young, pretty girls.  Like my fickle groupie, Lisa Qiu.  (That's not how I roll -- not that there's anything wrong with it.)  Anyway, you can imagine the keywords they use.

Where was I?  Oh yes, the do at Del Posto. 

Before I discuss the wine and the producer, let's get this food thing out of the way.  6 out of 10.  At a 12 out of 10 price, senza dubbio.  McDuff took his famous food photos and notes about both the grub and the wine (I scribbled only in service of the wine, which was more pleasing than the food  Stay tuned on his site.)

It turned out that the wines being featured were all from the same winery, Venturini Baldini,

* As to the show: lots of cheese and lots of very fat people in shorts eating their way through, aisle by aisle, stand by stand. Enough to put you off food, fancy or otherwise.

"People need to get drunk"

This was the quote of the day.  I heard it from Keith, one of the owners of In Vino, a wine bar in Alphabet City, and Alphabet City Wines.  Or Liquors. Or something.

We were talking about the current economic, social and political climate in these parts.  His places are aimed at a young crowd who have some disposable income but not all that much.  And the quote was his explanation of why business had been pretty good.  (NB:  Despite all the NYC happy talk, there are many many more vacant storefronts than there were 6 months ago.  I was surprised to see that the long-lived Zen Palate at 16th Street and Park Avenue South was out of business.  I never went there, of course, but it was a sign that Something Is Afoot.)

After checking in with Keith, I headed north to Barbone.  Yes, Marco, Barbone!  Alberto and I chatted about one thing or another, while Ken and Julie ate and drank with gusto.  Good simple food and 2 bottles of wine, neither bottle all that expensive by local standards.  A mere $210 with tip.  For 3.  Such is life in NYC right now.  The prices are reminiscent of euro prices.  The Fed is right to be concerned about inflation.  It's killing us.

For the record I had the delicious, refreshing watermelon and feta salad with lots of mint on it.  And the chicken sausage Cavatelli.  The wines were an anise-y Tocai Friulano (from Traverso, imported by PGM Wines), plus one Alberto selected, a cost-effective Negroamaro blend from the province of Brindisi way down south in Puglia.  Julie and Ken liked the Puglian red. Me, not so much.

By the way, Alberto was sporting quite the diamond earring in his...was it the left ear?  Yes, it was.  Bought by his wife.  He looked good with the ice and the unshaven look.  He has to get cooler because his crowd now is very much younger, hipper and more beautiful than before.  There seemed to be a lot of Sex and the City type girl parties.  Lots of bared skin and floaty summer dresses.  Julie and I are old enough to recall the oft-anthologized Irwin Shaw story, "Girls in Their Summer Dresses."  Many beautiful peeps; we didn't fit in but we liked the view.

 

Alberto in his square, non-earringed period.  Too hip for us now?

We had a nice evening.  I'm glad to be alive.  Even if I am hopelessly out of it and unable to afford NYC real estate or pasta.

Giardino delle Esperidi

The other day, without benefit of time or a really fast web connection, I mentioned seeing Susy Tezzon at Genoa (Terroir Vino exposition). 

Susy is a co-owner of the wonderful restaurant, Giardino delle Esperidi on the shores of Lake Garda. 

I thought it was worth reiterating something about the place and the delicious foods and wines they serve.

Susy at the restaurant

Here is an excerpt of a review from another web site:

The Giardino delle Esperidi is a high-quality restaurant and therefore you can expect an impressive menu. These expectations won't be disappointed: you can start with rolled herrings served with country mustard, followed by a very delicate cream of pumpkin with mullet roe. For the second course there are pork medallions cooked with black truffle, lamb chops with salmoriglio, cooked trout carpaccio with lemon and olives. Before the desserts are served, there is cheese, the curious "drunk" cheese which are flavoured with liqueurs. The sweets are also very good: try the creme brulee with star shaped anise. There is a good wine-list with an impressive range of spirits.
Information by Wcities

Open Hours: Noon-2:30p Su 7:30p-midnight Tu-Sa

Via Mameli, 1
Bardolino 37011 Italy

+39 45 621 0477

For Italian wine fans only

If you're crazy about Italian wines, like me, then sometimes you just get a hankering for the taste of a particular grape or region or type of wine.

So, I'm going to pose a question and give you MY answer to it. Feel free to jump in with your choice!

"Tonight I'd really love a nice...

Reale wine on the Amalfi coast

The winery of Luigi Reale was a real discovery.  It raised my expectations of wine made in a world-famous beauty spot, in this case the Amalfi Coast of Campania.  All of the essential components of interesting wine are present: good land, indigenous grapes of singular character and the informed intuition of the winemaker. 

Located in the village of Gete in the larger commune of Tramonti a few winding miles from the sea, Azienda Agricola Reale Andrea, is situated on a very steep 2.5 hectares on two small plots.  The elevation is roughly 450-500 meters, which makes the microclimate a good deal cooler (even snowy) than at the coast. 

The varieties grown are, for the most part, very local and correspondingly rare: Biancazita, Biancolella and Pepella for the white; Piedirosso and Tintore for the reds and the rosato.  Granted, Biancolella and Piedirosso aren't rare in Campania, but the others are.  Luigi is ardent in his affection for Tintore, which is a subvariety of Aglianico; its perfume and its flavor, with some time in bottle, are to me reminiscent of Burgundy -- reminiscent, that is, not a sort of faux-Burgundy.  Reale's wines aren't trying to be a version of anything else.  But the best can evoke associations with other wines that possess complexity and ageability.

A great deal of this has to do with the great age of the vines, as is shown in the picture above.  One vineyard is composed of century-old vines of Tintore.  A walk through this green-farmed plot (less than a hectare) takes you to a vineyard that looks and feels different from the orderly rows of younger vines trained in the Guyot style, which also exist on Luigi's larger, slightly lower and steeper plot.  The old-vine Borgo di Gete terreno looks like a vestige of a tradition, and under the watchful eye of Fortunato Sebastiano (the enologo and agronomo) there is a balance between tradition and contemporary practices of strict yield management and chemical-free vine management.

The proof of these good intentions is, of course, in the tasting.  We tasted, and later drank, each of Luigi's four wines.  Descriptions and impressions can be found in the continuation.

Another view of the Borgo di Gete vineyard

 

Part of the lower vineyard -- very
little room for expansion

Up there?  Maybe Reale vines one day

Wines with Julie

I have long thought that our friend Julie should have a salon in the 18th Century style. She has a wide range of friends in various professions.  She reads everything.   She's interesting and articulate with strong views on politics, the economy (she spent her career as a researcher in finance and her take on America's short- and long-term prospects is sobering), the arts and virtually everything else.  You may disagree with her, but you learn something too.

One of the few things that I know more about than she is wine. (And, as it turned out, Indo-European lingustics.)

I served her three wines last night.  For aperitif, Jacques Puffeney's Savagnin 2004...