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Wine Experiences … In The Airport
You can look at it as a sequel to previous post about Vino Volo. Yes, I’m talking again about Vino Volo, which continues to deliver great wine experience on the go.
What I really like about Vino Volo is the fact that wine selection is always changing. Different locations offer different wine selections, which are changing throughout a year – what can be better for the wine experiences seeker?
In addition to being able to try a number of different wines at a reasonable price (I’m specifically referring to the price of wine flights – most of the individual bottles are overpriced, unfortunately), there are other positive elements of overall experience at Vino Volo. One of them is a very good service. Beyond just being nice and pleasant, Vino Volo’s staff knows quite a bit about the wines they are serving, and they also can handle challenges quite well. One of the wines in the Northwest Stars flight we had at San Antonio airport was spoiled – it was borderline corked and lacked all the fruit. When I mentioned that that to our waitress, the wine was replaced, no questions asked. This doesn’t always work that good, based on my own and fellow bloggers experience.
Another thing which I like is that fact that Vino Volo is always trying to go local when possible. When you are in Portland, Oregon airport, you should expect to find few tasting flights dedicated to Pacific Northwest wines. When in Virginia, I was very glad to find a flight of Virginia wines – all of this definitely adds up to unique experience.
Let me tell you about the wines I tried during my last two visits to Vino Volo in San Antonio, Texas and Dulles airport in Virgina.
We tried two flights at the San Antonio airport. First was Northwest Stars, which included three reds. 2009 Cummins Road Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton district, Oregon ($39 at Vino Volo, $19.95 on internet) had too much fruit for me. 2008 Mibrandt Vineyards Traditions Merlot, Columbia Valley, Washington ($25 at Vino Volo, $14.99 at the winery) was very nice, with good balance, but needed a bit more body to be appreciated fully (might be young, though). Last in the flight was 2006 Powers Parellel 46 Meritage, Columbia Valley, Washington ($43 at Vino Volo, not easy to find but about $27 on Internet). This was the wine which was spoiled and replaced. It is a classic Bordeaux wine, with characteristic green notes – definitely needs more time, but this was a very good wine.
Next one was a flight of whites (I know, going in reverse) called Bright Whites. 2009 Colome Valle Calchaqui Torrontes, Argentina, was very nice, blight and flavorful. 2007 Efeste Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, Washington ($29 at Vino Volo, about $16 on wine-searcher) was the most unusual wine in the tasting – it had a very pronounced “rubber” on the nose, and lemongrass on the palate, and it was very nice overall (once you overcome the initial rubber sensation). Lastly, 2009 Racines de la Terre Chardonnay Pays d’Oc, France was very nice, with good balance of fruit and acidity, very approachable. I would say that the last two are worth seeking.
Now let me tell you about two tasting flights in Washington Dulles Airport.
First was the flight of Rose wines (very appropriate – summer is coming!). All three were very interesting, with #2 being my favorite. First was 2009 Vidal-Fleury Cote-du-Rhone, France – blend of Carignan and Syrah. This wine was a too fruity with limited body expression. Next one was Conde de Subritas Brut Rose NV, Spain – most unusual wine in the tasting (and the best). This sparkling wine had a lot of vegetable and pungent flavors – I definitely would like to try it with the salad. Last one was 2009 Avondale Estate Rose from South Africa, which tasted practically like a red wine ( it is made out of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes). I have a suspicion that if I would have this wine in a blind tasting, I would fail miserably to identify it as a rose – may be I should try it one day, just for fun.
Last one was a flight of local Virginia wines, which I was glad to find on the list and was looking forward to trying. First wine was 2008 Annefield Vineyards Arrowhead Viognier – this wine was lacking fruit and had oak which was not integrated. After tasting Viognier at Chrysalis Vineyards last year (you can read the story here), which was outstanding, I was really looking forward to trying this wine, but apparently it didn’t work out. The next wine was 2009 Old House Vineyards Estate Vidal Blanc, which was simply too sweet for my taste. And last one, 2008 Pearmund Cellars Ameritage, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, was simply classic Bordeaux, with all the necessary traits – acidity, fruit, tannins. I put drinkability of this wine at 8-, but at $29/bottle I would expect more from the wine.
This concludes the story of airport wine tastings. Yes, the airports are still a hassle – but Vino Volo makes traveling experience a lot more palatable and even something to look forward to. If you are at the airport, remember – you can have fun on the go!
Fiesta Gastronomique
Some blog titles come in easy and naturally. Some require the painstaking effort to come up. Right after I had an idea for this post, I knew that the word “Gastronomique” will be a part of the title. The first word took some time – but based on the meaning of the word “Fiesta“, I think it fits here perfectly – please read on and tell me if you agree.
This post essentially continues the previous one about Miami Restaurants – but this time I want to talk about only one, called Sra. Martinez, which is one of the restaurants of the famed chef Michelle Bernstein. Why do I think this restaurant deserves a special post? It doesn’t provide food – it provides experience, something which will stay in one’s memory for a long time, and will be relived again and again.
To deliver “experience” in such a place as a restaurant, you need all the elements to be just right, almost perfect (yes, can be the other way around – but that doesn’t belong to this post). Service, ambiance, atmosphere, food, wine – all should play together. Even price – but the price is a subjective category when you pay for the experience, probably QPR (using popular wine terminology) is a better term. Sra. Martinez got it all – the service, the food, the wine, the ambiance (and even QPR).
Our waiter, Oscar, or OD as he called himself, was amazing – always there when you need him, always with the right explanations, always with the right advice. Sorry, I understand, I sound now a bit “overly excited” – but service of this level is a truly rare experience – unfortunately.
Next, of course, is wine. The wine list is very reasonable in size, with a great selection of Spanish wines – I didn’t mention yet that Sra. Martinez is a tapas restaurant – therefore having a good selection of Spanish wines is quite appropriate. We’ve chosen Rioja Cincel Gran Reserva 1995 (doesn’t seem to be even available in the US through wine-searcher). The wine was food-friendly, smooth, with good acidity and tamed fruit expression – and I don’t think it was even ready, probably needs another 10-15 years to shine. It did work quite well with many dishes we had.
For the food – and this is where Fiesta comes to mind – we failed to choose what tapas do we want. Therefore, we had no choice but to subject ourselves to the hands of the chef, in the form of the tasting menu. Boy, was that the right choice! It was a true fiesta of flavors, textures, and tastes, a true food experience. From this point on, I really need to let pictures tell the story – I only regret I was unable to capture all the dishes we had. It is also very interesting to note that if you look in the menu, you will see sea salt listed as one of the ingredients in the number of dishes – and it is truly a distinguishing ingredient that makes dishes unique. This was probably the best use of the salt I was ever able to experience. And now, almost in the order of appearance, here is what we had in our tasting menu:
Arugula Salad with thinly sliced pear, parmesan cheese, and sea salt (wow!) – no picture, but this was one of the best combinations of simplicity and amazing taste.
Bacon-wrapped dates and croquettes with fig marmalade:
Eggplant chips with molasses and sea salt:
Crispy artichokes (wow!):
Catch of the day with israeli couscous:
Squid ink risotto ( incredible richness):
sautéed Kale with garlic:
Short Ribs ( incredible – thinly sliced and stacked, with sweet and salty sauce):
Lamb chops ( one of the best I ever had):
Garbanzo stew:
Brussels sprouts with bacon and fried egg:
Sweet corn with smoked paprika, smoked chile, and lime – incredible again, you just can’t stop eating it:
And finally… dessert! Never had chocolate flan before – wow!
The End (a.k.a. Bottom Line) – if you are in Miami, do it for yourself – visit Sra. Martinez. And if you will not think this is a fiesta, please tell me what Fiesta is…
Of Course You Know Miami Beaches, Let’s Talk About Miami Restaurants
One of the virtues of the business travel is opportunity to try new foods. We’ve got to eat every day, don’t we – but we can go into many ways about it. One option is to stay only within familiar territory, eat at few places you already know and don’t take any risks. Another option is to explore and experience. Depending on the place I’m traveling to, I might go different routes myself – of course, when you are in Miami Beach, the “explore and experience” model sounds (and looks) very appealing.
I don’t think Miami’s food scene requires any introductions. As Miami itself if a tight blend of many different cultures, so are the restaurants in Miami. I’m not trying turn into a restaurant critic by all means, so this here is short (mostly in pictures) report on a few places I had an opportunity to visit recently – except one place, Sra. Martinez, which stood out of the crowd immensely, so it will be a subject of separate blog post.
Without further ado, here we go.
Maya Tapas and Grille restaurant, located on Lincoln Road (Lincoln Road is one of the main tourist attractions in South Miami Beach). First, we had a very good bottle of Malbec. As restaurants compete for attention on Lincoln Road, we took the advantage of “all wines half price”, so this Luigi Bosca Gala 1 (actually, Malbec blend) at $35 was definitely a bargain. Still a young wine, it had initial layer of sweetness, which freed the way to spiciness and balance as wine had time to breathe.
In the tapas restaurants, my favorite dish is of course … tapas – the best way to experience wide variety of flavors.
We ordered a number of tapas, both cold and hot, and all the food tasted very good (grouper seviche, charcuterie and chorizo are highly recommended). Below is a picture of grouper seviche:
Aura restaurant, also on Lincoln Road, is more of an Italian flare with simple menu. We mostly went there for cocktails and pizza, and both were good. Here is Long Island Iced Tea and Mojito:
Thin crust pizza (European style) with goat cheese and vegetables was very tasty (no picture though).
PAUL. You got to eat breakfast too, right? Paul is a French bakery, part of an international chain. It is fully French, starting from the menu and appetizing baguettes all over the place, to the “french style” service. Service is an interesting part of the place – it is purposefully disrespectful to the customers, kind of “I’m not here to serve you”. In my honest opinion, though, they got this “French” concept upside down – 9 times out of 10, I had an outstanding service in France, despite any language barriers. I also think it costs PAUL in terms of lost clientele, and it shows up in the reviews on Yelp. But the food is good. Baguette with butter and jam is pure pleasure, so is Eggs Benedict ( I had both smoked salmon and Canadian bacon versions) – probably the best Eggs Benedict ever, definitely the best sauce. And pressed Focaccia sandwiches were not too shabby as well.
Last place to discuss in this post is Marker 88, located in a middle of Florida Keys (on island called Islamorada). This place was recommended – and it disappointed, unfortunately. The food was interesting in concept – but completely lacked soul in execution, or had simply technical mistakes, like lobster and mango guacamole having no mango – and of course guacamole completely overpowered the lobster. But the dish does look good on picture, doesn’t it:
And here is crab cake sandwich:
Again, looks good – but crab cake was missing any flavor… Well, may be we were out of luck with substitute chef?
To sum it up – if you are just looking for a byte to eat, I would definitely recommend all of the places we talked about here (even Marker 88 deserves second chance). However, if you are looking also for experience, please wait for the next blog post…
Bordeaux Weekend, Plus Random Thoughts
Somehow, last weekend happened to evolve around Bordeaux. First, there was “Lafite Around The World” tasting at Saltwater Grille restaurant in Stamford, featuring Lafite-Rothschild wines from around the world (don’t worry, there was no “all you can drink” Chateau Lafite). The actual French wines (2008 Chardonnay from Languedoc and 2009 Lafite Reserve Speciale Blanc and Rouge) were rather unimpressive (drinkable, but not necessarily enjoyable). Chilean Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve is usually a good wine, and the 2008 was no exception. Amancaya, which is a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina, produced jointly by Lafite-Rothschild and Nicolas Catena, was best of tasting, with silky smooth tannins and soft full-bodied fruit expression. It perfectly complemented couple of excellent appetizers served at the tasting, such as steak tartar and roast beef.
The next Bordeaux experience was courtesy of Cost Less Wines and Liquors, which was running a Bordeaux tasting. Two of the wines in that tasting were from 2009, which is being touted as the best vintage in Bordeaux in many decades. In general, comprehending young Bordeaux wines, especially from the great years (like 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009) is not simple, as Bordeaux wines really need time in the cellar to shine. The good thing about great years in Bordeaux is that you really don’t need to look for top producers (and deep into your retirement savings to be able to afford it) – pretty much any producer will deliver a very nice and enjoyable wine. I don’t know if it is just a year, or is it a widespread change in production methods in Bordeaux, but 2009s are a lot more approachable than 2000s – and quite enjoyable already.
As we discussed before, a lot of factors influence taste. I don’t know if this is just because of the widespread notion “2009 Bordeaux are great”, but when I was drinking these 2009s, a little voice in my head was saying “just think how amazing it will be in 10-15 years…”. If you can only learn once thing from the wine world, I think that “thing” should be … patience. From harvesting the grapes at the best moment to waiting for the wine to reach optimum age to even moving very slowly while pealing a label from the bottle – patience is a friend around wine…
To give you quick roundup on the tasting, the last two wines were my favorites – 2006 Marquis de Pez, a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, was austere and fruit forward at the same time, and 2009 Chateau Haut Beyzac was very round and polished already – it’s good now, just imagine it in 10 years! And a bonus “feature” of these two wines – they both are under $15.
As Bordeaux 2009 start coming on the shelves, you will have to make a hard decision – drink now or wait. Not so hard, you say? Well, I heard that while 2009 was vintage of the century, 2010 might be even better….
Messa, Chef Restaurant
Once again, I would like to state the obvious – it is great to have friends. I’m in Israel again, and thanks to my dear friend Kfir, the culinary journey continues (I already wrote about few of my favorite places in Tel-Aviv, and you can read about it here and here). The new discovery – Messa, Chef Restaurant in Tel-Aviv.
Few years ago, I was quite lucky to visit (well, the right word is “to experience”) restaurant called Orca in Tel-Aviv ( lucky simply because the place is now closed – and it was on the list of 100 best restaurants in the world). This might be a bit far fetching, but Messa reminded me of that Orca visit. May be in ambiance, may be in food presentation and quality, may be in expectations – but I found some resemblance between the two.
For wine, we decided to go with Judean Hills Har’El Syrah 2008 from CLOS de GAT, one of the boutique Israeli wineries (it also represented very good value at about $55 on the wine list). This wine was round and polished, with hint of spices, leather and dark red fruit, complemented by soft tannins.
Messa doesn’t offer tasting menu, however, a lot of appetizers and main dishes are offered in small and large sizes, which essentially allows to create a tasting menu – this is what we decided to do. We had three different appetizers – Purple Calamari, Veal Sweetbreads and Foie Gras, out of which the Foie Gras had the best balance of flavors:
Purple Calamari with lemon cream, eel and goose liver
Veal Sweetbreads with sweet potato tortellini, sunchoke cream and pearl onions
Foie Gras
For the main dishes we decided on Black Truffle Ravioli, Seafood Couscous in Crab Lemon Broth and Mushroom and Goat Cheese Risotto. The first two dishes listed Lemon among the ingredients – and it was A LOT of lemon in those dishes. To be more precise, it was too much of it, so the winner of the entree taste contest was Mushroom and Goat Cheese Risotto, which had amazing earthy and heart warming taste profile. And of course, with the pictures:
Black Truffle Ravioli
Seafood Couscous in Lemon Crab and Thyme Broth
Risotto with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese
Dessert? Of course there was dessert – your waistline doesn’t take priority when you in a restaurant like this. We ordered one dessert, Valrhona Chocolate Delight, and got a nice surprise in a form of Strawberry Banana Crumble desert “on the house”. There was no competition here – both were great:
Valrhona Chocolate Delight
Strawberry Banana Crumble
Israel is growing at tremendous pace as a country, and its culinary landscape is getting better and better all the time. I wish all of us many pleasant discoveries along this culinary journey…
Experiencing Wines, Self-Serving Style
Las Vegas is undoubtedly a culinary paradise. At least when it comes to food. As far as wines are concerned, I wouldn’t fair it so highly. No, this is not about the selection. Of course there are plenty good bottles to chose from at any restaurants. However, when asked to pay 4-5 times markup over retail, water sounds as a very appealing option.
Well, there are some exceptions, of course. My favorite place in Las Vegas to get reasonably priced glass of wine is called Fortuna Wine and Coffee bar, and it is located in the lobby of Hilton hotel, across from registration desk. What is so special about this place? Until my last visit this week, my favorite part was their “50% off bin”, where one could find decent bottle of wine at practically a retail price, if not less.
This time I found that the place evolved even further – you can chose and pour the wine yourself. Ok, let’s clarify that. No, I’m not talking about those cheesy machines (self-serving tanks) Dr. V wrote about before, where you can dispense by yourself god-knows-what-kind-of-liquid. At Fortuna you will wind top of the line wine dispensers, where wine is poured out of different bottles, in the amount you want!
The way it woks is that you buy a special card to operate the machine, insert it into a designated slot and then you can chose 1, 3 or 5 oz pour. With the prices like $1.75 for 1 oz, it beats wine tasting at many wineries, hands down.
Next time you are in Vegas – stop by the Fortuna and experience self-serving wines for yourself – you will not regret!
Let’s Talk About Breakfast Again
As you probably expect from the title of this post, it is not going to be about wine (don’t know about you, but at 7:30 in the morning I need coffee…). So this is somewhat of a sequel post to the one about our experience at Hotel Fauchere in Milford.
From time to time, my travel takes me to San Ramon in California. In general, California is a right place for food. But then we all have our special places, where we want to return. Katy’s Korner is my special place for breakfast, something to look forward to. Why? Great food, great service and simply the fun place to be at. It has all the great traits of American Diner, the place to come to with the family and feel like home.
My staple on the menu is Eggs Benedict. There are at least 10 versions of Eggs Benedict on the menu, so you always have options. My choice during the last visit was Sonora Eggs Benedict, which includes guacamole and Canadian bacon.
Yummy!
And then the next part of the experience is… fun! It is a great fun to be in a classic American Diner, and look around at the walls (promise to self – carry good camera around, all the time…). These are some of the things which you will see:
and this:
and this:
then this:
and this:
and my favorite:
All in all, if your travel will take you anywhere close to San Ramon – find this place, and – enjoy your breakfast!
Katy’s Korner
2550 San Ramon Valley Blvd # L
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 831-2145
Experiences: Chef’s Tasting Dinner at Hotel Fauchere
This is the last post in the series about our experiences at Hotel Fauchere in Milford, PA ( previous two posts can be found here and here). Have to warn you upfront – if you thought that there are too many photos in my posts, this one will be extreme – there are way too many pictures I want to share. Here we go…
Culmination point of our weekend getaway was chef’s tasting dinner, long anticipated and planned for. The dinner took place at The Delmonico Room at Hotel Fauchere – for historic reference behind the name and relationship with The Delmonico Room in New York, you can click here. Anticipated is fine, but what’s up with planning? Considering love of wine in the group, we decided to take upon the pairing of the tasting menu by ourselves. For the tasting and pairing experience, this was a good decision, for the service part – not so much. Not that I can really complain about service, all the plates, decanters, glasses and silverware were flying around properly, but the service was delivered in the stark contrast with “everybody smiling” (if you read my previous posts), I would say it was delivered with the stone face. There can be some objective reasons to that ( we brought our own wine, therefore I guess we questioned the level of wine service)… Anyway, let’s talk about food and wine
So we had 7 course tasting menu with two very small “single byte” dishes at the beginning and in the middle of the dinner. Menu focus was on the local, seasonal and fresh ingredients, and I think mission was accomplished quite well. We selected 7 different wines to pair with the dishes – 4 whites, 3 reds.
Here are the four whites:
2009 Domaine Eugene Carrel & Fils Rousette de Savoie Altesse, France
2007 Staglin Family Vineyards ‘Salus’ Estate Chardonnay, Napa Valley
2009 Jorge Ordoñez Málaga Botani Sierras de Màlaga
1995 Domain Cazes Ambré Riversaltes Languedoc-Roussillon
We made a lot of good decisions with this set – but more about it later.
And here are the three reds:
2007 Mara Pinot Noir Laughlin Road Ranch, Russian River Valley
2005 Bradford Mountain Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley
2005 Chateau La Grange Clinet Premier Cotes de Bordeaux
This was also a great selection, all worked very well with food – so lets get some details.
The first dish in tasting was Tortelloni A La Zucca (Seared Diver Scallop, Black Walnut, Sage Butter). Wine pairing – Rousette de Savoie Altesse.
I would honestly question composition of the dish, as pumpkin tortelloni didn’t do anything to the scallop, tortelloni looked almost as a presentation piece. At the same time, wine worked very well with all of the components in the dish – apple, leeches and earthiness worked well with pumpkin filling, and wine had enough fruit and acidity to complement scallop. One important thing to mention here – with this wine I was able to make a progress in the treble journey, as Altesse is a grape from Savoie which I never tasted before. Color me happy – 273.
The next dish was Foie Gras De Canard (Porcini Mushroom, Brussles, Pear, Pomme Maxim). Wine pairing – Staglin Salus Chardonnay.
As we didn’t miss a single pairing ( pat on the shoulder), at least in my opinion, I will omit redundant [great pairing] in front of each description.
Salus is produced by Staglin Family, one of California cult wine producers from Napa Valley (Staglin Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 just got WS 98 rating). Salus was one of the most beautiful chardonnays I tasted lately. Vanilla, butter, caramel, toasted oak and acidity of the wine worked perfectly with heavy but creamy texture of the foie gras.
Next dish was Roasted Black Sea Bass (Caramelized Sunchoke, Garden Chard, Cabernet Franc Emulsion). Wine pairing – Mara Pinot Noir.
In case you wonder, there are actually two reasons why there is a wine label above instead of picture of the dish:
1. It was one of the best versions of Roasted Sea Bass I ever had. So, by the time I realized that I didn’t get a picture of the dish, it was too late.
2. And I guess it was also too late because everybody got carried away after taking a sip of Mara Pinot Noir.
Mara Pinot Noir was really a centerpiece of the tasting. “Oh my god” was major phrase at the table after the first sip of the wine. I don’t think that wine should be described in terms of color, fruit and acidity. This wine should be described in terms of opulence and decadence it cast upon the table. “Total and absolute balance” would be the right way to put it. Anyway, if you can find a bottle, you should experience it for yourself ( about 250 cases total production). In my “drinkability” ratings it is defnitely a 9+.
Next dish: Sautéed Squab (Confir Potatoes, Red Peppers, Serrano Ham). Wine pairing – Bradford Mountain Zinfandel.
Deep earthy and gamey flavors of the dish ( tasted almost like a fried liver), were complimented well by spices and acidity of the wine. This was definitely a good combination.
Following on, major entree: Duo of Farm Raised Rabbit (Bacon Wrapped Loin, Rabbit Scrapple, Chestnut, Garden Carrots, Natural Jus). Wine pairing – Chateau La Grange Clinet Premier Cotes de Bordeaux.
Bordeaux had being nicely decanted, so it was open enough in time for this dish being served. Coming from magnificent 2005 vintage, this wine can be drunk right now, but will improve with some time in the cellar. The wine worked well with the flavors of the dish – combination of tender, a bit gamey loin and fresh garden vegetables was well complemented by dark fruit flavors in the Bordeaux.
And now it is time for desserts: Cheese Soufflé (Pinot Noir Must, Grape Aspic, Rose Champagne Granite). Wine pairing – Botani Sierras de Màlaga.
I discovered Botani Muscat at the dinner at The Capital Grille. This wine delivers incredibly bright acidity and fruit combination, every sip feels like it is full of live. That acidity was instrumental in this pairing. The wine worked quite well with both Granite and Souffle components of the dessert.
And last, but not least, one more dessert: Gala Apple and Granola (Apple Jack Caramel, Foraged Crabapple Confit, Cinnamon Gel, Pecan Brittle, Mulled Cider Ice Cream). Wine pairing: Ambré Riversaltes.
If Mara Pinot Noir was best of tasting, then this was the most interesting wine. This wine, made out of White Grenache, is made in the Solera style – it spent 7 years in the open tubs, developing delicate flavors. Ambré Riversaltes exhibited fresh and balanced flavors of toasted apple and caramel, which perfectly worked with “apple many styles” flavors of the dessert.
That’ s all, folks – it is time to conclude the report on the Hotel Fauchere experience. All in all, we had a great time, and will gladly do it again. The life journey continues…
Hotel Fauchère
401 Broad St
Milford, PA 18337
(570) 409-1212
http://www.hotelfauchere.com
Experiences: Bar Louis at Hotel Fauchere
Continuing the subject of experiences at Hotel Fauchere (previous post can be found here). Can bar deliver an experience worth talking about? You bet. Experiences are personal, they are not universal. Things which are total routine for someone, can be a source of a great excitement for another person. My case is very simple – but I have to tell you a secret about myself. I’m very intimidated in the bar. I’m usually at total loss. I can never remember names of the cocktails, never mind citing the ingredients. Those which I remember by name, like Manhattan or Rusty Nails, I usually have no desire to drink. So I have to ask. And then there is a person, very intimidating one – a bartender. When I start mumbling my order, I usually get a look which says: ” such a low life shouldn’t exist”. And so I retreat saying “I guess I’m fine for now” or “what beer do you have on top”.
Luckily, experience at Bar Louis at Hotel Fauchere was totally different. The atmosphere was casual and nice. The bar itself was beautifully set and lit up, with bottles literally filled with light. The selection was good. Of course Norma Jean in Tel-Aviv has much bigger selection of scotches – but shelves and content at Bar Louis are more presentable:
To put things in perspective, literally the he most important part of experience for me is service. Generally, I have a habit of asking people for their first name and then use it when talking with them. I was really disappointed with myself, forgetting to ask our bartender for the name. She was impeccable – knowing what she is doing, smiling and having enough patience to deal with someone who is at a complete loss in the bar (should I also mention generous pours?). Great service – nothing more, nothing less – and this is what translates into a great experience.
Drink menu was short but not ordinary, and drinks tasted really authentic. Then of course there were all the single malts, cognac and tequila. But my personal favorite and personal discovery was Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal. Smokey flavor, supported by some herbs and soft alcohol, this was truly unique drink. It is described as “magical” on the web site – who knows, it might be. I would love to compare it with the Kings of smokey alcohol – single malts from Islay, such as Lagavulin, Caol Ila and others – that would be one fun tasting. I highly recommend that you will get your opinion, though – which only requires finding the same bottle and tasting it… (of course, let’s compare the notes). Whether you will like it or not, I guarantee you an experience – and this is what counts.
And then the dinner time arrived – so long until the next post…
Can Angry Chef Make Good Food?
This is the sign I came across yesterday while in Los Angeles, in the Westin hotel. Seeing that chef is angry beg the question – how should the food taste like when the chef is angry? Does it help to make it better or will it be worse? The place was closed, so I was trying to find an answer on internet. I found web site for Angry Chef Grill, but it only offers an option of downloading the menu (which looks Italian and decent enough). Further search on Internet yielded some reviews on Yelp (again, quite decent), but didn’t help to solve the mystery of the name. If you know where the name came from or had being to that restaurant – please share your story…
Last Bottle Sign Up ($10 credit)
Talk-A-Vino 