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Please join us for the 2nd Annual Long Island Wine Classic, designed as a kick-off event for the 2004 Hampton Classic. Sponsored by the Wine Spectator, the event will celebrate Long Island’s wine, produce, seafood and poultry in a beautiful setting under the VIP tents at the Hampton Classic. GRAND TASTING: $175 The Grand Tasting will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The late afternoon ticketed event will offer guests the opportunity to taste world-class wines from all of the Long Island Wine Council’s 30 wineries. Taste by varietal or barrel samples and other specialty wines from the individual wineries. Enjoy exceptional gourmet dishes from high-end Long Island and New York City restaurants, which support local wines and use local agricultural products. Tasting will be limited to 900 guests. More than 30 items will be offered in a Silent Auction that will include a dazzling selection of goods and services (travel, fashion, jewelry, kitchen appliances and other groupings). PARTICIPATING WINERIES: Bedell Cellars, Broadfields Wine Cellars, Castello di Borghese Vineyard & Winery, Channing Daughters Winery, Corey Creek Vineyards, Comtesse Therese, Galluccio Family Wineries, Jamesport Vineyards, Laurel Lake Vineyards, The Lenz Winery, Lieb Family Cellars, Loughlin Vineyards, Macari Vineyards & Winery, Manor Hill Vineyards, Martha Clara Vineyards, The Old Field Vineyards, Osprey’s Dominion Vineyards, Palmer Vineyards, Paumanok Vineyards, Peconic Bay Winery, Pellegrini Vineyards, Pindar Vineyards, Pugliese Vineyards, Raphael, Schneider Vineyards, Sherwood House Vineyards, Shinn Estate Vineyards, Ternhaven Cellars, Waters Crest Winery, Wölffer Estate. PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS (partial list): Long Island: Alison, Almond, Cool Fish, Della Femina, East By Northeast, The Frisky Oyster, H2O Seafood Grill, Jeff & Eddy’s, La Cuvee, Mirabelle, Polo Restaurant, Stone Creek Inn, Tellers Chophouse, Tierra Mar; New York City: Amuse, Artisanal, Craft, Home, Joseph’s Citarella, Noche, Park Avenue Cafe; Special Delicacies: Sang Lee Farms, Tom Cat Bakery, The Village Cheese Shop Proceeds will benefit the three Eastern Long Island Hospitals: Eastern Long Island Hospital Central Suffolk Hospital, and Southampton Hospital. The Hampton Classic’s Boutique Garden will be open beginning at 4:00 p.m. to permit Wine Tasting guests to visit and shop at the Classic’s 35+ boutique stores, prior to the Grand Tasting.

This past weekend I happened to be at a wedding in Montecito. My mom and I, both avid cooks, and Julia fans both heard the news that morning from the newspaper, while staying at the Montecito Inn, miles from her home. That morning we reminisced about her and how she had influenced our cooking... however when i really went into my period of mourning was actually at the wedding itself (please don't tell the bride and groom, close family friends). The wedding was at Rose Story Farm, the beautiful Rose Garden that Julia has asked her ashes be spread over as it was one of her favorite places. (above the South of France? above all of the many beautiful chateaus she had visited amid her travels and living abroad?) As I stared at the beautiful rose gardens, I got lost in a flurry about her and how she had touched my life. Be it the countless times I heard that high pitched voice streaming from my mother or grandmother's kitchen televisions...sometimes with Jacques...other times just being her unique self, as evidenced by the countless stories written in her obituary...who can't forget the chicken dropping and her telling the viewers "don't worry, no one is in the kitchen but you..." I continued to look at the roses, imagining her being there and wondering if she came to Rose Story Farm days before she made her last supper consisting of French onion soup, right before she lay into her final slumber... then flashback to making the "flowers" under my mom's aspic out of carefully cut carrots, eggs and shallots, or whatever other "materials" my mom had given me to decorate on her pate. I thought of my grandmother's kitchen, with her several Julia cookbooks, each showing their wear, not only by the ear marks on several pages, the countless notes to self in the margins, but also the various crumbs of flour in the pages, so many of us can relate to from mindlessly touching the pages while engrossed in preparing a lavish dish. I remember folding the merengue; with its stiff peaks right before it went into her famous lemon merengue pie.....or peeling the pears for her infamous poached pears... clearly I could go on for hours, and now that I am home my cookbooks will serve as a memory...they are even now the more complete with the few rose petals stuck in the pages that I had put in my purse to remember such a wonderfully unique woman who had such an influence on all of us. Aurivoir and bon appetit to you, Julia..thank you for being you and touching our lives with your incredible culinary sprit...xo

are they serious...? he's an ACTOR....

also try www.groovycandies.com they have gift boxes with all the candies from each generation...there is one of the 60's, 70's etc...check out the site for more info..could be a great gift for you to give him....

had a fun night in brooklyn fri night....walked across the brooklyn bridge....headed to grimmaldis but ditched the line at and opted for take out..took it down by the water and sat and watched the skyline..then went to the brooklyn ice cream factory...fun...they only have about 6 or 8 flavors--we had chocolate chunk and strawberry --others are vanilla, chocolate, chocolate choc chunk...all the simple ones... but they use excellent chocolate and its just the right sweetness..a fun summer night activity for all you new yorkers...

mmmm...the thought of that acme bread brings back such memories when i was at berkeley...that raisin cinnamon bread is heavenly....i havent found anything even close to it in new york....and yes the rustic as well....who said that man cant eat on bread alone?

i love that place..and yes it is tiny but i happened to be there one saturday afternoon where the owner was there and had a nice conversation with him about his time in venezuela and how he wanted to bring arepas to ny...he is planning on opening more or expanding... ps the one with the guacamole was my favorite...a fun food experience for those who havent been..definitely go ..and make sure you sit at the bar so you can watch them make them....

i have seen it in grocery stores that have South African products...supposedly there is some loyal south african following?... sorry i cant help with an exact place, but hope that gets you a little warmer in your search (its pretty disgusting though, very yeasty tasting....but to each his own!!!)

I just came from a lunch celebration at grammercy tavern (another topic altogether) however walking back to my office I stopped at Shake Shack..the danny meyer hot dog and frozen custard "shack" in the park....even after a great meal at grammercy, i couldnt resist trying a frozen custard...but was too stuffed for the hot dogs.. also my dog would love the pooch-ie...ice cream with a dog biscuit but today's sweltering heat would not allow me to make it to my office's freezer.... what do others think? any suggestions for next time???

any thoughts on the per se review in wednesday's Sun??? cupcake

Wolfgang Puck's Postrio--i think on Post Street has an amazing brunch..the ravioli with quail eggs are not to be missed....

I second Citizen Cake in San Fran..off Van Ness..had a beautiful bday cake made there for my boyfriend...

if anyone has the King Arthur Cookbook, they have a great biscuit recipe

try New York Cake Supply... www.nycake.com

yes Yank Sing is the one everyone knows and pretty good, however I prefer ones a little more authentic, and actually IN CHINATOWN...yank sing is in the heart of the financial area...however their custard buns for dessert, dumplings and bao are worth the trip alone ..there is also a little take out place right next door which i would recommend....you can try their signature favorites as a little snack and then try Asian Gardens..I think on Jackson St...for a more authentic meal...happy eating--however note that it gets very crowded, especially on sundays when many chinese families are out having dim sum...I will try and look up the exact address for you....

try Buttercup Bake Shop on Santa Monica Blvd..near the F&S fabrics and the McDonalds..sorry i cant be more specific with the address but i can try and look it up..the strawberry rhubarb is TO DIE FOR..blueberry and apple as sinful as well baker Karen Levine is incredible and you feel like you are in her home kitchen...

recently returned from the Silverado....much too over-rated...the spa was disappointing, the rooms not great (in addition the fuse broke about 3x just from using a hairdryer and having the lights on).....however I did find some great websites of the small bed and breakfasts which I much prefer...last time we stayed at the Beazley house--I think the website is www.beazleyhouse.com which was quite centrally located to go to a lot of the heavenly wineries and restaurants... its was quite nice, great location, staff was very helpful, we had a nice romantic room, and a delicious breakfast...2 cents from cupcake

do you ever make homemade molded chocolates.?? i have used lavendar on top of molded chocolates and also when i made petit-fours..i used a TINY sprig on top..there was a great article on epicurious.com where they taught you how to make them...very similar to a class i took..it looks beautiful... good luck... I also made homemade ice-cream...sssh with the help of an ice cream maker and put some lavender in it..it was delish...i think it was lavender peach? but you could do anything..and i did it for a dinner party and put a little sprig on top of each scoop...

could be..what was your experience with his food?

I had been to Olives a few times before with friends for cocktails, however never for dinner. I had heard positive things about the restaurant, and my dining companion had as well. Prior to our visit, I did look at some reviews and again, heard positive comments, and the merits of Todd English’s food (plus rave reviews about his cookbook from some cookbook author friends). Overall, we had a very enjoyable experience; however living in NYC and being somewhat of a true “foodie” I was quite disappointed with our server (which I will explain below). Other than that, overall the experience was quite positive, great atmosphere, great food, fun crowd (it was extremely busy with a very NYC/fun crowd) and was intrigued by the extensive menu and would want to come back to try some of Olives’ other creations. I loved the décor at Olives, the lighting, large chandelier prominent in the main dining room added the right amount of light, the flowers were beautiful (dogwoods and cherry blossoms—very typical of spring & festive) loved how you could see part of the exposed kitchen (or at least some of the prep station) with a highlight on them with the lighting. The table we were seated at had a nice view of the dining room, and the banquet was very comfortable and roomy. People were all hanging out in the lobby to the left of the restaurant, and you could tell it was a fun festive crowd. Everyone seemed to be having fun, drinking, etc. The bar area was quite crowded, and it was a little tight getting through to the restaurant, but it just made the experience all the more hip and popular as once seated in the dining room, the ambiance was not noisy at all and quite pleasant..we loved the music they played, it was at the right level, etc. My only other minor complaint was where the bathrooms were situated…in the middle of our meal, I went to the ladies room and was a little irked that I had to walk all across the dining room, through the bar area and lobby of the hotel, take an elevator to the second floor and basically use the bathroom of the hotel…while I did make a comment to the bouncer in the elevator, he said the hotel had been converted and the bathrooms had to be on the second level; however I am surprised that they were not able to have bathrooms on the main level, it was somewhat of an inconvenience as I felt I had been “missing from the table” for about 10 minutes. While I usually like to comment on all the positives first, (esp at olives with the food, ambiance etc) I have to say our server was quite disappointing. For a somewhat “hip” restaurant, I found our waitress to be unhelpful, brief, and in a pissy mood. She was not AT ALL like the other servers I typically encounter when dining in NYC. As a friendly person, I pretty much always have servers that are friendly, talk with you, make suggestions, if you pass on dessert or something else, say are you sure you don’t want to try x” just make your visit more pleasant. She seemed to be the “get em in, get em out, type” and was not at all friendly, except after we had paid, and about to tip, we got a huge glaring smile out of her and a and “hope you had a nice time, thanks so much” which made it all the more artificial and annoying. When we first sat down, she didn’t really welcome us, her hair was a mess, tied up in a twist type knot, just looked like she wasn’t really that happy to be there…we first ordered drinks …when she came back to get our order we werent ready, I said “we just need two more minutes” she then just said ok, and left as opposed to saying, can I make some suggestions?..all she said were “the specials are listed inside the menu.” Something like, the specials are listed inside the menu, but I am happy to describe any of them for you and/or make any suggestions!!” Not once did she offer expertise on anything on the menu...also when she came back to check on us while eating, I made a comment on one of the salads on the mezze vegetarian plate, (specifically asking her are these sweet potatoes? and she said, no it’s a carrot & feta salad.,.and that was that…” However once it was time for dessert, again in her typical demeanor, she just brought the menus and from what I remember just gave them to us….never made any suggestions, never said, we make a great cappuccino, etc...nothing...again, she just wasn’t the same caliber of server I am used to living in NYC and going out to eat often. Alas, now the food…delicious overall. We started with the complementary olive platter and the bread. I found the foccaccia-like bread a little too greasy, while the flatbread was delicious..just the right amount of seasonings, salt and crisp texture. It was delicious with the quality olives and few types of tapenade. As an appetizer I started with the Greek salad, which was quite innovative. Aside from being on a carefully assembled round bed of fresh mesclun-type lettuce, (far from the traditional typical romaine) the carefully slivered red onions and feta were delicious. Plus, I was quite appreciative when the plate arrived with not only the dressing on the side, but also the olive oil and feta cheese, as I had asked for the dressing on the side. I found the line chefs decision to put both on the side was quite appreciated and considerate as s/he interpreted that the guest obviously wanted to be eating healthy, and opted to not douse my salad in the olive oil and fattening cheese as well. It was superb. As a second course I opted for the Mezze; the vegetarian platter as I thought it sounded quite innovative. It was not only delicious but also very innovative and an interesting and well-chosen variety of Mediterranean salads. My most favorite was the one with the perfectly roasted carrots (which tasted like sweet potatoes) and feta cheese. If only I could roast vegetables as well as that at home. Also refreshing was the cucumber and yogurt salad, which was a delight on a warm evening. The ratatouille was equally delicious and interesting; a nice “somewhat sweet” complement to the hearty and refreshing combinations. The last salad was also interesting but not as much to my liking and I found it to be a little unimpressive. I was quite full in time for dessert. While I was quite tempted to order the souffle that was served right at the table next to me upon my arrival, I was excited when the two types of petit fours arrived as a nice finish to our meal. The macaroon was just sweet enough to satisfy, and even more delicious was the small coconut & chocolate bar. I feel that the complementary petit fours go a long way with guests. Even alongside a dessert it is such a nice gesture and always well received as a nice final touch at the end of a meal. Overall, I will definitely try Olives again soon; the various fish selections, roasted chicken and tuna tartare caught my fancy and with such a nice ambiance and fun crowd, it is a perfect place to meet a friend for dinner. Again, my one complaint being my server, however I would imagine that the situation would be different upon my next visit. ps has anyone made anything from Todd English's cookbook????

speaking of cookies, has anyone tried the most scrumptious cookies at Levain bakery on the upper west side?..they are huge but perfectly cooked..crusty on the outside yet chewy and just so sweet on the inside...if you were to stop by I am sure they would make "baby" ones for you for a reception... also people have been raving about Crumbs, (on upper east and west sides) however I have only had their cakes and cupcakes.... also William Greenberg's butter cookies could be perfect for a post-art reception..(upper east side on madison) a nyc classic! (and dont forget to get a sticky bun for yourself while there)

and for people in nyc and ct, Stop & Shop is offering this service as well..i was in a store a few weeks ago and it was perfect for putting in deli orders...(however you cant taste them anymore