Ron Johnson
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Posts posted by Ron Johnson
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Father and son Golitzin are talented winemakers. My experience is that these wines are not at their best upon release and are definitely not fruit bombs. They show a lot of structure and age very well. I wish I had some of the '89 reserve in my cellar.
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Low blood sugar can induce tremors, profuse sweating, and cause a diabetic to pass out.
Funny, just the drinking part does that to me.
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Then I found out that there is, in fact, a specific chemical in cilantro that some people are truly repulsed by though it is not actually an allergy that has risk.
What chemical is that?
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All you need is a heat source that achieves at least 1500 degrees.
Seriously, no home range burner or grill gets hot enough to achieve a true black and blue or Pittsburgh steak. You just cant form the crust at 500 degrees without overcooking the inside.
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For excellent gas ranges made for the home look at DCS. clickety
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When I go through periods where I skip breakfast regularly I find that I gain weight. I think its because I eat more at lunch and my body stores those calories as fat because I have not eaten anything in 18 hours. When I do eat breakfast each day I generally lose 10 lbs. or so over the course of a few weeks, even if I am not working out regularly.
Of course, I am not talking about some full-blown meal, but some toast with preserves, a bagel, or some cereal.
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Louisville, Kentucky:
Oysters, rolled or fried
Pimento Cheese
Fried fish sandwich
Country Ham
Bourbon
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When I buy Italian wine I never look at the label for DOCG or IGT or any other such designation because its meaningless. By tasting wines found Through recommendations from friends in Italy, trusted retailers, and some choice literature and criticism, I have come to know what I like and I buy that. The letters on the bottle are of no concern to me.
This is also true for all French wine that I buy.
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I use my toaster oven a lot.
I use my microwave for defrosting frozen things maybe once a month.
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Tommy, I wondered about this also. I am not sure which we received. I simply told the captain that I wanted the best tasting menu the chef could put together for us paired with wines and I was not concerned about cost
.Given that it was my first time there, I have nothing to compare the price of the meal to in order to discern which level of wines we were offered.
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I finally found my notes listing the wines that we had paired with our tasting menu at Atelier from a couple weeks ago. Alas, it was returned with my dry-cleaning. They were:
Gruner Veltliner "Zwerithaler" Prager, Wachau 2001: I really dig Gruners and this one was quite nice with a shot of acidity straightforward brightness and a bracing finish. Nice wine and paired very well with the praline of quail and foie gras with truffle gelee and fines herbs salad. Sommelier score A.
Sancerre "Les Monts Damnes" Francois Cotat, Loire 2001: Another score. Mineral and crisp, refreshing and a nice match with the salad of sea bass, asparagus, cockles and caviar. Sommelier score A.
Rully "La Chaume" Jacques Dury, Cote Chalonnaise 2001: Interesting choice as I stated that one of my parameters was no chardonnay. However, this wine had clearly seen no oak and the effect of the malolactic, if any, was minimal thereby saving me from the oak bomb butterscotch candy that I hate. Actually the wine was a bit of a surprise and really was called for given the accompanying dish of crawfish, porcini, and morels in lavish butter enriched sauce served en croute. Sommelier score A-.
Barbera/Refosco "Verbaiea" Gatti Pierro, Piedmonte 2000: A really neat little wine and a shrewd choice to pair with a fish dish, in this case the previously maligned "spa" trio of John Dory, baby leeks, and blood orange sauce. I skipped the dish after one bite, but savored the wine. Sommelier score A.
Corton Pougets, Louis Jadot, 1994: 1994 catches a lot of shit in Burgundy, and I had my doubts when this was brought to the table, but I admit that curiosity more than anything prompted a nod. A tidy burgundy showing surprising firmness and strength to balance what it lacks in finesse. Pinot Noir is different in burgundy and this wine showed it. It was a nice compliment to a fine dish of cod, sliced portuguese sausage, and white beans. Sommelier score B+.
Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino 1997. Cha-ching. What a wine. Still short of peaking, but showing beautiful notes of berry fruit and spice framed in well-behaved tannins, and the signature acidity of sangiovese. Oddly paired, however, with lobster in a reduction of lobster stock. Sommelier score B+.
Craneford Shiraz Barossa 2001. This left me flabbergasted and I damn near sent it back. My most specific request to the sommelier was "old world" wines, no fruit bombs. I was willing to over look the chardonnay, but this was downright insurrection. All in all a fine and technically correct wine, but what a shame to be paired with grand finale of the main courses: the squab and foie gras croustillante. This was a dish that cried for a Cote Rotie or Hermitage. C'est la vie. Sommelier score C-.
Ruster Ausbruch "Essence" Fieler -Artinger, Rust: A really interesting dessert wine. Super high acidity kept it lively and awoke the tongue. The desserts were not to my liking so I swirled, sniffed, and quaffed this little jewel. Sommelier score A-.
All in all a fine job by the sommelier, who was a very nice gentleman, and spent more than his fair share of his time at our table.
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$400 was before tip. And, yes the lobster in Muscat de Beaume de Venise reduction was superlative.
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Ron, I'm surprised you didn't take any doggie bags with you cuz I doubt I can ever finish a 6 course meal. When I was in Paris being served a 4 course meal paralyzed my body from lifting off my seat.
But it was the BEST meal I ever had. The courses are sized appropriately to allow one to sample all six courses comfortably. I believe we had eight or nine courses at Atelier the night before.
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They're limone di sorrento, and those who live on the Sorrentine peninsula claim that you can't really make limoncello without them.
Jim
They're right.
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Lauren,
You are most welcome. I think part of the reason we received so much special treatment was that our dynamic duo of Harry and Bob were a bit taken with you.
It was a lovely meal.
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A clarification and a question: the "praline" at Atelier was the quail which showed up as the first course; the squad and foie-gras dish is the "croustillant"
Correct, and corrected.
March was $400 for two.
I am still holding out hope that I will find the wine notes in a pocket of my jacket when I retrieve my dry cleaning this afternoon.
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Ron oh Ron how could you waste a precious meal?
Sorry I missed the whole pie. Did you have a favorite part of it?
Joy,
I was cold, tired, hungry and hungover in Chinatown without access to eGullet or your guidance. I recalled Pings from previous conversations. Alas, it was a waste of a precious meal.
My favorite part of the whole pie was easily the artichoke.
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They serve Maker's Mark manhattans.
I withdraw my criticism of Outback.
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While I do despise Outback, I will avoid that issue because I think there is something else in your post worth addressing. In many of these small towns there is great local cuisine if you are willing to find it. Unfortunately, the Outbacks, Applebees, and Olive Gardens are always located close to the hotel cluster in town or the interstate exit ramp, but if you are willing to snoop around a little you can find great food at small places in these towns.
I drove through Mississippi many times en route to New Orleans and we would often find great catfish houses or BBQ joints well off the beaten path. Those are the places one should seek out when travelling to a new locale.
Outback steak has a chemical flavor to me.
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Last Friday night, I dined at Atelier. I am not quite sure what to make of this meal. On the one hand the food was good, the wine pairings were suitable, the service was hospitable, the room was handsome, on the other hand for some reason I do not think that I would return for dinner again. Perhaps this is because I do not live in NYC and have to limit my choices during my brief weekend trips. Perhaps it was my hindsight comparison to the meal that I had at March the following night? Sadly, I left my notes from this meal in my hotel during my hasty exodus to escape the winter storm at LaGuardia so I am unable to recall the wines that were paired with each course. Wilfrid has already posted what each course was, so I will limit my comments. By far the best course was a small crock of morels, porcini, and crawfish tails baked en croute and served with a velvety butter enriched reduction that was reminiscent of the classic lobster thermidor preparation. Rarely have I encountered such a perfect harmony of flavors as one finds with morels, porcini, and crawfish. The least successful dish was a small John Dory fillet placed atop braised baby leeks and encircled with a blood orange reduction. This dish was spa food at its worst. The blood orange sauce was crying out to have been mounted with butter. Instead it was thin and bracingly acidic, which would have been fine if the dish contained any counterpoint of richness or fat to offset this flavor. Other successful dishes included a croustillant of squab and foie gras forming a sort of haute sandwich of love. Sadly I was quite full by the time this little gem arrived on the scene and could not devote to it the attention that it deserved. Also well received was a piece of Chatham cod draped with slices of sharp Portuguese sausage and cradled in a mixture of whole and pureed white beans napped with beautiful green extra virgin olive oil. The success of this dish stood in stark relief to the failings of the spa dish. Desserts were geared primarily for infants and those with poor dental hygiene, forgettable.
I had dinner at March last Saturday night. It was the best meal of the weekend.
We never looked at menus, just told the captain to have the chef make whatever and for him to pair wines with each course. We got six courses plus amuse and pre-dessert treats. At each course we each received a different dish so we ended up being served twelve dishes total and had excellent and sometimes rather esoteric wines paired with each one. Notable dishes included sashimi of hamachi with white soy, olive oil, sesame seeds and chives. Equally well-received was a scallop sliced in such a manner that it unfolded into a large thin oval served with a single raw oyster in a miso mignonette. Wayne Nish knows his raw food. Rack of lamb with broccoli risotto and lamb jus was perfect, as was saddle of venison with paper thin slices of ruby crescent fingerling potatoes and an intense parsley puree. Atelier could take a lesson from the lobster served at March, simply poached and served with a thick glistening butter reduction of its own stock. Scallops re-appeared in the form of tiny ravioli more reminiscent of perfect asian dumplings. Foie Gras benefitted from a preparation that included the faintest whisper of Indian spices lingering in the background and a piquant kubocha chutney. Brilliantly, the dynamic duo of captains Bob and Harry served an Oloroso sherry with this course. Squab was "braised and roasted" a preparation that showcased the crisp sking while maintaining the intense mineral depth of flavor.
With coffee and after-dinner drinks my bill was less than $400.00. I am not sure what was comped other than the Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne.
The service was impeccable, the food was perfect, and the wines were interesting. I can't ask for much more than that in a meal.
Over the weekend when I have more time, I will post more in depth on each dish and the wine that was paired with it.
A fantastic lunch at DiFaras with two lovely New Yorkers. The place is tiny, crowded, marginally clean, and I loved it. This place is about pizza and thats what we ate. Square slices of sicilian, a twice baked treasure of luscious cooked tomato sauce with olive oil and chees. Simple and satisfying. To hold us over until we received our whole pie, we noshed on a slice of the plain cheese. This is pizza. Nothing else will ever compare. Finally, as if we needed more food, a whole pie came steaming to the table topped in thirds with mushroom/garlic, fennel sausage slices, and delicious fresh sauteed artichoke slivers. It was quite simply the best pizza I have ever tasted. Armed with a few bottles of wine, I could easily make an entire afternoon out of eating at DiFara's. Hell, we practically did, and we only drank root beer and Pelligrino.
My other notable lunch was at Grand Sichuan International Midtown at 9th and 50th. I had the much lauded Kung Bao chicken from the freshly killed chicken section of the menu. It was very good. Two things came to mind when sampling the freshly killed chicken. First, it had more flavor, but second, and more notably, it was soft. The texture was totally different from what one usually expects from supermarket chicken.
I also had Dim Sum at Pings on Sunday, but I was seriously underwhelmed.
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I had dinner at March last Saturday night. It was the best meal of the weekend.
We never looked at menus, just told the captain to have the chef make whatever and for him to pair wines with each course. We got six courses plus amuse and pre-dessert treats. At each course we each received a different dish so we ended up being served twelve dishes total and had excellent and sometimes rather esoteric wines paired with each one.
With coffee and after-dinner drinks my bill was less than $400.00. I am not sure what was comped other than the Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne.
The service was impeccable, the food was perfect, and the wines were interesting. I can't ask for much more than that in a meal.
Over the weekend when I have more time, I will post more in depth on each dish and the wine that was paired with it.
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I'll second those who said Edna Lewis, Ronni Lundy, and Camille Glenn. I especially like Camille's work as she often writes for my local newspaper and is from my hometown.
Oh yeah, and Colonel Michael Edward Masters
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I was in a Chinese restaurant in Midtown last Sunday and every person sitting at the bar was smoking a cigarette.
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I just finished "Comfort me with Apples" by Reichl. (It was a remainder for $2.98 hardcover).
It is recipes interspersed with fairly well-written narratives describing the different men with whom she had affairs while married to a sculptor. In retrospect the title takes on an entirely new meaning . . .
Quilceda Creek
in Wine
Posted
I love their Doyenne. Wicked good syrah.