Craig Camp

Touché. I concede the point. But sometimes that white peach is enough for me.

... and what a white fruit! We won't argue about what a real dessert is Steve - but those Italian white peaches are special.

I think you mean Bart Broadbent - his son.

You know it is less than a day’s drive from Alba to Beaune - and the northern Rhone is on the way. Nothing but good restaurants everywhere you look. There is a heaven.

Claude, I recently attended the Bougorgnes Terrior and Signatures tasting in Chicago. While the tasting was filled with uninspiring wines from larger shipping firms, the simple fact that this event and tour was even happening would seem to highlight the marketing problem that Burgundy is facing in the United States. In addition, the adoption in Beaune at the General Convention of Burgundy Wine Professionals in November 2002 of 5 major quality goals and the whole “Burgundy Ambition 2006” plan points out that even the producers in Burgundy understand that there is a growing image problem for the wines of Burgundy. It seems strange that in what could be considered a ‘golden age’ of quality compared to the wines of 20 and 30 years ago that Burgundy seems to find itself in a difficult competitive situation. Is this only a function of price or the comparative rarity of the top estate wines of Burgundy? One bright spot of the tasting were the wines of a young importer by the name of Scott Levy - a former protégé of one of my most respected names in Burgundy, shipper Becky Wasserman. His offerings included: Domaine Paul Garaudet, Domaine Roland Maroslavac-Leger, Domaine Hervé Sigaut and Domaine Taupenot-Merme. I thought his selections were first class across the board. Do you know Scott and his domaines?

Hai capito! The perfect comparison.

What is Italian-American cuisine? There is Italian-American home cooking and then Italian-American restaurant cooking and in my perception they are different things. Which one is what we refer to when talking about Italian-American cuisine? For me Italian-American home cooking is an adaptation of Italian cooking by Italians to the available ingredients while the restaurant cooking is an adaptation to the perceived desires of the customers. In my opinion, the home cooking is superior to the restaurant version which will offer dishes regardless of the quality of ingredients available. For instance, offering Insalata Cuprese (tomatoes, fresh basil, and fresh mozzarella) in February when the tomatoes have the consistency of baseballs. When I say Italian-American restaurants I am not referring to places like the Babbo group, who for whatever you think of them, are inspired by Italian cooking, not Italian-American cooking, or those awful chain places like Maggiano’s, Macaroni Grill and others that use “Italian” like a Disney theme to bring in customers, but to the large number of restaurants serving expensive dishes born from the American perception of Italian food. I often see comments from writers used to eating and criticizing every aspect of a meal at the finest French oriented restaurants writing positively about Italian-American restaurants where I see the food as over-garliced, over-sauced, over-portioned and over-cooked. Is this because diners have become accustomed to this type of food and just accept it or because they have low expectations of Italian-American restaurants. I no longer compare these restaurants to the real thing in Italy, so I have come to appreciate Italian-American cooking in its own right. When done well it is delicious and rewarding comfort food. I think a part of the problem comes from the owners of the restaurants themselves who often have contempt for the knowledge of their customers and know they can cover up poor ingredients with garlic and melted cheese. I often find the best Italian-American restaurants are small, family run operations that try to bring the flavors of their own home into the restaurant. There often seems to be an inverse relation between price and quality and between fame and quality. One thing for sure, don’t trust a concierge who recommends a place in a ‘Little Italy’ when you ask for a recommendation for a good Italian restaurant. What are your opinions on what constitutes real Italian-American cuisine and where to find it?

I will confess to buying most of my wine in Italy - it is a lot cheaper. In Chicago you have to like Sam's of course for the completeness of their selection and fine people. Todd Hess, the wine director, is not only a great palate but a wonderful person unaffected by the power he welds. Greg Smolik, the Italian wine director, is also excellent and his knowledge of southern Italian wines is among the best in the USA. Perhaps the sheer size of the store does create some service problems, but I can walk around there for hours just looking - I don't think there is a bigger selection of fine wine under one roof anywhere. The Fine Wine Broker's are very nice shops. Philip Bernstein in the Merchandise Mart is a first class wine guy. They work hard to have good small, interesting producers. Randolph Street Wine Cellars is an outstanding shop with some great buys. Very knowledgeable people and they also own the connecting wine bar, The Wine Room - that has a great by the glass selection. This is a great stop on Saturday as they have many bottles open for tasting in the shop. For small interesting estates you can't beat Howard's Wine Cellar on Belmont. It is a tiny shop but is filled with jewels and the pricing is fair. Every bottle in the shop is personally selected by owner Howard Silverman who has very strong opinions on wines and is not shy in sharing those thoughts – both about wines he buys and wines he doesn’t.

Doug Shafer, of renowned Shafer Vineyards, talks about the business his father founded and how it handles an increasingly tough market

The Madeira Wine Site The Madeira Wine Guide Blandy's Maderia Hope this helps. There was a good book but I think it is out of print.

It is clear there are many wonderful small Italian producers and De Cecco is king of the big brands. However, is anyone in the USA making serious pasta (other than fresh)?

True, true, true!

This is true, but it is my understanding that Barilla is paying farmers to grow a specific variety - not just buying off the market. I suppose it like wine - just because you transplant the vine does not mean the wine is the same. As far as Chicago goes you can even buy De Cecco at Jewel now.

Yes they import a lot of wheat. So the question may be - do they make it differently for the American market?

You're probably right. I always think I am missing one. By the way, those of you in England, does this hold true there too?

While driving through Iowa last year we passed the giant Barilla pasta plant. I have to wonder how the Italian executives are enjoying living in Ames, Iowa after leaving their offices in Parma, Roma and Milano. I have tasted both the Italian version and American version of Barilla side by side and there is a major difference. The American version has a softer texture and is much more difficult to cook ‘al dente’. While Barilla is no ones benchmark of great pasta the comparison does raise many questions about the raw materials used in production. After all the wheat used in both is durum wheat semolina. I would assume the machinery used is the same. De Cecco remains my dried pasta of choice in the USA as it is so readily available and consistent. Are there American brands (not fresh) that can maintain an ‘al dente’ texture as successfully as Italian brands? If so, what are they? I will also say the same thing about the cheap imported Italian brands as they also go from undercooked to overcooked without ever hitting the right point.

Probably 3 at least. At least three. If you like the Fonterutoli style, that 99 is a winner and should develop well. It depends on the way you like your wines - if you like a lot of fruit and intensity in the wine drink it younger. This wine is a tre bicchieri (three glasses - top award) winner in the 2003 Gambero Rosso Guide so you know it is big, ripe and more than a little oaky. There is more than a little controversy on how long these new style wines should age. I have not tasted it yet but will have it next month at Vinitaly and will send you my notes. I would say 3 to 5 years for the 750 and 5 or more for the magnum would be no problem depending on storage conditions. With good storage they both could go much longer.

I have only been to this store once and would like to know - it is certainly well connected as they say. Anyone out there have any imput on this one?

Better is the debated part. One thing for sure it ages more slowly. However this does not apply to Champagne beyond the magnum (1.5 L.) size.

Isn't it resonable to assume if a restaurant is going to charge a 3 to 4 time mark-up that someone on the staff should have at least basic training in recommending the wines on the list with the dishes on their menu. I mean selling Codax for $39! At that mark-up they should have Ms Immer there to help you.

Steve - Is a sommelier the only way to deal with this situation or can the list be constructed in such a way that it helps consumers?

You and beachfan must live in California - the only place I can think of where BYO is widely accepted.

i don't know about that. i fancy myself as someone in between those two descriptions, and i like a progressive wine list. usually. wine geeks know what to look for, regardless of the grouping. at least, they say they do. Tommy: I'll admit to posting my hard-and-fast rule intentially simplistic in order to get some conversation on the topic (i've never actually found a wine list like that). But I stand by my basic premise that most diners (by far) decide what color they're having and then what price they're willing to spend. -yb I think this is the fact. Most people spend more time looking at the right of the page than the left.

There are a thousands of Italian cookbooks out there. Which books have you found most useful and which books are the best at dealing with ingredients that are hard to find outside of Italy? My current favorite is Food and Memories of Abruzzo by Anna Teresa Callen.

In these days when wine styles are getting so homogenized that it can be hard to tell an Australian from an Italian, it is particularly important to find wine merchants that seek out and promote exciting wines produced by winemakers seeking to let their grapes and vineyards speak in their wines. Two such wine merchants are Garagiste (Garagiste Wines) in Seattle and Chambers Street Wines (Chambers St. Wines) in Manhattan. Both of these merchants are obviously dedicating a lot of time to tasting and selecting wines of great character that taste of the place where they were made. It almost all cases the merchants seeking out these types of wines and to take the risk of offering unknown names are smaller and sometimes hard to find. If you know of such merchants in your area it would be helpful if you could post their name and website so that eGullet members can discover more sources for these types of wines.