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Bring on the Night Life
A NEW GENERATION OF WATERING HOLES IS ADDING LUXURY TO THE BAR. BY ELAINE GLUSAC
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA: ONYX BAR & LOUNGE (shown here) greets the cocktail crowd at the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North with a dramatic backlit onyx slab supporting a mesquite wood bar. Come at sunset for margaritas and memorable views over the blushing desert. (480) 515-5700, www.fourseasons.com/scottsdale
SAN FRANCISCO: BAR 888 in the new InterContinental San Francisco dares to spotlight grappa as the foundation of its drinks. Get it lemon infused and muddled with fresh berries and lime juice at the marble-topped lobby bar. (415) 616-6566, www.intercontinentalsanfrancisco.com
NEW YORK: SALON DE NING models the 1930sera glamour of Shanghai on the rooftop of The Peninsula New York with Chinese-style daybeds for ogling the skyline and a glass-enclosed bar showcasing Asian art and antiques. (212) 956-2888, www.peninsula.com
CHICAGO: The just-opened VERTIGO SKY LOUNGE serves up views of the surrounding high-rises from a 26th-floor rooftop bar at the Dana Hotel & Spa. Huddle around the fire pit with a sake bellini. (888) 301-3262, www.danahotelandspa.com
MIAMI: PLUNGE at the new Gansevoort South hotel perches 18 stories above the ocean on a Brazilian wood deck lined with 20-foot palm trees. Try a strawberry pisco mojito in a chandelier-lit private cabana. (305) 604-1000, www.gansevoortsouth.com
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WINE GADGETS
Wine Innovations
THESE GADGETS, AVAILABLE ONLINE OR AT FINE WINE RETAILERS, ARE GREAT FOR SIPPING, STORING, OR SAVORING WINE.
BY ANTHONY DIAS BLUE
LEFT TO RIGHT:
VINTURI WINE AERATOR
Help your wine breathe with the Vinturi Wine Aerator, one of the best available. $40
CATANIA WINE ENHANCER
Place
your bottle, glass, or decanter full of wine on top of this unique
gadget for seven to 12 minutes and -- bam -- the wine not only ages and
becomes more refined, but the wine headache is gone. $65 to $130
SCREWPULL LEVER MODEL ELEGANCE
I
open around 20 bottles of wine a day when I taste, and this model has
been a gem. Brushed silver Elegance model, with foil cutter and stand
in gift box, around $150
CLEF DU VIN
The
Clef du Vin ages your wine to perfection; simply dip and then sip. The
Elegance 3-Piece Collection comes with a pocket, service (shown), and
bottle model. $300
LEFT TO RIGHT:
RESERVE WINE PRESERVER
Wine
oxidizes very readily, and soon starts to turn into vinegar unless the
air is removed from the bottle. A very sophisticated system, the
ReServe works by means of an argon gas cartridge. Around $190
SCREWPULL CORK CATCHER
This device eliminates the embarrassing possibility of a flying cork. Around $20
WINE CLIP
The
Wine Clip uses principles of magnetics to improve the taste of wine as
it is being poured out of the bottle. Simply clip around the neck of
your wine, pour, and enjoy. Around $40
WARING PRO PROFESSIONAL CORDLESS WINE OPENER
Open
your bottle with the push of a button. This sleek machine can remove 80
corks with one full charge of its battery pack. Around $55
ON BOTH PAGES:
RIEDEL GLASSES
The
Austrian glass manufacturing company has made a precise science out of
designing glasses for particular varietals of wine. From $30 to $50 a
pair
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN SMITH
STYLING BY CASSIE CURNUTT
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TRAVEL
 Food and Wine Festivals
There
is no better way to get a taste of a destination than attending a food
festival. Wines, both local and international, are being generously
poured. Top chefs are showcasing their best. And the cities overflow
with visitors who share a common passion. Here are a few of the
culinary festivals that will encourage you to pack some loose pants and
hop a plane! By Nicole Alper
FOOD NETWORK SOUTH BEACH WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL
Spot
your favorite celebrity chef, from Bobby Flay to Daniel Boulud, at the
four-day South Beach Wine & Food Festival, where the who’s-who of
the culinary universe gathers. Festival highlights include cocktail
clinics with master mixologists and the oceanside BubbleQ, combining
American barbecue and fine French bubbly. (305) 627-1275, www.sobewineandfoodfest.com
TEXAS HILL COUNTRY WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL
The
Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival in Austin is the Lone Star
State’s premier culinary event. In between tasting and toasting, you
can roam the food stalls in Georgetown’s San Gabriel Park at the Sunday
Fair, or board a party boat on Town Lake on a Sip to Shore event. (512)
249-6300, www.texaswineandfood.org
ICELAND’S FOOD & FUN FESTIVAL
When
Chef John Besh isn’t cooking for Laura Bush on Good Morning America, he
just might be judging the Icelandic Food & Fun Festival held
annually in Reykjavik. During the festival, world-class chefs prepare
an all-Icelandic-ingredients menu -- presented for a week at
participating Reykjavik restaurants. The finale? A chef competition
held at the city’s Art Museum. www.foodandfun.is
CAYMAN COOKOUT
From
January 16-19, 2009, the Cayman Islands will host its first Cookout,
hosted by celebrity chef Eric Ripert, behind The Ritz-Carlton Grand
Cayman restaurant Blue by Eric Ripert. Over the weekend, guests can
stroll along the world-famous Seven Mile Beach and dip in and out of
tastings, wine-pairing demos, and seminars. (345) 943-9000, www.ritzcarlton.com or www.caymanislands.ky/cookout
PALM SPRINGS FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL
Drenched
in the California sunshine, this festival serves up samples from some
of Southern California’s finest restaurants, plus wine tastings
featuring the state’s finest vintages. Also on the menu: culinary
demonstrations hosted by top celebrity chefs. (760) 320-5373, www.palmspringsfoodandwinefestival.com
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CELEBRATED TRAVELER
 ANTHONY BOURDAIN
He’s been called “the bad boy of cuisine” and the “gastronomic Indiana Jones.” Chef at New York bistro Les Halles, Bourdain burst into popular culture with his surprise 2001 bestselling culinary exposé Kitchen Confidential. He followed with A Cook’s Tour, and has written three novels and a cookbook, but he’s perhaps best known for his current Travel Channel series on world cuisine, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. In our first Celebrated Traveler profile, Bourdain dishes about great places and great food.
UNCONVENTIONAL ACCOMMODATIONS: I love the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. It’s very quirky and coddles eccentrics. I love Hazlitt’s in London; it’s like staying at your eccentric uncle’s when he is away. I also love the old grand luxe hotels, like the Metropole in Hanoi.
HIDDEN GEMS: In tourist destinations, visitors might never find places like Hilma’s Windsor Castle in St. Maarten, a lunch spot that she operates out of a trailer. In London, St. John restaurant. In Reno, the Fireside Inn is fantastic. It is a bizarro, completely insane step back into an alien 1950s, just cheeseball in the best possible way. In Paris, Chez Robert et Louise, a mom-and-pop joint in Le Marais. If there is a surprising destination that really shocked me, and was a big, big, surprise, it’s Columbia. Absolutely fantastic … it’s shockingly friendly, beautiful, and the food was great.
FOREIGN POLICY: If you’re an American looking to eat out, and you see more than two Americans in the place, that is a really grave warning sign. If a place is packed with locals, that’s good. There is an incredible sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Sukiyabashi Jiro. It’s a three-star-Michelin, with an 82-year-old man serving very traditional sushi, as close to perfection as I have ever had.
HOME SWEET HOME: New York has always been what a city is supposed to be to me. … As much as I love traveling, it’s tempered by the fact that I know I will always be back here. For fancy restaurants, Le Bernardin is the benchmark. That’s as good as it gets, an absolutely top-drawer fine dining restaurant that still manages to be fresh and relevant year in and year out. -- LARRY OLMSTED
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WINE LABELS
First Impressions
 You
can’t judge a wine by its label, but wine packaging does create first
impressions, for better or worse. The best designers know that what’s
on the label should reflect what’s inside the bottle. BY ANTHONY DIAS BLUE
A. When
Aurelio Montes decided to plant syrah in Chile, a lot of people thought
he was crazy. His wine, Montes Folly, has an unusual wraparound label
designed by well-known graphic artist and illustrator Ralph Steadman.
In Steadman’s wacky yet unnerving style, the label depicts the desolate
heights of the Andes, along with a rather lurid winged muse bearing a
bunch of grapes.
B. Following
a tradition originally established by Château Mouton-Rothschild in
Bordeaux, some wineries commission different artists yearly to create
artwork especially for their labels. The label for the 2006 vintage of
the Justin cabernet sauvignon, from Justin winery on California’s very
happening Central Coast, was created by Jerome Gastaldi and pays homage
to Pablo Picasso.
C. To
make a splash in today’s crowded wine market, label designers often
resort to bold strokes. The newly imported champagnes from Armand de
Brignac are fitted with stunning full-metal jackets featuring a bold,
embossed ace of spades. Understandably, they’re a hot ticket on the
club circuit (and the champagne is fabulous).
D. Sometimes,
traditional says it best. The beautiful, understated labels from
Ceretto, a major producer in Italy’s Piedmont region, are a case in
point. Each features swirling script and an engraving of the particular
vineyard from which the wine is sourced. Now that’s class,
Italian-style.
E. The
offerings from Red Car Wines, owned by erstwhile Hollywood
writer-producer Carroll Kemp, are steeped in the film noir tradition of
the 1940s and ‘50s. Not only are the haunting labels moody and
atmospheric, but each one tells part of a dramatic story … to be
continued with the next vintage.
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GOLF
FOUR COURSES, 18 HOLES
 Robert
Trent Jones Jr. is the golf architect on the menu in Nevis, as the
17-room Montpelier Plantation Inn, now a Relais & Chateaux member,
is offering a Golf and Gastronomy package through December. After
tackling the Jones course at the nearby Four Seasons Resort, players
tuck into a three-course gourmet extravaganza at Montpelier’s The
Terrace. $695 per night. Relais & Chateaux, (800) 735-2478, www.relaischateaux.com; Montpelier Plantation Inn, (869) 469-3462, www.montpeliernevis.com -- T.B.
Fruit of the Nines
A
bottle of CordValle Cuvée awaits visitors to each of the 45 luxury
accommodations at CordeValle, A Rosewood Resort, in San Martin,
California. The Clos LaChance winery overlooks the sixth green of the
enticing Robert Trent Jones Jr. course; players will usually find (and
can always request) that impromptu wine tastings break out on the
seventh tee. A debatable game improvement strategy, true, but a solid
drive toward gracious living. (888) 767-3966, www.cordevalle.com – Tom Bedell
Lighting it Up in the Desert
The
Arizona Biltmore turns 80 next year, but it’s burning the candles
early. Ah, no -- those are actually cigars, being torched by a
(presumably) manly foursome in a “Stogies and Sticks” package, October
16 to 19, that includes two days of golf on the Biltmore’s venerable
courses, following a feast laden with pre- and postprandial smokes and
a tutored bourbon tasting. $450 per night, with an option for an extra
round (of golf) and a group lesson. (800) 950-0086, www.arizonabiltmore.com -- T.B.
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TRAVEL
Delectable Destinations
 What’s the next Tuscany, the next Napa? Here, three below-the-radar destinations with flavorful new appeal. BY ELAINE GLUSAC
RIOJA, SPAIN The Spanish region of Rioja (www.vibrantrioja.com)
is bursting with new wineries built by the world’s most famous
architects, including Zaha Hadid for López de Heredia, Santiago
Calatrava for Bodegas Ysios, and Frank Gehry for Vinos Herederos del
Marqués. The last project also encompasses the luxury HOTEL MARQUÉS DE
RISCAL (011-34- 945-18-08-80, www.marquesderiscal.com), giving oeno-tourists a contemporary berth from which to sample the region’s tempranillos.
PUEBLA, MEXICO A UNESCO World
Heritage Site noted for its colonial architecture and Talavera-tiled
facades, Puebla is also famed for mole. Now the boutique hotel LA
PURIFICADORA (011-52-222-309-1920, www.lapurificadora.com)
brings celebrated Mexico City chef Enrique Olvera, who runs Pujol, one
of the capital’s best restaurants, to town. Two more traditionally
styled inns, siblings MESÓN SACRISTÍA DE LA COMPAÑÍA AND MESÓN
SACRISTÍA DE CAPUCHINAS (www.mesones-sacristia.com), offer workshops in mole-making.
PARMA, ITALY Neighbor
to Tuscany, the Emilia-Romagna province is locally considered the
culinary capo in Italy. Why? Because it’s home to three of the nation’s
best products: prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, and aged
balsamic vinegar. The new ACADEMIA BARILLA (866-772-2233, www.academiabarilla.com)
from the Parma-based Barilla pasta company allows visitors to explore
the local wonders, combining tours of cheese factories and vinegar
aging houses with cooking classes.
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GOURMET INGREDIENTS
 ASIAN FLAIR
STAR CHEFS SUCH AS ROY YAMA- GUCHI, NOBU MATSUHISA, AND MING TSAI HAVE BROUGHT EXOTIC ASIAN INGREDIENTS INTO THE SPOTLIGHT. HERE’S A LOOK AT SOME FAR EASTERN FAVORITES. BY NICOLE ALPER
BANANA LEAF & BANANA BLOSSOM
The leaf of a banana plant is used as a decorative element as well as a wrap for such things as sticky rice. The banana blossom is often boiled in water or coconut milk and eaten like an artichoke.
GARLIC SCAPE
The flower stalk of the garlic plant that shoots up from the bulb, the more subtle garlic scape tastes like a garlicky scallion.
THAI EGGPLANT
Tough-skinned and somewhat bitter, these are essential ingredients in curries.
QUAIL EGGS
Considered an Asian delicacy, these tiny eggs dress up countless dishes and are served both hard-boiled and raw.
PERSIMMON
A high-tannin fruit hailing from China; the flesh is sweet, while slightly tart, and must be ripe before eating.
THAI BASIL
A stronger variety of sweet basil, this herb has small leaves, purple stems, and a subtle licorice-mint flavor.
THAI CHILE
Also known as bird’s-eye chile peppers, these are small and one of the strongest varieties available, used often in Thai soups.
MANGOSTEEN
With reddish-purple skin when ripe, this Southeast Asian fruit has sweet and tangy tasting garlic clove-shaped sections inside.
SHISO LEAF
A jagged-edged leaf from the beefsteak plant, with a strong, almost medicinal flavor. in Vietnam, it is often used in salads or as a wrapping for grilled meats. in Japan, it is most often used in sushi and tempura.
DUCK EGG
Most commonly used in making salted duck egg, a Chinese preserved food made by soaking eggs in brine or packing them individually in damp salted charcoal.
GROUND CAYENNE
A dried and ground red, hot chile pepper used to flavor spicy dishes.
GINGER ROOT
The Southeast Asian spicy root is used in myriad Asian dishes, from soups to stir-fries.
PERSIAN CUCUMBER
Smaller than a common cucumber, the Persian cucumber has a crunchy, watery texture and sweet flavor
LYCHEE
Rough on the outside, sweet and aromatic on the inside, lychee is one of Southern China’s most unique fruits.
CILANTRO
A fragrant, green leafy herb with a pungent flavor, cilantro is often added to Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian foods.
LEMONGRASS
A tall, lemon-scented grass used to flavor curries and soups, and a vital ingredient in Thai curry pastes.
TURMERIC
Used to color and flavor, especially in yellow rice, turmeric is a brilliant orange-yellow rootstock, most often dried and ground.
FOR RECIPES FROM
ROY YAMAGUCHI,
CLICK HERE
FOR “ FURTHERMORE”. |
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