Category: Food and Drink

News about eating and drinking

Wall Street Wine Club

swanksalot2 Comments

I received solicitation from the WSJ Wine club in the mail, but wonder whether the wine is $4 a bottle swill or better. Hard to tell, really.

Breakfast drinks self-portrait

Some question the wine selection:

The Wall Street Journal announced today that it has created an online wine store, along with a wine club. Sadly, it looks dishonest from day one.

The Journal is not the first publication to try to leverage its supposed integrity into wine sales. The Times of London has had a successful wine club for years. The San Francisco Chronicle — the only newspaper in the US with a dedicated wine section — has been running one for the last couple of years.

Readers of the publications can wonder about how much impact the club has on editorial decisions. Will a wine get John and Dottie’s approval now because the Journal managed to acquire 5000 cases at a discount?

[From Wine Rocks: Wall Street Journal wine club: Looks like lies to me]

The initial offer includes one of those fancy corkscrews, and twelve bottles for $69. I am considering trying to see what’s included. My price point is usually around $10 a bottle, so perhaps I am a good target.

Wine Lovers See Red Over State Laws

Seth Anderson0 comment

We’ve discussed stupid Illinois wine shipping laws previously, but the problem is occurring in more states as well.

Wine-go-Round

A handful of states in recent years have enacted laws that, while permitting direct shipments, include requirements that bar or discourage many out-of-state wineries from participating.

Besides Massachusetts, Arizona, Kentucky and Ohio have all passed laws that ban direct shipments from larger wineries, which disadvantages many vintners in big wine-producing states, such as California. Kansas and Indiana require residents ordering out-of-state wine to first visit that vineyard and show identification proving they’re of legal drinking age; Kansas requires consumers to make the journey each time they order from the same vintner.

Critics say these laws fly in the face of a landmark 2005 Supreme Court ruling that struck down as discriminatory state laws that permit in-state wineries to ship to local consumers while denying the same right to out-of-state wineries. At the time, 26 states allowed some form of direct shipping from outside their borders. These were exceptions to the nation’s so-called three-tier system, a patchwork of state laws that usually require alcohol producers to funnel their wares through distributors to reach a store or bar. Legislators created the system in the wake of Prohibition, partly to discourage overconsumption.

[From Business – WSJ.com] [Digg-enabled access to full article here]

And the reason for the ban:

Advocacy groups for wineries say local wine and liquor distributors have pressured state lawmakers into drafting laws that protect distributors, who fear a loss of revenue from direct shipping. “What the wholesalers really want is to preserve as much as they can their monopoly pricing power, which is considerable,” says Bill Nelson, president of WineAmerica, a trade group for wineries.

Original Gin and the Fall of Man

Seth Anderson0 comment

I would be very interested in sampling the fruits of original gin, genever.

Cocktail Hour can strike at any time

COMPARED with vodka, gin is a relative newcomer. But despite what the Russians might say, the history of gin — like its flavor — is far more complex.

Gin was born as genever in Holland in the 17th century. It was renamed gin when it got to England about 100 years later. Eventually, the English style, which is stronger and lacks the touch of sweetness that is typical of genever, came to dominate the market. But genever is making a comeback.

Next week Lucas Bols, a Dutch company that was founded in 1575, will start to sell its genever in the United States again. It was last imported in quantity about 50 years ago, but small amounts have seeped into the United States since then. Grain shortages in Holland during the world wars and Prohibition in the United States combined to do in the export of genever.

The Lucas Bols genever joins a few other brands of genever already on the market. Zuidam and Boomsma are imported from Holland. And earlier this year, Anchor Brewing and Distilling, the San Francisco company that makes Junipero, a dry gin, started selling Genevieve, a genever that it had developed about 10 years ago.

[From Malty and Complex, the Original Gin Is Making a Comeback – NYTimes.com]

Drinking the daylight green

A side benefit to being a citizen of the 21st century is that our recent history is available for close examination. The quest for the authentic, platonic ideal is simplified, in other words. Classic, formerly obscure films are a mouse click away, popular music from around the globe is being re-released at an amazing rate, absinthe is being served at your neighborhood saloon, and now one can drink gin as Hogarth imagined it.

Of course, nobody understands satire anymore (just ask Roger Ebert) but that’s a minor price to pay for our land of cultural splendors…

Masada

Seth Anderson4 Comments

Cool, I like grabbing a quick nosh at Sultan’s Market.

Sultans Market
[Sultan’s Market, Wicker Park]

The folks behind Sultan’s Market are making the jump from quick-serve Middle Eastern to a full-service spot featuring live music, belly dancers and Middle Eastern-style tapas in Logan Square1. Look for a multi-level 4,000-square-foot space with both restaurant and lounge seating – you’ll be able to see the stage from all floors — plus they’re planning a posh outdoor patio fitted with lush landscaping and more. The kitchen will kick out freshly made pitas from a brick oven, plus there will be offerings like sumac-crusted rotisserie chicken and lamb ravioli in yogurt sauce. The restaurant takes its name from chef/co-owner Masada “May” Ramli, the matriarch of the clan behind the eatery (and it’s also an ancient Israeli city).

[From Masada – Logan Square – Chicago, IL 60647 | Metromix Chicago]

Via GapersBlock

Seems as if Alhambra sparked a restaurant war…


“Masada” (Alpha Blondy)

bonus, Masada is a pretty good album by Alpha Blondy, the Ivory Coast reggae star.

Footnotes:
  1. 2206 N.California Ave, Chicago [↩]

Pump driven espresso

Seth Anderson2 Comments

I’m on the hunt for the smallest pump-driven (or semi-pump driven) espresso machine. I don’t really have an obsession with crema, but am nearly ready to splurge on a proper coffee making device.

Breakfast Beverage
[This is a fine machine, capable of making a good, strong coffee, but it ain’t espresso. The coffee Geek writes:

There is a fifth type of machine often (mistakenly) called an espresso machine; these are the steam driven machines marketed by companies like Krups and Braun, usually found for under $100. Rather than producing authentic espresso, these machines produce a strong coffee, more akin to what a moka pot or Bialetti stovetop device brews. There’s nothing wrong with these types of machines; it’s just that, for the scope of this guide, we’re going to be pretty much ignoring them.]

Anyway, back to the hunt. Alex Abramovich of Slate was on a similar hunt a few years ago:

I should upgrade to a pump-driven espresso maker, which heats water in a sealed reservoir, then forces it through pre-ground espresso beans at a requisite 15 atmospheres of pressure. (Click here for a more detailed description of how these high-tech machines work.) These espresso makers are bigger, heavier, and more difficult to use than their steam-driven cousins. They’re also messier and a lot more expensive. But they’ll produce a dark, rich, foamy espresso, with the flavorful oils of a good coffee all on the surface. Once you’ve made a few shots, it’s hard to go back to anything else

[From Which espresso machine is best? – By Alex Abramovich – Slate Magazine]


“Bodum Chambord 12-Ounce Coffee Press” (Bodum)

I’m still on the look-out for my next machine. I don’t really want to spend over $300 dollars, and I have a fairly limited counter space to keep the thing, so I may settle for an also-ran machine that fulfills these parameters. Does seem to be more available than last time I researched the subject. Hmmm.

Any suggestions?


"Gaggia 14101 Classic Espresso Machine, Brushed Stainless Steel" (Gaggia)

The Wellington Room

Seth Anderson0 comment

Matthew Sharlot and Karen Sharlot have finally opened their own restaurant. The menu looks delicious.

In an intimate dining room where all guests enjoy the spectacular view of the Piscataqua River, The Wellington Room is sure to be a memorable dining experience. Our chef hand selects local products of the best quality and freshness, and prepares all dishes himself… including the pastries. We offer a broad variety of cuisine and all dishes are made fresh to order (even the coffee), so special requests are welcome.

[From The Wellington Room Home]

Too bad I live too far away to drive over for lunch.

Rachel Forrest liked it too:

I watch the door when people come into a restaurant and I’m always surprised at how anxious people look when they step up to a host/ess podium for the first time. I can see them wonder if their name is on the reservation list, if this restaurant will make them feel welcome, if they’ll feel good at the end. They really don’t know what to expect. I get that.

There are restaurants I go into where I know the owner, host or bartender pretty well and I go to these places in part because I do know them and feel welcomed and comfortable, but it can take a few visits to become a “regular,” to feel like I belong. Not so at The Wellington Room, where Karen Sharlot, who owns the romantic restaurant with husband and executive chef, Matthew Sharlot, can make you feel like a regular from the moment you step through the door.

[From Seacoastonline.com: Dining Out: The Wellington Room, Portsmouth]

Julia Child WW2 Spy

Seth Anderson0 comment

First, sad news that Ms. Child died1. Even though she was 91, and obviously not at full strength, she was always so full of life. We really love watching her cooking show when they run marathon episodes on PBS.

Second, she was a spy for the OSS? Wacky. Though, there were a lot of famous persons who worked for the OSS during WWII.

Before Julia Child became known to the world as a leading chef, she admitted at least one failing when applying for a job as a spy: impulsiveness.

Details about Child’s background as a government agent come into the public spotlight Thursday with the National Archives’ release of more than 35,000 top-secret personnel files of World War II-era spies. The CIA held this information for decades.

The 750,000 documents identify the vast spy network managed by the Office of Strategic Services, which later became the CIA. President Franklin Roosevelt created the OSS, the country’s first centralized intelligence operation.

Child’s file shows that in her OSS application, she included a note expressing regret she left an earlier department store job hastily because she did not get along with her boss, said William Cunliffe, an archivist who has worked extensively with the OSS records at the National Archives.

The OSS files offer details about other agents, including Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, baseball player Moe Berg, historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and film actor Sterling Hayden.

Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Kermit Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt; and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police.

[From JULIA CHILD, SPY: Julia Child a World War II-era spy — chicagotribune.com]

We’ll miss you, Ms. Child.

Footnotes:
  1. according to the so-far brief obituary, Ms. Child died in her sleep August 12, 2008, at her home in Santa Barbara [↩]

Packit Gourmet Launched

Seth Anderson0 comment

My cousin’s website has finally launched1, a boon to travelers and campers who are looking for quality food to take on trips.

Homecooking is the new Gourmet! Both at home and on the trail, we are committed to eating well; avoiding “fast-food” and artificial ingredients wherever possible. In bringing our own standard to the Packit Gourmet line of meals and grocery items, we personally select and carefully taste-test each and every item offered to make sure that the flavor, texture, appearance and nutrition are something that we would want to eat at home or on the trail. Having trekked a few miles ourselves, we know that size, weight, water and time conservation are also important so we hand pack and package with that in mind. If we wouldn’t use it or eat it – you won’t see it sold in our store.

You’ll find many homemade flavors featured in the meals we offer – and natural and organic ingredients included whenever possible. Both meal components and bulk products are handpicked to ensure that you are getting what we think is the best product possible; and your meal packs are hand-packaged in a commercially certified kitchen.

We love to travel almost as much as we love to eat! You’ll see a reflection of this in the flavor selections found in our meal packs. Heavy influences of the Deep South, Texas and Mexico are featured throughout our offerings; but you’ll also find traces of Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, India and South America. All places where we have enjoyed great experiences and fabulous food.

[From Packit Gourmet]

Check it out before your next excursion.

Footnotes:
  1. full disclosure, I’ve had a small role as an unpaid consultant [↩]

Dog Meat is Hot

Seth Anderson1 Comment

Dog Food

I’ve never had the urge to sample dog meat, probably for the same reason that I am mostly a vegetarian. I’ve lived on a farm, so I have an inkling of an idea where meat comes from: pig meat, cow meat, even chicken flesh all originates from the body of a friendly critter. In the US anyway, most of our meat comes from factory farms.

THOSE who hope to taste dog meat when they visit Beijing for this summer’s Olympics may be disappointed. The Beijing Catering Trade Association has ordered all 112 designated Olympic restaurants to take dog off the menu, and has strongly advised other establishments to stop serving it until September. Waiters have been urged to “patiently” suggest alternative dishes to customers who ask for dog. It’s all part of a wider campaign to avoid offending foreigners during the Games. (Beijingers have also been told to line up nicely, to stop spitting and even to avoid asking tourists questions about their ages, salaries and love lives.)

The order is not likely to bother many residents. Though dogs have been raised for food in China for thousands of years, you have to hunt around to find the meat on modern menus. Certain regions, like Hunan and Guizhou Provinces, are known for their canine predilections — but even in these places, dog is a relative rarity. And in Beijing itself, you hardly find it except in a few Korean and regional Chinese restaurants.

Dog eating, in any case, tends to be a seasonal pursuit. According to Chinese folk dietetics, which classify every food according to its heating and cooling properties, dog is one of the “hottest” meats around, best eaten in midwinter, when you need warmth and vital energy, not in sultry August.

That eating dog is seen as an issue says more about Western preoccupations than Chinese habits. Since time immemorial, Westerners have had a morbid fascination with the weird fringes of the Chinese diet. Marco Polo noted with distaste that the Chinese liked eating snake and dog; modern Western journalists just love to get their teeth into a juicy story about some revolting delicacy like the assorted animal penises served at the Guolizhuang restaurant in Beijing. And for gung-ho foreign tourists, a skewerful of deep-fried scorpions in the night market in central Beijing has become a rite of passage.

[From In Beijing, It’s Too Hot for Dog on the Menu – Fuchsia Dunlop – NYTimes.com]

Spectators in Ketchikan

Speaking on that topic, there’s a show dedicated to such conspicuous consumption of oddities called Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer (blog here). We watched several one day, an oddly fascinating travel show.

Beer and Pork

Seth Anderson1 Comment

Donnie Madia in front of Avec

Paul Kahan and Donnie Madia’s new beer and pork place is finally given a name: the Publican. Not sure of the location exactly, but it looks like it is on West Randolph Street somewhere.

After years of speculation and anticipation, it looks as though the beer-, pork- and fish-focused restaurant by chef Paul Kahan finally has a name: The Publican.

[snip]

The Publican (the name takes a little getting used to) will serve up beer-friendly foods (see the braised pork potee in the photo above), along with more than 100 brews from England, the U.S., Belgium and Brazil and more far-flung locales. The chef de cuisine is Brian Huston (pronounced like the Texas town), who worked at Blackbird years ago, went off to cook in Colorado and returned to town about a year ago to work on this project. While developing The Publican’s menu, Huston has been working at Avec and can be seen there almost nightly.

[From The Stew – A taste of Chicago’s food, wine and dining scene | Chicago Tribune | Blog]

I know D won’t want to ever set foot in the place, pork and beer are not favorites. Maybe if my brother comes in town…

update: location is 845 Fulton for this nitrate central.

Blackbird Project Named and Dated
The Blackbird/Avec team has finally announced that their third sib, a culinary homage to beer, pork and fish in the West Loop, will be named the Publican (British term for pub owner). The tentative opening date has been set for Monday, August 18th. Exec chef Paul Kahan and chef de cuisine Brian Huston have developed a network of purveyors to supply the restaurant with hand-selected, sustainably harvested seafood and sustainably raised heirloom pork to anchor a rustic menu of simple, eclectic fare. And beer enthusiasts are thirsty for the more than 100 ales, lagers, stouts and ciders to be served by the bottle, with another dozen available on tap (845 W. Fulton Market).

[From Blackbird Project Named and Dated – Best of Buzz – Zagat Survey ]

Topolobampo and Obama

Seth Anderson2 Comments

Topolobampo is excellent, I’ve eaten there a couple of times. Sepia? Not much of a fan, but then we weren’t exactly treated like royalty, or potential presidential candiates, when we dined there.

The Obamas’ favorite spot for a night out in Chicago is the alta cocina Mexican restaurant Topolobampo, according to Michelle Obama spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld. For a simpler bite, the Obamas turn to RJ Grunts, a cartoony Lincoln Park emporium of burgers, ribs and Tex-Mex standards, the spokeswoman says. On her own, Mrs. Obama has favored the more cutting-edge food at Sepia in the trendy West Loop neighborhood near the atelier of her suddenly famous dressmaker, Maria Pinto.

[From The Candidates Dine Out – WSJ.com
[Non-WSJ subscribers use this link]]

[snip] The WSJ’s Raymond Sokolov is a fan of Chicago dining:

Altogether more interesting on the Obamas’ dining list is Topolobampo, Rick Bayless’s superb little shrine to the full panoply of Mexico’s cuisine. We have eaten there happily for years, enjoying its authentic, even scholarly versions of classic dishes such as chilaquiles and Yucatecan roast pork. Topolobampo (named after a Mexican port) is one of the reasons we think Chicago is arguably America’s top eating city, with fewer high-end addresses than New York but a more stellar, dramatic pantheon.

From its diverse and creative menu, Topolobampo says, Sen. Obama often orders sopa azteca, a dark broth flavored with pasilla chilies, grilled chicken, avocado, Meadow Valley Farm handmade Jack cheese, thick cream and crisp tortilla strips.

Sepia, the potential first lady’s glam West Loop haunt (she ate there last Saturday), was new territory for us. We started out with one of the restaurant’s signature flatbreads, this one topped with applewood-smoked bacon, chunks of pear and crumbled blue cheese. We also sampled the ethereally smooth and densely flavored chilled carrot puree with chive cream swirled on its mirrory surface.

As a nostalgic Great Lakes native, we were thrilled to find Sepia offered walleyed pike, moist and fresh as the northern waters from which it came, dressed up with wild mushrooms and a cashew vinaigrette. Other fresh and naturally produced items on the menu included elite Berkshire pork and artisanal domestic cheeses. If Mrs. Obama has the chance to encourage this kind of food in the White House and can get Mr. Bayless to bring a Mexican touch to state dinners, the Obama administration would be a golden era for American gastronomy.

Zucchini In the Sky

Seth Anderson0 comment

We’ve been intrigued by Dr. Dickson Despommier’s hydroponic urban utopia ever since he made an appearance on the Stephen Colbert show a few weeks ago. Such a richly imaginative and evocative idea: much better than another parking garage or condo building.

Dr. Dickson Despommier, a professor of public health at Columbia University, hopes to make these zucchini-in-the-sky visions a reality. Despommier’s pet project is the “vertical farm,” a concept he created in 1999 with graduate students in his class on medical ecology, the study of how the environment and human health interact.

The idea, which has captured the imagination of several architects in the United States and Europe in the past several years, just caught the eye of another big city dreamer: Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president in New York.

When Stringer heard about the concept in June, he said he immediately pictured a “food farm” addition to the New York City skyline. “Obviously we don’t have vast amounts of vacant land,” he said in a phone interview. “But the sky is the limit in Manhattan.” Stringer’s office is “sketching out what it would take to pilot a vertical farm,” and plans to pitch a feasibility study to the mayor’s office within the next couple of months, he said.

“I think we can really do this,” he added. “We could get the funding.”

[From Country, the city version: Farms in the sky gain new interest – International Herald Tribune]

There is a slide show of some possible designs for the building here, a permalink to the New York Times article here, and Dr. Despommier’s Vertical Farm website is found here.

Evolution and Fat

Seth Anderson0 comment

Apparently, since for most of human history, famine was a bigger concern than feast, our bodies have evolved to maintain a certain weight, making losing weight more difficult than simple caloric reduction and/or exercise, and making it much harder to lose weight once you’ve gained it. Anecdotally, we’ve known this to be true, but now there is some scientific data to support what our bodies have been telling us.

“Loosely put, after you’ve lost weight, you have more of an emotional response to food and less ability to control that response,” says Michael Rosenbaum, lead author of the study in this month’s Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The key driver of this system is leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells. When humans… lose 10% or more of their body weight, leptin falls rapidly and sets off a cascade of physiological changes that act to put weight back on. Skeletal muscles work more efficiently, thyroid and other hormones are reduced — all so the body burns 15% to 20% fewer calories, enough to put back 25 pounds or more a year.

This mechanism kicks in whether people are obese or relatively lean before losing weight — and researchers believe the effect can last for years. In previous studies, giving subjects replacement leptin reversed the metabolic changes, in effect tricking the body into ignoring the weight loss.

The latest study shows that these metabolic changes are mirrored in altered brain activity when people lose weight. The Columbia researchers put six obese subjects on liquid diets and reduced their weight by 10%, then gave them replacement leptin or a placebo. At each stage, researchers observed their brain activity using functional MRIs when they were shown food and non-food items.

The scans showed that in the weight-reduced state, the subjects had more blood flow in areas of the brain that govern emotional and sensory responses to food and less in areas involving control of food intake. When the subjects were given replacement leptin, brain activity returned to what it had been before they lost weight.

[From Can’t Keep the Weight Off? Maybe Leptin Is the Culprit – WSJ.com]

Not that keeping weight off is impossible, just it takes more willpower than you’d think.

Suron Salad

[You don’t win friends with salad, unless it is really good, like this from Cafe Suron, on Pratt, Rogers Park, Chicago]

[Non-WSJ subscribers can use this link to read the entire article]

FDA Still Clueless re Food Safety

swanksalot0 comment

Pippen with Cilantro

Tomatoes were apparently a false lead – the probable culprit was something used frequently in conjunction with tomotoes, but not in Italian restaurants.

Officials investigating the salmonella outbreak now are looking at jalapeño peppers as a leading suspect for spreading the bacteria that has sickened hundreds across the U.S. over the past three months, according to people familiar with the probe.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initially blamed tomatoes. That led to industry losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the National Restaurant Association, as consumers cut down on consumption and restaurants pulled them from menus.

But as the disease continued to spread, the investigation turned to other foods commonly eaten with tomatoes, in particular to other ingredients used to make salsa. Besides jalapeño peppers, officials are looking at cilantro and Serrano peppers.

[From Jalapeños Probed in Outbreak – WSJ.com]

Costuluto Heirloom
[Costuluto Fiorentino Heirloom Tomatoes are supremely delicious]

Restaurants, food markets and consumers are annoyed at the half-hearted pace of the investigation.

The lengthy probe of the outbreak and failure thus far to find the culprit are sowing frustration and even anger among restaurants, produce growers and supermarkets. Officials have acknowledged the slow pace, while facing growing pressure to identify the source of contamination conclusively — something the Food and Drug Administration has warned may be impossible.

[snip]

Richie Jackson, chief executive of the Texas Restaurant Association, said the CDC’s focus on salsa could confuse consumers and frustrate restaurants. The state has confirmed more than 350 cases, the highest number of any state in the U.S.

“To blame salsa brings nothing to the table,” said Mr. Jackson, whose state has about 5,000 Mexican restaurants. “Until you can define which ingredient is the culprit, I don’t think you can blame salsa and condemn it … there’s all kind of salsas.”

He said he’s not aware that restaurants in the state have removed salsa from their menus. “If you don’t have chips and salsa at the table, you’re not in Texas,” he said. “I think some of the credibility of the CDC warnings is a little more suspect after the tomato warnings,” he added.

Museum of American Cocktail

Seth Anderson3 Comments

Cocktail Hour can strike at any time

Sounds fun, I want to go there, soon.

the Museum of the American Cocktail opening this month will focus on the rich history of sophisticated drinks that have been served since Thomas Jefferson was president 200 years ago.

Cocktails – originally defined as any mixture of bitters, spirits and sugar – were an early fixture in this French port city. Besides easy access to sugar, a European sensibility allowed a drinking culture to flourish when it foundered elsewhere in the south’s Bible Belt.

“I definitely think New Orleans has always been the home of civilised1 drinking,” said Ann Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, an annual festival that attracts thousands.

“The image the tourists have is not how most locals think of drinking. We believe in better, not more.”

The museum is located near the city’s French Quarter and features a collection of rare spirits, books, and Prohibition-era literature. There will be vintage cocktail shakers, glassware, tools, gadgets and other cocktail memorabilia.

[From From martinis to Manhattans, US museum pays homage to mixed drinks | World news | guardian.co.uk]

I have not been to New Orleans since Katrina, except in spirit, but a journey to celebrate spirits sounds like a festive spritzer. Errr, whatever.

Footnotes:
  1. British spelling, from a British paper, we aren’t correcting it [↩]