Monthly Archives: July 2011

Perhaps as a holdover from my old cosmo-swilling days, I usually have a number of fresh limes on hand, but rarely any lemons. But we recently happened to have a couple extra after jarring a batch of preserved lemons, and I resolved to make good use of them.

I also happened to have a bottle of gin I’ve been itching to open. Back in April, when we visited Door County, Wisconsin, I picked up a bottle of Death’s Door Gin. This gin is actually vintage, marked with the date the “organic hard red winter wheat” was harvested from Washington Island: August, 2009. Because Washington Island, set at the very end of the Door County Peninsula, is a particularly scenic and tranquil spot, I couldn’t resist this gin made from its wheat (as well as “wild juniper berries and various other botanicals”).

On its own, the gin has a nose of juniper (of course) and a bit of fresh mint. Sipped neat, anise flavor gives way to juniper before a hit of white pepper.

A gin this complex and smooth deserves better than a swish of tonic. Since I had some fresh lemons, I dusted off my old Aviation recipe. (more…)

When a colleague at work gave me a bottle of Garnacha Tinta (Grenache) from Spain, I didn’t think it would be suitable to discuss on this blog. After all, this varietal grows all over the country. According to The Oxford Companion to Wine, Garnacha Tinta is “Spain’s second most planted red wine grape after Tempranillo in 2004,” covering no fewer than 203,300 acres.

But I looked a little closer at the label of this 2006 Via Terra Garnacha, and noticed it came from a Denominación de Origen (DO) I had never heard of: Terra Alta. I located this large, Catalan wine region on a map in The World Atlas of Wine, lying just west of much more famous Priorat, near the city of Tarragona.

Neither the atlas nor the Oxford Companion had very much to say about this mountainous “high land,” other than to note that it’s scenic and up-and-coming, but not yet fully developed. Wikipedia agrees, adding that Terra Alta wines were consumed almost exclusively locally until just recently.

André Dominé’s Wine goes into further detail, describing how “the red wines here were considered to be as rough as the climate,” but thanks to more modern wine-making techniques, “these wines have now become softer and more complex.” Indeed, the best examples have led “Spain’s top enologists [to] consider Terra Alta to be one of the greatest hopes.”

It seemed this Garnacha could be worth writing about after all! (more…)

…With expectations shooting high enough to punch a hole in the ozone layer, we passed through the vestibule connecting The Aviary to Next and entered the restaurant. Our chairs pulled ceremonially from the table, we settled into two of the most coveted seats in American restaurantdom and took in the scene.

A latticed appliqué covered the front windows, focusing all attention within, and a length of Eiffelesque metal undulated along the ceiling. Braced by ribs arcing to the walls, it looked like the spine of some steampunk cetacean. Above that, thick metal disks punctured by glowing circles of glass evoked manhole covers.

Beneath the industrial-age whale spine and sewer-chic light fixtures, luxury reigned, with padded silvery walls, immaculate table linens and gold-rimmed china plates. If you’ve ever fancied a seven-course gourmet meal in subterranean Paris, this is the place for you.

The expense may give you pause, but that’s the least of your worries. Securing reservations at one of the most talked-about restaurants in the country can be tricky. To get in, you must buy tickets through Next’s website, as if you were attending an opera or, more accurately, a blockbuster rock concert.

According to Next’s Facebook page, they received 1,000,000 hits on their website within an eight-day period, and tables are available on the website for an average of one second. It goes on to estimate that about 3,400 people compete for the restaurant’s 16 tables — 16 tables — each day new reservations are released.

If you’re lucky enough to obtain tickets, they already include the meal, tax and gratuity in the price (as well as the wine pairing, if you so choose). No money is exchanged at the restaurant, and the tickets are non-refundable.

I feel somewhat awkward about describing the rest of our experience, because we dined at Next the very last evening they were serving the “Paris, 1906 — Escoffier at the Ritz” menu, composed of recipes from Auguste Escoffier’s monumental Le Guide Culinaire, the bedrock of classic French cuisine. Grant Achatz and his team are currently fine-tuning a new Thai menu, with the first practice dinner reportedly happening tonight (July 5).

I’ll describe the experience of “Paris 1906” nevertheless, as a record of the event and as an example of the kind of experience you can expect at Next. And goodness knows, if you want that experience, start working on getting tickets as soon as you can.

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In honor of Independence Day, Snooth assembled a fascinating collection of wineries from the 13 original colonies. It’s a great reminder that there’s a lot more to United States wine than just the West Coast — all 50 states now have wineries.

New York’s Long Island boasts some of the most innovative, crafting wines from ususual grapes like Dornfelder and Refosco. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal featured an excellent piece about the virtues of obscure Long Island varietals.

It might not be easy to find a wine from the East Coast in your local wine shop. But you can certainly find something unusual and American with which to celebrate July 4th. A nice dry rosé would be perfect with a picnic or barbeque, or even better, crack open an American bubbly.

Cheers!