Escape to Valletta: Culinary delights in the next European Capital of Culture: Valletta is one of Europe’s most diminutive cities. Bang in the middle of the Mediterranean, ravaged by extremes of weather and world war, Malta’s small jewel of a capital is also the furthest south – a historical comeback kid that continues to punch above its weight, as it has done for centuries. Le Cinq Paris: Restaurant Review: There is only one thing worse than being served a terrible meal: being served a terrible meal by earnest waiters who have no idea just how awful the things they are doing to you are. And so, to the flagship Michelin three-star restaurant of the George V Hotel in Paris, or the scene of the crime as I now like to call it. In terms of value for money and expectation Le Cinq supplied by far the worst restaurant experience I have endured in my 18 years in this job. This, it must be said, is an achievement of sorts. Food has replaced music as culturally central, at least for … [Read more...]
The health benefits of wine
As if we need more excuses to drink wine! Although many of us have heard whispers about the health benefits of drinking wine, the average wine enthusiast doesn’t know much about positive effects of the fruit of the vine. Fortunately for us, a great deal of research has been done, and there are many more studies yet to come out about how and why wine is good for you. Today, we’ll cover what we know about how a glass or two in the evening can help you stay healthy. Red is Love, Red is Life Although we’re still awaiting the results of many studies about the health benefits of white wine, the general consensus around wine and health is that red wines pack the most positive punch. As with many fruits and vegetables, the healthy elements in wine occur mainly in the skin of the grape. So start stocking up on tannin heavy reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, or Syrah. Heart Health Among the most well-known and documented health benefits of drinking wine is its effect on the heart … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #109
How Shipwrecked Champagne Is Changing Winemaking: In 2010 Dominique Demarville, cellar master for the champagne house Veuve Clicquot, got what he thought was a joke call: 168 bottles of likely the world’s oldest champagne had been found in a shipwreck beneath the Baltic Sea. Soon Demarville was sniffing and sipping the 170-year-old champagne, which he found sweet and fresh, although some tasters described its initial scent as “wet hair.” The dark, cool sea had preserved it in what researchers called “close to perfect” conditions. Four years later Veuve Clicquot launched Cellar in the Sea. Some 350 bottles were submerged in the Baltic, to be retrieved and analyzed periodically over 40 years. Why Lucky Peach Is More Than Just a Magazine for Food Geeks: In 2012, Lucky Peach published a story, purportedly based on a series of emails from a writer named Sydney Finch, who claimed to have found evidence that the Chinese invented spaghetti with tomato sauce. It was an amusing, irreverent … [Read more...]
10 wineries from Idaho, United States you should know
Idaho is an unlikely suspect when it comes to wine. Compared to its more prominent neighbors, Washington, Oregon, and California, Idaho may be a surprising addition to the list of high quality North West coast producers. This isn’t stopping the Gem State from making a name for itself as a growing figure in American wine. Idaho’s isolation does it a favour however, producing huge tracts of land surrounded by clean air and fresh mountain water. In particular, the Snake River Valley, home to many of Idaho’s most prominent vineyards, has the perfect climate for grapes. Cold winters encourage the vines to conserve carbohydrates, and the desert air allows viticulturists to carefully control the amount of water their vines receive. The result is a number of fresh wineries that are producing some incredible award-winning wines. Out of all the great things happening here, these are my top 10 Idaho wineries. 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards Located in the rolling hills to the north of Boise, … [Read more...]
A perfect day in Gozo
Most tourists visiting Malta dedicate just a day to the sister island, Gozo and that in our view is a mistake because this little Mediterranean island measuring just 14 kilometres in length by 7.5 kilometres in width has a rural character, is less developed and is a haven of tranquility. The island, the second largest island of the Maltese archipelago was in world news as the well know Azure Window, probably the most photographed spot on the Maltese islands is no more. The Tieqa tad-Dwejra, as it is known in Maltese, collapsed into the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday 8 March leaving no trace whatsoever. Apart from being considered one of the top diving destinations in the Mediterranean, Gozo has many other natural features including the Inland Sea, also in Dwejra. So how best to spend a perfect day on the island of Gozo? To reach the island you need to get a ferry unless you are sailing there. We would recommend that you have a very light breakfast (if you really need one) … [Read more...]
Jeremiah Tower: This was the match that started the fire of new American cuisine
Food lovers are in for a treat as Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent, a documentary film depicting the remarkable life of Jeremiah Tower, one of the most controversial and influential figures in the history of American gastronomy is released in the United States in New York and Los Angeles on 21 April. Tower began his career at the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1972, becoming a pioneering figure in the emerging California cuisine movement. After leaving Chez Panisse, due in part to a famously contentious relationship with founder Alice Waters, Tower went on to launch his own legendary Stars Restaurant in San Francisco. Stars was an overnight sensation and soon became one of America’s top-grossing U.S. restaurants. After several years, Tower mysteriously walked away from Stars and then disappeared from the scene for nearly two decades, only to resurface in the most unlikely of places: New York City’s fabled but troubled Tavern on the Green. There, he launched a journey … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #108
Dan Barber sets the trend for ethical eating at Selfridges pop-up wastED: Dan Barber is worried. Earlier today, his team has been scavenging the Selfridges Food Hall for leftover and damaged foodstuffs to use at the wastED dining series on the rooftop of the iconic London department store. Barber has taken a sack of salt-beef ends from the 50-year-old heritage salt beef bar The Brass Rail and he’s concerned the owners will find out how good it tastes and take it back. “It’s the best bit,” he says, as he places carrot-stick-shaped ends of juicy meat into taco-sized crepes made from pig’s blood and off-grade bran for his Salt Beef Ends Burrito. “I’m scared they’ll find out.” Restaurateur Danny Meyer: 'Hospitality is a dialogue; service is a monologue': 1. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary of Union Square Tokyo. How have things changed at the restaurant in the past decade? There’s been a lot of development. I think the food is better (laughs), but the restaurant has also become … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #107
Denmark reduces food waste by 25% in five years with the help of one woman - Selina Juul: Never underestimate the power of one dedicated individual. A woman has been credited by the Danish Government for single-handedly helping the country reduce its food waste by 25 per cent in just five years. Selina Juul, who moved from Russian to Denmark when she was 13 years old, was shocked by the amount of food available and wasted at supermarkets. Claude Bosi at Bibendum to serve up affordable fine dining: French chef Claude Bosi is aiming to offer an affordable take on fine dining when he relaunches South Kensington restaurant Bibendum at the end of March. One of the World’s Best Restaurants Now Makes Staff Attend Therapy: Restaurant-industry jobs routinely get ranked among the most stressful occupations, whether that’s because you’re making minimum wage while trying to evade workplace sexual harassment, or you’re going insane working 70-hour weeks in a Michelin-starred kitchen. The … [Read more...]
A fine dining experience seen through the eyes of an 8-year-old
It had been long in coming and the day was finally here even though there was not much time to prepare for the event. The booking at the two Michelin star restaurant L'Air du Temps, in Liernu, Belgium had been secured only a day before and so there was not much time to prepare our 8-year-old son on what to expect. As many like to say, the journey is as important as the destination and it did require some hard work on our part to get to this point and it was at times difficult. Like all parents who take their kids to restaurants, we have had some embarrassing experiences. He had been to many restaurants before but nothing had ever approached this level. So although we were confident that it would work out, it was with a sense of trepidation that we arrived at the restaurant, fingers crossed that our judgement was not blinded by parental love. He had only one request before we left home. He wanted a notebook and a pen. We of course did not object. With notebook and pen in hand, … [Read more...]
Weekly roundup of great reads on food and wine #106
Which simple recipes should your children be able to cook? Recently, I came home to find the remnants of a hollandaise sauce smeared across the inside of a kitchen bowl. I ran my finger through what was left. It was perfect: foamy and rich with that necessary acidity. Apparently my 17-year-old son had knocked it up from watching YouTube videos. Not long before, I had introduced him to the glories of eggs benedict. (Look, he’s a restaurant critic’s child. What do you expect?) He wanted to eat one so Googled the instructions for the sauce. He had no idea that it’s tricky to get the temperature of the bain-marie right, so the eggs don’t curdle as you whisk them. He just did it. Sometimes ignorance can be a wonderful thing. Michelin men: Claude Bosi, Terence Conran and the return of Bibendum: In the gutted upstairs room of Bibendum on London’s Fulham Road, I’m suddenly feeling my age. The flagship Conran restaurant is in the process of a makeover. Floors and walls have been stripped and … [Read more...]