MARIANI’S

Virtual Gourmet

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New York Corner:  industry (food)  by John Mariani by John Mariani

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THE MUSIC ISSUE

                         

 by John Mariani  
BOOM-BADDA-BOOM  The trouble with having music BOOM-BADDA-BOOM in restaurants these days
BOOM-BADDA-BOOM is that you can’t even BOOM-BADDA-BOOM  hear the music if you wanted to BOOM-BADDA-
BOOM. Hold on, lemme turn it off.  BADDA-BOOM!!!  O.K. That’s better.  As I was saying, the trouble with music in restaurants is that they play the stuff so damn loud that it creates two stultifying and nullifying phenomena: First, it causes people to talk louder and louder to be heard, which in turn blocks out any possibility of hearing anything but the bass-and-drum line of the music-- BOOM-BADDA-BOOM BOOM-BADDA-BOOM BOOM-BADDA-BOOM BOOM-BADDA-BOOM !!!!!       
    "Mood music" in restaurants once suggested any of three things: Muzak (usually Hugo Winterhalt or Ferrante & Teicher),
live band music or a tinkling piano, or classical strings (more often than not Vivaldi).  Just as those styles of restaurants faded
away, new styles emerged, led, I believe, by Los Angeles restaurants of the 1980s that started to loop endless tapes of Andreas
Wollender and New Age jazz with titles like "Laguna at Twilight" and "Rocky Mountain Reveries."  This was followed by
about three relentless years of Ottmar Libert, Kenny G, and The Gypsy Kings on every trendy new restaurant sound system
in America, then Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman belting out "Time to Say Goodbye." And then all hell broke lose.  From
 about 1995 on every the preferred "mood music" in U.S. restaurants has been a mix of Funk, Disco, and HipHop--although you
 can never hear any of the music anyway, just the beat-beat-beat of the tom-tom and the throbbing of the electric bass.
    The agony of sitting near a $50,000 speaker system and trying to enjoy one's monkfish with fennel sauce can be unbearable
 at times, ruining an otherwise delightful evening.  One can hardly be a sophisticated gastronome while the drums-and-bass of
 a Macy Gray CD pounds in your ears.  What's worse, many restaurateurs pump up the sound as their customers elevate their
 own voices in order to be heard.  They call this "maintaining the energy," terrified that there might be a millisecond of silence
 in a room full of 150 guests shouting across the table from each other.
    Former chef-restaurateur Jeremiah Tower once said that the only thing worse than a loud restaurant is a quiet one, but
 somewhere in between is the norm for most restaurants anyway, unless it's one of those funereal three-star restaurants
 in Europe where you can hear a soufflé fall and where diners whisper, "Could you please pass the salt?"  So when American
 restaurateurs insist that they must have loud music simply because people expect it and because the designer gets a cut of
 the sound system bill, I ask them to tell me their own five favorite restaurants in the world.  Invariably they answer with a
 selection of haute cuisine dining rooms, a favorite bistro, a sushi bar in Tokyo, a trattoria in Umbria, and a dim sum parlor
 in Chinatown.  Then I ask them, "Do any of them have music?"  There is a pause.  The fellow thinks and thinks hard, then
 shrugs, and, with the look of a man who has no intention of changing his mind on the subject anyway, says, "Uh, no. They
 don't."
    But the point is that music is generally intrusive and sometimes bombastic to the edge of cacophony.  The Gypsy Kings
 simply aren't good for digestion (and I'm getting real tired of Nora Jones droning on in my ear).  So, too, I don't like to think
 I'm in an English drawing room circa 1815.  By and large music is wholly unnecessary in a restaurant where the natural gregariousness
of the clientele buoys the spirit far better than a CD of disco favorites.  For the record, when I dine at home outside in summer, I do
play music I personally like at a level at which I can either ignore it or listen to it.  And when dinner's over and I'm having coffee, then
I con truly appreciate the gorgeously romantic hush of Diana Krall's voice and piano.  But  in a restaurant, put a lid on it and let me
enjoy the company of those people I've come to dine with and engage in conversation.

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NEW YORK CORNER 

Industry (Food)
by John Mariani

    I haven't a clue why anyone would call a restaurant    industry (food),  located at 509
E. 6th Street (212-777-5920) especially in the East Village where places have names like Drinkland, Elvie's Turo-Turo, and Stingy Lulu's.  
But owner Alex Freij, formerly at Mercer Kitchen, opened industry (food) a year ago last April to be a "chef's club," which didn't exactly fly, so he's
 fallen back on the merits of the superb cooking of chef Kenneth Tufo, formerly at Gramercy Tavern and Union Pacific.  Indeed, I think this is
probably the best restaurant in the East Village solely on the basis of Tufo's cooking, which is imaginative but seems very natural, focused on a
simple idea rendered in big flavors.
    The decor itself is a matter of taste, though the two levels of bars and dining rooms show that some money was definitely spent to raise it
above the Formica style of most its competitors.  Downstairs (photo above) is actually pretty swank, while upstairs (photo below) has a
welcome skylight to disperse the darkness of a room whose walls, tables and floors are all made of polished knotty pine, which makes this look either like a converted BBQ joint or a lodge in "Twin Peaks."  The service staff couldn't be friendlier, and they all seem clued into a very smartly selected winelist that offers everything from out of the ordinary chardonnays and cabernets to interesting wines from South Africa and Spain.  The bar also makes cocktails correctly, offering several signature items on a drinks list.    
    We chose from a menu of  three cold, three warm and three raw appetizers, including one of Tufo's brightest ideas, a turn on the Long Island lobster roll that places a good portion of lobster meat atop lettuce, tomato, and a slice of pancetta bacon on brioche bread. He calls it "lobster bruschetta," which it sort of  is in a Frenchified manner.  I was so happy to see squash blossoms on the summer menu--a vegetable rife in Europe but sadly absent here. Tufo stuffs them with goat's cheese, fries them, and treats them to a tomato fondue and saffron vinaigrette--flavors that could not been more like a day in July.  Ahi tuna with apples, cucumbers and a horseradish dressing was good if not riveting, but his gentle treatment of seared sea scallops with English peas and a spicy lobster nage took honors at our table as best starter.
    Entrees followed suit, led by a delightful idea to do with monkfish--braise it in apple juice with salsify, sugar snap peas, and shaved fennel.
 A generously proportioned skate wing came with sweet red rice that added texture, and wonderful spinach with pearl onions in a tarragon-flavored
 brown butter sauce.  There was much to love about the center-cut pork loin served with excellent fava beans, a red
onion marmalade, Japanese eggplant and a  jus tinged with grain mustard.  Hanger steak had the proper chewiness, well served with a tomato-corn
 salad and a dressing of balsamic vinegar.
       Except for an unexceptional peach and yogurt panna cotta, desserts ranged from impeccably intense fruit sorbets to a fine chocolate
 hazelnut semifreddo with hazelnut praline.  We also tried a cheese plate of pecorino romano and a blue cheese on its last days, both
served too cold.  Espresso, as usual in New York, was weak and insipid.
       Tufo has succeeded so well in getting at the epitome of summer, that I can't wait to return when the cold weather hits.  Maybe
 then the pinewood walls will look a little cheerier. 
       Starters at industry (food) are $7-$13, entrees $17-$25--quite amazing prices for this quality of cuisine, even in the low rent district
 of the East Village.

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THE KING HAS LEFT THE TOASTER!                                                                                                         

New Zealand supermarket owner Maurice Bennett created a mosaic of Elvis by pasting together 4,000 pieces
 of toast.

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QUICK BYTES

*On Aug. 1 chef/owner Carmen Quagliata of The Vault (105 Water Street) in Boston and Rob Lawson, CEO
of the Napa Wine Company will host a 4-course wine dinner. $50 pp.   Call 617-292-9966.

* On Aug. 1 Chefs Bart Hosmer and Michael Rosen  of Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, CA, is hosting an 8-course Wine and Cheese dinner
 by chefs from restaurants such as Saddle River Inn in NJ,  Two Chefs in Miami, and Terra in St. Helena, CA, each preparing a course
 highlighting a specific farmhouse cheese from cheese makers across the country.  The menu will feature top wines paired by sommeliers
 such as Parcel 104’s Robert Sharpe, Bob Bath M.S. and Raj Parr, of the Mina Group in San Francisco. In addition, guests will be invited
to an Iron Horse Sparkling Wine and Hog Island Oyster reception prior to the dinner and be able to purchase the featured cheeses from
Parcel 104’s “cheese store” that evening. For info visit  www.parcel104.com.

* NYC’s Thalassa (179 Franklin St.; 212-941-7661) is now serving (through August) a “Pikilia Menu” of
any 3 items for $18. These tapas-like dishes include taramosalata, zucchini blossoms stuffed with crabmeat,
octopus in red wine, and others.  Call 212-941-7661.

 * On Aug. 5 Boston’s  Bomboa (35 Stanhope St.; 617-236-6363)
restaurant will host a benefit  for the Brookline Community Center for the Arts (BCCA).  The evening will begin
with a one-hour sampling of Bomboa's traditional Mojito cocktail and light bites. Two performances will be given throughout the evening by "Salsa Encendida", JAM'NASTICS' Latin dance troupe. Between performances guests
will have the opportunity to indulge in Salsa lessons taught by members of "Salsa Encendida". Dancing will
continue until 1am. Tickets  $25 in advance, $30 at the door.  Call 617-738-2800 or visit www.bccaonline.com. 

 * On Aug. 7  One Walnut in Cleveland will hold an evening of fine food and fine wine during the “Vin Expedition Tasting,” with a selection of 36 American wines and some of chef Marlin Kaplan’s most popular culinary creations, including lobster nachos and porcini crusted lamb chops.  Guests will also take home a Riedel crystal tasting glass.  $55 pp. Call 216- 575-1111.

 * DC’s Café Lombardy (Hotel Lombardy, 2019 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) Chef Laurent Hollaender has created
 an evening-only tasting menu offered at $45 pp  inspired by the flavors of Alsace. For an additional $10, guests
 can their dinner with two glasses of Alsatian wine from Trimbach.
Call 202-828-2600, or visit www.hotellombardy.com

* On Aug. 28 Hemingway's Restaurant (Route 4; 802- 422-3886)
in Killington, VT,  will celebrate its  20th year in with a dinner featuring older and new vintages of Tablas Creek
 and Château de Beaucastel.. .  On  Labor Day Monday a mushroom forage through Vermont woods with
mycologist, Georgette Roberts, will be followed by a luncheon at the restaurant. $50 pp.

* On Sept, 13 the Staglin Family Vineyard (1570 Bella Oaks Lane) in Rutherford, CA, will holds its 9^th annual “Music Festival for Mental Health,” with a symposium, wine tasting, concert and dinner created by Wayne Nish of NYC’s March restaurant. Concert & tasting, $250; full day, $2,500 pp. Call 707-944-0477.

*From Sept. 24-28 the 13^th Annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta will be held, including a grand food and wine tasting at the Santa fe Opera, guest lunch at live auction at the Eldorado Hotel, silent auction, guest chef luncheons
 and demos, winery dinner at more than 30 Santa Fe restaurants, and more. Call 505-438-8060.

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John Mariani is a columnist for Esquire, Wine Spectator, Diversion and the Harper Collection. He is author
 of The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (Lebhar-Friedman), The Dictionary of Italian Food
and Drink (Broadway), and, with his wife Galina, the award-winning new Italian-American Cookbook
 (Harvard Common Press).   

copyright john Mariani 2003