MARIANI’S
August 18, 2003 NEWSLETTER
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EDITOR'S NOTE: This newsletter is
also available on the very
comprehensive food site www.sautewednesday.com
, which has dozens of other links to food articles
from
around the world.
Cover
Story: The Breakers
Renewed by Edward
Brivio
New York Corner: Molyvos by John Mariani
Quick
Bytes
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THE BREAKERS RENEWED
by Edward Brivio
Photo by Robert
Perillo
Ideally,
I would spend a long weekend
every
year at the Breakers in
Set as close to the
"breakers" of the
Once inside the lobby, the transport to the
The luxury and pampering at The Breakers continued
in our large
oceanfront
room, with its spacious alabaster-clad bathroom. A shallow
terrace overlooked the Atlantic through French doors that let the sea
air in. When we quit the beach late that afternoon,
it was
so lovely not to have to leave the ocean behind altogether, to find it
waiting
for us just outside our room. Still, the surf isn't quite as
close
as it used to be, for in a monumental effort, the town of
When I'm on vacation, my favorite time of day is
that
leisurely half-hour just before getting dressed for dinner.
What better
way to spend it than to relax in a comfortable armchair with an
ocean-view,
entranced by fresh breezes, the constant murmur of the surf, and the
glistening
colors of the water? Anticipation of a great meal mingles with the
beauty of
the evening and that pleasant fatigue only sun, sea, and sand can
bring. A
glass of good, bone-dry amontillado doesn't hurt either.
Dinner at The Breakers can be as elegant or
informal, as
classic or contemporary, as you wish. But to stay here
and not dine
in L'Escalier, the hotel's flagship restaurant, is to miss some
of the
best food 
Palazzo Davanzati in
Sobon's dishes seamlessly fuse the classic and
the
new, the expected and the innovative in just the right proportions to
satisfy
the mix of diners who pass through the dining room of this very
high-end
resort. To give Maine lobster and diver sea scallops a new twist,
Sobon
serves the first with a tangy, tarragon-infused tomato gelée
as well as a green apple emulsion, while the seared scallops
arrive atop a
pleasantly astringent arugula purée with green olives and a hint
of tangerine.
The slightly acidic vegetables highlight the shellfish's sweetness,
while the
fruit complements it. Another rewarding appetizer is a timbale of jumbo
lump
crab meat enlivened by whole mustard seed "caviar" and lemon mustard
cream.
One of the jewels in the crown here is sommelier
Virginia
Philips, one of only 106 Master Sommeliers worldwide, only ten of whom
are
women. For L'Escalier she has assembled not only an award-winning
winelist, but
also an extensive selection of wines by the glass. You can't do better
than to
let her do the choosing and pairing, as we did. In a thoughtful
gesture,
glasses can be ordered as a 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour. Our first
wines were
a ‘01 Giesen Riesling from
If you love local fish, by all means try the
came with a gauze-light broccoli custard and a classic sauce bourride
partnered
the dorade. A glass of ‘00 Gewürztraminer from Trimbach,
with just the
right amount of gewürz personality, kept me going back for another
nibble of the dorade, while a ‘95 Rioja Gran Riserva, "Selección
Especial" from Muga, served with the pompano, proved once again that
the
right red wine, with a certain lightness to its body and restraint in
its
flavors, goes superbly with fish.
If you prefer game, I can recommend the short rib
and tenderloin
of bison, or a Cervena venison chop. Never have I tasted game that was
so
delicious, the bison served on a celery root purée, with glazed
baby root
vegetables
and a light sauce cuisson, made with red burgundy, while the
venison
straddled a white bean purée as well as wonderful ruby chard,
and a
sweet and
sour shallot jus. A ‘99 Pepperbridge merlot from
A cheese course followed, for once, of perfect
proportions,
small tastes, maybe an ounce, of four or five perfectly seasoned
cheeses, among
which I remember Garroxta, Époisses, and Alsatian Münster,
this last a
revelation, strong and intense but with a lovely clarity in the finish,
and not at
all the
overwhelmingly fragrant, downright stinky cheese I thought it was. A
Ramos-Pinto Evramoira 10-year-old tawny port was the perfect
accompaniment, not
intimidated by, but at the same time, not overpowering the cheeses.
Our desserts were a chocolate "trilogie" made up
of a bisque scented with orange peel, a molten cake, and a mousse
flavored with
espresso all using Valhrona chocolate, and a "Fruit creation,"
another trio, this night based on delicious ripe pineapple: a
soufflé, a
rich chiboust, and an intensely flavored granita. The pineapple
was
served with a luscious ‘99 De Loach, Late Harvest Gewürztraminer
from the
Russian River, and the chocolate with perhaps its best partner,
Banyuls, a ‘00
Les Clos de Paulilles from Rousillon France, as sweet and mouth-filling
as the
chocolate, but with a wonderful clarity of flavor and something light
in its
body that keeps things from getting muddy.
L'Escalier offers a 3-course $60 meal; a 5-course
tasting
menu: 7-courses at $75, and a Grand Tasting Menu at $95.
Echo
(230A Sunrise Ave. 561-802-4222), about a
5-minute drive from the hotel, was opened in 2000 to offer guests as
well as
locals a taste of the many cuisines of the Pacific Rim. Sushi, sashimi,
dim
sum, Vietnamese and Thai specials are all available, as well as more
familiar
Asian dishes such as Peking duck. Here a tasting menu helps one to get
a grasp
of the restaurant's extensive offerings.
The clean, slightly saline flavors of the sashimi,
followed
by the more complex flavors and textures of the sushi, made for the
perfect
beginning here. The ahi, wahoo, bluefin toro, hamachi, and salmon were
all
pristine and sliced to perfection. A selection of hand rolls were
equally well
received, whether filled with crab, topiko and avocado, or lobster and
wasabi,
or more of that sweet hamachi. Beautiful non-traditional tableware in
oblong,
square, or free-form shapes in lovely muted pastels
(celadon, old
rose, mustard) frame exquisite presentations. The slices of sashimi
were overlapped as precisely as new shingles on a
A glass of Caymus' "Conundrum," a
proprietary blend of Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and
Semillon, had a
flavor complexity and slightly sweet edge that did well by the raw fish
and the
dim sum, as did a crisp yet delicate J. J. Prüm Riesling Kabinett,
again
with no
more than a suggestion of sweetness.
In a shift towards more substantial fare, we had a
mini-version of Peking Duck, dis-assembled tableside. Two of the
best
main dishes were crispy whole yellowtail snapper, served "upright" so
to speak, that is, as if it were
swimming through the sea, and an exceptional seared ginger beef topped
with
crispy shoestring sweet potatoes. The aptly named La Crema pinot noir
with its
smoky cherry fruit and luscious texture had just the right medium-body
and
uncomplicated personality to complement rather than overwhelm these
dishes.
At Echo, sushi and sashimi run $3 to $4 a piece;
hand rolls:
$6 to 13; starters: $7 to 12; main courses, $16 to 36.
One of the loveliest new buildings
here is the Golf and Tennis Club, designed as a rather grand
old-Florida beach
house, and located about a five minute walk from the hotel. Its second
floor is
occupied by the Flagler Steakhouse (
Superb Oysters Rockefeller occupied us as we looked
over the
menu, the oysters just warmed through and topped with spinach and a
lightly-browned fennel hollandaise. Appetizers, per se, were
shrimp
cocktail and jumbo lump crab meat cocktail, both just what they should
have
been. The main attraction here is the prime beef, and we made deep
inroads into
their larder by ordering the 24 ounce Porterhouse and the 20 ounce
T-bone,
medium rare. A side of onion rings was delicious, but
superfluous, as the
steaks came with shoestring fried onions that were all that was needed.
The only
disappointment here was the tomato blue cheese salad with good cheese
and a
wonderfully sweet slice of Vidalia onion, but with tasteless, firm
tomatoes
worthy of a supermarket.
Flagler Steakhouse appetizers run: $7 to 16;
Steaks/Seafood/Entrees, $29 to 56.
Even a meal as mundane as breakfast
becomes special at The Breakers when taken in the hotel's renowned
Circular
dining room. A large rotunda type of space, its periphery is punctuated
by
windows two-story high, flanked by pairs of pilasters. Mythical
figures
decorate the lower wall. Around the upper, large oval cartouches
framing
vignettes of the major Italian cities (by 1926 standards) alternate
with
polychrome putti, anonymous classical deities and griffons,
all
culminating in a leaded-glass dome with an enormous Venetian chandelier
hanging
from its center. Not only is it one of the finest examples of
Neo-Italianate
style here, but also one of the grandest interior spaces of any
American hotel.
Don't miss the generous breakfast buffet complete with bagels, waffles,
omelets made to order and the crispest of pastries, and make a point
of
ordering the delicious home-made corned beef hash.
Sunset here is the hour of the parrots. Green blurs,
they
flit across the sky in quick, short flights, and fill the tall palms of
the
Photo by Robert Perillo
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New York Corner
MOLYVOS
by John Mariani
MOLYVOS
(871 Seventh Avenue; 212582-7500;
www.molyvos.com ) has since opening four years ago established
itself as a bellwether Greek restaurant in America, with widespread
influence on those that have opened since. I claim no thorough
familiarity with the Greek restaurants in Astoria, Queens--a virtual
Little Athens--and there may well be some that are every bit as good as
Molyvos. What I do know is that the Livanos family that
owns Molyvos, along with chef Jim Botsacos, has kept their eye on the
ball here, and every dish is as good or better than when it first
appeared on the menu.
So, too, the winelist, which is rich in the very
best of modern Hellenic viniculture. I go here to be enlightened
and
educated about unusual varietals from unusual places, like the
Moschofilero from Mantinia, the Malagousia from Epanomi, and the superb
red Aghiorghitiko from Nemea. There are, of course, plenty of
ouzos to try, including varieties from Thrace, Kifissia, Drama, and
elsewhere, as well as rakis from Turkey.
Begin with a sampling of Greek spreads that
includes feta, tzatziki, taramosalata,
eggplant, salad, “caviar” mousse
and cucumber yogurt laced with garlic, accompanied by fresh hot pita
breads. Best of all the cold starters is a marvelously tender octopus
salad with grilled peppers, frisée and arugula.
For main courses don’t miss the lamb yuvetsi, lamb
shanks braised
forever in a clay pot so that they are fork tender, served with orzo,
tomatoes, and kefalotyri cheese.
There is also a nice fat rabbit stew
cooked in red wine with pearl onions, and lemon-garlic chicken dusted
with oregano.
The long, spacious
room (very near Carnegie Hall and therefore ideal for pre- or
after-theater dining) has the rusticity of a fine family's home in
Molyvos--the town whence came the Livanos family, which also owns
Oceana in Manhattan, Café Meze in Hartsdale, NY, and three City
Limits
Diners outside the city. Red and terra-cotta colors predominate,
with walls hung with black-and-white photos of the Old Country, and
shelves set with tilted plates and ceramics, some of which are used for
service. (There will be no plates thrown here by ill-informed
dancers, thank you). The bar is one of the liveliest in the city
after 5:30.
Ask your waiter
to bring you
a mess of mezedes and you’ll
be richly rewarded with cold appetizers
like
taramasalata (one of the
best renditions I’ve ever of this “caviar”
mousse),
melitzanosalata (roasted
eggplant salad), a superlative white bean
hummus, and
a sampling of Greek cheeses with marinated olives.
Warm mezedes
include housemade sausage
scented with fennel, orange and coriander--the very soul of the
Even so, order the grilled octopus, cooked to a tender turn
over a fruitwood fire, with olives, fennel, lemon and oregano. And do share with your table an order of
bubbling hot Aglaia’s moussaka,
a creamy, addictive casserole of
layered
eggplant, potatoes, ground lamb and a fabulous béchamel.
There are always several fishes each day that can
be simply
grilled, served with lemon and a benediction of good olive oil, and
those
braised lamb shanks baked in a clay pot is are fine as any osso buco
I’ve ever
had. Anything made with lamb at Molyvos is bound to be first rate,
including
the simply grilled baby lamb chops, served with bulgur wheat, pine
nuts, and
garlic sauce.
This is rich food, and you might content yourself at
meal’s
end with nothing more than strong Greek coffee. But that would mean
you’d miss
a very fine baklava and marvelous yogurt drizzled with dark Greek
honey. Appetizers run $7.50-$12.95, entrees $19.50-$28.50.
IN
THAT CASE, CANCEL THE ROMANÉE-CONTI AND SEND A
“
like a
woman starting the date by taking her clothes off.
French wines
deliver, but
they deliver later on.
The woman is with
you for a while to make it interesting
before she takes her clothes
off.”
--Christian Berger, agricultural
counselor
at the French
Embassy
in
(USA
Today,
* From now until Sept.
30 NYC’s Le
Périgord (
* From Aug.
25-31 The Café at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago (
112 College St San Antonio Texas Austin York Street Dallas. Call
210-518-1063
copyright john Mariani 2003