MARIANI’S
September 29,
2003
NEWSLETTER
The Little ÁléInn, Rachel, Nevada
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, as well as at The Grumpy Gourmet at
http://www.grumpygourmetusa.com/links.html
Cover Story: An Awakening at Punta Mita,
Mexico by Naomi Kooker
New York Corner: Sumile by John Mariani
New Zagat Survey
Makes One Wonder by John Mariani
Quick
Bytes
~~~~~~~~~~~~
An
Awakening
at Punta Mita, Mexico
by
Naomi R. Kooker
Sunset at Punta Mita
With
both hands on the
wheel Santiago steers the van along the road en route to the
Four Seasons Resort, Punta Mita (Bahia de Banderas,
Nayarit;
www.fourseasons.com/puntamita), Mexico,
on one side a ledge
camouflaged by leafy trees, on the other the vast Pacific Ocean.
It doesn’t take long
to realize, sans hairpin curves, he’s got a point: In this land
of the
blue agaves and at the resort itself tequila is highly regarded as the
drink of
choice (though there is plenty of bottled water, and the purified tap
water is
fine). Tequila swims wonderfully in the
resort’s mango margaritas. It’s part of spa treatments. It’s in the
restaurants’ desserts, even in the Mexican
coffee
at
breakfast. In a way, tequila’s fiery
subtleties are a metaphor for this region’s rugged land in coexistence
with the
pristine beauty of the Pacific coast.
Punta Mita, which
means “point of the arrow,” was opened
in 1999, developed by a Mexican
company and is managed by Four
Seasons, so you
ca count on a high degree of posh, service, and reclusiveness,
which seems
much appreciated by the wealthy clientele that camps here.
One hundred thirteen Mexican-style tiled-roof
rooms and 27 suites with marble floors
and balconies overlook the creamy sand beaches and turquoise water. The resort sits along
Eastman, a native of
the eastern shore of 
Looking
a
little like Tim Robbins in his sunglasses, Eastman
greets families as
local
fishermen display their fish – often
grouper, amberjack and red snapper
– over
ice in a big
tub. Dads sporting Tommy Bahama shirts point to
what they
want.
Eastman takes it from there. And
Eastman knows how to take advantage of
the
bountiful
local catch. Our evening at Aramara I started off with
yellow
fin
tuna caught that day and prepared three ways –
as a simple, clean
sashimi
style; as tataki, sprinkling the
tuna with sea salt, searing it, chilling it and serving it with
a harashi
ponzu sauce; and as a tartare. Each
preparation treated the tuna
with respect,
giving it a lift
with ponzu here and shallots and sambal
paste there.
Spreads
on the table, including a garlicky hummus, are
served with vegetable
chips.
While there is meat on
the menu (a grilled veal chop, spicy coriander grilled half chicken),
we chose
to indulge mostly in hours-fresh fish.
The desserts were
divine, from the puckering and refreshing lemon tart, to the moist
tequila-laced financier, and rich and creamy chocolate hazelnut
ice
cream. A real
specialty is the cajeta, an intense caramelized reduction of
goats’ milk
that has a slight tang and a rich sweetness like toffee.
Meanwhile Aramara
dances in glass lantern candlelight. A stray gecko climbs the stucco
walls; the
mariachis tuck in a little blues with their guitar music-making. It
clearly
feels like 
But
if you really want a romantic evening,
reserve a table on “El Roca”--The Rock (left)), a grassy cliff jutting into
the ocean
and surrounded by the crashing waves and the sight of the sun sinking
into the
horizon. You’ll be alone except for a few pelicans swooping nearby and
a
handful of servers to make sure you’re taken care of. (This is also the
serene
location for sunrise yoga.)
The wine list at
Aramara is heavy on
Meal
Prices at Aramara range from $10 to $13
for appetizers, $25 to $49 for entrees, and $8-$11.50 for desserts.
There are three other dining
options at Punta Mita – Ketsi,
with breakfast, lunch and dinner served under
a giant palapa overlooking the ocean), Nuna
Bar (overlooking the pool) and Tail
of the Whale (at the resort’s Jack
Nicklaus-signature golf course) – that feature more American and
Mexican fare.
But there is nothing “Tex-Mex” about any of them.
Breakfast
at Ketsi (below) should not
be missed. It’s an elaborate buffet overlooking
the beach.
Skip the commendable scrambled eggs and bacon and cereal in favor of
the spicy huevos
rancheros, machaca (air-dried beef) and chilaquiles – a
Mexican
breakfast casserole of tortilla chips in a tomatillo sauce, with
chicken. The
Mexican coffee, a brew with orange, cinnamon, tequila and piloncillo
(an
unrefined brown sugar) is an eye-opener. Breakfast
at Ketsi, a la carte, runs $12 to
$18.50, the buffet is $26. Dinner, from $21-$30.
Besides the dining at
the resort itself, Punta Mita provides catered excursions on a
chartered boat.
Trips to Las Marietas islands yielded superb, relaxing snorkeling. On
the way
back, as the boat gently rode the swells, we dug into guacamole made
with sweet
ripe avocados and homemade chips, along with grilled shrimp. Jimmy
Buffet music
and a few Coronas quenched our thirst in the afternoon sun. The ragged
Sierra
Madres far away faded to blue.
For now the resort, is
currently the only one in the area,
about 30 minutes from Puerta Vallarta. There’s
a soothing spa with myriad relaxing
treatments, a world-class golf course
(with an optional third hole located on an islet across the water from
the tee
on the mainland); horse back riding; swimming; scuba diving and
surfing. A
NEW YORK
by
John Mariani
212-989-7699
Perhaps
the nicest thing
about dining out is to come upon a place you know nothing about and
finding it
a revelation of good taste. This happens
all too rarely in a world where sacrosanct menu items and undemanding
diners
perpetuate the myth that every
By the same token, those
chefs--usually young and out to
make a name for themselves--who deliberately try to come up with
outrageous happenin’
dishes not intended in the least to be savory but merely to grab the
attentions
of the gastro-media are usually brought up short after six weeks of
popularity with foodies whose been-there-gulped-that attitude is the
kiss of
death.
This is exactly how I felt after dining at Sumile in
Sumile (pronounced
Soo-mee-lay) is set on a pretty and quiet
Village street
far from the teeming, frantic hordes to the south, and the owners have
kept the place
simple, perhaps because there wasn’t a huge design budget.
You pass by a front room and bar and past a
half-open kitchen with a steamy window, then enter a long dining room
all in
pearly white and moss green, but with blue lighting well suited to the
enterprise. There are several armchairs
with recessed
rattan backs into which you may recline into an awkward slump.
The wait staff is
friendly and knows the menu and wine list
thoroughly, and the crowd seems adventurous. They pretty much
have to be
because you can't go to Sumile for regulation Japanese, French or
American
food. The menu is just one page long,
and everything is served in appetizer or small entree portions, with
every dish
$14 (and a few supplements for items
like a tartare of bluefin otoro--the
fattiest, most luscious meat of the tuna--sevruga caviar and pickled
abalone (+$15), but--get
this!--a $3 deduction on a salad of
lettuces, sprouts, and snow peas in radish water (quite delicious). The waiter will encourage you to try three or
four items per person. Otherwise there are also tasting menus at $80,
$100, and $120 available.
I began with a sashimi of wild barramundi with whole
bean
miso and burnt onion,
whose purity of flavor was unassailable, with the burnt
onion providing a delectable resonance. Dungeness crab with sevruga and
a green
yuzu gelée showed
DeChellis’ way with combining complementary textures, though I
find that caviar always compromised by the other flavors and the other
flavors
compromised by the fishiness of the roe.
Braised Gulf shrimp, good and meaty, came
in a chilled horseradish consommé--absolutely lovely--while a
pressed tête de veau and crisp duck salad was so
good I could have eaten three more portions.
In the middle of the menu is a soft egg custard with
something called “matsutake
perfume,” which acted somewhat like a pleasing intermezzo. Then came poached hamachi, a
strong fish that was a tad fishier than it should be,
with a good crunch of nori salt and
pickled melon, which I didn’t think made any savory sense with the hamachi. “Pulled” skate
wing, that is, cut from the pliant
cartilage, was very well served by smoky-sweet grilled eggplant--a dish
that registers DeChellis' focus impeccably well.
Combining saline
meats with fish has long been a
classic match--think of oysters wrapped with bacon, clams casino,
shrimp with
country ham, and fish soup with chorizo.
At Sumile DeChellis takes just-warmed sea scallops of
wondrous sweetness
and combines them with slices of pork tongue and the salty-bitterness
of
spinach, a very interesting trio of flavors.
Desserts, all $7, do not stray into the fantasyland
so many
East-West fusion restaurants do, The gianduja pot de crème with coffee
biscotti bests many found in the better Italian restaurants around NYC,
and the
fromage blanc cheesecake with black
Mission figs would be right at home at either a good French bistro or
an uptown
deli. I was not convinced by the
three-tea panna cotta tasting that
tea adds anything to that light Italian confection.
Sumile’s wiine list has about 100 selections with an
admirable number will under $40, like Domaine de la Perriere
Archambault
Sancerre ‘02 at $30, Matakana Estate Pinot Gris ‘02 at $35, and Domaine
Bertagna
Marsannay ‘99 at $35. The mark-ups range
from moderate to amazingly good: Château Lynch-Bages ’97, if you
can find it,
will run you about $75 in a wine store; here it’s only $99.
I’m hoping Sumile is a big success (it was packed on
a
recent Friday night after
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blindekuh (Blind Cow) is a
restaurant in
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOW
TO PAD A RESTAURANT REVIEW
“She was talking
to us, but our observant companion’s eyes were glued to a telltale
body
across
the room. ‘There’s one of the Cavs,’ she said, nodding in the proper
direction. 
‘Right there.’ I looked. The guy was tall and trim, that’s for
sure. But unless he was 18 and driving a
Hummer with a sweetened cat-got-bird
smile on his face, I wouldn’t have
known. And she couldn’t remember which one
he was. Jim
Buchanan, who owns
THE NEW ZAGAT SURVEY TO NEW YORK MAKES ONE WONDER
by John Mariani
It was
front-page news in the New York Times
last Monday: "A Little Restaurant Elbows the 4-Stars In Zagat's New
List." According to the just-released Zagat Survey for New York
2004, a 30-seat restaurant in Brooklyn named the Grocery ranks
as one
of the seven best in the city (all with 28 points, "extraordinary to
perfection")--the others, Le Bernardin, Daniel, Peter Luger, Nobu,
Bouley, and Jean Georges. The Times
goes on to report that to make Zagat's top 50, a restaurant needs to
get a mere 100 votes, and co-publisher Nina Zagat admitted that the
Grocery received "fewer than a quarter of the [responses] that rated
their experience at Daniel," but "considerably more than" 100.
Why Zagat would not release the actual number of votes each restaurant
receives is but one of the mysteries of this heavily promoted, odd
survey. If, say, 150 people gave the Grocery its highest grades,
but 600 gave Daniel the same grade, what does that say about the
survey's legitimacy?
The Times,
however, took it seriously enough to dispatch their restaurant critic,
William Grimes, to re-evaluate his previous one-star review of the
Grocery three years ago, returning with a report that the restaurant is
"about as good as it can be," but that it lacks the "subtlety, finesse
and refinement" that would merit a ranking with most others in
Zagat's Top Ten. For reasons no one can discern, two of last
year's 28-point winners, Sushi Yasuda and Chanterelle, didn't even make
the
cut this year. In other years Soup Kitchen International, made
famous by a hilarious "Seinfeld" episode about the Soup Nazi, hit the
Top Ten, as did
Grimaldi's Pizzeria. Last year Lespinasse (27 points)
ranked no. 12 "For food," no. 2 for "Hotel Dining" and "Private Rooms,
no. 1 "By Location" in the east 50s, no. 4 in "Top Decor," and no. 7
for "Top Service"--which makes one wonder, if Lespinasse was so
astoundingly popular with voters, how come it closed for lack of
business last winter?
These are only a few of the discrepancies that make
one wonder about the Zagat surveys, whose publishers admit that there
is no way of knowing if a voter ever actually ate at a restaurant at
all, or within the last ten years. And despite Zagat's contention
that it has mysterious ways of detecting ballot box stuffing by certain
restaurants, what in fact is wrong with everyone in a restaurant and
its patrons voting for that restaurant? Obviously most voters for
the Oscars vote for the movie they worked on--and in that case there
are restrictions on who can vote for certain technical categories.
It is of course an interesting debate as to whether
a steakhouse like Peter Luger, which does superlative porterhouse
steaks but little else of interest, could make the Top Ten when other
great New York steakhouses with far better menus and award-winning
winelists don't. But perhaps the most telling thing that
puts the Zagat surveys credibility into question as the people's choice
awards is that of the nearly 2,000 NYC restaurants ranked, an
astounding number receive 20-25 "very good to excellent" points
(including places like Rice 'n' Beans with "fare to fill hungry
bellies," and J.G. Melon for its "phenomenal burgers," "addictive
cottage fries," and "great beers," while very few get less
than 16-19 points ("good to very good"), and next to none still
lower. One might also question why an always jammed
chain restaurant like the Olive Garden in Times Square isn't even
listed in the guide, while other chains like Houlihan's, T.G.I.
Friday's, and Hard Rock Cafe are.
Zagat would have readers believe that the number of
votes they receive makes for a critical mass of dependable opinion, and
that they have no sway over the final tallies, which, given the
inclusion of places like the Grocery would seem to be true. But
Zagat's methodology, which is not a scientific, random survey of the
kind done by Gallup, is indeed questionable when a place like the
Grocery attains the ranking it does. The word "ludicrous" leaps
to mind. So, congratulations to
the owners of the Grocery (which will now probably be inundated and may
well be ruined by success). But take the Zagat survey with a big
dose of salt.
QUICK
BYTES
* On Oct. 31
* On Nov. 3 NYC’s 4th annual “St. Francis’ Big Red”
chefs’ tasting reception to benefit the NYC AIWF takes place
at Noche (1604 Broadway),
including food from Artisanal, Brasserie Julien, Delmonico’s, Gage
& Tollner,
Gallagher’s
Steakhouse, Heartbeat, Keen’s Chophouse, March, Morrell’s Wine Bar
& Café, and Tribeca Grill. $110
pp; $95 for AIWF members. Call 718-229-6565.
* On Nov. 3
* From Nov. 2-30, twenty-five
of
* On Nov. 3 Chef Wayne Martin
of Chartwells
at the Four Seasons Vancouver presides over the first Winemaker
Dinner of
the fall, with wines of Louis Latour at a 5-course dinner. . . .Dec.
1:
* On Nov. 4 Beacon (
* On Nov. 6
Altria and Kraft
present the 13th Annual
Evening of Good Taste buffet and
silent auction at the Atrium (800
Westchester Ave.) in Rye Brook, NY,
with participants including chefs Mark Filippo, Café Meze;
Gregory Gilbert,
Crabtree’s Kittle House; David Haviland, the Castle on Hudson; Jonathan
Pratt,
Peter Pratt’s Inn, et al. Call 914-935-6600.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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). To purchase from amazon.com, click on the
image below.
copyright John Mariani 2003