MARIANI’S
October
3, 2004
NEWSLETTER
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Readers may now access an Archive of all past newsletters--each annotated--dating back to July, 2003, by simply clicking on ARCHIVE .
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California Dreamin' at Bacara by Naomi R. Kooker
NEW YORK CORNER: Zocalo by John Mariani
QUICK BYTES
FOAM WORTHY?
by John Mariani
The first time I saw
foam on my plate I was more
amused than impressed by it. I think it was called a "cappuccino"
of mushroom soup, and the tiny bubbles did look like the requisite foam
on top of a well- made cappuccino. It tasted all right.Then the stuff started bubbling up in all kinds of dishes, in soups and sauces, in reductions and creams, and the more I saw and tasted of them, the less I liked them. The idea, which was supposedly concocted by Spain's controversial chef Ferran Adria (who has some sort of patent on a foaming machine and who is now into spraying aromatic air into empty soup bowls), was more decorative than anything else, though the intent was to aerate a liquid and make it lighter. Instead, I find that more often than not foaming merely robs the broth or sauce of flavor: Making something airy does not intensify flavors, and too many chefs who don't have a clue how to reduce a liquid in order to focus the flavors have taken to this silly conceit of foaming them.
After a while, whenever a dish arrived at my table with foam sticking
to another ingredient, I was reminded over and over of the scummy stuff
that bubbled up around the pod people in "The Invasion of the Body
Snatchers." After that, I could no longer take foam seriously or
with any relish. But the fact is, foaming, which never did
anything for any dish, is now a cliché that should be dismissed
like all culinary fads of the past. It's time chefs stop foaming and
start intensifying.
BACARA:
By Naomi R. Kooker
Fragrance
dominates Bacara
Resort & Spa (Inside the resort, the sweetness of abundant bougainvillea and jasmine takes over. The perfume of lilies fills the grand lobby, and the salt smell of the sea wafts in.
Executive Chef David Reardon's outstanding tomato soup. A
Miró (below, right) sits on a bluff overlooking the ocean and is decorated in a contemporary whimsy that mimics the abstract artist and the two original Miró sculptures. Light wood walls juxtapose the
Over a five-course degustation ($95), Sunstone Vineyards and Winery proprietor Bion Rice presented delicious organic wines from his family-run Santa Ynez operation. The light chardonnay with grapes from four different vineyards, a peppery syrah (“Syrah Estate” 1999) and a blend of merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon (“Eros” 1999) showed well with the meal. The appetizers – a brandade of salt cod with black truffle and a tender sea scallop from
At 10 PM Rice poured a 100-percent mourvèdre 2001 for fun. “I just pulled it out of the barrel at
One of the most memorable dishes of the evening was dessert, a white chocolate torte with poppy seed, served with brandied cherry compote, a chocolate cloud with drunken sour cherries. In fact, all the desserts, including a caramelized apple tarte Tatin with flaky pastry, breads, brioche, and breakfast pastries (the lemon poppy seed muffins were so good I smuggled one for the road) are the artistic endeavors of pastry chef Ben Galang, a Philippine native who has worked with Reardon for 20 years.
On another night Miró shone with creamy pumpkin soup ($14) with a shallot flan and toasted pumpkin seeds served with a “Clos Hauserer” Zind-Humbrecht Riesling 200, while braised rack of lamb ($38) with crushed Tarbais beans, olive oil and tomato marmalade brought out the finer points of a Tantara “Dieberg Vineyard” Santa Maria pinot noir ($80). To begin a Ruinart Brut Rose NV ($100) was delicate and dry.
For more casual dining, The Bistro (left) offers Mediterranean
cuisine in a golden-yellow dining room overlooking the ocean.
Literally fresh-from-the-garden
ingredients accentuate the rustic beauty of dishes like a thick
heirloom tomato
soup ($10), a vibrant purée made from tomatoes from the garden
with
goat cheese
quenelle; al
dente tagliatelle with fresh peas, artichokes, roasted tomatoes and
chanterelles ($24) couldn’t have tasted more like spring. Lunch and breakfast at The Spa Café (below) are superb. Gibson turns a lobster martini ($18), a small salad of lobster, avocado, mango and vanilla sauce, into gustatory origami – delightful in its simplicity and taste. Even the smoothies are dynamite with ripe fruits from the ranch and your choice of nutritional supplements.
Wining and dining are not relegated to the table at Bacara. Reardon conducts group and private cooking classes; guests can tour the avocado and citrus ranch and gardens, and visit local wineries. My small group visited the highly renowned Tantara and
The resort itself has 311 luxurious guest rooms and 49 suites, each with a private balcony or patio overlooking the
Bacara Resort & Spa room rates begin at $425 per night, suites start at $1,050 per night. Kid’s Club program and special packages are available. For reservations call 877-422-4245 or visit www.bacararesort.com.
NEW YORK CORNER
by John Mariani
V Steak
10 Columbus Circle
212-823-9500
The
case of Jean-Georges Vongerichten is as fascinating as any in
American
gastronomy. There is no doubt that he is one of the great chefs
of the world and a man who has more than once changed the way food is
conceived. Like Wolfgang Puck, Emeril Lagasse, and Todd English,
he has created an empire of restaurants that trade on his name and
reputation without any requirement that he spends much time in those
outlets. Yet in one form or another--at Jean-Georges, JoJo's, or
now V Steak--his restaurants
pre-suppose a dedication and commitment that
manifests itself in novel ways enough to impress the critics early
on.
This is especially true of the New York food and fashion media who go into gushing paroxyms of praise for even his lesser efforts, like the ear-splitting Spice Market (which received three baffling stars from the NY Times) and 66, his headache-inducing Chinese restaurant. In these last two cases, as well as Mercer Kitchen, the attention seems to be on the food, but the profit margin is certainly built on the singles bar scenes that quickly accrue to such places. That Vongerichten has little intention of ever spending much time at such enterprises once he gets them up and running seems of little consequence to his media darlings, who never mention that J-G is not only not cooking at such eateries but is very, very busy opening up new ones on various continents at what seems to be a headlong pace.
Which makes V Steak seem less like a serious commitment than it does an attempt at cashing in on his name. Having had enormous success with his Prime steakhouse in Vegas, he has now tried to reproduce that success at the new Time-Warner Center, wherein Per Se, Masa, and Cafe Grey are also located. This is, of course, a very big deal real estate location, and Vongerichten has a prime space overlooking Central Park and much of Fifth Avenue in the distance. But one can easily wonder, after peeking into the place, if his heart and soul are really in V Steak. For one thing, it looks more like a Vegas theme restaurant than it does an stylistic advance over the traditions of the New York steakhouse genre. Indeed, with its kitschy red banquet-room look, silly uncomfortable chairs, and gilded, eerily lighted interior trees, it looks more like The Addams Family Restaurant than it does a NYC steakhouse. It reminds me of how Raymond Chandler once described an L.A. nightclub: “The lobby looked like a high-budget musical. A lot of light and glitter, a lot of scenery, a lot of clothes, a lot of sound, an all-star cast, and a plot with all the originality and drive of a split
Vongerichten's attempt to gussy up steakhouse fare has mixed results. First of all, there's nothing wrong with the basic options for meats: The Niman Ranch NY strip steak was very good, nice and beefy, and very juicy, and the filet mignon--never my first choice for beef--was even better. To make it a trio of goodies, the Colorado lamb t-bone was first-rate in every way.
But except for some wonderful warm corn pudding that was much fought over at our table, and delicious tempura soft shell crabs with Napa cabbage slaw, the rest of the meal was quirky or not particularly savory at all. One doesn't expect to find a "crispy pork roll with very hot mustard" on a steakhouse menu, and V's does nothing to prove its belongs there. Ribbons of tuna, avocado, radish and an overpowering ginger marinade was limp and out of place, and warm shrimp with avocado and tomato horseradish water was much ado about no flavor at all.
The fish main courses includes a Maine lobster with corn, potato and basil, but it's not much to sing about, when I would have preferred a big hunky 3-pounder steamed and just dunked in butter. All entrees come with "homemade" condiments, including a variety of ketchups, but frankly none is as good as Heinz's, or perhaps they just don't work as well with the steak, filet, and lamb chops. Side dishes were pretty dreary, from some potato skin things called "fripps," to disappointing truffle croquettes. Really, who wants truffle croquettes with your sirloin?
Vongerichten should know that after a person ingests massive amounts of meat, fussy French desserts are just not in the cards, like his cylinder of two-berry cheesecake with a shooter of berry juice; a big, bland fourteen-layer cake, and a strange fried beignet of chocolate with a profiterole semifreddo. Except for these desserts, which run $8-$10, V is a very pricey place, even for steakhouse, with the NY strip at $38, a porterhouse at $62, the t-bone of lamb at $37, and what the menu reads as "Yama Ranch sirloin wagyu beef" at $62, which is actually wagyu-style beef raised in Texas, not Japan. Baked chicken, on the other hand, costs a paltry $18. This is before any side dishes. Wines from a reasonably good list do not seem outrageously priced.
The real problem at V is the service staff, for however well meaning, they are inexperienced and bumbling, including one goofball waiter who stood at our table while the sauce ran off a plate onto the floor and his own shoes. A hostess one night was dressed in cargo pants, a sloppy white shirt, and flip flops; no wonder the dress of the guests falls between on-the-town glitz at one table and the slovenly t-shirt-and-jeans Jerry Garcia look of a noted California winemaker at the next.
This place might work in Vegas, where Vongerichten already has a very successful steakhouse, but in Manhattan, set on the fourth floor of the Time-Warner Center, it seems out of touch with what people want in a Noo Yawk steakhouse. What's supposed to be witty is lame, and the decor is just plain ugly. Too bad, because the beef and other meats are excellent.
This is especially true of the New York food and fashion media who go into gushing paroxyms of praise for even his lesser efforts, like the ear-splitting Spice Market (which received three baffling stars from the NY Times) and 66, his headache-inducing Chinese restaurant. In these last two cases, as well as Mercer Kitchen, the attention seems to be on the food, but the profit margin is certainly built on the singles bar scenes that quickly accrue to such places. That Vongerichten has little intention of ever spending much time at such enterprises once he gets them up and running seems of little consequence to his media darlings, who never mention that J-G is not only not cooking at such eateries but is very, very busy opening up new ones on various continents at what seems to be a headlong pace.
Which makes V Steak seem less like a serious commitment than it does an attempt at cashing in on his name. Having had enormous success with his Prime steakhouse in Vegas, he has now tried to reproduce that success at the new Time-Warner Center, wherein Per Se, Masa, and Cafe Grey are also located. This is, of course, a very big deal real estate location, and Vongerichten has a prime space overlooking Central Park and much of Fifth Avenue in the distance. But one can easily wonder, after peeking into the place, if his heart and soul are really in V Steak. For one thing, it looks more like a Vegas theme restaurant than it does an stylistic advance over the traditions of the New York steakhouse genre. Indeed, with its kitschy red banquet-room look, silly uncomfortable chairs, and gilded, eerily lighted interior trees, it looks more like The Addams Family Restaurant than it does a NYC steakhouse. It reminds me of how Raymond Chandler once described an L.A. nightclub: “The lobby looked like a high-budget musical. A lot of light and glitter, a lot of scenery, a lot of clothes, a lot of sound, an all-star cast, and a plot with all the originality and drive of a split
Vongerichten's attempt to gussy up steakhouse fare has mixed results. First of all, there's nothing wrong with the basic options for meats: The Niman Ranch NY strip steak was very good, nice and beefy, and very juicy, and the filet mignon--never my first choice for beef--was even better. To make it a trio of goodies, the Colorado lamb t-bone was first-rate in every way.
But except for some wonderful warm corn pudding that was much fought over at our table, and delicious tempura soft shell crabs with Napa cabbage slaw, the rest of the meal was quirky or not particularly savory at all. One doesn't expect to find a "crispy pork roll with very hot mustard" on a steakhouse menu, and V's does nothing to prove its belongs there. Ribbons of tuna, avocado, radish and an overpowering ginger marinade was limp and out of place, and warm shrimp with avocado and tomato horseradish water was much ado about no flavor at all.
The fish main courses includes a Maine lobster with corn, potato and basil, but it's not much to sing about, when I would have preferred a big hunky 3-pounder steamed and just dunked in butter. All entrees come with "homemade" condiments, including a variety of ketchups, but frankly none is as good as Heinz's, or perhaps they just don't work as well with the steak, filet, and lamb chops. Side dishes were pretty dreary, from some potato skin things called "fripps," to disappointing truffle croquettes. Really, who wants truffle croquettes with your sirloin?
Vongerichten should know that after a person ingests massive amounts of meat, fussy French desserts are just not in the cards, like his cylinder of two-berry cheesecake with a shooter of berry juice; a big, bland fourteen-layer cake, and a strange fried beignet of chocolate with a profiterole semifreddo. Except for these desserts, which run $8-$10, V is a very pricey place, even for steakhouse, with the NY strip at $38, a porterhouse at $62, the t-bone of lamb at $37, and what the menu reads as "Yama Ranch sirloin wagyu beef" at $62, which is actually wagyu-style beef raised in Texas, not Japan. Baked chicken, on the other hand, costs a paltry $18. This is before any side dishes. Wines from a reasonably good list do not seem outrageously priced.
The real problem at V is the service staff, for however well meaning, they are inexperienced and bumbling, including one goofball waiter who stood at our table while the sauce ran off a plate onto the floor and his own shoes. A hostess one night was dressed in cargo pants, a sloppy white shirt, and flip flops; no wonder the dress of the guests falls between on-the-town glitz at one table and the slovenly t-shirt-and-jeans Jerry Garcia look of a noted California winemaker at the next.
This place might work in Vegas, where Vongerichten already has a very successful steakhouse, but in Manhattan, set on the fourth floor of the Time-Warner Center, it seems out of touch with what people want in a Noo Yawk steakhouse. What's supposed to be witty is lame, and the decor is just plain ugly. Too bad, because the beef and other meats are excellent.
WE FELT EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AT HOOTERS WHEN OUR WAITRESS ASKED, "LEG, BREAST OR THIGH WITH THAT CHICKEN?"
"The best thing on the menu at Di Nardo's Ristorante, a versatile Italian restaurant in the center of Scotts Corner here, is the homemade spaghetti. When the waiter says 'spaghetti,' his voice rises on the second syllable and lingers there for a moment, so how can you resist?"
--Alice Gabriel, in The New York Times (June 13, 2004).
NOW HE'S SUING THEM TO PAY FOR HIS LIVER TRANSPLANT
A 50-year-old Cologne pub employee who admitted drinking up to 100 of the pub's beers a day with his friends, without paying for them, was fired after being told to stop. He thereupon sued the pub for unfair dismissal, and was awarded by the courts $3,630 and three months' salary.
QUICK BYTES
* On Oct.28-31 The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort in Longboat Key, FL, will hold its annual "Stone Crab Festival," with guests chefs Debbie Gold and Michael Smith of 40 Sardines, Overland Park, KS; Alice Weingarten of Alice's Key West; Nicolas Bour of Iris; Atlanta, Pascal Oudin of Pascal's on Ponce, Coral Gables; Jean-Louis Gerin of Jean-Louis, Greenwich; and Stanley Wong of Spice Market, NYC, along with vintners from Burgess, Ch. Ste Michelle, Cosentino, Fess Parker, Fisher, Lolonis, and Oakville Ranch wineries. Activities include chefs' demos, wine tastings, outdoor pool party, and gala 7-course dinner. For details call 941-383-6464 ext 2187 or visit www.colonybeachresort.com.
* From Oct. 15-22 NYC's @ SQC RestaurantBar features a “Has To Be Hass” Mexican Avocado menu. Chef Scott Campbell will feature dishes and beverages from cocktails and appetizers to entrées and desserts, all made with Hass Avocado, with City Harvest receiving 50% of the profits from the sales of Bartender Camillo Moreno's Mexican Hass Avocado Martini. On Oct. 18 Chef Campbell will host a free panel discussion and demo followed by a tasting, featuring Wayne Brachman (Star of the Food Channel’s “Melting Pot”, and author of Retro Desserts) and culinary historian Alexandra Leaf (author of Van Gogh’s Table) to discuss the history of the famous fruit.
* From Oct. 19-24
* On October 23-24, more than 3 dozen winemakers will be in
* On Oct. 25 at NYC's Guastavino’s celebrity chefs from
* On Oct. 29 Hemingway's Restaurant in Killington, VT, holds its Harvest Dinner, focusing on seasonally available Vermont products. www.hemingwaysrestaurant.com or call 802- 422 3886.
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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, and also at www.Gayot.com.
New York Corner reviews are also available at
www.nycvisit.com/johnmariani
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MARIANI'S VIRTUAL
GOURMET NEWSLETTER is
published weekly. Editor/Publisher: John
Mariani.
Contributing Writers: Robert Mariani,
Naomi
Kooker, Kirsten Skogerson, Edward Brivio,
Mort Hochstein, Lucy Gordan, Suzanne Wright. Contributing
Photographers: Galina
Stepanoff-Dargery,
Bobby Pirillo. Technical Advisor: Gerry
McLoughlin.
copyright John Mariani 2004