by Par-lor
After the recent trip to Singapore with my friend, our comments were somewhat similar: "Singaporean cocktails are way better than those in Hong Kong!". Or is it just that we have missed the best? My friend then started exploring for good cocktail bars in Hong Kong, ending up with an impressive one...Typical Japanese bar setting, indeed identical to what I saw in the classic Japanese TV series - "The Bartendar". 4 people in decent uniform lined up, serving in the bar: 2 bartendars and 2 waitress, all are Japanese. (Well, don't let them overhear your conversation, they speak Cantonese and English too).What a nice non-smoking bar that I could get a fresh breeze with my glass of artistic cocktail. You seldom see such tranquility in the bar. People here were neither mumbling their hectic daily ...
by Ron Barker, Cigarvolante Llc
CigarVolante started wine and cigar pairings last year and as a result of its acceptance formalized it with the foundation of the Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail™ (VWACT) this spring. The Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail™ is an affiliation of five wineries and CigarVolante LLC, the Virginia Distributor for Panacea Cigars, a mild to medium bodied cigar that has an unusually complex flavor in a milder cigar, lending itself perfectly to pairing with wine and craft beers. Each of the wineries in the VWACT offers those Panacea Cigars that are paired specifically to their wines and supports and encourages cigar smoking at their wineries, many times in separate smoking areas. They see the aesthetic cigar smoker as the ideal target market as the cigar smoker is: 35 to 65, has above average income, ...
by Kay Zink
I had a terrific opportunity to attend a Sigel’s event at the Park City Club in Dallas with Jasper Russo at the helm. Have you ever had two and a half hours to taste 40 Pinot Noir wines? Well, I hated to be put in that position, but I tried! Did I also mention tasting the appetizers served to compliment the wines: herb crusted beef tenderloin, smoked chicken quesadillas, New England style crab puffs, fresh fruit, and of course artisanal cheeses? When you think of a Pinot Noirs, you usually think of the region of Bourgogne (Burgundy) France. The majority of red wine from that region is Pinot Noir; where the majority of white wine from that region is Chardonnay. The Pinot Noirs for tasting that night were not just from Bourgogne, but a large sampling from California, Oregon, New Zeala...
by Kay Zink
Ever visited the land of Don Quixote - La Mancha, Spain? I had the opportunity to do just that, without a plane ticket. The wines of La Mancha came to our own backyard, Dallas! A USA spring tour of "Wines Worth Discovering" sponsored by the La Mancha region of Spain occurred in Dallas with the Meadows Museum on SMU's campus serving as a back drop. This event occurred last week, Saturday, May 12th, and is well worth the review. Taking a visit to the SMU Meadows Museum is quite a treat. The museum is named after Algur H. Meadows, oil financier and Texas philanthropist. During business trips to Spain in the 1950's, he was inspired by the Prado Museum in Madrid to start his own collection of Spanish art. In 1962, he gave SMU funds for the construction and endowment of the museum and his...
by Chef David Darugh
More Nutritious Eggs from Pastured Chickens McDonald's and Target dropped the nation's 5th largest egg supplier after an animal rights group released an undercover video of the egg producer's farms in three states. The Company, Sparboe Farms, has been under fire by U.S. Food and Drug Administration and animal rights groups for alleged unhealthy conditions and animal cruelty at its farms. As consumers we should be aware that it’s not just about the ethical treatment of animals, the eggs produced under these conditions pose a much higher risk for the spread of food borne illness such as Salmonella. And importantly, research indicates[1] that chickens raised in these conditions produce eggs that are nutritionally inferior to eggs produced by hens raised on pasture. Most of the eggs current...
by Rosie Carbo
Michael Green is not a live, stand-up comedian. But as the star of “Wines worth Discovering,” a Denomination of Origin (D.O.) La Mancha spring road show, his colorful anecdotes is key to learning about the wines from this region. “I close my eyes and I can smell La Mancha; it has the largest production of saffron in the world,” said Green, who spent nearly 20 years as wine and spirits consultant with Gourmet magazine. “I can smell its Manchego cheese, and I think of Pedro Almodovar, one of the most famous film makers in the world. I’m very, very, passionate about these wines. This is only my fifth day on the job, but I felt like I was from there when I visited. It has one of the largest appellations in the world,” he said. Gregorio Martin Zarco, La Mancha’s D.O. presi...
by Ron Kapon
I recently attended a chocolate seminar sponsored by Vermont’s’ Lake Champlain Chocolates. We tried different chocolates with several wines which got me thinking how little I really knew about chocolate. Meghan Fitzpatrick, PR and Communications Manager for Lake Champlain Chocolates, assisted me in the preparation of this article.Where does chocolate come from?Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which produce cocoa pods that grow around their trunks, not on the branches. The cocoa belt is about 15 degrees north and south of the equator, so places like Africa, South America, Central America, Indonesia and Asia are where cacao trees grow. Farmers take these pods, slice them in half and scrape the beans from the middle. They then sandwich them between layers of banana leaves to ferment, ...
by Ron Kapon
I have had the good luck to interview many dairy farmers in Vermont over the past several years. They are a breed of their own- working dawn to dusk seven days a week, 365 days a year. Their commute is a pathway to the barn, their transportation is a 30 year-old John Deere tractor and their office is the milking parlor. Paperwork is not their thing, and computers are typically an unwelcome intrusion in the tried and true ways they grew up with.Most dairy farm families trace their roots back generation after generation and many old-timers were born in the same farmhouse where they still live today. They are good neighbors, steadfast stewards of the land and fiercely self-reliant individuals. I love the results of their hard work every bit as much – cheese. And that got me thinking. Why n...
by Paul Hodgins
Do you love the wines of Paso Robles but hate the grueling four-hour drive to get there?Now you don’t have to leave O.C. to visit a Central Coast wine maker.Pozzuoli Vineyard & Winery opened its new tasting room on Saturday. It’s in a nondescript storefront on Redhill Ave. in Tustin, but the place is far from humdrum on the inside.That’s because the owner and winemaker, Enrico Pozzuoli, is also an architect; his office is right next door. He has created a space that’s intimate and welcoming – imagine a boutique winery tasting room somewhere in the rolling hills of the Central Coast.Pozzuoli’s output is small, only about 500 cases a year at present. Right now, he’s pouring his available wines from a shiny new enomatic wine machine behind the bar. Like a lot of Central Coast vi...
by Eat.drink.evolve
Who doesn’t love that first seasonal sip of hot cocoa when the old-man winter blows his first blast of chilly air? And who among us isn’t downright giddy the first time after the long winter that we dine alfresco with the sun hitting our faces, sipping a happy little number that matches our everything’s-looking-up mood?Even coming out of this mild winter, we welcome spring 2012 with open arms. We’ve enjoyed the warm, spicy, decadent wines of winter, but are more than eager to move outdoors and bring with us wines that reflect the wonderfully fickle moods of spring. As we watch the lawn green before our eyes, we want to taste the herbaceous grassy notes in our Sauvignon Blancs. We want a Pinot Gris that is as crisp and refreshing as the breeze that flows into the newly opened windo...
