it’s nice for the atmosphere to do shows in restaurants and bars, but I always find it a bit annoying, as wines are often chosen because it’s fashionable to have this wine, that blend, another brandname, etc…not exactly my way of seeing wines (e.g. the owner of my wine shop in Spain here needs to buy a specific type of sparkling Italian wine, just because it is “in” nowadays in a lot of Italian restaurants over here…it’s expensive and not nice, it actually tastes like water, boring as you would say). I’m not sure whether I want to try the first wine, for instance…the label and the way of marketing the unoaked aspect sounds like a commercial trick which might be used for soda’s, but for wines???
QOTD : I prefer the “real stuff”, so no modern restaurant showing off with mediterranean food you have to pay a lot for in NY or so, but a small, not always newly decorated place where the “mama” (or equivalent for other types of cuisine) still prepares the dishes her (grand)mother taught her…it’s not always easy to find, but in Spain, you can still find them, even in big cities as Madrid and Barcelona (just spent a week there).

QOTD: My new favorite restaurant is Ristorante San Daniele (Italian) in a small subdivision of Hamburg called Poppenbütel. It’s not even really a restaurant as much as it’s a fine dining experience from heaven. There is no menu, you simply say fish and/or meat and each of the 7 courses are left to the discretion of the cook. Of course it is a little on the pricey side, well at least for my meager budget, but I highly recommend anyone who gets a chance to go to Hamburg to go to this restaurant. And the house red wine is also amazing, I wish I would have written down the name, because now it escapes me. As for in the US, tons of places in New Orleans, love me some good ol’ cajun cooking. And on behalf of my father, because he raves about this place non-stop, Fogo de Chao in Houston. It’s a Brazilian Churrascaria cooked the traditional “gaucho way”. Still haven’t had the chance to go, but I’m looking forward to it in Dec.

I went with my wife to Four Ways Restaurant in Bermuda. The veal was unbelievable. That always seems to be the most amazing piece of food I ever put in my mouth.

QOTD: I’ve got 2 in France- Les Marrioniers in Montagne (in the St. Emilion appellation) and La Table du Lavoir, the restaurant at Chateau Smith Haut Lafite. Absolutely fabulous, both of them.

QOTD: Douzo in Boston

QOTD: I’ll give you two great food and wine restaurants in Cleveland: Lola bistro run by our own “Iron Chef” Michael Symon and Crop Bistro, both in downtown Cleveland, OH are excellent choices and two of my favorites – but I have so many!

QOTD: La Laiterie in Providence, RI

QOTD: Next time I’m in New Jersey I’ll try the Napa Valley Wine Grille. I can’t think of a favorite restaurant right now. Santa Fe has the best restaurants, but the chefs keep ricocheting around. If I could find a restaurant that served a good cioppino, that would be my favorite.
I’m writing this from 12/19 and am hoping that Gary will emerge again in good health and with the store in good shape.

QOTD: By far its Cafe Juanita in the Seattle area. Ive typed about them before, but will rattle on again. Just fantastic food and service in a home-like setting. Absoultely one of the best if not the best restaurant in Seattle. Please check them out the next time youre in Seattle.

Just found the show! Yea! Good stuff! And, lo and behold, another PV head! I KNEW I wasn’t the only one. The notes on the Pinot Noir from Trinchero are interesting, since I lurve their PV varietal because of all the earthiness. (Best dang glass of dirt you’ll ever drink! Got a bottle that’s been aging since 2001. Can’t wait to open that thing.) Sounds like I need to check out their Pinot as well. In other words I need to take a wine buying trip out to Napa. (Yes, I live in Sacramento, which means a whole lot of heaven is less than a tank of gas away…)

qotd: at the moment it’s Pioneer Pit Beef

90/100

line of the day – ‘a little side of the road action coming through…and I like it’

Live crowd in New Jersey, expertly handled by Gary. This was an episode recorded a month ago as our man is still under the weather