Archive for January, 2010

Every year, I review Israeli wines for the April issue of our magazine. I do this because the majority of wines from Israel are Kosher, and a lot of Kosher wine is purchased and consumed in the month of April for the Jewish holiday Passover (September is also a busy season for the category with the High Holy Days including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). Every year, I have noticed an improvement over the previous vintage, and marvel at the fact that some fabulous winemakers are creating beautiful stuff that too many people are unfamiliar with.

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Thinking ahead to Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d present a “point, click, drool & buy” guide to chocolate. To that end, I contacted my former colleague and co-writer on chocolate and pastry books, Tish Boyle. She is still very much immersed in that world. Her blog offers recipes, kitchen tips and news for all things chocolate and pastry, gooey and crunchy, sweet and salty.

[I miss the chocolate world, especially the way the women dressed for work, as seen in the photos below.]

[That is a big fat lie. These are chocolate fashions, as displayed at the Chocolate Show, which exhibits at several cities over the year. Yep: clothes made of chocolate. Tasteful comments are welcome.]

Tish was happy to share some of the quality chocolatiers she’s discovered relatively recently.

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Like art, music and literature, the cocktails and favored beverages of an era are often intrinsically linked to the history and culture of the time. Delve into the origins of your favorite cocktails and you’ll find a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of a bygone era. The creation of mixed drinks in particular is routinely linked to events in history.

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While New Year’s resolutions frequently involve promises of eating less, giving back more or finally kicking that terrible habit, if you’re not ditching booze altogether it might be the best time to take a look at your beverage routines and question whether they are in need of a shake-up of their own. If you think about your purchasing, education and consumption rituals and realize that you have not bought anything different, learned anything new or shared anything spectacular with friends or family, then you might in fact be stuck in a drink rut. Lucky for you, I’m here to help; adopting these 5 simple and fantastic resolutions is certain to spice up your consumption lifestyle, liberating you from monotony and reminding you about all of the possibilities and pleasures you once yearned to find in the world of fine wine and craft beer. Here’s to a happy, healthy and fun new year!

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If you dine out with any regularity, it’s likely you have an opinion on how restaurant service should be. Whether you feel service is of prime importance or not, we all have our gripes. Recently, I had a particularly poor experience at a 2-Michelin-Star restaurant in NY. Since posting my recap this morning, I’ve been amazed at the number of people corralling to support me. And it makes sense! When you pay top dollar for a meal, people should treat you nicely. Oddly enough, I think too many people take service etiquette for granted. Not wanting to be curmudgeonly they keep opinions to themselves, making these rules unspoken.

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