Govind Armstrong has come to the west side and brought traditional Southern Country cuisine. I first met Govind when I began working in the wine and spirits industry over a decade ago when he owned Table 8 on Melrose Ave. Over the years I would ask him when he would open something on the West Side of LA and he would tease me that he was looking into it but couldn't tell me where or when. And now it is time!
Located in the Northeast of Italy is the Veneto Region, famous for the canals of Venice, the architecture of Palladio and the home of Romeo and Juliet. Comprised of seven provinces, five of them produce wine: Verona, Vicenza, Padua, Treviso and Venice. The Veneto Region is also responsible for producing 20% of all Italian D.O.C. wines. In fact, there are a total of 25 D.O.C. wines and 11 D.O.C.G. wines from within the Veneto region.
In the very eastern part of Venice, near Treviso, is the area of Lison-Pramaggiore. With flat, alluvial lands, two of native varietals are Lison and Refosco dal penduncolo rosso.
Lison is a new wine made from the ancient varietal Tocai Italico (also known as Tocai Friulano). In 2007, the European community agreed that the name Tocai belonged to the Hungarians. Therefore, the Italians renamed the wine Lison. Made with 100% French Sauvignonasse (an ancient grape), Lison (formerly Tocai) is a straw yellow wine that is delicate and acidic with a finish of bitter almonds.
