WINE

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Napa is home to more than 500 wineries and more than 750 charities, according to Judd Wallenbrock,...

20 July, 2016
It is easy to find a cocktail bar, a wine bar and even a brewery in just about any town these days. What about a cider bar? In New York there is one - Wassail. Cider was once the primary drink in colonial America. But after industrialization and then Prohibition, apples were left for eating and if it was made into drinking form, it was for apple juice or non-alcoholic ciders. While cider has been popular in the UK, Spain and France for years, it is only recently that cider has had a renaissance in the United States. And personally, I think that is a good thing. Cider List Wassail NYC is celebrating this renaissance. As they explain on their website, "Cidermakers are fermenting juice again to create a diverse array of dry, still, and flavored ciders; orchardists are planting heirlooms and "spitters," the highly tannic and bitter apples suitable only for fermenting; foragers are finding abandoned trees and reviving long forgotten varieties; urban homesteaders are making cider in their apartments and backyards." At Wassail, they feature 90+ ciders on draught and by-the- bottle, as well as apple-based cocktails. They also have wine, beer and cocktails.
14 July, 2016

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Australian wines had not been on my radar until few recent events reintroduced them. For the last five years,...

29 June, 2016
Same Same......but Different. That is the name of the Thai restaurant tucked in a strip mall on Sunset Blvd in Silverlake. Locals know the place as Rambutan Thai and while the kitchen and food remain the same, the front of the house is different. Now the name makes sense, right? Same Same but different Adam Weisblatt of Last Word Hospitality and his partners Angus McShane and Holly Zack are what is different about Same Same. They were on a mission to find a small, established business to buy and take over and create a Basque wine bar. They found Rambutan, a 13-year-old family business in Silverlake. However as Weisblatt shared with me, as they were looking to buy the place they noticed how customers were drawn to owners Katy Noochlaor and Annie Daniel. So instead of buying the place, they decided to collaborate.
20 June, 2016
Having lived in Italy many years ago, I know what good pizza tastes like. There is nothing better than a thin crust Italian pizza with the perfect balance of tomato sauce and cheese and a glass of Italian wine. And, I have found that place in Los Angeles at Pizza Romana. Pizza Romana Located on La Brea Boulevard, just south of Melrose in the space formerly known as Cube, Pizza Romana is owned by Alex Palermo. For those who loved the menu at Cube, rest assured that while Palermo changed the concept, those dishes are still on the menu. In addition, they put a large wood fired pizza oven in the center of the restaurant. Pizza Romana Alex Palermo grew up in Wisconsin, the son of a Roman father and American mother, and spent his vacations in Italy. He then attended college in Southern California. Having spent some time working at the La Jolla Pasta Company during summers and having visited Italy, he understood that homemade pasta is something that comes from "home". During his senior year in college, he took an entrepreneurial course. As Contadini was the only "fresh pasta" on the market at the time, he used his summer experience as an idea. He got a pasta machine from another company in San Diego and set it up at a friend's dad's restaurant in Santa Monica. He would work from 11pm to 4am making restaurant quality pasta for retail. Divine Pasta Company was born. His first client was Gelson's Market in 1992 and it grew from there where it can be found at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and Costco today.
13 June, 2016
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