WINE

Thinking about Austrian wines, it's probably white wines that most people are familiar with, especially Gruner Veltliner and Riesling. This is not a surprise since Austria wasn't really making red wine until the mid-1980s when, thanks to new legislation and new quality, they learned about maceration times, malolactic fermentation times and barrels. While international varieties were planted, the Austrians also found great results with indigenous varieties. Since then red wine production has more than doubled and now makes up 1/3 of the wine production in Austria. A recent wine seminar in Los Angeles was an introduction to the red grapes of Austria, focusing on four of the main red varietals. Austrian Red Wines
10 June, 2015
Providence Restaurant is one of the few restaurants in Los Angeles that is a special dining experience. It is elegant from the decor to the service to the food With tasting menus starting at $150, it is a restaurant that is typically saved for special occasions and celebrations and for the average diner it is not a weekly destination. But, in honor of their 10th anniversary, for the month of June (and perhaps it will be extended thru July), Providence is offering a 4 course tasting menu for $80. The anniversary menu is a selection of 4 items from the 9-course Market Menu ($150). But, don't let 4 courses fool you as the meal starts with 3-4 amuse bouche. A fellow foodie friend and I rushed out to Providence on June 1st for the first night of this special anniversary menu. The first amuse is Cocktails in a Bubble, made with basil seeds, yuzu, elderflower and champagne. Refreshing and tart, you slide the "bubble" in your mouth and your palate is awakened. Cocktails in a bubble
08 June, 2015
While most Champagne houses date back to the 1800s and early 1900s and are steeped in tradition, Champagne Jacquart is a young Champagne house. Started in 1964, they are celebrating their 50th anniversary. And, with that youth, they are not focused on the past but rather the future, making rules and setting tradition as they go. Champagne Jacquart is like a cooperative and is owned by 1800 grape growers. With vineyards that cover 2400 hectares, they own 7% of the vineyards in Champagne. Champagne Jacquart Overseeing the direction of Champagne Jacquart is Cellar Master/Head Winemaker Floriane Eznack. With less than half a dozen female Cellar Masters in Champagne, at only 35 years old, Floriane is also the youngest Cellar Master in Champagne. Born in the Cognac area and after studying enology in Reims, Floriane spent four years at Veuve Clicquot before coming to Champagne Jacquart in 2011.
03 June, 2015
Are you a Food Network Junkie? If so, you probably saw the new culinary competition All-Star Academy in which ten home cooks across the country were paired with Food Network famous chefs. If not, here's a quick update. After eight episodes, it came down to two finalists and Santa Barbara local Vanessa Craig was one of them. Paired with Chef Michael Symon, she was energetic, spunky and lots of fun to watch. Sadly she didn't win the final prize but 2nd place isn't shabby! After the national exposure and now that the show is over, Vanessa is back home in Santa Barbara. Her passion is to share her love for food and her love of Santa Barbara and is now a private chef and caterer with her newly launched business Vanessa Loves Food. Vanessa Craig in the kitchen
22 May, 2015
Last summer I attended an extraordinary dinner at Los Angeles Food and Wine called Dining with the Michelin Stars. One of the featured chefs was David Kinch of Manresa in Los Gatos. After eating his delicate Beggar’s Purses and Beef with Pole Beans, Puffed Rice and Onion Broth at the dinner, I swore that a dining experience at Manresa was on the top of my list. But, the only issue was, when would I be in Los Gatos? Well, it happened! After a weekend at Pebble Beach Food and Wine, my friend and I were flying out of San Jose Airport and Los Gatos is just 15 minutes from the airport. So, despite all the eating we had done over the weekend, we hightailed it out of Pebble Beach when the event ended and drove straight to Los Gatos. Los Gatos is a charming little town that looks like it was lost in time. Our navigation took us down a few streets (a few arguably seemed like ally-ways) and we pulled up in front of Manresa. Manresa Manresa opens for dinner at 5:30pm (the bar opens at 5:15pm). The restaurant offers a 14-course tasting menu for $198 and takes about three hours. Sadly we only had about one and a half hours before we had to head to the airport. But, the good news is that if you sit at the bar, Manresa offers an abbreviated tasting menu called "Bar Bites." It's five courses (pulled from the full tasting menu) and was what we had time for.
15 May, 2015
For the amount of the restaurants and businesses in Beverly Hills, it is not a nighttime destination and by 8pm the streets are quiet, almost deserted. But, just south of Santa Monica Blvd on Canon Drive, the new Wally's Vinoteca, open until 2am, is bringing the area back to life. Wally's Vinoteca Wally's Vinoteca is the sister to Wally's Wine Shop on Westwood Blvd which has been in business for 20 years. But, while the wine shop only sells wine, Wally's Vinoteca is a wine bar, retail shop and restaurant all in one. Located in the former Monsieur Marcel location, in between Wolfgang's Steakhouse and Nic's Martini Lounge, Wally's Vinoteca is reminiscent of a a food hall, like Harrod's or Eataly (but much smaller). Wally's Vinoteca There are ceiling-high shelves of more than 2,500 wine bottles for sale, ranging in price, as well as rare spirits and craft beers.
07 May, 2015
Chi Spacca is over one year old now but I finally made it....barely! I knew it was near Mozza but managed to pass it three times before I gave up on Waze all together. I found a spot on the street and walked past the Osteria Mozza entrance to where there is a small sign with just the image of the cleaver on it (Chi Spacca means "cleaver" in Italian). Without a noticeable sign, especially one without words, it was a bit difficult to find. Chi Spacca A little further down is a door to Mozza-To-Go. Enter Mozza-To-Go and then through another door and you come to the intimate Chi Spacca with the open kitchen. Tables are rather close so you have to maneuver yourself through the space to your table. We had a lovely little table next to the window but throughout our meal at least three different passers-by on the street stuck their heads into the small square to look into the restaurant and ended up giving us a little shock.
05 May, 2015
Between Mike Skinner's obsession with his family's history and a series of coincidental events, Mike and Carey Skinner are the owners of Skinner Vineyards in El Dorado in the Sierra Foothills. Carey joined us in Los Angeles to share the story of her winery. Carey Skinner Mike had a dream about a vineyard but it was just a dream. Then, one day their son Kevin and his wife were driving from Lake Tahoe using an old map and found "Skinner" on the map near the Sierra Foothills town of Placerville. Upon further discovery, Mike found that he is the great-great-great-grandson of James Skinner, a Scottish miner who in 1861 established one of the Sierra Foothills’ first wineries. After discovering gold in Coloma in 1861, James had the largest winery in the country, producing 15 thousand gallons of wine and whiskey per year.
22 April, 2015
Ever since I ate the Mandilli de Seta (handkerchief pasta, Ligurian almond basil pesto, fiore sardo) at Factory Kitchen, it has been one of my favorite Italian restaurants. So, when I heard they were offering a Happy Hour menu, I decided to go check it out. While the Mandilli de Seta is not on the Happy Hour menu, there are many delicious options. Some are smaller versions of items on the dinner menu and other items are exclusively for Happy Hour. But, the best part is that everything (food, wine and cocktails) is between $6-$11. We started with the Frittino di Verdura (fried baby leeks with chickpea fritters). Well-salted and crispy, this is an addictive dish. Frittino di Verdura I washed down the salty fried snacks with a glass of crisp, fruity Cleto Chiarli Lambrusco di Grasparossa from Emilia-Romagna, Italy. 
20 April, 2015
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