Culinary Tidbits . . . It sounds like an attention-getting scheme to me, although next month when Grant Achatz opens a new restaurant in Chicago called “Next”, if in fact it opens, could be the most burdensome ever in culinary history. “My idea of fun seems to be more work,” he said; he will remain in charge of Alinea, his acclaimed restaurant nearby, while he is refining the new menu, which will be painstakingly reproduced from the classical French repertoire: whole lobes of foie gras baked in brioche, clear turtle soup with Madeira, duck pressed and sauced with its own blood and marrow, as served at the Tour d’Argent in Paris for more than 200 years.
These dishes, will be served for all of three months. Next will then morph into an entirely different restaurant, and again into something different three months after that.
Smoking in China at Public Places Finally Curbed – Beijing
March 24th, 2011
In a surprise move China has put in place a smoking ban in indoor public places starting 1 May 2011. Now there is only Russia and a few other major smoking countries left without a ban, as France will have a ban in place very soon. The Chinese Ministry of Health will also bar cigarette vending machines in public places and will not allow smoking areas near to where people might pass. China is the world’s largest cigarette market.
G Four Fine Wines, New Tasting Room – Bangkok
March 24th, 2011
G Four – Fine Wines
Kwaeng Chong Nonsee Khet Yannawa, 537/220 Soi Sathupradit 37 Sathupradit Rd., Bangkok
Tel.02-284 3055
The New Tasting Room at G Four Offices & Warehouse
Mount Gay Rum & Casino Royale – Barbados
March 22nd, 2011
The original “Casino Royale” (1967) was made as a satire instead of the usual formula of the James Bond film series due to complications in coming to terms with the original EON Producers. It had an amazing cast including: David Niven, Peter Sellers, John Huston, William Holden, Kurt Kaszner, Charles Boyer, Deborah Kerr, Barbara Bouchet, Mata Hari, Terence Cooper, Daliah Lavi, Ursula Andress, Orson Welles, Joanna Pettet, Jacqueline Bisset, Woody Allen, Jean-Paul Belmondo and George Raft.
In the second remake of the film “Casino Royale” (2006), James Bond orders a Mount Gay rum with soda instead of his trademark Martini; this choice was not accidental or motivated by the desire for product placement gains either. Rather, it must have been Mount Gay’s reputation for producing premium rum in tandem with its distinguished pedigree. With records dating back to 1703, it’s the oldest continually operating rum distiller in the world. Produced on the island of Barbados, Mount Gay rum was originally named Mount Gilboa. When the plantation and distillery was inherited by John Sober in 1747, he appointed Sir John Gay Alleyne, as manager. When Alleyne died in 1801, Sober renamed it Mount Gay in his honor, as there was already a Mount Alleyne on the island. Although not the only rum produced on Barbados, Mount Gay is the only one produced in large enough quantites to be widely exported and well-known. Mount Gay rum is made from Barbados sugar cane at peak sweetness. Fermentation is begun by blending the molasses with the island’s naturally coral-filtered water and yeast. The rum is uniquely distilled using both single and continuous distillation. Single distillation is carried out twice for depth and richness, while continuous distillation yields a crisp, delicate rum. It is then aged in Kentucky white oak casks lightly charred to impart a smoky flavor and rich amber color. Master Blender Allen Smith creates the Extra Old from rums aged 8 to 15 years. It is a viscous rum that both tastes and smells of oak, balanced by hints of ripe banana. On the palate are caramel, vanilla and warm spice. It’s not very layered or sophisticated, but the premium rum is still best enjoyed on its own, either neat or on the rocks. For blending in cocktails or to mix with soda or tonic the Mount Gay Eclipse blend of rums aged 2 to 7 years is ideal for this purpose.
Price:
Mount Gay Eclipse 750 ml $19 –
Mount Gay Extra Old 750 ml $40 
Esquire’s John Mariani Opines About: The New Book “Modernist Cuisine” and “life, on the line” Grant Achatz’s Memoir – USA
March 21st, 2011
by John Mariani
A brief encapsulation of this article:
Esquires Magazine restaurant features writer, John Mariani states that he finds the new six-volume, 2,438-page, forty-eight-pound, $625 book Modernist Cuisine written by billionaire scientist Nathan Myhrvold, “fascinating, but only in the way I would a manual for building one’s own atomic bomb or sports car from scratch.” There are many anecdotal mentions along the way of what Mariani calls “the insufferable Achatz”, referring to Grant Achatz of Alinea restaurant in Chicago. He does have praise for chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, where Achatz once worked and, by his own admission, first acquired his pissy arrogance. Mr. Mariani also has a gripe with Achatz’s partner Nick Kokonas, who he calls, a “burnt-out stock trader”, where co-author Kokonas accuses him within the pages of Archatz’s memoir life, on the line of deliberately writing on, and then stealing their expensive stainless steel bound wine list, which has been refuted by a few eye-witnesses privy to the encounter.
Take a look at the link to this article in its entirety below:
Valentino Restaurant Group Will Open, Primi Al Mercado at Santa Monica Place, May 20, 2011 – Los Angeles
March 20th, 2011
Piero Selvaggio of Valentino Restaurant Group plans to open Primi Al Mercato on the top of Santa Monica Place on May 20, a dual trattoria and retail space known as the Laboratory di Pasta. The trattoria will serve handmade pastas with sauces composed of seasonal ingredients from the nearby Santa Monica farmers market. It is about time that the Bay Area has a place to buy specialty pastas.
Carpineto Wine Dinner at Beccofino Restaurant – Bangkok
March 19th, 2011
Alex Beam/The Boston Globe Has Had Enough; Of Foodies, Gastroporn, Grass-Fed, Free-Range, Etcetera – USA
March 17th, 2011
Culinary Tidbits . . . Alex Beam from The Boston Globe has penned this highly amusing piece, basically a dissenters hope that the Foodie-two-shoes fad is fizzling out. Is it back to KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and other criminal conspiracies against the gastrointestinal tract?
Burger King’s CEO Declares British Food “Terrible” & British Women “Unattractive” – USA
March 15th, 2011
Burger King’s, new Brazilian-born boss, Bernardo Hees recent faux pas, when referring to his time spent at the University of Warwick while studying for an MBA, is taking some heat. He declared that the major reason he was not distracted from his studies was that British food was “terrible” and British women were “unattractive”.
This prompted the woman’s campaign officer at University of Warwick to question, “if he views women as potential distractions in academia, I wonder how he views them in the workplace? Michelin-starred Chef Marcus Wareing, whose dishes are composed of home-grown food at London’s Berkeley Hotel have helped along Britain’s, growing reputation in the culinary world, also found the insults hard to swallow. He said it was staggering they had come from someone in charge of a firm churning out fast food, adding: “It’s an insult to British gastronomy.” Hees has since apologized through a spokesperson.
Chinese Buyer of Bordeaux Château Disregards Wine Making Protocol; Infuriates Former French Owner – France
March 15th, 2011
The former owner of Château de la Salle, Blaye charges his Chinese buyers Zhongai, a company based in Dalian, China with bad business dealings. The Chinese company has infuriated the French owner by doing little since buying the wine estate, including not keeping up the vineyards or getting ready for the approaching harvest. Two months after the deal closed, the house remains shuttered and no manager has been hired. The two employees of the winery turn up but there is no money to put diesel in the tractor. “No one from Zhongai have ever visited the property,” said Patrick Etineau. “I put my heart into making a good wine and I never would have sold them the Château had I known they would act like this.” They also had the audacity to threaten to expand into neighboring vineyards and dump all the production into the vats without any selection for quality, diluting any notion of terroir.
