Ordered with dinner this weekend in Chicago:

2005 F. Chidaine Vouvray 'Les Argiles'
nose: green apples, minerals, citrus
palate: acidity, intense minerality, citrus

This wine was one of the few attractive choices on the wine list of the
otherwise outstanding Seasons Café in the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago
(not where we were staying may I add). We chose it to pair with our
3-course prix fixe menu of a deconstructed insalata caprese, an arborio
"paella" (more of a risotto Milanese) with peas, shrimp and smoked ham
and a dessert of an apple tart. The wine did admirably with all three
courses and, even though it is way too young at the moment, shows great
promise for the future. I was so impressed that I bought it, and the
Clos Baudoin, at Sam's the next day.

A note about the restaurant: we chose it because it was listed as a
"child friendly" fine dining establishment, and it lived up to its
billing, offering a very casual, lounge-like atmosphere, a special
child's menu, china and cutlery, and -- most surprisingly -- didn't
charge anything for the child's food. That, combined with excellent
cooking (the "paella" was sublime and the tart excellent, even to two
non-dessert eaters) and very reasonable pricing (prix fixe menu - $35,
Vouvray - $53 [vs. $22 retail]) made this a memorable "family dining"
experience.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Sounds like a lovely dinner and a fine wine to match, Mark. While I
don't see myself heading to the Seasons Café any time soon (have
enough favourite food haunts to revisit before I leave Chicago next
month), I'll keep an eye out for the Vouvray.

Cheers,

Salil

On Apr 28, 12:56�am, Mark Lipton wrote:
Ordered with dinner this weekend in Chicago:

2005 F. Chidaine Vouvray 'Les Argiles'
nose: green apples, minerals, citrus
palate: acidity, intense minerality, citrus

This wine was one of the few attractive choices on the wine list of the
otherwise outstanding Seasons Caf� in the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago
(not where we were staying may I add). �We chose it to pair with our
3-course prix fixe menu of a deconstructed insalata caprese, an arborio
"paella" (more of a risotto Milanese) with peas, shrimp and smoked ham
and a dessert of an apple tart. �The wine did admirably with all three
courses and, even though it is way too young at the moment, shows great
promise for the future. �I was so impressed that I bought it, and the
Clos Baudoin, at Sam's the next day.

A note about the restaurant: we chose it because it was listed as a
"child friendly" fine dining establishment, and it lived up to its
billing, offering a very casual, lounge-like atmosphere, a special
child's menu, china and cutlery, and -- most surprisingly -- didn't
charge anything for the child's food. �That, combined with excellent
cooking (the "paella" was sublime and the tart excellent, even to two
non-dessert eaters) and very reasonable pricing (prix fixe menu - $35,
Vouvray - $53 [vs. $22 retail]) made this a memorable "family dining"
experience.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Sounds great Mark but I have a question. I've always thought that by
it's nature Insalata Caprese was already deconstructed since basically
it's just sliced tomato, mozzerella and basil with a little olive
oil. How do you further deconstruct that?

Bi!! wrote:

Sounds great Mark but I have a question. I've always thought that by
it's nature Insalata Caprese was already deconstructed since basically
it's just sliced tomato, mozzerella and basil with a little olive
oil. How do you further deconstruct that?

Good question, Bill. As I make it, insalata caprese usually has sliced
tomato and mozzarella layered. In this case, the heirloom tomatoes (not
ripe, my one and only complaint) were wedged, the mozzarella, in one
slab, breaded and fried with basil oil drizzled over both.
"Deconstructed" may not be the best word to describe it, but I couldn't
think of better.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Apr 28, 9:17�am, Mark Lipton wrote:
Bi!! wrote:
Sounds great Mark but I have a question. �I've always thought that by
it's nature Insalata Caprese was already deconstructed since basically
it's just sliced tomato, mozzerella and basil with a little olive
oil. �How do you further deconstruct that?

Good question, Bill. �As I make it, insalata caprese usually has sliced
tomato and mozzarella layered. �In this case, the heirloom tomatoes (not
ripe, my one and only complaint) were wedged, the mozzarella, in one
slab, breaded and fried with basil oil drizzled over both.
"Deconstructed" may not be the best word to describe it, but I couldn't
think of better.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Thanks for the explanation Mark. I feel your pain in regards to the
unripe tomato. Insalata Caprese is one of my summertime favorites
when I can pluck a ripe tomato still warm from the sun from my garden
and pair it with fresh mozzerella (I buy the curd from a local deli
and make my own) with fresh basil from the garden and a drizzle of
good olive oil. A nice glass of chilled Rose and I'm happy.

On Apr 28, 9:36�am, Mike Tommasi wrote:
Mark Lipton wrote:
Bi!! wrote:

Sounds great Mark but I have a question. �I've always thought that by
it's nature Insalata Caprese was already deconstructed since basically
it's just sliced tomato, mozzerella and basil with a little olive
oil. �How do you further deconstruct that?

Good question, Bill. �As I make it, insalata caprese usually has sliced
tomato and mozzarella layered. �In this case, the heirloom tomatoes (not
ripe, my one and only complaint) were wedged, the mozzarella, in one
slab, breaded and fried with basil oil drizzled over both.
"Deconstructed" may not be the best word to describe it, but I couldn't
think of better.

Sounds more constructivist than deconstructivist...

Of course, how can heirloom tomatoes be ripe in April? They don't ripen
till june-july in our hemisphere... unless they are hothouse heirloom
tomatoes, a bit of an oxymoron...

cheers

Mike

--
Mike Tommasi - Six Fours, France
email linkhttp://www.tommasi.org/mymail

Well, while I find seasonal tomatoes the best, I don't think that
hothouse heirloom tomatoes would actually be an oxymoron. Still an
heirloom variety, right?

Thanks for report Mark. A Chidaine bottling that I haven't run across
yet.

Mike Tommasi wrote:

Sounds more constructivist than deconstructivist...

Of course, how can heirloom tomatoes be ripe in April? They don't ripen
till june-july in our hemisphere... unless they are hothouse heirloom
tomatoes, a bit of an oxymoron...

Yeah, I don't really see the sense of making a classic summertime dish
in April, but the chef's judgment seemed sound enough on the other
items, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't a bad
creation, but just lacking in comparison to the memory of the Real Thing.

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:36:51 +0200, Mike Tommasi
wrote:

tomato and mozzarella layered. In this case, the heirloom tomatoes (not
ripe, my one and only complaint) were wedged, the mozzarella, in one
slab, breaded and fried with basil oil drizzled over both.
"Deconstructed" may not be the best word to describe it, but I couldn't
think of better.

How about "reconstructed" ?
Sounds more constructivist than deconstructivist...

Exactly

Of course, how can heirloom tomatoes be ripe in April?
Took the words out of my mouth!

I was trolling around looking to enlarge my range of mussel recipes
when I happened upon Patrick Chazalet's site and his mussel "risotto"
recipe. I was pleased to see yours! And sufficiently amused to see the
outraged "who is this guy daring to criticise P.C." comments that I
wrote in myself. I had wanted to do it tonight, but Jacquie has said a
very firm "no", so I shall be cooking a more conventional mouclade but
with a touch of saffron, and (dragging this kicking and screaming back
on topic) serving it with a Mikulski 2002 Meursault-Genevrières.
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

IanH wrote:

Fatty from Forges

Sorry for being completely OffT, but this immediately
reminded me of an Austrian jazz clarinettist whose
stage name was "Fatty George" ... ;-)

M.

Mike Tommasi wrote in
:


My Pet Peeves about the French Rearranging Italian Recipes

Risotto - italian rice (the japonica type, also found spain, egypt,
japan) has a definite cooking time, you need not taste for "doneness"
as the french recommend, only for taste and salt, as vialone rice
cooks to perfection in 15 minutes, carnaroli and arborio in 17. Plus
or minus 1 minute according to how "al dente" you like it. The french
tend to like it not al dente at all, so they cook it beyond
recognition for 20 or more minutes. In italian this is referred to as
soup, or gelatin.

Will confess to being a little bit of a criminal here, I like mine done
at 20 (or occassionally 21 as I find that adding things sometimes cools
the risssotto during cooking and produces the need for longer cooking)
but would as soon pour in coffee as some cream.

Spaghetti carbonara -

Thank you for reaffirming what I "always" knew but have scant evidence
in the food business to prove! Throw out the cream.

My particular peeve is the insistence on deep frying eggpant when making
any dish called eggplant parmesan or the like. eggplant bakes very well
thank you. the deep fried eith sauce pouted on is easy to make quickly
in a restaurant but it has nothing of the flavour of a baked eggplant
which has had a chance to meld with the sauce.


Cappuccino - in France, short of being in a real hip place, you will
get a coffee with a pile of whipped cream on top. Definitely not
cappuccino, which is made by foaming milk under a steam jet and adding
it to the coffee.

The Australians always add a dose of chocolate to a Cappuccino, lovely
result





--
Joseph Coulter, cruises and vacations
www.josephcoulter.com

877 832 2021
904 631 8863 cell

On Apr 29, 4:40�am, Mike Tommasi wrote:
IanH wrote:

I was trolling around looking to enlarge my range of mussel recipes
when I happened upon Patrick Chazalet's site and his mussel "risotto"
recipe. I was pleased to see yours! And sufficiently amused to see the
outraged "who is this guy daring to criticise P.C." comments �that I
wrote in myself. I had wanted to do it tonight, but Jacquie has said a
very firm "no", so I shall be cooking a more conventional mouclade but
with a touch of saffron, and (dragging this kicking and screaming back
on topic) serving it with a Mikulski 2002 Meursault-Genevri�res.
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges

Dear FfF

I am great friends with P.C., but like to intervene whenever he proposes
overly francisized (?) versions of italian cuisine... :-)

Cooking should be something that gives free reign to the imagination, so
far be it from me to bring up dogmatic notions of tradition and so on,
but... there is a limit. Imagination will be enhanced, rather than
hindered, if one has a minimum of "culture" about a cooking genre.
Keeping in mind that I am an italian living in France by choice, and
that I love much of french culture and cuisine, here a

My Pet Peeves about the French Rearranging Italian Recipes

Risotto - italian rice (the japonica type, also found spain, egypt,
japan) has a definite cooking time, you need not taste for "doneness" as
the french recommend, only for taste and salt, as vialone rice cooks to
perfection in 15 minutes, carnaroli and arborio in 17. Plus or minus 1
minute according to how "al dente" you like it. The french tend to like
it not al dente at all, so they cook it beyond recognition for 20 or
more minutes. In italian this is referred to as soup, or gelatin.

Risotto II - italian rice becomes creamy thanks to the starch it
releases. This is the reason why you never rinse rice (like the japanese
do) for risotto. The french think the creaminess comes by adding cr�me
fra�che. If you are going to cook risotto in a funny way and add cream,
call it something else, call it riso gallico or something. It might even
be good, but it is too far off to be called risotto. BTW, japanese
koshihikari rice makes great risotto, try it with shiitake mushrooms
prepared like you would a risotto di porcini.

Spaghetti carbonara - this staple that has kept many a student alive
through his studies is extremely simple and fast to prepare. You quickly
drain the cooked pasta, and while hot (but not over the fire) you pour
onto it egg yolks and fried bacon bits with lots of pepper and grated
pecorino or parmigiano and some olive oil, letting the heat of the pasta
gently cook the egg until it's creamy. The trick is to get it creamy, if
you miss it will dry up. In France, somebody has decided that one needs
to put lots of onions and... guess what! Cr�me fra�che again! No
guessing with how much to cook the egg yolk, just throw cream. And with
the onions and cream and egg, it looks like somebody threw up on your
plate. Most unattractive and unpleasant in the mouth.

Polenta - with the discovery of maize in America, polenta quickly spread
to Italy and singlehandedly solved famine problems (but not vitamin
deficiencies). It is by definition something that accompanies other
foods, you would not eat bread or potatoes alone... So polenta typically
goes along with roast meats or grilled fish, and much like bread or
potatoes you use it to soak up the juices of the meat. It consists of
cornmeal, water and salt. PERIOD. Leave it to the french to a) make it
runny, b) add cheese, pepper and all kinds of flavours. This is
seriously missing the point. The flavour comes from the other items on
the plate, the polenta must remain fairly neutral, other than its
peculiar aroma of slightly burnt maize.

Cappuccino - in France, short of being in a real hip place, you will get
a coffee with a pile of whipped cream on top. Definitely not cappuccino,
which is made by foaming milk under a steam jet and adding it to the coffee.

--
Mike Tommasi - Six Fours, France
email linkhttp://www.tommasi.org/mymail

great post.
Mark, ordered a bottle of the Argiles, you made it sound tempting!

DaleW wrote:

great post.
Mark, ordered a bottle of the Argiles, you made it sound tempting!

Other Patients on Wine Therapy disagreed with my assessment of this wine
as crisp. It seems that Chidaine's '05 Vouvrays have become rather
controversial on the Wine Internet, so be prepared to disagree with me,
too ;-) FWIW, I think that our bottle was a trifle colder than most
people may drink their Vouvrays, so perhaps that accounts for some of
the difference in perception...

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

On Apr 29, 1:41�pm, Mark Lipton wrote:
DaleW wrote:
great post.
Mark, ordered a bottle of the Argiles, you made it sound tempting!

Other Patients on Wine Therapy disagreed with my assessment of this wine
as crisp. �It seems that Chidaine's '05 Vouvrays have become rather
controversial on the Wine Internet, so be prepared to disagree with me,
too ;-) �FWIW, I think that our bottle was a trifle colder than most
people may drink their Vouvrays, so perhaps that accounts for some of
the difference in perception...

Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: �http://winefaq.hostexcellence.com

Anyone I know? I tend to trust those I've found common ground with
more than random tasters.
Just looked up Gilman's comments on '05 Argiles. I won't post whole
thing here, but includes:
3 g/l RS, On the palate the wine is medium-full,,,,,,,with beautiful
focus and zest, and a very long, very minerally backend that displays
outstanding grip and cut. 92"
We'll see!

"Joseph Coulter" wrote .....

Cappuccino - made by foaming milk under a steam jet and adding
it to the coffee.

The Australians always add a dose of chocolate to a Cappuccino,


Generally, a shake or two of powdered chocolate on top of the foam.

In NZ, many cafés will offer the option - chocolate or a shake of cinnamon.

My pet peeve is the making of cappuccino from low fat milk -
blearck!!!!!!!!!!

--

st.helier

On Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:56:32 +0200, Michael Pronay
wrote:

IanH wrote:

Fatty from Forges

Sorry for being completely OffT, but this immediately
reminded me of an Austrian jazz clarinettist whose
stage name was "Fatty George" ... ;-)

Grin!!Im delighted to have lead you into sin!!!
--
All the best
Fatty from Forges