Feasting
“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.”
– Fran Lebowitz
Cheese It
I found out this week there is a name for my cheese obsession. I am a “caseophile”. It’s not in the dictionary, but that’s the word being bandied about in cheese circles. All right, then. I’m ok with that. This I can live with. And so, because I am what I am, I couldn’t resist another stellar cheese tasting with Martin Johnson (with special guest, The Cheese Mistress! Dig the hat!) at his monthly Joy of Cheese gatherings. This time the focus was on Swiss affineur Rolf Beeler, considered a “rock star” cheese maker, as well as cheeses created in the Switzerland tradition. We sampled about 19 cheeses, all pretty amazing. The standouts were Beeler’s firm Vacherin Fribourg; Tomme Vandoise, which is sort-of Camembert-like and stinky; and as a grand finale, a Vacherin Mont D’Or. It was so fabulously stinky and so runny you need to serve it with a spoon.
Why is it some cheeses smell like dirty socks yet taste so divine?
The Expanding Joy of Cheese Empire
Take heart, uptown cheese obsessives. Martin has recently signed on to create the menu and cheese program for a new wine bar, which is an off-shoot of the Harlem Vintage wine shop. It is due to open in January. He also recently started writing a regular monthly cheese column on the new Internet network Moli, so be sure to check that out: www.moli.com
Allen & Delancey
Gastro Chic and I hit the restaurant scene once again, this time paying a visit to the new downtown hot spot, Allen & Delancey. We absolutely loved it. It was cozy, it was romantic, it was cool and the food was expertly prepared by Gordon Ramsay alum Chef Neil Ferguson. When with Gordon Ramsay at The London, Ferguson’s cooking was extremely competent yet restrained, mostly due to the extreme pressure placed on that restaurant opening by biased foodies, jaded food critics, and probably Ramsay himself. At Allen & Delancey, he really stretches out and works his classic French techniques in interesting ways. Standout plates included an appetizer of caramelized bone marrow with caviar and a shallot puree, along with an entrée featuring an outstanding braised lamb chop persillade with braised middle neck and a potato puree.
Right now, the place –and the menu –is built for decadent coziness against the cold. What will they do when the warmer weather comes back? Time will tell, but for now I’m looking forward to returning on a snowy February evening to tuck into a shared plate of slow roasted pork belly with someone fetching!
115 Allen Street at Delancey Street. 212-253-5400
And A Feast for the Ears
Les Paul Quartet
" ...we must all own up that without Les Paul, generation of flash little punks like us would be in jail or cleaning toilets."
- Keith Richards
My dad recently rounded up the gang and treated us to a performance by the legendary jazz guitarist and “father of the electric guitar” Les Paul, appearing at his regular Monday night gig at Iridium. Very much like the Empire State Building, going to see Les Paul play has always been on my “to-do” list but somehow I just never got around to it -- and it takes a visitor from out of town to finally motivate! But this institution is a spry and feisty 92 years old, quick with a naughty joke, still quite the virtuoso and his backing band is first rate. They play the kind of music that you all know, the classic American jazz-pop soundtrack for generations. One of our group said “this music just makes you want to be in love and dance”. Amen to that sister, this type of music never goes out of style.
Les Paul Quartet, Monday nights at Iridium: 1650 Broadway @ 51st Street
Rory Stuart
A few weeks ago The Well Heeled Traveler & I, along with members of the band Spottiswood, went to check out jazz guitarist Rory Stuart who was playing a gig with his quartet at the little music boite in the basement of the Cornelia Street Café. I had never heard of him but thought to myself “well, how bad can it be? Cornelia Street is a good spot”. Well, where the heck have I been? This guy –and his group were amazing. Backed by George Garzone on sax, Matt Penman on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums, they presented original compositions with complex rhythms and wove a tapestry of sound that I felt from head to toe. Or maybe it was the two martinis I had before the gig? Nah, this music would entrance no matter what.
www.rorystuart.com.
