[Free stuff by Wilfrid: December 11, 2013]
Turtle Bay has always had restaurants and bars; swarms of them, lining the East 40s and 50s, from Second Avenue down to the river. And forgettably anonymous most of them are.
When I received an invitation to try the menu at Masq, a New Orleans-ish lounge on East 49th, I hesitated. Happily, it does have some personality--and some enjoyable food to.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: November 6, 2013]
Join Snooth's Gregory Dal Piaz and Doña Paula's Head Viticulturalist, Martín Kaiser in Snooth's Virtual Tasting Room tonight at 8:30pm ET, to follow a live tasting of 2012 Estate Chardonnay 2011 Estate Torrontés 2011 Estate Malbec 2011 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wines are inexpensive, and I confess I've had my nose in the Torrontes already--and it's quite delicious. Here's a story I wrote for another website about the Snooth tastings: "Engage, Drink, And Be Merry."
Hope to see you online later.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: September 4, 2013]
Incognito is a defiant name for a restaurant. Unknown, anonymous, concealed? Those are just a few things this Italian bistro from long-time Da Umberto manager, Paolo Montana, and his wife, Adriana Moretti, shouldn't be.
Although, to be fair, they have been keeping a little bit of a secret, from the restaurant's opening in 2011 until quite recently. Of course, they give it away every time they open their mouths. And now the menu gives it away too, especially where it says "Stornoway black pudding"...
"Adding it to the rotation," I said of my first visit to Masala Wala, too many months ago. Elsewhere, I mentioned "fresh, tasty food (at) reasonable prices." And then, as so often, I failed to return.
So I was happy, if slightly embarrassed, to accept a recent invitation to tour the menu as a guest of Satyen Mazumdar and his son Roni.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: August 2, 2013]
I was pleased to accept a recent invitation to meet the people behind Splitbin and sip from a few bottles at the Madison Room atop a flatiron apartment building.
Splitbin is a membership wine-buying community. It offers wine for sale online (of course), but also a monthly subscription which delivers pre-selected wines, BinPass--with free shipping.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: July 11, 2013]
It was a very hot afternoon, and the air-conditioned tranquility of the Little Owl event space on Greenwich Avenue was a welcome oasis. I needed to reduce my body temperature before sitting down to ten courses of cheese.
The Prosecco helped. As did conversation with several cheese fanatics, not least Madame Fromage.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: June 6, 2013]
I have never met a Snooth event I didn't like, so I was happy to get a press invitation to join some of their online virtual wine tastings. This week was wines of the Ribera del Duero.
I share some further thoughts about the potential of virtual focus groups right here, and you can follow the link to the tastings to watch the video and review the real-time chat.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: May 20, 2013]
You may have seen me klutzing around in a cooking demonstration for Hellmann's with chef Tim Love. This time around, I am out of the kitchen, and Mario Batali is concocting a pasta salad.
The occasion? The 100th anniversary of Mr Hellmann (that's Richard to you) launching a mass market version of his Hellmann's Blue Ribbon mayonnaise--the home-made version of which he'd been selling in his Columbus Avenue deli since 1905.
[Free stuff by Wilfrid: May 16, 2013]
Whole Foods can put on quite a show. This particular occasion was an opportunity to taste domestic cheeses, and domestic and imported wines, from its extensive portfolios at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods' tap room.
Cypress Grove's idea of a wedding cake
It was also an opportunity to chat with the stores' global wine buyer, Doug Bell, and global cheese buyer, Cathy Strange. Much as I love wine, I had to tell Cathy that being a global cheese buyer sounded like a dream job.
Continue reading "Rinds & Vines: Whole Foods Put On A Show" »
