by Christina Waters | May 6, 2008 | Home, Travel |
Rockefeller Plaza is a magnet for visitors and celebrities and we had fun swilling coffee and some of the finest pastries in New York, at the chic Dean & DeLuca coffee shop that overlooks the “Good Morning America” crowds gathering to wave and scream for the cameras. This 25-foot mosaic/mural at the Plaza (left) was made entirely of throw-away cell phones!
The elegant WPA architecture of the Plaza’s suite of buildings and courtyards holds its own in a sea of contemporary super-skyscrapers. A few blocks away, the mighty Michael Graves’ postmodern landmark – once the Hancock building, now headquarters for SONY’s digital lab-theater – knocked us out. A true secular cathedral, this building was playfully “invaded” by a 40-foot floating sculpture of Spiderman.
Our pastry quest continued up at the lovely Cafe Sabarsky, inside the beautiful little Park Avenue mansion that Estée Lauder’s son turned into the Neue Galerie, home to the $138 million Klimt painting. Definitive apple strudel, mit Schlag of course, and a pot of black tea fueled us for the afternoon, and another cultural pit-stop at The Met.
by Christina Waters | May 6, 2008 | Food, Home, Wine |
The visually delightful, all-organic catering group founded by Heidi Schlecht and Amy Linstrom (who also operate the inviting River Cafe) continues to fuel some of our best parties.
Platters lavish with edible flowers, opulent proteas, and other eye-candy adorned the tables and decks up at the Vine Hill winery release party last weekend. Endive leaves were stuffed with roasted salmon, dill, and lemon zest aioli. Buffalo mozzarella and sage were wrapped in prosciutto and then grilled – that’s the sort of one step further thinking that characterizes Feel Good Foods’ catering style. Yet completely fresh and clear, nothing tricky or mysterious. The ripe cheeses and myriad olives shared plates with toasted almonds, (more…)
by Christina Waters | May 6, 2008 | Home, Wine |
Big enough for lamb, restrained enough for mahi mahi — this is one serious contender for terroir-defining Santa Cruz Mountains appellation pinot noir. After an initial wave of cola and spice, primarily cloves, this sumptuous wine offers a dark finish that goes into a subterranean realm of black velvet shot through with roses and ultraviolet.
After a half hour or so, the wine resolves into a midnight edition of moist earth, plum and tamarind. In other words, you will have sampled a deep slice of the region translated through the pinot noir grape. Contact Wines of Vine Hill for details about how you can order bottle for yourself – if there are any left. And kudos to Cumbre winemaker Salvador Godinez.
by Christina Waters | May 5, 2008 | Food, Home |
A girl’s gotta eat, right? And in this region, that can be a delicious prospect. Over at River Cafe – I do love that place – I drifted into an altered state over a brilliant “salad” of quinoa, that soft, fluffy, Inca grain. The pale yellow quinoa was tossed with scallions, marcona almonds and currants. But the real mood elevator was the use of micro zest of kumquat, that moody, tangy cousin of the lemon and tangerine. It was sensational, and went beautifully with my take home portion of Liberty Farms duck breast from Avanti.…Yes, the duck at Avanti never fails, especially with a current spring “hash” of lentils, favas, green garlic and roasted onions. An argula pesto dressed the dish, which was just as good the second night, as the first. . . . Katya and I stopped for appetizers at Soif the other night, where the deal of the century arrived in the form of a substantial calamari salad for $6! Tender, delicious, tossed in a Meyer lemon dressing – it was lovely with a blush Tokay. . . . One more Avanti note: I had one of the best Avanti dinners ever last night – lamb sliced over roasted Yukon gold potatoes, fresh snap peas in the pod and infant white turnips!!!!! Yeow – with a Sebastapol Syrah – heaven.
Ben, Ben, Ben – when you’re hot, you’re……
