View Full Album “Help! I need a hotel recommendation for the Northern Rhone!” I hadn’t planned on visiting the Northern Rhone, yet when I had a change of plans during a trip to Provence, I went to the Stephen [...]

Domaine de Clairefontaine is a charming restaurant and apparently luxurious hotel in the N. Rhone. We rushed here after a visit to E. Guigal, terrified we would miss the last seating and miss one of the last opportunities for a Michelin rated lunch as we had in Arles. [...]

Taylor Mason, Resident Chef
…. it seems like I’ve been going to the Napa Valley every few weeks this year. Only February, and I’ve been in late January for the Master of Wine educational seminar and just last week, the Symposium for Professional Wine Journalists and the Premiere Napa Valley Barrel Auction. Usually Yountville [...]

Gary Fisch (stripped shirt) of Gary’s Wine and Marketplace (location New Jersey)
,,, so here I am, freshly returned to NYC after a week in Napa tasting fantastic wine, spending time with fellow journalists at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers at Meadowood, and attending many of the festivities and tastings leading up to the Premiere [...]

 
Every February I have been attending the symposium for professional wine writers in the Napa Valley. It’s a great way to see good friends usually only accessed  by tweets, writing on Facebook walls, and commenting on blogs.

Of course, it is also a great place to taste some of Napa’s best wines and the delicious food [...]

Michael had been a investment management specialist (hence the artful fruition of his winery and the picture perfect showcase for his wines and art) for over twenty years. He went on to get diplomas in agriculture and create Blackbird Vineyards, which has won many awards.

Ma(i)sonry was acquired to serve many purposes. First, Michael wanted to create a fabulous tasting environment for his own wines and showcase local artists. And with 10,000 feet and various rooms, niches, and the garden, he could also offer the venue as a tasting space for smaller boutique wineries that do not have a tasting room or marketing force on their own. Beyond the art, the structure is richly furnished with one of a kind pieces.

Amuse Bouche at Jean-Georges
 
So many choices, so little time! As you can imagine, a wine list at Jean-Georges has many pages of fine wine on richly textured paper. Some have many zeroes, some only one or two.

The restaurant is one of the three best in the city, and well worth pairing the cuisine with a [...]

“Look, horns!” A blonde gestures to the gleaming white fiberglass priapic shapes jutting above the heads of the testosterone-fueled bar crowd at the glamorous new Meatpacking steakhouse STK. “How apropos!”

With its sleek, dramatic design, STK exemplifies the new female-friendly, NYC steakhouse geared to a younger, hipper crowd.

Under the direction of executive chef Todd Mark Miller, [...]

Women at Chablis Event
… so after enjoying Grand Cru Chablis after an excellent presentation on the subject, many of Manhattan’s top journalists came to celebrate at the SoHo Grand. Earlier that day there had been an excellent presentation on Chablis wines (read about it here)
 

Sushma and Christian
Above you can see one of the wine makers, [...]

Bagatelle Restaurant
"I hear this place is like a nightclub during Sunday Brunch," a celebrated wine writer told me as we awaited festivities relating to a celebration of Beaujolais Nouveau, taking place just that minute at the Bagatelle restaurant in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking District. "People dancing on the tables, and all that."
"A club at lunch …" [...]

Are you a jaded diner? In today’s power-packed culinary world, many people are lucky enough to visit four and five star restaurants as a matter of course. Twenty years ago, for example, dining at a top restaurant would be because…

Perrier Jouet

 
“On Valentines’ Day I would always buy boxed sets of Perrier-Jouet Champagne with matching glasses so my guests would have a memoir of the evening,” said a well-connected restaurateur at a recent lunch to celebrate past and present vintages of the House of Perrier-Jouet Fleur De Champagne Portfolio.
Of course, you know the House of [...]

Wine & Food Pairing at Restaurant Daniel with Sommelier Raj Vaidya and Executive Chef Jean-Francois Bruel Part 1 If the oldest question in the world is “what’s for dinner,” consider that the second oldest question may very well be “what…

Are you a jaded diner? In today’s power-packed culinary world, many people are lucky enough to visit four and five star restaurants as a matter of course. Twenty years ago, for example, dining at a top restaurant would be because…

For a moment, imagine yourself an invited guest at an exclusive dinner at a First Growth Chateau in the Medoc. It is mid-June, and everyone who is “anyone” in the wine world is in Bordeaux to attend VinExpo to make…

As a Gemini, I’ve spent many birthdays celebrating during the four days of festivities leading up to the Napa Valley wine auction, now in its 29th year. The official kick-off begins the first Thursday of June, which this year began…

“I’m staying at this fabulous hotel,” I overhear a woman tell a Napa Valley local. “Yet I can’t pronounce the name.” “That’s okay,” the Napa-based friend replies. “I can’t pronounce it either. But I hear it is fabulous.” The hotel…

“This is so curious!” says a sultry brunette in a little black dress at the next table, lifting a bite of caramelized scallop to her lips. “This is a theme restaurant – in a Las Vegas casino. Yet the cuisine…

Okay, let’s face it! Certain things are to be expected when you think of a Las Vegas steakhouse, and good steak is almost the least of them. If you are like me, you are expecting a very sultry, sexy, lounge-type…

Society!” exclaims a friend as we walk down a gorgeous hallway in the new Wynn Encore resort, with a view of the pool on one side and the casino on the other. “What a name for a restaurant!” Yes, the…