| A mini-vacation in Half Moon Bay at Sam's Chowder House | | Posted Monday, January 29, 2007 1:15:05 PM by Blog57 Team | | As we drove into the parking lot at Sam's Chowder House in Half Moon Bay, we passed a black Porsche Carrera and eased in next to a gold Bentley -- high-class company for my Miata at a modest chowder house that's been open only three months. "I wonder who drove the Bentley?" I asked my companion as we were seated in the back beyond the open kitchen, circular fireplace and rows of tables. "The table in front," he said, indicating an older couple. "She has really good jewelry. Oh, and the table next to us," he continued, pointing out a couple in jeans, woolly shirts and scuffed boots, "they drive a Dodge Dart." Chowder houses are to the East Coast what taquerias are to San Francisco: casual spots that attract a diverse, egalitarian audience. It seems just about everyone driving the coast is drawn to seaside restaurants, regardless of what kind of car gets them there.... | |
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| | | Explore Greek wines with a savvy guide | | Posted Friday, January 26, 2007 3:23:04 PM by Blog57 Team | | When purchasing wine, most people look for a lifeline to grab hold of. It might be a familiar grape, a valued place name, or an importer or producer in whom you have confidence. These have always been, and still remain, my touchstones. At this stage of the game, having written about wine for the past 20 years, it's rare for me to be stymied on all three fronts. But at a recent tasting of a Greek wine portfolio -- all Sotiris Bafitis Selections -- I felt like a greenhorn again. Bafitis is based in Washington, D.C., but is new to me. He is represented locally by Steven Brown, a recent transplant to this area. In a past life, Brown was a professional chef, and he brings a chef's knowledge and appreciation for flavor to his wine career. Flavor was pretty much all we had to go on, because the grapes (roditis, sideritis, mandilaria, etc.) all sounded like tropical diseases.... | |
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| | | Health :: Red wines' resveratrol offers survival benefits ... | | Posted Monday, November 27, 2006 1:27:35 PM by Blog57 Team | | Researchers have used a single compound to increase the lifespan of obese mice, and found that the drug reversed nearly all of the changes in gene expression patterns found in mice on high calorie diets--some of which are associated with diabetes, heart disease, and other significant diseases related to obesity. The research, led by investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging, is the first time that the small molecule resveratrol has been shown to offer survival benefits in a mammal. The study is reported in the November 1 advanced online edition of Nature. .... | |
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| | | The PINOT world heads to the South | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:18:57 PM by Blog57 Team | | BURGUNDY'S most celebrated red grape variety is once again leading wine consumers a merry dance. That's not simply due to the quality of the wines being sold from France's highly-regarded 2005 vintage. On the other side of the world, New Zealand is now readying itself to host Pinot Noir 2007. The four-day pinot-fest is being held in Wellington between January 29 and February 1, 2007, and is expected to build on the successes of the past two events held there. Indeed, if all goes to plan, organisers say it will be the largest event of its type ever hosted by the New Zealand wine industry. Pinot noir is the most widely planted red wine grape in New Zealand. There are about 4000ha of pinot noir on its north and south islands, a figure that dwarfs the entire area of vines in Tasmania by a factor of four.... | |
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| | | Diablo gets its due | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 3:12:28 PM by Blog57 Team | | The wines of Chile having been flooding world markets at a steady pace for the past decade. Widely recognized as an area that represents value, Chilean wines have come a long way from their humble beginnings both in terms of quality and quantity. I have what must be called "Chile radar" because I can nearly always pick out a Chilean red wine in most blind tastings. It becomes a slam-dunk when one of Chile's favourite grapes, carmenere, is part of the blend. Carmenere is both a blessing and a curse for Chilean winemakers. At its best, it adds spice and colour to red wines. At its worst, it can be overpowering, green and often responsible for that menthol/mint/evergreen quality you find in some Chilean wines. It is what my perceptors most often pick up in Chilean reds and always to mixed reviews.... | |
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| | | What to drink with a sumptuous feast? Sparkling, fruity wines for Thanksgiving | | Posted Friday, November 10, 2006 3:49:08 AM by Blog57 Team | | We've all heard the old adage: red with meat, white with fish. But which wine do you choose for Thanksgiving, a holiday that features flavorful dishes that range from savory sausage stuffing to sweet candied yams, along with a peculiar, two-toned bird? With a Thanksgiving feast, the answer isn't as simple as red or white. The meal may call for several styles of wine and the tasting assistance of friends and family, which is one more thing to be thankful for. .... | |
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| | | A spirited tango | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 3:27:16 PM by Blog57 Team | | The Capital's swish set raised a toast to the approaching winter with a smooth Chardonnay on a cool Saturday evening at a wine dinner organised at the Hyatt Regency. "We are here to celebrate the occasion with some of the finest Argentinean wines," said the host of the evening and the hotel's GM, Roger Lienhard. The Tittarelli wine, imported by Best Food and Wines Impex, did the rounds as the tango dancers entertained with some stunning dance display. The guests applauded every twirl of the red skirt and every smooth swirl of the male dancer. The food connoisseurs present at the do were seen digging into saut and #233;ed scallops, pan-fried sea bass fillet, parma ham and varied gelato flavours. Also seen were the ambassador of Argentina, Ernesto Carlos Alvarez, designer Ravi Bajaj and entrepreneur Priya Paul among others.... | |
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| | | Red wine makes high-fat diet easier to swallow? | | Posted Sunday, November 05, 2006 3:50:11 AM by Blog57 Team | | An intriguing red wine compound that lay at the heart of several Stony Brook University studies has been shown in unrelated government analysis to protect chubby mice from the vagaries of obesity and age. Writing today in the journal Nature, scientists at the National Institute on Aging say their research opens a new window on a compound called resveratrol. The substance, which is found in great abundance in red wine, allowed obese mice fed a fatty, high-caloric diet to live long, active lives, the study said. .... | |
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| | | First National Women's Wine Competition March 13-15 2007 | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 1:51:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | With Margrit Biever Mondavi of Robert Mondavi Winery and Ambassador Kathryn Hall of Hall Wines as honorary co-chairs, an all-star cast of all-women judging panels including leading women winemakers, wine educators, journalists, and restauranteurs will judge wines from any licensed, bonded U.S. winery at the first ever National Women's Wine Competition to be held in Santa Rosa, CA March 13-15, 2007. Call 707-568-3900 for full details or visit www.nwwc.info. .... | |
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| | | Wines off the beaten path | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 11:36:53 AM by Blog57 Team | | A lifetime ago I did some hunting along the western Virginia mountain ridges with Big Red, a redbone hound, a dog not uncommon in the backwoods hollows of West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. This was a beautiful dog, strong, fun, tenacious and friendly. Big Red was female - in canine vernacular, a bitch. .... | |
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