Vecchio Amaro del Capo
You've probably never head of this amazing after-dinner drink, perfect for the conclusion of a heavy holiday repast! A digestif and a liqueur, Vecchio Amaro del Capo is sweeter than the former but sharper than the latter: Grand Marnier meets Fernet Branca....
Sipping the Light Fantastic
Here's a light and lovely red that has all the charm of a Beaujolais but is made right here in California. I admit that I knew nothing about this grape variety, which is also known as Napa Gamay or Napa Gamay 15. At its point of origin in the Longueduc-Rousillon...
The Pros of Prosecco
The “pro” in Prosecco might just mean that this reasonably priced Italian charmer is one to consider if Champagne—the real stuff—is not in your budget. If you like champagne but don't appreciate the price tag, I'd like to suggest a high quality Prosecco. While true...
A Grenache with Panache
Among the offerings at a recent Rhone tasting in SF, I found several bottles to share with readers, and I want to start with a red that's geared to summer and that can be sipped alone or put beside food. This marvel of versatility and panache is the 2013 Seven Oxen...
Thomas Jefferson: America’s First Oenophile and Foodie
On a family vacation in c. 1990 to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s 5,000-acre plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia, I visited his house, his vegetable garden and his vineyards, the first ones in the United States, although his repeated attempts to plant various...
Pinot Precision
Once again there was an embarrassment of riches among the many excellent Pinot Noir offerings at the May 2016 SLH Gala. Pinots from the Santa Lucia Highlands tend to be bigger and bolder than their Burgundian counterparts, darker and denser and milder in their...
A Duet of Cuisine and Wine at ECHO: King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort, St. Simons Island, Georgia
When a stellar chef combines his skill and great food with the knowledge of a passionate wine expert, the result is a memorable dinner by which all others will now be compared. As my friends and I gazed outside the windows of the oceanfront Retreat Room at King and...
Venice Drinking
The truism “you can’t get a bad meal in Italy” takes a beating in Venice, sad to say. Venice scores low in fine dining, and it’s inevitable. Ninety-nine percent of visitors have one meal and never return, and that doesn’t inspire restaurateurs to always do their best....
Grenache Blanc for savory egg dishes
Egg-based dishes present a problem from a wine-pairing standpoint; Rieslings, even dry ones, are too citrus-forward and acid-edged, and any other white will overpower the delicate fluffy-flavored egg-cheese balance. So I'm happy to say that I've found a wine that...
Nelson, New Zealand, Arts & Wines=Good Time
Situated on the north coast of the South Island hides one of New Zealand’s best kept secrets. With sparkling blue-green waters of the Tasman Bay and jungle-green hillsides, Nelson is a favorite destination of New Zealanders. International tourists are starting to take...
IL MARITOZZO: Rome’s Only Native-Son Sweet
While gelato, panettone, cannoli, torrone, and tiramisù are beloved worldwide, other Italian sweets are less well-known and even regional. Some examples are bônet in Piemonte, sbrisolona in Lombardy, torta Barozzi in Emilia-Romagna, tozzetti in Tuscany and Umbria,...
Update About Twissen’s Tiramisù World Championship
Two years ago, just after its first championship, businessman/tourism promoter Francesco Redi, the creator and organizer of the Tiramisù World Cup, came to the headquarters of the Associazione della Stampa Estera (Foreign Press Association) in Rome to promote his...
Dog Day Salads
In this heat, it's time to round up some terrific salads, by which I mean hearty ones that are more than lettuce leaves with dressing. Pasta salads are of course a favorite but today I'm going to replace the pasta with couscous, according to Food.com, “a granular...
Jicama & Orange Salad
A perennial favorite, this refreshing veggie/fruit salad is perfect for indoor and outdoor meals during the hottest days of summer. Jicama is a tuberous root packed with potassium, rich in fiber and vitamin C, its flavor a crunchy cross between an apple and a water...
Scott Wiener and His New York City Pizza Tours
Born in suburban New Jersey, Scott Wiener has no Italian blood. His ancestry is Jewish Russian and Polish. Yet from an early age pizza became Scott’s favorite food. And now, for the past eleven years, since April 27, 2008 to be exact, this Neapolitan specialty has...
Tommaso Lacanfora: Lucano In and Outside His Kitchen (Basilicata 3)
The Margherita family built the Palazzo Margherita in Bernalda (Matera) during 1892. This small town in Basilicata was the birthplace of Agostino Coppola (1883-1964), the grandfather of the American movie-director, Francis Ford Coppola. Agostino always referred to...
Basilicata (Part Two) : Massimo Cifarelli: Third-Generation Baker In Matera
“Because of its history of regional political division,” Wikipedia tells us, “Italy specializes in many different kinds of bread, reflecting its great regional variation and widely different bread-making recipes and traditions. In general rolls are typical of the...
Root Soup
Trifecta of winter vegetables to keep you warm inside Hearty and healthy and perfect for the long cold spells ahead, this earthy, budget-friendly soup should satisfy just about everyone. Ingredient quantities are very loosely measured here...just how big is a large...
TIRAMISÙ or “Pick-Me-Up”: Italy’s Classic Dessert
Everyone would almost certainly agree that Italy’s cuisine is regional not national. The origins of its various dishes depend on who the regions’ rulers were before the Unification of Italy in 1870 and on their “KM. 0” ingredients. For examples, Austria in Friuli...
FLYNN McGARRY: WUNDERKIND CHEF
Flynn McGarry, a long-limbed slim strawberry blond with freckles and Elvis Presley-haircut without the grease, was born in Malibu, California, on November 25, 1999. He knew from age ten that he wanted to be a chef. Two years later he launched “Eureka!”, a...
Spending a Few Days in the Birthplace of Rock and Roll – Memphis!
I was aware of how hot it was going to be in Memphis and had prepared myself accordingly when I visited the first time. I had visited a few years previously with two girlfriends and when we stepped out of our car, I was shocked at the thick, hot, damp weather that...
Second Day in Memphis at Graceland and Beale Street
We had big plans for our few days in the birthplace of Rock N Roll - Memphis - but two of those plans included tours of Graceland and the area of Beale Street. My husband was the instigator of this trip after indicating he would love to see Graceland, so that was one...
Finding the Essential Greek Food Experience in Santorini’s Tavernas
Walking into a traditional Greek Taverna is like being welcomed into a close friend’s home for a lovingly prepared homestyle meal. Plan to linger, savor local wine, inhale the enticing scents wafting from the kitchen, and eat delicious, wholesome food. The taverna is...
Chuck Williams’ Culinary Arts Museum Opens at CIA in Copia
Most readers of Epicurean-Traveler.com will know that in the food world CIA does not stand for “Central Intelligence Agency”, but rather The Culinary Institute of America. Founded in 1946 in Hyde Park, the birthplace of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 70 miles up...
Basilicata: “Italy’s Best-Kept Secret” (Part One)
Basilicata, also known by its ancient name Lucania, is a region of southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia (Puglia) to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. The region can be thought of as the “instep” of boot-shaped Italy, with Calabria...
Vacation Rental Cooking Tips
An article by a former chef suggesting how to make cooking on vacation safe and enjoyable.
Piana degli Albanesi: For its Albanian Culture and World’s Best Cannoli
If you still play “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”, an educational video game first released in 1985, I bet you won’t be able to locate “Hora e Arbëreshëvet” on the world map. I can now, but only because I visited there in mid-July. Upon arrival and during a...
The Best of Bari
During the past few years Puglia has become one of Italy’s touristic hotspots thanks to its delicious food, wines, and olive oil, multi-culture history (Greek, Roman, and Swabian), folk traditions like the pizzica (a frenzied local dance), beautiful white sandy...
KENNY DUNN: THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF “EATING EUROPE”
Kenny Dunn grew up in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, a suburb north of Philadelphia. With a Bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Penn State University and a Master’s in development management from American University in Washington D.C. in 1997 Kenny founded...
A Decadent Tea For Two: Ritz Paris
For 120 years, The Ritz Paris has been ranked among the most luxurious hotels in the world. It has been featured in novels, plays, and movies...Mademoiselle Chanel called it home for 34 years...it's simply legendary. Since its opening almost two years ago, Salon...