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...
Tapas Calpe, From Cary Supermarket to the Coast of Spain
Some people say the study of wine is an art. Others say it’s a science. To Nick Domanico, owner of Tapas Calpe in Cary, Illinois, wine is much more. “Studying wine is kind of like studying theology,” he explained to me in a recent interview. “It’s not like studying...
A Dozen Favorites from the 2015 Pinot Shootout
Every year for the past 13 years Barbara Drady, of Affairs of the Vine, has been organizing the Pinot Noir Shootout and subsequent Pinot Noir Summit. The Shootout is not one event, but a series of blind tastings held over several months in which professional wine...
Roero- The Road Less Traveled
Vineyards near Canale (Photo ©Tom Hyland) Piemonte is a region known for its wines, especially the great Nebbiolo-based reds Barolo and Barbaresco, iconic wines produced from vineyards not far from the town of Alba in the Langhe district. Journalists expound the...
Rhônes Rule in Oakland
Fifteen northern California wineries recently showcased their Rhône style wines for aficionados in—where else—Oakland! Syrah, Petite Sirah, Mourvèdre, Grenache, Carignane, Roussane, Counoise in red varietals and Viognier, the prime Rhône white, strutted their...
Through Rosé Colored Glasses
Rosés are pretty, but they’re not the most complex wines; they’re not powerful or full-flavored. In fact, they’re delicate, light, uncomplicated and easy to drink without much contemplation. Perhaps that’s why rosé consumption is on the rise. In France, where...
August 2015 Value Wines of the Month
Dry Creek Vineyard, 2014, Wilson Ranch, Clarksburg Chenin Blanc: Though technically at the threshold of off-dry (.6 residual sugar) it strikes my palate as completely dry with a silky texture and firm acidity. Consistent year after year, the flavors call to mind fresh...
The Aged and the Decrepit
Wines, like people, age at different rates. Some elderly people are young at heart, vibrant, full of life, and still in their prime, while others are creaking curmudgeons, dried out husks of the persons they had once been. Likewise, some old wines are vibrant and...
Terroir in the Modern World
If you read the wine press you’ll inevitably come across the French word terroir. Though terroir literally means soil, terroir has wider connotations; it also encompasses microclimate and viticultural traditions. Taken together, the argument goes, soil, microclimate,...
Summer Riesling
Summertime calls for refreshing white wine. There are plenty of candidates to choose from: Albariño, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Vermentino — the list goes on. All are worthy to grace our table, but if I had to confine myself to just one...
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...
VATICAN RECIPES
Due to all the clamor and ink spilt soon after Pope Francis’ election because of his pre-papacy simple lifestyle and taste in food while Archbishop of Buenos Aires, which he continued to prefer as Pope, I became curious about what the popes before him ate. I was...
Babington’s Tearooms Celebrate its 125th Birthday
Since the 1700s for Northern Europeans on the “Grand Tour” all roads have led to Rome. They entered the Eternal City through the Porta del Popolo, a gate in the ancient Aurelian Walls built by Pope Sixtus IV for the Jubilee Year 1475, and took lodgings in and around...
DEACON’S NEW SOUTH – Creative Restaurant Concept Newly-Opened in the Heart of Downtown Nashville
Andy Marshall, best known for all of the Puckett's locations in and around Nashville, Tennessee, has scored a restaurant trifecta with the opening of Deacon's New South at the intersection of 4th Avenue North and Church Street. First, the location is perfectly...
FINE DINING IN AIRPORTS WORLDWIDE
I’ve always loved to travel, but still dread each departure when it involves an airport. Even before all the necessary security, airports already meant endless lines at check-in and passport control, crowds pushing in all directions, noise, confusion, and above all...
Casual dining at Napa’s River Terrace Inn Alba Restaurant
Visitors to the cradle of modern day wine country, the iconic Napa Valley, have discovered solace on the Napa River at the River Terrace Inn. Located on the banks of the Napa River, the cozy property is a member of the stellar, one-of-a-kind group of hotels managed by...
Oxford, Mississippi’s Debutante Farmer Bakes Her Famous Tomato Pie
Allow me to introduce you to Elizabeth Heiskell, better known at the Debutante Farmer in Oxford, Mississippi. I first met her at a "Taste of Oxford" event held in Birmingham, Alabama, and was delighted and intrigued from the moment I heard her Southern drawl. I...
Montepulciano: Cooking with the Master at Le Logge del Vignola
To take part in the preparation of traditional Italian dishes with a master of the culinary arts is every cook's dream. When my wife, a fantastic cook, and I (a so-so cook) had the opportunity to attend a Tuscan cooking class under the tutelage of Massimo,...
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...
DON’T MISS ROME’S LASTEST ATTRACTION
In keeping with the saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, Rome is like a layer cake with monuments and art works dating from every period of history from 753 BC, when according to more than legend the Eternal City was founded by King Romulus, to the present. After...
The Art of the Braai: In search of authentic South African cuisine
Unable to tell a potjie from a bobotie, my wife and I arrived in Cape Town ready to eat. Armed with a list of must-try local specialties, we set out to explore the city in our favorite method: with our taste buds leading the way. As we sauntered down Cape Town’s...
All Roads Lead to Rome
Italy’s national newspaper, La Repubblica, has published guidebooks about Italy’s many regions since 2003. Its first and only guidebook in English is Roma Maxima: Stories, Places, and Secrets, Guidebook to an Eternal City. The first guidebooks to Rome, written for the...