Old Field Vineyards-Unkempt WASP Splendor on the North Fork

We have been acquainted with Ros and Christian Baiz for several years and even helped them harvest grapes one recent November a few years ago. There vineyard was not fully realized then and there tasting room was little more than a porch and a couple of wines and now there vineyard is more mature and they have upgraded the tasting room to four walls and a couple of windows.

Don't think me unkind, the charm of the place is the un-slick, makeshift quality of the operation. The vineyard sits on the family property and there is a definite non-commercial, rustic feel to the thing. The wines have matured and the selection is more sophisticated than a few years back. Indeed, the "Rooster Tail" offering is one of the best wine values in the increasingly expensive world of Long Island North Fork Wines.

The Old Field Vineyards
59600 Main Road
PO Box 726
Southold, NY 11971

Phone(631) 765-0004

Shinn Vineyards-The wine is good, but how about a hello...

Shinn Vineyards, located in Mattituck should be one of the finest vineyards on Long Island. The location is pleasently rustic. The wines are an interesting bunch with nice selections such as the 2004 Nine Barrel Reserve Merlot (a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) and the truly excellent 2004 Cabarnet Franc.

Creative, thoughtful winemaking does not make for a great vineyard experience, however. We went there on a recent Saturday and were surprised at how depressing (no other word will do) the place was. We walked in the tasting room and even though it was more than half full (about 15 customers), there was a palpable unease in the air.
The owners David Paige and Barbara Shinn were there, and though they are nice enough they both had an obvious standoffish quality which made it hard to feel comfortable. There was a European gentlemen there who was very outgoing, but even this was disconcerting and seemed more like nervous energy than real warmth since it made for such a contrast with the owners somewhat dour demeanor. Lynn and I had visited the place about a year earlier and had found this to be the case then as well. We had hoped that it was a fluke, but after this second visit it seems to be the personality of the place.

Now, for the wines, they are pretty good. As with most Long Island wineries there is a real hit and miss quality to most of the vineyards. A couple of the wines here tasted too fussy. There was a really nice Sparkling Wine that we bought and look forward to drinking. Even then, we still had to pay for tasting this selection despite having bought a bottle for 35.00!

The vineyard has a nice walking tour, but even that costs 8.50. Strangely enough, the Vineyard is connected to an Inn run by the couple. Hopefully, the hospitality is a little better there. Hard to believe it would be at this point. Check the place out, but only if you aren't "into" social niceties.


smr


Shinn Estate Vineyards
2000 Oregon Road
Mattituck, NY 11952
631-804-0367
www.shinnestatevineyards.com

Author Interview: Clay Gordon helps you Discover Chocolate

Clay Gordon, as much as anyone, is responsible for the public realization (and acceptance) that Chocolate is a gourmet food worthy of being taken seriously and appreciated as one might appreciate any other gourmet food.

In the past fifteen months Clay has been featured in articles on chocolate in The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, and The New York Times' Dining In section, among other national and regional publications, and has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and ESPN2's morning show Cold Pizza.

Now, Clay can proudly add the Mark and Lynn Site to this lineup as he was nice enought to conduct an email interviw with us about the past, present and future of chocolate as well as his new work Discover Chocolate (Gotham Books).


MLAF: You note in your book you didn't so much become a chocolate critic as sort of invent the idea-Was chocolate really ignored to that extent in food writing?

CG: "Back in 1994 when I got the idea "to become the Robert Parker of chocolate" I could find literally no serious discussion of chocolate on par with wine, cigars, scotch, etc. The only specialty publication I could find was Chocolatier magazine but that was (and still is) more about pastry and baking than about chocolate
connoisseurship. I don't know if I invented the idea but I think you'd be hard pressed to find real critical discussion about chocolate prior to my beginning to tually the reverse is true: I am an equal-opportunity chocophile. I like any chocolate I think is good. It's all a matter of personal taste and who am I to tell
someone that their taste is bad because they don't like the same things I like? It's a lot like wine snobs who look down on people who drink white zinfandel, or people who no longer drink merlot because the movie Sideways influenced them to believe that ALL pinot noirs were superior to ALL merlots. It's nonsense. I don't think that there is any room for snobbery in chocolate and people who are proud of the fact that they "ONLY eat 70% cocoa content or higher chocolate" are, in my opinion, simply revealing the profound depths of their ignorance on the subject."

MLAF: What is the best entry point for someone toexplore the finer aspects of chocolate?

CG: "I talk about a chocolate tasting pyramid in my book, which is a method for quickly understanding what you like about the chocolate you like to eat. For many people price is certainly an issue, but with the chocolate tasting pyramid concept you can get started using bars that are easily available in the local supermarket or gourmet store."

MLAF: You mention that chocolate pairs nicely with wine and some darker spirits-Are there any other pairings with food or drink that might work? (Cheese? Clear Spirits?)

CG:"White goods (what you call clear spirits) are really hard to pair well in my experience. Wines and brown goods (bourbon, scotch, etc)are much easier for the simple fact that they have flavors that are complementary to chocolate."

"There are enormous possibilities with food pairings. I have done dinners where smoked salmon wrapped hearts of palm were paired with a white chocolate horseradish cream dipping sauce and breakfasts that featured white chocolate hollandaise sauce for eggs Benedict. Another dinner paired liver (in the form of a pate) with a dark
chocolate ganache, balsamic vinegar, and toasted hazelnuts in one course and scallops with a dark chocolate beurre blanc in another. At one of my book signing parties I offered shrimp with a cocoa balsamic glaze."

"I recently did a chocolate-lovers's getaway weekend at the Swann House, a B&B in Washington, DC. The tasting session on Saturday afternoon included three wines, two cheeses, two balsamic vinegars, two cured meats, and four chocolates. It was a lot of fun and we came up with some amazing taste combinations by not being afraid to
make unusual pairings."

"I think there are enormous opportunities for working with chocolate in a savory setting and in fact that's where I concentrate my culinary efforts not in desserts."

MLAF: What do you think the future of chocolate is as a food that is taken seriously as a gourmet item?

CG: "I don't think that there is any question any more that chocolate is a gourmet food, at least among those people who already consider themselves foodies. The challenge that this raises is that the supply of high quality beans is getting tighter and tighter and it takes at least five years before new trees become productive. So, good chocolate (in fact all chocolate) is likely to become more
expensive over the next couple of years as the demand for higher quality and higher cocoa content chocolate continues to grow."

Explore more of Clay Gordon's life and work at
www.chocophile.com & www.discoverchocolate.com

Author Phoebe Damrosch writes about life and work at legndary restaraunt Per Se in Service Included

Portraits of the author's many moods (courtesy of Phoebe Damrosch)



Foodie and recently graduated Phoebe Damrosch was not sure what to do with her life. She managed to casually pursue some avenues in her life such as applying to a handful of graduate programs. Mostly, however, she waited for inspiration if not an epiphany about what course to pursue. Her interest in food led to a job in bussing tables where she found the energy of restaraunt life suited her. Then, the epiphany came in a fateful meeting with superstar chef Thomas Keller of the famed Napa Valley eatery French Laundry. Keller's restaraunt Per Se would soon be an instantly legendary New York establashment. Ms. Damrosch would find herself as one of the waitstaff of the most talked about new restaraunt in the US. The result of this is her first book, Service Included (William Morrow), a work reminiscent of fizzy classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany's. Ms. Damrosch was nice enough to speak to MLF about her book. (On a personal note, I have been lucky as a journalist to mostly have good co-operation from individuals I have interviewed. Ms. Damrosch, however, has been the best and most co-operative individual I have ever interviewed0.


MLF: At what point did you think your work as a waiter
would make a good book?

PD: "I was working toward my MFA in creative nonfiction
writing while at Per Se and I had been writing short
pieces about restaurant culture, mainly because it was
all I was thinking about. It actually came as a
surprise that my classmates were interested. So I
decided to go for it � and to write the kind of book I
wanted to read."

MLF: Did other people support this idea? Did anyone think
your experiences would not make a good book?

PD :"I was surprised at how much interest in the book there
was when my agent shopped it around. And I have been
thrilled with the great reviews and slew of emails
from eaters and waiters around the country. Of
course, I�ve also encountered people�s negative,
preconceived notions about this book. Hard-core
foodies claim to skim the love story and non-eaters
get a little bogged down with the food trivia. I read
a blog comment from a chef saying he wouldn�t read the
book because he hates all waiters (and we wonder why
we get bad service in restaurants?). The
gossip-hungry think the book is too nice and the
overly sensitive cringe at the three lines of dirt in
the whole book. You can�t please everyone."

MLF: Do you think that restaurants are especially neurotic
or just as neurotic as any other workplace?

PD "My professional experience has included nannying and
dog-walking, so I�m questioning my qualifications
here. I do think the workplace most similar to the
neurotic restaurant would be the neurotic theater: an
intense team of people performing every night,
decompressing afterwards with food, booze and lovin�,
and doing it all over the next day."

MLF: Did any editors have concerns about your book as you
were working on the final draft?

PD: "My editor, Carolyn Marino, was a dream. She welcomed
my process, whether that included checking in with her
after every chapter or disappearing until I had
finished. I did the latter and was relieved when she
didn�t ask for a complete rewrite. We made a few
alterations, but I think we were basically on the same
page."

MLF: What about the cover image? Was that how you imagined
it to be when you were writing the book?

PD: "Fellow writers told me that holding the book in my
hand and seeing it in stores would be a profound
experience. In fact, seeing the cover moved me even
more. I wasn�t prepared for how it would feel to have
an image assigned to something that had, until that
point, occurred in my head. It is also a little odd
to have a complete stranger on the cover of my book
but the design department knows what they are doing."

MLF: A lot of your observations in your book have to do
with gender issues-What do you think the big
differences between being a male and female waiter?

PD: "I will speak for myself so that I don�t get in trouble.
I found that I was much less concerned with the amount
guests were spending than my male peers who used to
compete with each other on wine sales and tips. I
think that I was conditioned from birth to care more
about pleasing people than making money. On the other
hand, I think I had an advantage in fine dining
because guests feel more nurtured and less intimidated
with a woman. It's sexist, but true."

MLF: What is the difference (if any) between regular
tipping and "palming?"

PD: "Guests tip out of a sense of duty and appreciation and
most leave the same percentage everywhere they go,
unless the service is miraculous or really, really
terrible. Palming is about power. It is a way for
someone who just relinquished control - to the maitre
d who told him where to sit; to the sommelier who
chose a wine; to the waiter who handled his food; to
the bellhop who disappeared with his luggage - to then
reestablish his hierarchy. This is why women palm
less. Our sense of power comes less directly from
money and more from our appearance and sexuality.
Women are more likely to bat their eyelashes at a
maitre d or complement their waiter than slip him a
fifty."

MLF: Did your training at the Hudson help you when you went
to Per Se?

PD: "Immensely. If all restaurants would put as much into
their service staff as Per Se did we would see a huge
improvement in dining across the country. The most
creative and hard-working chef will fail if an
untrained and uninspired staff alienates the guest."

MLF: Do you think that working at a supremely high-end
restaurant is very different from working at a
mid-level place?

PD: "The interactions between guests and servers are
similar in all restaurants. Hospitality is about
anticipating desire and putting people at ease, no
matter where one works. But shaving white truffles
during elaborate tasting menus, maintaining famously
high standards, and working with millions of dollars
worth of food, wine, tableware in a twelve million
dollar restaurant � that was a little different than
working at TGI Fridays."

MLF: You mentioned a place you went out to after work
called Blue Ribbon-What are you looking for in a place
to eat when you get off work?

PD: "Late-night hours are very important. You don�t want
to haul yourself there only to be glared at my cooks
hoping to go home early. Other than that, you are
looking for straight-forward, comforting foods and
cheap booze. And it has to have a good vibe � working
in restaurants depletes one�s emotional electrolytes
and it helps to be well taken care of."

MLF: Finally, my wife (Lynn) wants to know what the secret
is to getting the sequence of "tastes" that the
kitchen sometimes sends out? Can you reveal this info
now?

PD: "Nope! It does pay to become a regular or to dine with
a chef, food writer, or a friend of a restaurant
employee, though."

Check out the author's musings about life and work at www.phoebedamrosch.com

Jims Legendary Deli in Brookhaven

Not being a native Long Islander, I might be in a better position to see the brilliance in the everyday life of this place-Coming from NC where good food is talked about, but rarely delivered, I have to say that the Deli is to Long Island what Jazz is to America-An under appreciated art form

Jim's is possibly the best deli in Long Island which is kind of like being the best soprano at the Metropolitan Opera or the best painting at the Museum of Modern Art-These parallel are not casual as the place specializes in culinary works of art-Specifically? The Thing-A beautiful shot of protein-Bacon, Sausage, Cheese nicely sandwiched between two pieces of nutritious whole wheat toast (that's how I order it)-

The great thing about the place is it changes with the times-It sells a great "salad bowl" made with locally grown produce (from Deer Run Farms) which is a nutritious riposte to the delicious, but not completely healthy offerings such as the Cabbage Patch and the Hungry Man (a coma inducing sandwich with enough carbs to wake Dr. Atkins from the dead)-

Great people working there as well-John, Ed, Justin, Kevin, Amanda, etc.-Nice, competent, instinctive and droll

T; 631/286-2333
2554 Montauk Hwy
Brookhaven, NY 11719

A Toast, to, uh, Toast in Port Jefferson

Port Jefferson has two of the most underrated dining places in Long Island (especially Suffolk)-One is Salsa Salsa (will profile soon)-The other is Toast-Toast is a the Port Jeff equivalent of comfort food-It reminds me of a certain kind of dining place that I used to frequent in Raleigh and Chapel Hill-The dining room is small, but somehow you don't mind because it is so friendly-This is an odd feeling on Long Island where people are friendly, but typically prefer to keep their distance-Somehow, the owner has turned the small space into an advantage-The food echoes the coziness-Nice, recognizable cuisine with the interesting twist (for instance the "Down Port" omelet features Crab, asparagus and bacon among other ingredients)-There are also nice, near high end wines such as Ravenswood and Gnarly Head which are solid, interesting choices for a decadent lunch-The restaraunt apparently served fondue in the evenings for awhile, but no more, at least at present-Great stuff here-Plus, the prices are reasonable and there is enough variety on the menu that it could be a hipper choice for a family meal than say Friendly's (what is less hip than Friendly's though, right?)


242 E Main St
Port Jefferson, NY 11777
www.toastcoffeehouse.com

Elements of the Table author Lynn Rosen sheds light on the complications of civilized dining

(Cover courtesy of Clarkson Potter)

Table manners, dining etiquette and proper ways to host a dinner party might might seem to some as much of a lost art as duelling, blacksmithing or going fox hunting. To author Lynn Rosen, however, the traditions and lore of the dining experience are vital and necessary. Her book, Elements of the Table (Clarkson Potter) is a witty primer on proper dining etiquette. The work is full of fascinating and useful information, history and instruction. Ms. Rosen was nice enough to check in with this site about her book, her own dining experiences and why her friends might be nervous about invinting her over for dinner.


M & L: How long had you thought of writing this book?

LR: "I have long been obsessed with table setting. As I say in the book, it was one of my main household chores as a girl, and my mother was very strict about my doing it just right. It occurred to me that I could turn my obsession into a book a few years ago. I began shaping it, wrote the proposal, and was lucky enough to have Clarkson Potter want to publish it!"

M & L : Were you surprised that there was enough material to construct an entire book about this subject?

LR "You should see how much material my editor cut! However, from the start, Elements of the Table was meant to be a brief and practical book. I never doubted that there was enough info to fill a book about how to use all the items on the table, because there are so many of them, and so many of them befuddle us! What did surprise was the richness of the history of dining I found. I was completely fascinated by the historical aspects of how we eat, and read every book I could find on the topic."

M &L Was there any bit of information that surprised you in the research or writing of this book?

LR "What really surprised me was that my mother wasn't making this stuff up! I was surprised how steeped in history our table customs are, and how deeply important doing things the right way is to so many people. Also, lots of the specific historical tidbits I turned up surprised me. Like that people used to collect lots of silver tableware as a way of showing off how rich they were. Or that people did not wash cloth napkins very often, and used napkin rings to identify their own dirty napkin from one meal to the next. Or about how key historical figures had a role in something table-related, like when Count Richlieu dictated that table knives had to have rounded tips so no one could stab him at dinner! Fun things like that!"


M & L: The photos and illustrations are very striking. What kind of input did you have in this respect?

LR "Thank you! Well, I became a photo stylist for this book! I arranged all the stuff you see in the photos, set the tables, ironed the linen, held lights, and more! I was lucky enough that some wonderful companies agreed to loan me all the beautiful products in the photos. (Alas, like Cinderella, I had to give them back at the end of the shoot!) Then I persuaded my parents to loan me their dining room. I told them it would be for a few weeks but it wound up taking three months. And then I had two fabulous volunteer photographers: my father Walter Rosen (a talented amateur) and my friend Patrick Snook, who really is a professional photog, but usually shoots people and not plates. We just tried a bunch of stuff, consulting with our great art director Marysarah Quinn at Clarkson Potter, and found the right look. Glad you like it as it was a lot of work!"

"As far as the illustrations, I envisioned the look I wanted and they were brought to life by another talented artist, Sherry Berger."

M & L: Has writing this book changed the way you view going to a restaurant or eating at a friends house?

LR: "Well, my friends don't invite me over anymore because they are afraid I am going to grade them! Just kidding! They do get a bit more nervous when I come over than they did before I started writing this book. The most important thing I learned from my research for the book is that, if you see something done wrong at a friends table, just keep quiet about it. Don't complain, don't rearrange the setting, just deal with it. I would never insult a host by criticizing. But mostly I don't need to. Everyone entertains in a different way, and I just like seeing everyone's different styles and appreciating them. As far as restaurants, I am pickier. If I am paying for service, I expect it to be good. I worked for a caterer for a while, and I know how hard it is to provide good service. So now I notice how I am being served, and I can tell if it is being done right."

"I attended a wedding recently at a fancy hotel, and the server at my table was excellent. She did everything right (for example, served from the left, cleared from the right), and did it pleasantly and unobtrusively. When the meal was over I complimented her and thanked her for her service. She seemed surprised to have been noticed and grateful for the kind words. But if the service had been bad, I wouldn’t have said anything."

Kristin Davis at the AHAVA launch in the Weather Room at "Top of the Rock" (Plus the birth of the 'M. Rhodes')-Read on!

Lynn, I and Eileen were lucky enough to get an invite to the AHAVA party at "Top of the Rock" in the Weather Room at 30 Rockefeller Plaza the other night. Oddly enough, the party was on a Tuesday and we were unsure of weather to venture into Manhattan near rush hour on a weekday and have to be driven back to Long Island afterwards-The promise of Sex and the City's Charlotte York, aka Kristin Davis was enough to tip the scales and motivate us to push forward with an adventure into Manhattan-

Luckily, the weather was perfect and our driver Dennis was clearly an old pro at getting into the city with savvy and good instincts. We arrived a few minutes after 6 (the party was 6-8) and were whisked through a couple of checkpoints into a private elevator that took us up to the 67th floor at "30 Rock" (The top of the elevator played a projection of many decades of NBC highlights as we shot up story after story).

At the point we got to the party, there were maybe 65-70 people in attendance. The Weather Room has a kind of outdoor rooftop area that is enclosed in a ten foot glass fence. The view is genuinely breataking as the Empire State Building stood guard on one side and Central Park stretched out before us on the other side. We were quickly offered Bellinis and Hors D'oeuvres. The best food was the asparagus wrapped in salmon and the bartenders (from Cipriani's no less) made amazing martinis. I asked for my favorite drink; A Vodka Martini with a dash of Campari. The bartender did not know the drink and asked me if I had a name for this concoction. Unwilling to dissapoint the suave bartender, I mentioned that I called it an "M. Rhodes." This seemed to please him and he said he would try to rememember this if and when he might serve it again.

Lynn met up with the AHAVA reps who could not have been nicer or happier that we accepted their kind invation. There was much chat about the environment, the great weather, business, restaraunts, etc. I had another martini and the sun began to go down and the Manhattan skyline looked even more striking as the late afternoon turned to early evening.

About halfway through the gathering a buzz commenced and we anticipated that Kristin Davis might be making an appearance (it was said she was eating downstairs when we first got to the party). Soon enough, she was being introduced and she wafted through the corridor and took her place at the podium. Lynn was struck by how pretty she was (Lynn was so moved that she cried). Indeed, she had on a swee orange chiffon dress and she exuded a lovely spirit when adressing the gathering.

After her brief speech, Ms. Davis stood there for a few minutes for "photo ops" while photogs snapped away. Lynn and I are the veterans of a thousand such events and the time lapse between an actor/celebrity being accessible and whisked away is razor thin. Lynn, sensing this, finnessed her way into Ms. Davis' area and made eye contact with her. Ms. Davis warmly recieved Lynn when Lynn asked for a picture. The actress asked Lynn "Is that your friend?" (meaning yours truly) and complemented us on being a "cute couple." A couple of publcists tried to whisk the actress away (as it is publicists job to limit, not maximize their clent's exposure), but Lynn and I had made a favorable impression on the charming actress and she was happy to accomadate us. I, not known as a photographer, took a very great picture under considerable pressure (we weren't going to get another shot so to speak). Lynn and Kristin Davis both looked great. I rose to the occasssion, Lynn rose to the occassion and Ms. Davis rose to the occassion. We left shortly thereafter, happy with a great memory intact...




The Weather Room at Top of the Rock
30 Rockefeller Plaza
(Entrance on 50th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue)
New York, New York

Venturas in Utica, NY

Utica's justifiably famous restaraunt Ventura's was just the kind of low-key, comforting Old School Italian place Lynn had always missed when she moved away from upstate NY. We had the chance to go with some friends on the 15th of Sept. and it was great with very nice, regular food and predictably great drinks...

Ventura's Restaurant
(315) 732-8381
787 Lansing St, Utica, NY 13501

A Man of His Word: The Zen of Fish author interview...

Trevor with Toshi Sugiura, long-time L.A. sushi chef, CEO of the
California Sushi Academy, and one of the characters in The Zen of Fish (courtesy of Trevor Corson)



Trevor chatting with students at the California Sushi Academy, where
The Zen of Fish takes place (Courtesy of Trevor Corson)

Trevor Corson, the most interesting and idosyncratic writer of food lore and mythology today (here is your soundbite: 'Trevor Corson is a combination of MFK Fisher and Bill Murray')has been corresponding with me since early in the summer, promising he would be interviewed by MLF-In the meantime, I heard him on NPR, saw his book, The Zen of Fish (Harper Collins)on the shelves of Barnes and Noble and the like. Needless to say, I was very pleased and grateful when his interview popped into my inbox about a week ago-

Now, an interview months in the making:

MLF: Before you wrote this, did you know anything about the lore or
history of sushi ?

TC: No, I was clueless just like everyone else! And what a surprise it was to learn what I did. For example, sushi didn't originate in Japan, and had nothing to do with raw seafood. Another surprise: the type of sushi we know and love today is popular because of the policies of the American military. And on the streets of old Tokyo,
sushi was not a sophisticated dining experience but a cheap fast food -- like a McDonald's drive-thru for samurai. I also learned a slew of surprising facts about the ingredients as well, such as tuna, which the Japanese considered garbage fish unfit for sushi. It was Western influence on the Japanese diet that got the Japanese eating fatty, red-fleshed fish like tuna. And now the Japanese obsession with tuna
for sushi has, in turn, influenced us.

MLF. Are there things about sushi that are simply lost to history, or
are its origins well-documented?

TC: One of the great mysteries of sushi history is why sushi disappeared from China. The original form of sushi -- a combination of fish and tart rice -- was born in Southeast Asia, and then spread north into China and then through Korea and over to Japan. Early versions of sushi still exist in Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea as well as Japan, but today there is no native form of Chinese sushi. One theory is that sushi's disappearance from China is due to the Mongol invasion. The Mongols were big eaters of red meat from land animals, and it's possible that the popularity of fish declined in China as a result. Today, sushi is being reimported into China from Japan, and is growing in popularity there because of its status as a cosmopolitan
international cuisine.

MLF: There doesn't appear to be too many (if any) Western books about
the history of Sushi-Why do you think this is the case?

TC: The obvious and biggest reason is that most of the scholarship on the history of sushi is written in Japanese. Probably another reason is that the rise of the popularity of sushi in the West has been fairly recent and quite sudden. It's only been in the past two decades or so that sushi has become anything more than an exotic novelty in the U.S. But over the course of the past few years sushi has become ubiquitous in the West. So I think the timing for my book was just
right -- and I was fortunate to have invested several years of my life into living in Japan and learning the Japanese language, so I was able to bring a lot of new information from Japanese sources to a Western audience.

MLF: What is the history of Sushi in America? Has it been completely
accepted at this point?

TC: Sushi entered the U.S. through Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, almost by accident, and it took a while for it to catch on. The key to its subsequent popularity was that Hollywood celebrities discovered and embraced it as an exotic novelty. Once movie stars started eating sushi, its success here was probably guaranteed. But even so, until recently sushi was limited mostly to the big American cities on the
coasts. The amazing thing that is happening these days, which I describe in the book, is that sushi is now exploding in popularity in the American heartland as well. It's spreading like wildfire across the Midwest.

MLF: How do you see the practice of eating/preparing sushi evolving
in the future?

TC: I think the future of sushi is really up for grabs, and I don't think anyone has a monopoly on it anymore. There are many Asian chefs making terrible sushi and some Caucasian or Latino and even African-American chefs making good or even great sushi. And sushi has evolved dramatically in the West, leaving behind its recent Japanese roots in some cases and staying very loyal to those roots in others. So we have a whole range of sushi now. And one of the take-home messages of my book is that the history of sushi is a history of constant change. In Japan in the 1800s it was a cheap fast food, and now just look at American supermarkets, where it's become a cheap fast food all over again. And of course there's the issue of overfishing -- the seas are rapidly running out of many kinds of fish. So who knows what kind of
sushi we'll be eating in the future. But as readers learn in my book, the word "sushi" refers simply to rice seasoned with vinegar and a little sugar and salt, so anything served with that rice can be sushi. The possibilities are probably endless.


Check out much more about Trevor, his life and work at
www.trevorcorson.com

Upping its standards since 1946-The Barbary Coast-Wilmington's World Class Dive Bar

The Barbary Coast is a legendary bar in Wilmington, NC. As I remember, it was founded by a suitably colorful character in Port City lore: Tugboat Captain/Prizefighter "Buddy" Best (who was a client and friend of my Attorney Father WK Rhodes Jr.). In my twenties, the bar was a great haven because it had cheap beer, a great jukebox and a surprisingly cheerful, attractive staff. It's rougish repuation was well-earned, but it was much less dangerous than people percieved (mainly because owner Paul Best, son of Buddy, ran a tight ship and would not put up with any roughhousing). The result of this was probably the world's most comforting dive bar.

On my recent trip to Wilmington, I pulled in to see if the bar was the same. When I walked in, I was almost nailed by a dart as some guys were playing at 3pm on a dartboard next to the entrance. As I sat down and ordered a PBR it occurred to me that the place had not changed a bit (except for the Barbary Film Festival nights and free wireless internet access)-Great stuff here!

m

910) 762-8996
116 S Front St
Wilmington, NC

Riverfront Farmers Market-Wilmington, North Carolina's Foodie Nirvana

Wilmington's Market located for a couple of blocks on Water Street on Saturday is a big improvement on the Market we went to last year. This year there were local farms with great selections of organic produce, eggs, cheese and the like. Of note were the offerings from Grassy Ridge Farm in Riegelwood, NC and Nature's Way Farm and Seafood in Hampstead, NC where we bought some excellent, reasonably priced goat cheese covered with pepper corns and some nice crab meat as well. Also, Hanchey's Produce in Wallace, NC had some tremendouse peanuts and Honeybell Farms in Leland had great, organic eggs including Abacor eggs (Martha Stewart's favorites I was told by the farmer).

Great stuff-Much improved-Now, if only some of the area restaraunts could pick up on this trend...

www.wilmingtonfarmers.com

As far As I remember Nagila is Wilmington's Best Restaraunt...

Is Nagila Wilmington's best restaraunt? Well, I think so, but I am not 100% sure since I can't completely remember what i ate there (blame it on the Isreali wine!) I do remember we had a mega sampler of Morrocan foods, some better than others, but all very exceptional. The truth is I, my wife, two stepdaughters and a boyfriend all shared our food in a way that seemed in the spirit of the evening and the cuisine we were eating. As mentioned before, the Isreali wine was true exotica and it had the confidence and integrity of any great California red you might imagine. The place has some things going against it 1. The location on Wrightsville Ave. is in a strip center which works against the exotic ambience of the place. The decor, while not exactly bad, is hit and miss. The best thing that the place has going for it is the cook/owner/waiter (whose name I can't recall) who had the silky charm and menace of a great character actor such as Sidney Greenstreet and his confident assertation that we were about to eat a great meal, drink great wine and have a great experience gave our table a charge. He was right.

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(910) 798-9940
3314 Wrightsville Ave
Wilmington, NC

New Yorker moves to Wilmington...and manages to become popular!: Bon Appetit

The restaraunt, Bon Appetit located on Carolina Beach Rd. in Wilmington was a pleasant surprise on our recent trip to Wilmington. The restaraunt serves great, cheap fare for breakfast and lunch and the catering arm of BA is quite accomplished having catered for the television show Dawson's Creek and having been featured on the Food Network as well. My stepdaughter, Kristina took us there with her boyfriend David-In particular the Shrimp omelet was superb and the toast was very good. As with many of these places the atmosphere is casual and friendly with issues of the local Star News lying here and there. The interior is spacious and there is room to maneuver in the place (not necessarily typical for a breakfast place). The service was good as well (a noteworthy thing in Wilmington)-Nothing amazing, but very solid and comforting.


Off-topic aside: Of interest to me was the Sept. 11 tribute on one of the windows-I had not ever seen one in NC-The owner, Eugene Costa, is a native New Yorker which makes sense-Still, with all of the New Yorkers in NC (my father in law, my stepdaughter and my wife's ex-husband are three) it is surprising that there aren't more of these kind of tributes-

http://www.bonappetitwilmington.com

A Downtown Wilmington, North Carolina Classic is new, but is it improved? : The Dixie Grill

As recently as a couple of years ago, you could walk into the Dixie Grill and experience downtown Wilmington as it was circa 1950. The grit, the layers, the menu, the pool table, the ex-cons all spoke to the tough seaport town that Wilmington was - and the Dixie was both a reminder of Wilmington's less genteel traditions and a rebuke of the attempts to gentrify the downtown area. The Dixie was so tough (and smelled like grease and fire) and oozed so much integrity (among other things) and gritty charm that if it were in another city like NY or a smaller, somewhat sophisticated place like Raleigh or Charlotte it might have found a hipster following. Hipsters in Wilmington never really picked up on the place (possibly because there are so few hipsters in Wilmington). But, it had a consistent blue collar following and a colorful staff (Bunny, one of the waitresses was cast by David Lynch in Blue Velvet-the woman who dances on top of the car).

It was only a matter of time until the Dixie got a facelift (this being Wilmington after all). According to one of the waitresses, the establishment closed for a few months at the beginning of this year and has just re-opened. The place is cleaned up (the smell is gone) and the menu is more healthy (the chopped salad is especially good) and the waitstaff is younger, but not as colorful. The large interiors of the place remain intact and there are nice touches here and there (an old sign from the 70's was apparently drug out and mounted behing the bar).

As with many places in Wilmington, the service is a genuine problem. The waitresses/waiters aren't rude, just out of it and distracted. We were the only ones in the restaraunt but it was like pulling teeth to get served. There were problems getting the check at the end of the meal and when I asked for a shot of vodka, the waitress brought me an orange juice glass full of vodka (which being a writer, I consumed without complaint).

Despite these misgivings, the Dixie has retained its old spirit despite its re-boot. Indeed, the upgrade was probably necessary to maintain the life of the place. If the service improves just a bit it could easily be a much cooler (and cheaper) alternative to places like the Cafe Phoenix and DeLuxe


Dixie Grill & Pool Room (910) 762-7280 116 Market St, Wilmington, NC

Down Home Empire-Port City Java

Unlike the rest of the world, Wilmington does not seem to be taken over by Starbucks. This is a surprise, since, according to my mom, every other week Wal-Mart closes at midnite to re-open a mega Wal-Mart at 1 am. Wilmington is full of chain stores and franchises and a drive down any of the major thoroughfairs will bear this out as there are numerous Hardees, TJ Maxx;, Barnes and Nobles, KFC' and of course Wal-Marts. Starbucks, however, does not seem to have a foothold in the community (yet). Why? My guess is that the Port City Java corporation has kept them at bay at least for now.

The first Port City Java opened around 1995 at a modest location near Tom's Drugs on Front Street. The then owner, Steve Cohen was its main asset as he seemed indefatigable and very, very cordial. The logo, branding and "style" of the place was pretty much the same then as it is now (if memory serves). Cape Fear Coffee and Tea was its main competition at that point, but somewhat lackluster ownership and an unwillingness to evolve helped PCJ (which definitely did evolve) become the "go to" coffee house in Wilmington within a couple of years.

According to the company's site www.portcityjava.com there are now PCJ franchises in 9 states, 3 international sites and 13 seperate locations in Wilmington alone. The danger for the place is that the market will become saturated or they might water down the brand. For what it is worth, it does not seem to have happened so far.

Now, for the coffee, it is pretty good. The regular coffee is better than Starbucks, but the coffee drinks were uneven (I ordered Cafe Au Lait's at a couple of different PCJ's and they tasted very different). The interiors are typically warm with free wireless and comfortable chairs. Despite this comfort, the decor seems a bit dated (many locales in downtown Wilmington seems somewhat stuck in the 90's), however. Indeed, the location on 21 N. Front Street looks like a preserved set from the series Friends, circa 1993. The art, most of it local, is also surpisingly bad. Again, despite this there is much to recommend; the free wireless internet is a great feature and the baristas were typically pretty competent and quick (not a trait that the laid back Southern lifestyle displays on a regular basis).

Ironically enough, when Cohen opened the first PCJ in '95 there were rumors that he hoped that Starbucks would "buy him out" as a way to clear the decks for the ubiquitious Seattle chain to conquer the Port City. It hasn't happened yet.

www.portcityjava.com

THAT 70's RESTARAUNT-THE LITTLE DIPPER IN WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA

THE LECTURE: Fondue is a traditional Swiss communal dish shared at the table in an earthenware pot ("caquelon") over a small burner ("rechaud"). The term "fondue" comes from the French "fondre" ("to melt"), referring to the fact that the contents of the pot are kept in a liquid state so that diners can use forks to dip into the sauce. The practice of Fondue hit a high point in the US in the 70's when it enjoyed a moment of popularity that was not sustained. In recent years, restaraunts in NY, most notably Dip, have revived this phenomenon. The practice is too much of a niche activity to realistically break back into the mainstream for very long, if at all. This is especially true since most thing devoted to single life are not front and center in the conciousness of the public.

The practice, however, will always have its devotees, and, for the hipster contingency, the practice will always be an appealing thing due to its 70's vibe and ritualistic nature. Anyway, Wilmington has a first rate fondue restaraunt called The Little Dipper (a too cute name for a place that has hipster aspirations). The restaraunt, located in the old location of Crook's Corner (a restaraunt that, if you can believe the rumors, lost most of its profits up its nose) near the Barbary Coast. The setup and menu are clever, The choice are set up as a three-course meal starting with a cheese appetizer for the table to partake. In addition, all of the tables are handmade with one or more common burners in the center of the table. The setup is unique in that all diners share a pot to cook in which requires all to agree on one common cooking style, including Peanut Oil, White Merlot and Vegetable Broth, Port Wine and Beef Broth or Chicken Broth.

The novelty of the place is considerable, and it has one great prop/conversation piece in the tank of jelly fish located near the entrance and bar (the bar appears to be pretty ordinary with stacks of Encore magazine and business cardsn nearby and not very interesting people sitting there watching sports)> TLD would be a great place to take a first date. My wife, stepdaughter and her boyfriend all went over Labor Day weekend and it was sufficiently removed from the collegiate shenanigans of Front Street to allow us to walk down to the Cape Fear River without the worry of dodging beer bottles from all of the "sophisticates" in Wilmington. (Personal note: It is funny the way things come full circle: I parked about a block away in front of an old girlfriend's house where my tires were slashed not once, but twice during the course of a week way back in 1994, by my girlfriends jealous ex-girlfriend-Thankfully, the tires were intact when I returned to our car).

The wine list was a great thing as well. Many of the wines were half-price (which means they were only marked up about 60%). We had two bottles of Hess Select (a very good first-rate, second rate wine) which were perfect and exceedingly reasonable at about 16.00 a bottle. The food was tremendous and surprisingly filling despite the fact it was mainly small bits of tuna, chicken, etc.
One small complaint: The serving style of waiters in the port city is depressingly casual. Our waiter, adept though he was kneeled down to take our orders as if we were in a bar-b-que restaruant and told us his name "Hi, my name is..." This is merely a small example of the over-familiar style of the southern service industry which is a small annoyance, but an annoyance, nonetheless. Less annoying was the reasonable price tag, as people can eat for about 40.00 a person (and eat quite well)


Check this one out, for a break from the tired Cafe Phoenix, DeLuxe routine-Also, check out the Hookah Bar (A Hookah Bar!) across the street!


138 S. Front St.
Wilmington, NC

www.littledipperfondue.com