New York dining adventures

It’s pretty likely, I’d have thought, that anyone logging onto this site enjoys spending the odd evening at a restaurant. Those of us who live in London – or even visit London on an occasional basis – are well aware that we Brits have privileged access to one of the most diverse and high-powered dining scenes in the world. Arguably, the only city that can match it – possibly even exceed it – in terms of its restaurant culture is New York.

A recent visit to Manhattan – my first in 18 years and my husband’s first ever – was a heaven-sent opportunity to get to grips with its restaurant world. I’d booked tables at a selection of places, from the super-trendy to long-serving old faithfuls. My aim was not to pit one city against another, but rather to get a taste of just what it was that makes New York such a great restaurant city.

One of my first dinners was at the much-lauded Corton, a new venture from top restaurateur Drew Nieporent. As the name suggests, the wine list’s strength lies in its Burgundian offering, but more of that later… The restaurant itself is a somewhat hushed temple to gastronomy, the kind of place where you’re afraid to laugh too loudly in case you get angry looks from diners at neighbouring tables. Nevertheless, the menu ($85 for three courses or $140 for a seven-course tasting menu) devised by British chef-patron Paul Liebrandt has immense appeal. Choosing just three dishes from the short menu (a choice of six dishes for each course) was tough, but only because we wanted to try everything.

In the end, I settled for a beautifully presented starter of hamachi (yellowtail), which came with an avocado and violet mustard garnish, while my husband Mark opted for the silky, opulent foie gras with sour cherries, Chioggia beets and Catalua spices. Mains were a richly spiced dish of lamb with eggplant chutney, ricotta, espellette peppers and anise hyssop and a tender, subtle composition of rabbit with scallops accompanied by artichokes, sweet potatoes and a painterly smear of black garlic. Although there were a lot of ingredients packed onto each plate, Liebrandt’s cooking proved a masterful assemblage of intense flavours.

Our only issue with Corton, sadly, came with the wine service. As the restaurant’s name suggests, Burgundy is pretty much where it’s at, and given our choice of food the ideal would have been to have had a glass of white each with our starters and to have shared a bottle of perfumed Pinot with our main course. Sadly, with a list of over 60 red Burgundies, only three came in at under $100 – and then only just. Prices rose vertiginously thereafter to hit a height of nearly $3,000 (although, admittedly, this was for a bottle of DRC Richebourg, never a cheap option). Bottles averaged somewhere north of the $200 mark. As I scanned the list for a cheaper alternative – an Alsace Pinot, a Cabernet Franc from the Loire or a cru Beaujolais, perhaps – I found little choice, and most of the alternatives seemed too heavy and rich for Corton’s delicate dishes. We ended up with a slightly tired bottle of Barbet’s Moulin Vent Vielles Vignes 2006 ($60), which didn’t really do the food justice – it fared best with the gently gamey flavours of the rabbit, but didn’t have the power to stand up to the spices in the lamb dish.

But the worst disappointment of all was the attitude of the business-suited sommelier, which changed from friendly to disdainful when he realised that we weren’t about to take out a second mortgage as a down payment on our wine.
The evening was saved by our waitress, who blended consummate professionalism with a friendly personality – and by the superlative quality of the food. Nevertheless, the evening was tainted by the tussle over the wine list.

As a result, our favourite fine dining experience came at the weirdly named WD-50, a play on the name of the chef-patron, Wylie Dufresne, and the lubricant, WD-40. I’d been looking forward to dinner at WD-50, if only because a friend of mine referred to Dufresne’s food as being ‘like a cross between American and Martian cuisine’.

The restaurant suited its funky Lower East Side location: a long, thin, richly coloured space with mellow lighting and an open kitchen at the far side of the room, where the chefs worked smoothly, silently, and with a precise economy of movement. Once again, the service was nicely gauged, blending efficiency with warmth – a hallmark of pretty much all our dining experiences in a city once famed for surly service.

The wine list ranges far and wide, featuring sakes, beers and a particularly strong list of sherries, as well as reds, whites and ross from Greece, Southern Italy, the Jura and Croatia in addition to the better-known regions of France, Australia and California. While some restaurants fob you off with the predictable choices when it comes to the by-the-glass selection, WD-50’s offering is more eclectic.

The restaurant manager suggested a glass of Nama Ginjo sake, Masumi Arahashiri First Run, to match an explosively flavoured starter of aerated foie gras with a tamarillo-molasses sauce and pickled beet. It was a revelatory experience: rather than being weighed down by the rich sweetness of the classic Sauternes-style match, the sake not only coped admirably with the food’s weight but cleansed the palate between bites as well. A dish of smoked eel with spiced bread and a bitter twist of Campari in the sauce was paired with a glass of Weingut Robert Weil’s Weissherbst Sptburgunder 2007, whose slight smokiness echoed that of the dish, while its twist of candied lemons provided a perfect counterpoint to the Campari and spice.

An earthy, full-flavoured main of duck with parsley root, mustard greens and spaetzle spiked with Worcestershire sauce was paired with a glass of Tir Na N’Og’s Old Vines Grenache 2006, a wine that perfectly matched its savoury intensity. Another dish of pork loin with charred leeks and coconut-mustard mash was paired less successfully with Leon Barral’s Faugres 2006, which threatened to overwhelm the delicate meat and sweet veg.

The meal concluded with a shared dessert of soft chocolate, peppermint ice cream, black cardamom and toffee, for which the suggested match was a glass of darkly bitter amaretto liqueur that provided the ideal foil for the bitter-sweetness of the dish.

In terms of world-class dining experiences, both Corton and WD-50 come near the top of the Manhattan list (although, as I’ve pointed out, unless you’re planning to blow the budget, WD-50 is the more approachable option). Other restaurants that weren’t quite in the same league, but nevertheless have much to recommend included Scarpetta, a bustling Italian place where sophisticated versions of Mama’s home cooking can be washed down with a wide variety of wines from the Old Country.

Particularly noteworthy were the silky home-made papardelle sauced with rabbit, herbs and parsnip dice and the Sicilian spiced duck breast, which came with a zesty accompaniment of preserved oranges – a contemporary take on an old favourite. A bottle of Gattinara’s Antoniolo Nebbiolo 2004 was, perhaps, a better match for the duck breast than the delicately flavoured pasta, but it wasn’t a totally inappropriate match for either dish.

Aldea is very much flavour of the month in midtown Manhattan. Chef George Mendes served his apprenticeship under some of the best chefs in France, Spain and the US before opening Aldea earlier this year. The restaurant’s menu nods politely in the direction of Portugal, Mendes’ parents’ homeland, although the dishes are prepared with a lighter touch than the Iberian originals. His duck rice, a mound of buttery rice studded with duck confit, slices of chorizo and black olives harmonised beautifully with a bottle of Joan d’Anguera’s deeply flavoured Syrah, Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Montsant 2006. The wine was also a more than adequate match for a savoury dish of lamb loin and belly, the loin cooked rare and the belly cooked long and slow.

By the end of our stay, we’d had enough of fine dining, so we enjoyed an enjoyably informal last meal at Greenwich Village’s Pearl Oyster Bar. Like many of New York’s hipper eating joints, you can’t book a table at Pearl – you’ll have to join the queue (and there’s always a queue). No wonder – the place serves the best oysters and steamed clams in town, not to mention a top-notch lobster roll with shoestring fries. We sat at the bar and necked our seafood, washing it down with a couple of locally brewed beers from the ever-changing list on the blackboard. It wasn’t premier cru Burgundy, but it was a great match for a thoroughly enjoyable meal nevertheless.

Natasha Hughes is a freelance food and drink writer whose work appears in Decanter, Imbibe, Square Meal, Traveller and Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, as well as the wine website www.wine-pages.com. She is currently studying for her Master of Wine

Food and wine pairing in Provence

I’d forgotten quite how enchanting Provence is, particularly at this time of year. I’ve got so used to sturdily proclaiming that the Languedoc is every bit as beautiful (as well as a great deal cheaper!) that I’d overlooked Provence’s particular charm. How it can seduce you and suspend all critical faculties so if the following observations are a bit less incisive than usual you’ll have to forgive me . . .

The trip, to which I’ve been invited by the CIVP (Comit Interprofessionel des Vins de Provence) is mainly about ros which makes up 85% of the production of the three AOCs which are the organisation’s responsibility - Cotes de Provence, Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provenc and Coteaux Varois-en-Provence. We kicked off with a seminar and tasting and then visited Chateau de Berne, a very grand domaine up in the hills which offers a wine tourism experience very untypical of France.

But before that two of us were lucky enough to have a couple of hours to kill in Nice while we waited for our colleagues to arrive and were taken round the market by a chef called Jacques Rolancy who used to be the chef at Windows on the World at the London Hilton and now has his own restaurant Les Viviers Bretons.

I’ll be writing more about all this but here are a few stand-out pairings from the day:

Cheese sables with Domaine St Andrieu 2008
These little parmesan-dusted biscuits proved probably the best pairing of the day with the accompanying ros - but then this sort of biscuit is wonderfully wine-friendly (especially with white burgundy and Champagne). The same wine, a classic light, elegant Provenal ros struggled with our main course a (very good) dish of seared cod with plain, basil and squid ink gnocchi with a butter and light meat sauces.)

Asparagus ‘bavarois’ with artichoke tartare and Cuvée Terres de Berne Rosé 2008
Raw artichokes are very difficult to match but the creamy accompanying bavarois (a smooth mousse) helped and this worked very well

Smoked salmon, grains and fennel with lemon yoghurt cream with the same rosé
An unusual (and successful) preparation of salmon with a little salad of grains and fennel and a very lemony yoghurt cream which made the accompanying white - Cuvée Terres de Berne Blanc 2008 - taste a touch sweet. The rosé, surprisingly, worked much better

Chicken breast with soft polenta and spring vegetables and a ‘tomato and olive’ jus with the Chateau de Berne Cuve Speciale Blanc 2007
A really good match. The wine was an unusual blend of smillon and rolle - rich and waxy - not unlike a white Bordeaux. I think it would have defeated a rosé.

Walking through Beaujolais

Perhaps you've heard of this summer's requisite summer holiday? The "staycation," a clumsy if apposite description of holidays spent at home, thus summing up the prevailing mood of impecunity. Farewell conspicuous consumption, hello stomping through mud. If you're revisiting some of life's simpler pleasures, but have jettisoned the idea of staying at home I'd highly recommend signing up for a vineyard walk in France. Deploy a bit of ingenuity and you can avoid the extortionate fees 'wine travel' companies charge for a swanky gourmand holiday - after all, it's perfectly possible to be frugal and still have fun.

Our escape from the "staycation" took us to southern Burgundy. My father, a fiendishly fit Scandinavian Francophile, suggested that we join family friends in Macon last summer for the annual 'promenade gourmande' up in the picturesque hills of Beaujolais. Certainly I love nothing more than hiking through mountains or walking briskly along the seafront, but a walk with the explicit intention of, well, eating and drinking had thus far eluded me. It goes without saying that this 5km promenade is the ideal way to feast sans guilt which is just as well given Beaujolais' reputation for producing delicious food and easy-drinking wines.

Our wine and food walk began at the civilised hour of 11am on a blissfully sunny Saturday. The village of Chiroubles saw 750 participants showing up at 15-minute increments to avoid a scrum at the start of the walk - most were Beaujolais locals, along with a respectable contingent of Brits, Swiss, Belgians and us. The continentals donned rather serious-looking hiking boots; totally unnecessary as we were facing a 5km walk through gentle rolling hills, not the vertiginous heights of Mont Blanc. Quand mme, good idea to wear comfortable walking shoes as the terrain is varied enough to exercise one's feet. Loose-fitting clothing, with all that scoffing, is essential - we may be feeling the pinch from the credit crunch over here but happily the portions in Chiroubles are generous!

After receiving pouches to hang around our necks containing a wine tasting glass, notes on the wines and a menu we were off. Our first station was 5 minutes into the walk, in case anyone was in need of sustenance. The promenade was inaugurated with an 'Aperitif Chiroublon', local Beaujolais wine with a smidgeon of Cassis, and a few nibbles of 'grattons', or pork scratchings. So far so good.

From station 1 we meandered our way through the valley and up to the second station where music was already playing. A super garlicky sausage whetted the appetite and was complemented by a chilled sample of Beaujolais Blanc 2007. Not a spectactular wine, but drinkable, particularly with the garlic-rich saucisson!

Thereafter started the incline, albeit a gentle one, to our third station - we started marking the vineyards at this stage, and the route was well-marked so no danger of veering off into a neighbouring village. At station three we were greeted with a tarte paysanne, a simple egg and ham tart, with salad, and a glass of Chiroubles. By this stage the Belgian contingent were merrily singing along to the local musician and a real festive spirit had infused the walk's
participants.

We certainly needed the sustenance for the steep-ish climb that awaited on the way to oue fourth station at Verdy. This took us mostly uphill and through some spectacular steep vineyards. Arriving at Verdy we were treated to a delicious cuisse de canard braise avec sauce Chiroublonne. Or braised duck leg with Chiroubles sauce - a real delight. Needless to say this was accompanied by another glass of Chiroubles, and involved listening to more music. The view of Mont Blanc in the distance made for the perfect backdrop to our 'summit' lunch.

We certainly needed a walk after the duck - thankfully there was a good stretch between the summit and station five - the cheese station in Pontheux. The wines got better - and older - here, and the quality of local goat's cheeses on offer was second-to-none. I could happily have stayed there for the remainder of the afternoon.

Our final stop was to sample the Ambassadeur sponge cake with raspberry coulis and a pink crmant de Bourgogne. This was actually a let-down, especially after the cheese and main course. The cake was fine, but superfluous - by this stage everyone was so stuffed that some simply prepared fresh fruit would have capped the day perfectly. Also the crmant was too tart for the cake and tasted rather acrid after all the reds we’d been enjoying.

Still, the verdict was unanimous: we all decided we would definitely do it again. The walk was well organised and all the vintners and their families who manned the various stations were incredibly hospitable, even with us pesky foreigners. They would be in a cheerful mood though, after everyone had completed the promenade, all the organisers and locals of Chiroubles had a party in the evening to look forward to.

The next promenade de Chiroubles is on July 11th this year (2009) so do sign up on their website if you're planning to be in the area. We drove across, stopping off in Epernay, and Troyes, but you could also go via Eurostar to Paris and then connect with a local TGV train to Macon or fly to Lyon and hire a car.

Eating out tips for Toronto

I really didn’t have much idea what to expect of Toronto. I knew it was ridiculously cold in winter and that it was hard to buy liquor (not a good combination) and that you could eat pretty good ethnic food, especially Japanese. But nothing quite prepared me for the range and scope of the city’s 5000+ restaurants. Here’s where I managed to get to in the 4 days I was there (thanks to taking in more than one venue at every possible opportunity)

High end dining
We were lucky enough to take in two of the city’s best restaurants, Canoe and Nota Bene. Canoe is literally high end - it’s on the 54th floor of the TD Bank tower, a stomach-churning 60 second ride in an elevator but the views over the city are just breathtaking. Like most Toronto restaurants it’s relaxed with great service. The star dish for me was the Raw Bar (right) which contained all sorts of original elements such as scallop ceviche, lobster salad and a selection of East and West coast oysters.

Nota Bene is more casual - an interesting blend of Asian and the rich French-style cooking much loved by Torontonians. Our sampler menu included a fragrant, refreshing Yucatan hot and sour soup, Asian-style crisp Quebec duck salad, butter-poached Nova Scotia lobster with cauliflower pure, an outrageously rich suckling pig and boudin noir tart and Quebec yoghurt panna cotta with rhubarb.

Try to take in both.

Museum and Gallery restaurants
All galleries and museums are paying more attention to their food offerings these days but few are as sophisticated or as well designed as Toronto’s. Top of the tree is C5 at the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) which could easily be classified as a fine dining restaurant. We only sampled chef Ted Corrado’s main courses but I was impressed by a well-crafted combination of chilli-crusted venison tenderloin with sweet potato pure, roasted beets and feta cream.

At Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner, Toronto’s ceramic museum, you can enjoy one of Toronto’s best known chef’s creative take on the Quebec speciality poutine. Normally a combination of chips, gravy and curd cheese, it is topped here with red wine braised beef brisket, Monforte dairy Cheddar and crme fraiche. They even have a wine pairing for chips (Henry of Pelham Cuve Catherine Brut), surely a first. In fact every dish on the menu, as is common in Toronto, is paired with an accompanying wine.

Frank at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario - above) is named after its world-famous architect Frank Gehry and occupies a beautiful open plan space in the building. The menu, devised by head chef Anne Yarymovich, is light and elegant, taking its clue from its surroundings. Our brunch featured a salad called 'Study in Reds' and a ‘Still life with pear, pancetta and fig’ but there were tempting egg dishes and sandwiches too

Ethnic
There are plenty of opportunities to eat ethnic in Toronto: it’s highest ranked restaurant, according to Zagat, is the Japanese Sushi Kaji but for an authentic Torontonian experience walk round the Kensington Market and nearby Chinatown areas with all their small ethnic shops and restaurants. We had some excellent dim sum at Bright Pearl which specialises in seafood

Fast food
The other great market is the St Lawrence Market in the heart of the downtown area where you can eat the famous Peameal Bacon sandwich, much beloved by visiting celebrities according to purveyors Carousel Bakery. It’s a sweet-cured bacon, coated in cornmeal and served with honey mustard. Wash it down with apple juice or Coke.

Although not a Toronto institution you should also sample a regular poutine (rather than the upmarket one at Jamie Kennedy’s above). Smoke’s Poutinerie at 218 Adelaide Street is reputed to have the best selection

Brunch
If you want to get away from tourist hotspots head to the Niagara Street Caf whose cooking is based on naturally reared and organic produce. Take the edge off your hunger with a plate of potato rosti with bacon jam and crme fraiche or some apple raisin bread and butter. Follow with Welsh rarebit, biscuits Benedict, omelette of the day (pickled aubergine the day I was there) or a Breakfast Tartlette of scrambled eggs, chorizo, caramelised onions and goats cheese.

Chocolate nirvana
For the best hot chocolate in town, some classily presented chocolate gifts and a chance to see chocolate actually being made head for SOMA Chocolate in the Distillery district.

Cheese heaven
And while you’re in the area you might also want to visit Taste of Quebec which stocks cheese and other products from the region. If you’re really dedicated to the cause take a cab out the quirky Cheese Boutique where you can try European cheeses you can’t even find in most European cheese shops.

For beer fans
Toronto’s take on cuisine a la bire beerbistro actually outclasses some of the restaurants I’ve been to in Belgium and Northern France. Even if you don’t have time to eat there drop by to try the excellent collection of Canadian beers they have on tap. For a fuller report see here.

Booklovers
There’s a great cookbook shop at 850 yonge street called the Cookbook Store with practically every good food book you can imagine (including mine which is why I’m recommending it with such enthusiasm!)

Didn’t get to but was recommended
Splendido (Nota Bene chef David Lee’s original restaurant) Scaramouche, North 44: three more top end restaurants Black Hoof - Toronto chef’s favourite hangout. As the name suggests, based on charcuterie. (Atelier Huet is another good venue for meat-loving francophiles)Mildred’s Temple Kitchen - another popular brunch spotJamie Kennedy’s Wine Bar one of the city's best hangouts for wine lovers.