This Little Piggy likes Pacific Northwest Wines

During a vacation to the Pacific Northwest last October, I had the opportunity to go wine tasting at some excellent vineyards in the Willamette Valley in Oregon.  I had never had a Pinot Blanc before, and the one I tried at Four Graces was incredible.  I quickly fell in love with the amazing wines the region was producing.

I was really excited to hear that the Down Town Association would be hosting a wine tasting focused on the Pacific Northwest.  It was a great event and while I didn't try all eight of the featured wines, I tried some I really enjoyed and others I cared less for.  I found the Adelsheim Pinot Gris (2007) to be a very refreshing white.  It had a medium dryness with a higher degree of acidity.  It smelled of fruits, mainly citrus, rather than berry, and was medium bodied. 

I was slightly less impressed with the L'Ecole No. 41 Chenin Blanc (2009) from Washington, though I believe they may have been serving it too cold and this may have affected its flavor.  Lastly, I was not nearly as impressed with the WillaKenzie Pinot Noir (2007), also from Oregon.  The region is known for producing excellent Pinots and I thought this probably would have stood out to me, but alas, it didn't.  I did, however, enjoy the Mission Hill Winery Oculus (2004) from British Columbia.  I am looking forward to trying more wines from Washington and Oregon and will report back accordingly.

Featured Wines

Whites

- Adelsheim Pinot Gris 2007, Oregon
- L'Ecole No. 41 Chenin Blanc 2009 (Columbia Valley), Washington
- Mission Hill Winery Chardonnay 2006, B.C.
- Snoqualmie Vineyards Riesling Naked 2008, Washington




Reds

- WillaKenzie Estate Pinot Noir 2007 (Willamette Valley), Oregon
- Ex Libris Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Washington
- Chataeu Ste. Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon, Washington
- Mission Hill Winery Oculus 2005, B.C.

Outstanding in the Field posts their 2010 Schedule!

If you're not familiar with Outstanding In The Field, here is a little bit of info from their website:

"Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls. Since 1999 we have set the long table at farms or gardens, on mountain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the consistent theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table."

Each meal is made with locally grown ingredients and typically prepared by a chef of that region.  Additionally, the proceeds from some of the specific events are donated to a particular charity, for example proceeds gathered from the La Plaza Cultural (NY, NY) dinner will be donated to Wellness in the Schools, which promotes nutritious and tasty food in NYC Public Schools.  Though I have yet to participate in one of their amazing events, they just released the 2010 tour schedule and I am hopeful I will make it to one of the three NYC dinners this year.  Click here to find a map and list of this years events.  Tickets go on sale March 20th, so make your profile early (required for purchase) so it won't be a hassle when this Saturday arrives.

(ps. you can also follow OITF on twitter or their blog. Also, the beautiful picture, and others, can be found in their gallery.)

Macaron Day NYC 2010

As mentioned yesterday on Gadling.com, not only is March 20th the first day of Spring, it is also Macaron Day in New York City.  What exactly does this mean?  Well, it means that at least 11 bakeries throughout the city will be celebrating with free macarons!  I fell in love with this tasty treat a couple years ago when Ellie, my french friend you've heard so much about lately, came to visit and brought me a beautiful box of the tiny morsels from the famous Ladurée tea salon in Paris.  For those of you who are not familiar with french macarons, the Ladurée's website describes them as "small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle" and provides a delightful history of the pastry.  They come in a variety of flavors ranging from chocolate to rose to caramel with salted butter.

It just so happens that NYC's 1st annual Macaron Day coincides with the 5th annual Jour du Macaron in Paris.  To find more information on this delicious holiday, including participating bakeries, please visit macarondaynyc.com.

Tourondel says 'Happy St. Patrick's Day' with Free Food!

Though Laurent Tourondel may no longer be at BLT Burger, Grub Street reports that you can catch some of his tasty dishes, including a bacon pizetta, sirloin sliders, and most importantly.... CORNED-BEEF-HASH with sunny-side-up-egg sandwich at the "Tabasco Hangover Headquarters" food truck this Thursday, March 18th.  Tourondel's motive for such a pop-up menu...?  Serving the hungover and famished from St. Patty's Day's debauchery.  My motive for waiting in line between 7 and 9:30 a.m. (48th between 5th and 6th)?  Free Breakfast!  If you oversleep and miss the truck's first stop, you can catch this tasty special at 26 Broadway, near Bowling Green, from noon until 2 o'clock.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

ps.  there will also be virgin Bloody Mary's!

(picture taken from http://www.the80skids.com/2009/07/4-leaf-clover/)

Never too late for a Cocktail Event

Culintro is hosting a fabulous event tonight called "Building an Effective Cocktail Program" (in a Chef-Driven Restaurant).  Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend due to a prior engagement, but if you're free and in NYC, you should definitely check it out.  The program will include five amazing panelists, including Jim Meehan as Moderator (the guy responsible for those amazing drinks at PDT).  You can rsvp at alinam@culintro.com.  Hope you all can make it!  Oink oink!

Women in Cheese at the Astor Center Jan. 6

Women in Cheese at the Astor Center Jan. 6

How, I repeat HOW, did I miss this event?!  Jeez I need to check my email more.  I am so disappointed right now.

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This Little Piggy went to the New Amsterdam Market

I was excited to go to the New Amsterdam Market this past Sunday, especially since I had enjoyed October's market so much.  I was a little worried that the snow would deter some shoppers and mainly vendors, particularly those coming in from out of town.  Fortunately for us, that was not the case.  For those who don't know, the New Amsterdam Market is a monthly farmers market that has been held in the South Street Seaport (shout out for FiDi) over the past few years and more regularly since September.  Their website states,

"Reinvented for our present time and needs, New Amsterdam Market will incubate a new growing business sector: purveyors who source food directly from farmers and producers whom they trust to be good stewards of our land and water."

We arrived a little late in the game at about 3:15, though luckily there was still enough time to take a look around.  Among many wonderful items present at the market were really tasty cider, kimchi, smokra (smoked, pickled okra), mead, and cheese.  The Market was also very festive, providing the vendors with bells, which they rang in order to spark holiday cheer.  Expect more to come on individual items purchased while shopping and many more posts when they re-open in Spring 2010.

This Little Piggy Met Batali, Chang & Meehan

If you love food, and particularly restaurants in NYC, you really missed out last night if you didn't make it to The Strand to see Mario Batali, David Chang and Peter Meehan converse about life, food, and their NY outposts.  It was truly awesome and made me remember why I am so happy I moved to this city.  The event started at 7 pm and when we arrived at 6:30, it was unsurprisingly packed.  Luckily, my friend scored some great seats right in the front that had somehow been overlooked by others, and I quickly grabbed a signed copy of Babbo and dove right in while we awaited our hosts. 

Before we knew it, in rolled Batali, orange crocs and all, followed by Chang and Meehan.  The conversation was incredible.  They spoke very briefly about their new books, the Momofuku cookbook (Chang and Meehan) and Spain...A Culinary Road Trip (Batali), but mainly focused on questions raised by Meehan and the audiance.  Chang relished on his younger years, before he was voted JBF Best New Chef: NYC (2007) among others, emphasizing the wonderful inspriation and mentor that Batali had been, and continues to be (Mario frequented Momofuku for lunch in its early years on a weekly basis).  They discussed what they each look for in a cook at their restaurants and Batali said he can tell within 30 seconds of sitting down with someone whether or not they will be a stellar chef by "the kindness in their eyes".  They both elaborated on the change in the priorities of chefs over the years, touching on the new battle between passion and star chefdom.  Additionally, they spoke about the concept of authenticity.  Batali explained that for him, authenticity deals more with the ingredients than anything else, stating "We're using American ingredients with an Italian thought process," when describing his Italian restaurants, while Chang answered the million dollar question, "what type of genre would you classify the Momofuku Restaurants?" using "fusion". 

Ultimately, it was a delightful, rainy evening in New York.  Batali was hilarious and Chang had an unexpected degree of sincerity in his responses.  Peter Meehan didn't say much. I left after meeting Batali, Chang and Meehan, with a personalized copy of Babbo for my collection (I already have the one on Spain) and an even greater excitement to discover Ma Peche the following day.