On the Town on Broadway
The reviews are in and both Ben Brantley http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/theater/in-on-the-town-the-city-is-candy-colored-heaven.html?hpw&rref=theater&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedThumbWell&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-w in the NY Times and Terry Teachout in the WSJ gave unqualified raves to On The Town on Broadway.. You heard it here first a few weeks ago. If you don't have tix yet, get them.Go see it!
Interestingly, Ben Brantley and Terry Teachout disagree quite often so their raves about On The Town are special.
Scottsdale/Phoenix
I recently had a chance to eat at Sassi http://www.sassi.biz/ in Scottsdale, Arizona. I have been there before. The place is beautiful. We had a great table that partly covered and partly outside. It was a beautiful evening. The service was very good and the food was better than average.
The wine list is large, well chosen and not crazy expensive. We had a 2012 Pio Cesare Barbera D'Alba $40, 2007 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Sant' Antimo Fabius $60, and a 2010 Agricola San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il $65. The Barbera was fruity and light and very good. The Ciacci was a Syrah from Italy. It was spicy and fruity and it opened up very nicely. The San Felice was complex with good fruit and tannins. It can still develop.
Also ate at Lamp Pizza http://www.lamppizza.com/ The pizzas were baked in a wood burning oven and were quite good. Prices were reasonable. The big surprise was the desserts. They had a ricotta cheesecake that was refined and tasty. It is hard to find ricotta cheesecakes. I make a great one from a Pollio recipe from a long time ago. It is simple and delicious. If you would like the recipe, let me know.
The restaurant also had gelato which came with cookies. The cookies were pignoli cookies without the nuts. Basically almond paste cookies. The had great texture and were not too sweet which can be a problem with these cookies. All in all a pleasant dessert surprise in the desert.
Went to a Costco with wine last week. They had some interesting stuff. Bought a 2012 Bordeaux for 6.99 that was light with delicate fruit. Also bought a Pio Cesare 2010 Barolo for $53 that I have not tasted yet. The WA gave it a 95 but the reviewer was Monica Larner. I have not had any experience with her reviews but I really like Pio Cesare wines..
Wine publications want us to follow all of their scores for wines but I tend to follow the reviews of particular writers at those publications. The Wine Advocate has had a great deal of turnover in their writers over the last few years so read it with care. Antonio Galloni is banking on his reputation at the WA to help him start his own wine publication Vinous.http://vinousmedia.com/ He is charging a decent amount for a subscription which I have not yet paid so I don't know much about his new website.
I find the Wine Spectator reviews of Oregon wines to be useless. They are done by one writer so I try to remember to discount any reviews he makes. My reviews are strictly personal, although I think I have good taste. I do not follow a rigorous tasting ritual although I can be easily influenced by my wife. Bottom line for me is that any critic is not a substitute for your own taste. I use reviews to narrow down the field. I could not possibly see all movies or all plays that come out. However there are several critics whose reviews track my tastes. I will then use their reviews to help me pick my selections.
I also find it impossible to taste lots of wines at one time. That is why I do not go to any of the big wine tastings that are staged frequently. I find that it takes a more than a sip for me to determine if a wine is worth drinking again. These things tend to be personnel so just go with whatever works for you. One other point, don't buy wine by price. Try to understand wine labels and your own tastes. When you go to a wine shop, look things over and try to find a wine on your own. You can also do some preparation before you shop and review what some wine writers are saying. See if you can find some writers that recommend wines that you like and use their recommendations on other wines.
If you go into a wine shop and ask the wine guy for a wine in the $20 range not sure what you can expect. When someone brings me wine, I am impressed by the wine not the cost. Have the courage to go with your tastes.
The weather is still holding in NJ so I am still getting tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and lettuce from my garden.
Looking for good apple cake recipes. Let me know.
Enjoy the fall.
