Archive for category Fine Dining
Patron: Hand Distilled Luxury In A Bottle
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining, Wine, Spirits & Cigars on May 6, 2008
Food & Spirits: In 1989 two visionaries, Paul Mitchell Systems co-founder, John Paul DeJoria and entrepreneur Martin Crowley formed The Patrón Spirits Company with the singular goal of producing “the best tequila in the world.”
Since then, The Patron Spirits Company has become one of the fastest growing luxury liquor companies in the world, offering an array of luxury tequilas as well as rums from its more recently acquired Pyrat line. The Patron family of premium liquors includes Gran Patrón, Patrón Añejo, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Silver, Patrón XO Café, Patrón Citrónge, Pyrat Cask, Pyrat XO Reserve, Pyrat Superior Blanco. The newest addition to the high-end family is an Ultra Premium Tequila, called Gran Patrón Premium. Gran Patron is “triple distilled then aged to perfection, to make the smoothest sipping tequila ever produced.”
$100 Per Cup De’Longhi Caffe Raro Coffee
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining on April 12, 2008
If you like you’re coffee smooth, silky and expensive, you might
want to get yourself a cup of De’Longhi Caffe Raro which retails for
£50 ($100) per cup.
This blend combines two of the world’s rarest coffee beans, Kopi
Luwak and Jamaican Blue Mountain to give a truly luxurious cup of
coffee.
For the uninitiated it’s worth pointing out that the Kopi Luwak coffee
bean is widely regarded as the most expensive individual coffee bean on
the market. Produced in Indonesia, this rare bean is digested by the
Palm cat, a process which creates an earthy flavour celebrated by
coffee aficionados. With only 200 kilos produced each year demand for
the bean is strong and prices remain high.
Ummm nice???
This luxury blend will be on sale for the first time in Peter Jones,
the landmark Chelsea department store and through the De’Longhi website
throughout April, with limited availability. All proceeds from the sale
of the coffee will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support to help
people whose lives have been affected by cancer.
Technorati Tags: Raro Coffee, De’Longhi, Kopi Luwak, David Cooper, Jamaican Blue Mountain
Eco-friendly Cutting Board with built-in flexible LCD display
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining, Home Design on April 7, 2008
The ubiquitous kitchen cutting board has now got a new lease of life with Nardo Design’s new high-tech Digital Cutting Board. This board comes with a flexible, yes you heard right, flexible LCD display that displays cooking instructions on it so that you can conjure up that meal, perfectly. And, while doing so, you can also read up downloaded recipes that you might want to try out. All this, right at the place where all the cooking happens, your kitchen. The brainchild of design student, Marc Nardangeli, this cooking board has a very chic design that will make cooking look and even feel, very high tech. The cutting board sits on grippy rubber feet which support an acrylic board. the acrylic board contains the circuitry to run the flexible LCD panel which sits on top of it. All this is packaged neatly on on top of the other and is sealed with a safety tempered glass panel which allows finger based, touchscreen operation. You can even connect this cutting board to download the cooking recipes.
The unit is topped off with stylish chromium handles on both ends. Now, for the environment friendly bit, all the components use environmentally friendly components that include the lead and bromide free circuit board and the non toxic chromium handle. Though it is still a concept, looking at it’s terrific functionality, we think it will make waves soon in the commercial kitchenware market.
Roblar Winery Opens New Wine Center
Posted by Contributor in Fine Dining, Wine, Spirits & Cigars on April 18, 2007
The Santa Ynez wine region is set to have a new destination. Roblar Winery is opening a new winery, cooking school and visitor center on April 28. The Roblar Winery & Vineyards will celebrate the grand opening with gourmet food pairings, chef demonstrations and live music. The lodge-style estate has a grand tasting hall, gourmet marketplace, culinary school, separate VIP lounge and outdoor dinning terraces. Roblar is also home to a 12,000 case production facility making wines varying in price range from $20-$40 including Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
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Greek To Me: Anthos, New York City
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining, Wine, Spirits & Cigars on March 19, 2007
Mezes are rapidly replacing tapas and antipasto in New York with the profusion of new Greek restaurants hitting the scene. Both high-end refined, inventive Greek fare and restaurants offering more rustic, traditional cuisine are proving popular in the Big Apple.
Leading the Greek odyssey is dream team:Chef Michael Psilakis and the stylish hostess-with-the- mostess Donatella Apraia. This is their third pairing. First was Onera, where Psilakis turns Greek Classics inside out for a contemporary spin. Then they opened Dona, which offers a blend of Greek and Italian cuisine such as the lobster tail poached in a rich, velvety avgolemono, the famous Greek lemon-and-egg soup, or zucchini chocolate cake served with a scoop of walnut gelato, spiked with a hint of thyme.
Aw Shucks: Oyster Bar, Farallon Restaurant, SF
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining, Wine, Spirits & Cigars on March 8, 2007
Pat Kuleto is the God of San Francisco upscale restaurant design. I’ve always loved his Farallon Restaurant on the edge of San Francisco’s fashionable Union Square shopping district, because of its outlandish underwater theme to complement its fantastic seafood menu.
Now, his new French-style Oyster Bar, adjacent to the renowned Jelly Bar, takes that theme one step further, with a enhanced selection of raw oysters, more signature cocktails, an updated bar menu, or any choice from the restaurant’s full dinner menu –– all surrounded by bar stools shaped like sea urchins, jellyfish chandeliers, and kelp-inspired columns that are illuminated.
Cart Across Italy in the Ferrari of Your Choice
Posted by Ken in Automobiles, Fine Dining, Miscellaneous on February 21, 2007
The Turin, Italy based company Red Travel is offering a unique service that may intrigue those of you a bit more independently-inclined than the traditional Europe-in-luxury goers: you can rent a Ferrari for one to eight days and scoot your way around the rolling hills, through the countryside, parallel to the ocean, or you know, whatever suits your fancy, from one end of Italy to the other. Some packages include stops at high-end hotels and spas in traditional cities, whilst others cater to a more rural-minded crowd with stops for dinner at a former convent and a farmhouse.
Luxe Morsels: St. Barth’s Best Restaurants
Posted by Contributor in Fine Dining on February 10, 2007
St. Barths squeezes a lot of fine dining into an 8.1 square-mile squiggle of wind-swept beaches and high-fashion boutiques. While you'll find formal spots with flown-in luxury morsels — foie gras, steak, even lobster from Maine — the island's true barefoot spirit is reflected in its laid-back sand-between-your-toes places to dine and recline.
Cheap Ways To Host A Chic Dinner Party
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining, Wine, Spirits & Cigars on January 26, 2007
Hosting a dinner party is a fun and rewarding experience. In addition, it’s interesting to bring different groups and types of friends together to see what kind of chemistry might develop.
But one of the dangers of playing host is that it’s all too easy to break the bank on food and décor. You shouldn’t have to take out a second mortgage; it is possible to host a dinner party on the cheap. Potluck and BYOB have their merits, but your guests should know well enough to bring a bottle or a dessert. And really, potluck and BYOB aren’t the best ways to impress.
Trendy Food is Good, and Good for You
Posted by Ken in Fine Dining on January 8, 2007
Photo Courtesy of King Arthur Flour
From the Sun-Times piece: bite-sized desserts like mini cheesecakes are in, as are "locally grown and organic produce, flatbread, exotic mushrooms, salts, pomegranates and grass-fed and free-range meat." On the out list? Don't order starfruit, organ meats, kiwi, edible flowers, blackened items, okra, catfish and foams, or you will be tres passe. Some of the food on the outs — starfruit, edible flowers and foams — have never been high on Chicagoist's list. Starfruit, while pretty, don't taste like much. Edible flowers are like starfruit. And foam? We'll leave that one to the pros.