We just couldn’t resist…
Everyone says, this is the time you can travel with them: it’s been great to have little Georgia P on the road with me. She couldn’t come to the shows, of course, but she did come to our sound check in LA (although we kept her in one of the club’s other rooms to protect her little eardrums from the loud music).
She sure loves her bunny and we love her so much… :)
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Posted by Do Bianchi
Great lunch yesterday at ABC Seafood (Chinatown, Los Angeles) with our friend Jeff from Austin (who flew in from Texas to eat his way through LA and catch my band’s show on Saturday night).
No website, no fancy sign. Just an LA classic, reasonably priced and always delicious. Highly recommended.
Here’s the Google place page.
Leave a Comment » | de cibo, de urbe angelorum | Tagged: ABC, Chinese food, Los Angeles, seafood | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
I bucatini leggerissimi e il pomodoro perfettamente saporito oggi a mezzogiorno presso Sotto a Los Angeles.
Venitemi a trovare stasera al ristorante!
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Posted by Do Bianchi
I just couldn’t resist sharing this photo of our “little connoisseur”…
*****
2011 has been such an amazing year for us. And among the many “firsts” in this Parzen vintage, I wrote my first wine list for Sotto in Los Angeles.
Learning that the restaurant had been named “best new restaurant of 2011″ by Los Angeles Magazine on Friday was the icing on the sweetest cake.
It’s been such a rewarding experience to be part of the restaurant’s talented team and I can’t conceal my pride in the all-Southern-Italian wine list that we put together there.
Here’s a post on Sotto from June of this year… I can’t wait for Georgia to try Chefs Zach and Steve’s Neapolitan pizza (see my note at the end)…
Chefs Steve and Zach literally combed the Malibu foothills foraging for wild fennel flowers — finocchietto — to complete their pasta con le sarde, traditional Sicilian noodles with sardines, pine nuts, raisins, and — de rigeuer — finocchietto.
The occasion was a wine dinner at Sotto in Los Angeles in honor of my good friend Giampaolo Venica who wrote on the Twitter today What a great pasta with sarde last night @sottoLA, probably best ever had.”
Tracie P and I simply adore Giampaolo and Chiara, who are celebrating their first wedding anniversary on Sunday! Mazel tov! :) Photo by Alfonso, who also joined us.
Things behind the bar were getting steamy last night. Amazing cocktails…
I just had to ask the parents of these happy children for permission to snap their photo. Pizza is a wonderfully universal dish, isn’t it? Who doesn’t like pizza?
Now that Tracie P and I are expecting, I find myself thinking all the time about nutrition and Baby P. It was great to see these super polite kids enjoying the wholesome Neapolitan stuff!
1 Comment | de vino, de cibo, de urbe angelorum | Tagged: Steve Samson, Sotto, Zach Pollack, Los Angeles Magazine, best restaurant | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
From the department of “that’s what friends are for”…
Lots of good folks came out last night to share well wishes and good thoughts on my last visit to Los Angeles and Sotto for the year.
Schachter pulled out all the stops, reaching deep into his cellar for his last bottle of 1996 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Rabajà (white label) — honestly one of the best bottle of wine I’ve ever had. True to the legacy of the Rabajà cru, this mighty wine — from what many believe to be the greatest vintage of that decade — delivered aromas of mint and tar and earthy, savory flavors before revealing delicate, sublime fruit…
Keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me, for sure.
Later in the evening, Anthony, Lars (who was in from Chicago), and Dan came in for a late-night dinner at the end of my shift.
Dan brought a number of incredible bottles, including the 1990 Taurasi Riserva by Struzziero (classic blended Aglianico with no vineyard designation). I’d only ever tasted Struzziero back to 1993 (which we have on the list at Sotto) and I was blown away by the elegance and the balance of this wine, still so fresh and with the vibrant acidity that traditional Aglianico can deliver. Another best-ever wine, with gorgeous ripe red fruit and an ethereal earthiness that prompted Lars and me to call this top wine in the flight.
And now there’s so much more I see, And so by the way I thank you.
Although no show-stopper like the Struzziero Taurasi, the 1982 Chianti Classico Riserva by Antinori was fantastic — a wine, we all agreed, from a time before America, California, and Parker, a wine from a time when Antinori still made wine. Classic Sangiovese, with impressive acidity for a wine this old and delicious plum and red stone fruit flavor. It was a fantastic pairing for the sous-vide Wagyū tongue that chef Steve sent over to our table. Loved this wine and the now forgotten era of Tuscan winemaking for which it spoke to me.
My goodness… From my baby shower to all the hugs that the staff gave me before we said good-bye, from the camaraderie, solidarity, and thrilling wines to the wishes that our friends shared with me on this last trip to Los Angeles… I know that I never would have emerged from the darkness of my life before to reach this magical, blessed moment… what a year it’s been… someday I’ll tell Baby P all about it…
Oh and then for the times when we’re apart, well then close your eyes and know, the words are coming from my heart.
1 Comment | de rebus familiari, de urbe angelorum, de vino | Tagged: Antinori, Giacosa, Rabaja, Struzziero, Taurasi | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
Pour it, swirl it, smell it, taste it, touch it, kiss it! IT’S FINALLY HERE! The 2008 Cirò Classico by ‘A Vita, made from 100% Gaglioppo grapes, by my friend, the inimitable Francesco Maria De Franco (whom you may remember from the Italian Grape Name and Appellation Project).
You can taste it with me tonight and tomorrow night at Sotto in Los Angeles.
BTW, the abbreviation on the label “F 36 P 27″ refers to folio (page) 36, parcel 27 — the vineyard’s listing in the Italian government’s official registry of growing sites.
The year isn’t over yet but I’m going on record: Francesco’s wine is “my top wine for 2011.”
We still don’t have his top-tier wine but I believe that both this and his Rosso Classico Superiore (which I retasted this month in Brescia at the VinNatur table at the European Wine Bloggers Conference) are destined to gain entrance to the pantheon of the greatest wines of Italy.
I love it that much! (And wanted to share this second photo so that you can see the bright color of the noble, tannic wine.)
Sotto was hopping last night and I was psyched to debut a bunch of new wines, including the ‘A Vita and three new wines from Alois (Campania)… more on those later…
There is so much good shit on the menu at Sotto but I just can’t resist Chef Zach’s pizza margherita.
If you happen to be in LA tonight or tomorrow night, come down and I’ll pour you some wine and spin you some wine tales!
2 Comments | de cibo, de urbe angelorum, de vino | Tagged: Cirò, Francesco de Franco, Gaglioppo | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
I’ll see you tonight, tomorrow, and Wednesday nights at Sotto in Los Angeles, where I’ll be pouring wine on the floor…
Flying into Los Angelees… Carrying a couple of keys…
1 Comment | de cibo, de musica, de rebus californicis, de urbe angelorum, de vino | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
It seems like a lifetime ago that Tracie P and I met Alice on our first trip to Europe together. Tracie P and I were in Paris to play with Nous Non Plus and Alice was there to write a piece on Natural wine and our paths happily crossed.
I’ve known Alice for more than 10 years and she’s one of our dearest, dearest friends. A big sister, a mentor, and one of the most fun people to be around on this planet, no matter what mischief we’re up to.
Alice has a new book, Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally, and she’s coming to Austin for a few readings: Sunday at Whole Foods Market on Lamar and Monday at Vino Vino. Both events are being presented by the Wine and Food Foundation of Texas.
Tracie P and I will be at both events, of course, and I hope you can join us to hear Alice read from her new book and taste some Natural wines with us.
Beyond our deep friendship, I support Alice in her cause to spread the word about Natural wine not just because I enjoy Natural wines but because I believe that Natural wines and the people who make them (and drink them) can save the world from the ills of our increasingly industrialized food chain.
In other news…
I’m making one last trip before Baby P arrives: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings of next week, I’ll be pouring wine on the floor at Sotto in Los Angeles where I’ve curated the wine list this year.
We’ll be debuting one last flight of wines for the fall before I take a break for daddy duty, including one of the best wines I’ve tasted this year… More on that later…
Thanks for reading and stay tuned!
2 Comments | de austinopoli, de cibo, de urbe angelorum, de vino | Tagged: Alice Feiring, Sotto | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
I’ve been having a blast this year curating the wine list at Sotto, which has just been named “one of the best new restaurants of 2011″ by Esquire.
Chef Steve Samson (above) and I became close friends nearly a quarter of a century ago when we were on our junior year abroad in Italy. He and Chef Zach Pollack have been doing great things in the kitchen and the Neapolitan pizza is imho one of the best if not the best in the country.
Congratulazioni ragazzi! You ROCK! :)
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Posted by Do Bianchi
From the department of “somehow, someway, I get to taste funky ass wines like every single day”…
Comrades Howard and Mary Beth came to visit me on Saturday night at Sotto in Los Angeles, where I was “pouring wine on the floor,” as we say in the wine trade.
Comrade Howard graciously and generously shared the above bottle of 1999 (classic) Barbaresco by Bruno Giacosa. (Howard was elected vice president of the Writers Guild of America last week, btw. Mazel tov, comrade!)
Great Barbaresco always inspires equine metaphors in me and this wine, powerful and muscular, asserted a masculine beauty tempered by feminine grace, a young mare whose strength was still countered by its youth.
Earth and stone dominated the fruit as the wine began to reveal its nature but dark and red fruit emerged as the wine spent some time in the glass.
Barbaresco by the hand of Giacosa never fails to invoke equine wonder in those of us lucky to experience the wines and his 1999 vintage continues to thrill me, often rivaling the perhaps more graceful 2001 with a combination of power and to kalon.
Thank you again, comrades! Avanti popolo!
In other news… All work and no play would make me an otherwise dull boy…
My friends at Jaynes Gastropub have asked me to sit in with them at tonight’s battle of the Chef Bands 2011 in San Diego. The charity event supports domestic violence awareness and takes place tonight. The Grapes (our band) go on around 9 p.m. Last night’s rehearsal featured some excellent 2007 Lafarge Bourgogne Passetoutgrain.
Leave a Comment » | de musica, de urbe angelorum, de vino | Tagged: 1999, Barbaresco, Giacosa, Howard Rodman, Mary Beth Heffernan | Permalink
Posted by Do Bianchi
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