Category Archives: de musica

Lunch in Poland

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Above: Nous Non Plus was reunited yesterday afternoon at the train station in Berlin and headed down to Frankfurt an der Oder to check into our hotel and sound check for our show tonight.

After sound check in Frankfurt an der Oder and a good night sleep (much needed), we walked across the bridge to Słubice, Poland. What a thrill for me to return to the country where most of my great-grandparents and a lot of great aunts and uncles were born (of course, that was another time and they all left because their lives were pretty hard, pretty much all of them before the Russian Revolution). My last name, Parzen (which comes to me through my grandmother’s second marriage, not through kinship), was the name of a shtetl outside Warsaw.

We found an awesome little smoke-filled place in the heart of the local market (the bazar) called Smakosz. Kielbasa, schnitzel, and skewers of roast pork cubes alternated with lard and onions, and a variety of pickled cabbage salads. Seems we found the best place in the market because it was packed. If you ever make it to Słubice, definitely check it out. The food was fantastic and the beer cold.

Above: the facade at Smakosz. The girl behind the counter told me they have another location in town.

Above: chanterelle mushrooms are in season and many vendors had them for sale.

Above: the ladies in the butcher shop had a laugh when I asked if I could photograph the sausage.

Above: a view from the Oder river that divides Słubice and Frankfurt.

Above: Jean-Luc Retard aka Dan Crane aka Bjorn Turoque really enjoyed his lunch in Poland. Dan’s nickname in the band is “Snackboy Junior” or just “Snack” because of his propensity to snack. He arrived in Germany from Finland where he had MC’d the International Air Guitar Championships (I’m not kidding).

Germany, get ready for Nous Non Plus

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Above: Nous Non Plus’ new release “Ménagerie” will be available on Aeronaut Records sometime in November. Stay tuned…

I haven’t even finished posting about my April trip to Europe and here I am about to depart for Germany, where I’ll be performing with NNP (that’s short for Nous Non Plus) at Viadrina University (near Berlin) on Saturday night. We’re doing a show as part of the Green Party’s “Green European Summer 2008 Bridging the Gaps” festival (scroll down to Saturday August 30 for show info). If you happen to be in or around Berlin on Saturday, please come on down (the show is free and you can always email me to let me know you’re coming since I’ll have my blackberry with me).

On Monday, September 1, I head down to Montalcino where I’ll be tasting and talking to winemakers, trying to find out what’s happening “on the ground,” so to speak.

So please stay tuned!

I may not be a rock star part II and a killer Rosso di Montepulciano

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From the “I may not be a rock star but sometimes I get to hang out with rock stars” department…

Above: Michael Andrews has become one of Hollywood’s hippest producers and film composers. He recently produced Inara George’s An Invitation, a collaboration with legendary arranger, songwriter, and producer Van Dyke Parks. That’s boogaloo and jazz master Robert Walter behind Mike.

Living in Los Angeles has been really fun. I’ve been catching up with so many of my old places, checking out new ones, digging the city where I lived for so many years, and reconnecting with old friends.

Last week Dan Crane (aka Jean-Luc Retard, vox and bass, Nous Non Plus) threw a little party for our friend Inara George, whose An Invitation was just released by Everloving Records. The album is fascinating and the tracks, arranged by the legendary Van Dyke Parks, were produced at the historic Sunset Sound studios by my childhood friend Mike Andrews. Check out the liner notes at Inara’s myspace. I have to say, I’m a fan: it’s thrilling to hear contemporary music with orchestral arrangements and Inara’s writing has never been better. My favorite track is “Don’t Let It Get You” but the album is really a cohesive arc of characters, moods, and musical colors draped in a gorgeous orchestral score. Listen to it in one sitting.

Dan (above, center) prepared a great menu:

  • Pierre Robert and Petit Basque cheeses
  • Arugula salad with grilled figs, goat cheese, toasted almonds and fresh mint lemon vinaigrette
  • Five-spice rubbed pork chops with orange marmalade glaze
  • Couscous with pine nuts, cinnamon, raisins and parsley
  • Grilled fennel, zucchini and italian yellow squash with fresh thyme
  • Fresh berries with limoncello mascarpone cream

    • And he had asked me to do the wines. Standouts were a 2007 Tocai Friulano by Venica and Venica,* with great acidity and fresh fruit flavors to pair with arugula salad, and a 2006 Rosso di Montepulciano by Sanguineto, which went great with Dan’s killer pork chops. My buddy Lance at Wine House recently turned me on to Sanguineto and it has catapulted to the top of the list of my current favorite red wines. It’s made from Prugnolo Gentile (the name of the Sangiovese clone used in Montepulciano) with smaller amounts of Canaiolo and Mammolo grapes (the Rosso di Montepulciano appellation was created in 1989 and appellation regulations for both Rosso and Vino Nobile allow for the blending of Cannaiolo and other varieties in the wine). The wine is brilliantly traditional in style (aged in large, old oak barrels), with great acidity, beautiful red fruit flavors, and just the right amount of tannin to give it some backbone. Both the Tocai and the Rosso di Montepulciano retail for about $20. ($20 is the new $10, btw.)

    In our high-school days, Mike and I used to enjoy playing Beatles songs. I had to pinch myself: there I was singing and strumming, “I Don’t Want to Spoil the Party” and “Here, There, and Everywhere,” accompanied by Inara, Mike, Dan, and Robert Walter (probably best known for his work with Greyboy Allstars but also an amazing avant-garde jazz cat).

    Life could be worse…

    Hauling all the stuff you have from one place to the other side
    Humming all the notes you heard in no particular order
    …
    You’re coming out, you bought the ticket
    …
    Don’t let it get you…

    * Producers of Tocai Friulano are no longer allowed to label their Tocai Friulano as such and so they write “Friulano” these days. Some years ago, the Hungarian government petitioned the EC (European Commission), asking it to disallow the use of “Tocai Friulano”: the homonymous Tocai created confusion in the marketplace with regard to their Tokaj (a toponym and appellation name), claimed the Hungarians, who ultimately prevailed. I continue to say “Tocai Friulano” and the Hungarians can kiss my ass.

    Click here to read the EU press release on the court’s ruling and then click on the second release, “Opinion of the Advocate General in the case C-347/03” for a PDF.

    Italy Day 8: prosciutto porn

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    Above: Brigitte Bardot probably wouldn’t approve but Céline Dijon posed with the prosciutti at my friend Marco Fantinel’s prosciuttificio in San Daniele del Friuli.

    My trotter shots may not be as hot as the one posted the other day by Alice, the pork Picassos often published by Winnie, the ones found in harangues on ham by Eric, or the onslaught of slaughtered swine over at the amazing blog Culatello. But I can’t resist publishing these photos, taken in April when our band Nous Non Plus stopped for a visit at my friend Marco Fantinel’s prosciuttificio, Testa e Molinaro in San Daniele del Friuli, on our way back into Italy following our Slovenian appearances.

    Not as sweet as its cousin down in Parma or as smoky as the Speck found in South Tyrol, Prosciutto di San Daniele has a distinctive slightly more piquant flavor that sets it apart in the pork realm and it is distinguished by the presence of the bone and hoof, traditionally not removed in San Daniele. Of all of Italy’s cured pig thighs (remember Prosciutto di Carpegna and Prosciutto Toscano, and there are many others as well), Prosciutto di San Daniele is arguably the most terroir-driven of the bunch. As for all prosciutti, naturally occurring enzymes “ferment” the pig thigh from within, trigged by changes in temperature. But in the case of Prosciutto di San Daniele, gentle sea breeze from the nearby Adriatic will cause the flavor profile of the prosciutto to vary with each “vintage,” making it more sweet or spicy depending on the timing of warmer and cooler weather. Pig thighs, salt, and terroir: these are the only three ingredients in Prosciutto di San Daniele, according to the lab-coat technicians who oversee the wondrous transformation of pig flesh into delicate prosciutto.

    Above: Salting the pig thighs with coarse salt.

    Above: The different aging rooms at the prosciuttificio simulate the changes in the seasons but the last phase of the process requires the naturally occurring breeze. The technicians literally open the windows and let Nature do her work.

    Above: Following our visit to the prosciuttificio, Marco treated the band to lunch, including an obligatory antipasto of perfectly sliced Prosciutto di San Daniele.

    Above: The show stopper at lunch was gnocchi dressed in Montasio cheese and prosciutto, served in a nest of fried Montasio (a frico) and paired with Marco’s excellent Tazzelenghe, an indigenous grape of Friuli — tannic, powerful, and fantastic with the rich dish.

    Beyond the yellow brick road

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    I have a lot of respect for Lyle over at Rockss and Fruit: he’s got a great palate, has a lot of interesting insights into wine, and every once in a while, he simply posts YouTube links and lets the world know “Just how I feel now.”

    Today’s been a f*#$ed-up day and this is just how I feel now… “This boy’s too young to be singing the blues.” Check out some Elton vintage ’73.

    Slovenia Day 3: Ljubljana rocks

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    The tales of my April Italy/Slovenia trip have been interrupted by other pressing posts. Here’s a short photo essay of gig day in Ljubljana where we played one of our most fun shows ever to an adoring crowd.

    Ljubljana is a beautiful city and the people are very friendly there.

    It seemed that everywhere we went, they were expecting us with open arms.

    We ate goulash in a medieval re-enactment restaurant that had been recommended to us. It looked really touristy but the food was actually very good. Goulash is not a very sexy dish to photograph but it was delicious and warmed our bellies on this rainy April day.

    The girls autographed copies of our CD for fans who had won a radio contest to get their pictures taken with us. They also won a Nokia phone, courtesy of Mobitel, the Slovenian cellphone company that used our track Lawnmower Boy in a TV commercial.

    They looped the commercial on the flat-screens at the club (click image to view, in case you’ve not seen it and are so inclined).

    The changing face of Europe: the check-point is no longer manned at the border crossing. We headed back to Italy the next day.

    Mixing Bollinger?

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    Above: Jean-Luc Retard (aka Dan Crane) and Céline Dijon (aka Verena Wiesendanger) relax after mixing the first track from our new album.

    Nous Non Plus celebrated the mix of the first track from our new album (work-in-progress title Ménagerie), “Bollinger,” with a bottle of the eponymously named Bollinger (NV, Special Cuvée) that I had picked up earlier in the day at my favorite Southland wine store, Wine House (great Italian selection, a really cool enomatic tasting room, and an excellent cheese monger as well).

    We’re such fans of Bollinger that we were inspired to write a song (about some lovers who love the wine). Bollinger will also make another appearance in one of our more sexy tracks (but you’ll have to wait until we disgorge the album to hear it…).

    Above: It’s quite a scene at Colorado Wine Company’s Friday night tastings in Eagle Rock.

    After we finished tweaking the track and listening with our friend, engineer, and fellow wine lover Bryan Cook at Juice Monster studios in Eagle Rock, we headed over to Colorado Wine Company for their Friday night wine tasting. When I asked the dude at the register what the theme was, he said “After a while, we just ran out of ideas so there really is no theme” to the flight of wines they serve. This week’s tasting was dubbed “Under the Covers” because “we’re playing only cover songs” on the house stereo, he told me. It’s quite a scene (read “singles”) over there at Colorado Wine Company and for $15 you get 5 generous pours — nothing to write home about but it helps to “break the ice.”

    My night ended with mezze lune ravioli stuffed with eggplant and scamorza over at what’s become my LA late-night hangout, Mozza, where I believe they serve until about 10 or so. GM David turned me on to a wine I’ve never tasted before (and imported to the U.S. for the first time only recently), 2006 Sella Coste della Sesia DOC Rosato “Majoli,” 100% Nebbiolo rosé, fresh and bright with a perfect touch of tannic structure, a great pairing for the flavors of my ravioli.

    Life could be worse…

    Who? The Imp of the Perverse

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    No, that’s not me (although it kinda looks like me + 25 years or so). That’s Pete Townshend in a preview from “VH1 Honors – The Who” (tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m., VH1) wearing an Imp of the Perverse jacket by my good friend Giovanni Contrada.

    Our band, Nous Non Plus, has been wearing Imp for years now and it seems that Pete (together with Sheryl Crow and Elton John, among others) have finally jumped on the bandwagon.

    Giovanni’s mother was a Neapolitan shirtmaker and he has worked in the fashion industry for some twenty odd years. When he and his wife Libby moved to Los Angeles a few years back he launched Imp, with its signature skull buttons and motif and dyed Italian fabric jackets (Giovanni created a special line of Imp just for me, “The Jar,” with a marijuana leaf in place of the skull theme — go figure…).

    Above: a recent photo of me and one of my dearest Italian friends, Sita Saviolo. I’m wearing my favorite Imp jacket. That night we dined with a large tavolata of old friends at Trattoria Savio, outside Padua, where we ate cured horse meat, horse meat ragù, and pony steaks (look for an upcoming post on Savio later this summer).

    Above: fashionista Giovanni Contrada in one of his Los Angeles workshops.

    You can purchase Imp of the Perverse at Maxfield in West Hollywood (but it ain’t cheap).

    Maxfield
    8825 Melrose Ave
    Los Angeles, CA 90069
    (310) 274-8800

    Words to live by…

    If it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad.
    —Sheryl Crow

    In case you were worried that I didn’t drink somthing good for my birthday…

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    As the years go by birthdays are less and less of a reason to celebrate and after last year’s (for July 14 marked the beginning of the revolution), I was more than a little apprehensive.

    But hey, how does the song go?

    I’ll get by with a little help from my friends…

    My buddies (from left, Charlie George, Jon Erickson, and John Yelenosky) took me out for steak dinner last night in University City and some damage was done on this “old school” eve…

    René et Vincent Dauvissat 2004 Chablis

    One of my fav producers in Chablis, always shows great minerality.

    López de Heredia 1997 Viña Tondonia Rosado

    LdH is right up there with Produttori del Barbaresco as all-time favorite winery for me. This wine was fantastic in all of its oxidized glory.

    Cantina dei Produttori Nebbiolo di Carema 1991 Carema

    Jon found this amazing bottle in a collector’s cellar and snagged it for the dinner. We didn’t know what to expect but it was smokin’ good, with beautiful fruit and life in it. A great example of old Nebbiolo and excellent with my charred steak.

    Château La Lagune (third growth) 1985

    We ordered this from the list and had it decanted just before the steaks arrived (in my book of etiquette, you should always order something significant from the list when you bring your own wines). 1985 was not great but not a bad year for this wine and it showed powerfully for how old it was. It was beautiful to taste it as it died in the glass… (Yelenosky and I graduated from La Jolla High in 1985!)

    Produttori del Barbaresco 1999 Barbaresco Ovello

    In a recent thread on the subject of subjectivity in wine writing at Alder Yarrow’s Vinography, someone wrote that he refers to wines he likes as “George Clooney” wines. For me, Produttori is always The Fonz… heeey…

    With a Little Help from My Friends
    —Lennon & McCartney

    What would think if I sang out of tune,
    Would you stand up and walk out on me.
    Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song,
    And I’ll try not to sing out of key.
    Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
    He gets high with a little help from his friends,
    Oh I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends.

    What do I do when my love is away.
    (Does it worry you to be alone)
    How do I feel by the end of the day
    (Are you sad because you’re on your own)
    No, I get by with a little help from my friends,
    Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends,
    Mmm I’m gonna to try with a little help from my friends

    Do you need anybody?
    I need somebody to love.
    Could it be anybody?
    I want somebody to love.

    Would you believe in a love at first sight?
    Yes I’m certain that it happens all the time.
    What do you see when you turn out the light?
    I can’t tell you, but I know it’s mine.
    Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
    Mmm I get high with a little help from my friends,
    Oh I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends

    Do you need anybody?
    I need someone to love.
    Could it be anybody?
    I want somebody to love
    Oh…
    I get by with a little help from my friends,
    I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends
    I get high with a little help from my friends
    Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,
    with a little help from my friends

    Post scriptum: my college-days friend Kim “Co” Roberson recently came down to visit me in San Diego and she noted, ruefully, that the “Beatles ruined us when we were kids,” making us believe that “love was the answer.” As freshpeople at UCLA, we used to love to sit and smoke cigarettes and sing Beatles songs all night. She’s right but I also know that “I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends…” The song never meant more to me.

    The Fourth, San Diego style

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    Do they go… to some faraway archipelago?
    Nah, they go to San Diego.
    — Mel Tormé
    “California Suite” (1957)

    Although an op-ed contributor in The New York Times pronounced the “American road trip dead” on Sunday, I know a lot of folks will still be hitting the highway this fourth of July weekend. In case you’re heading down San Diego way, here are some of the joints I’ve been hanging out at. (For details, click on the boldface for the website or if no website, I’ve included address and phone.)

    Italian is spoken at Mamma Mia in Pacific Beach, where Francesco and Cinzia Mezzetti serve delicious handmade panzerotti and pizze (with perfectly seasoned, crispy crust). I love Cinzia’s flower power t-shirt.

    The 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco (classico) is very reasonably priced at Mamma Mia. I head to Mamma Mia whenever I wish to indulge in my number-one guilty pleasure: pizza and Nebbiolo.

    Mamma Mia
    1932 Balboa Ave (where Balboa and Grand intersect)
    San Diego, CA 92109
    (858) 272-2702

    Arturo offers me a traditional Spanish porron at Costa Brava in Pacific Beach. The porron — an expression of friendship and revelry — is used liberally at Costa Brava, where the Spanish food is authentic and tasty and the wine list (arguably the best Spanish list in San Diego) includes modern and traditional choices. Owner and Spanish wine fanatic Javier Gonzalez grows Tempranillo in a planter in the back (I’m not kidding). He also runs a great Spanish cheese and charcuterie next door. No place in San Diego is more friendly.

    Dashing French Chef Olivier Bioteau at the Farmhouse in University Heights has one of San Diego’s deftest hands in the kitchen. The food is excellent and the francophile wine list, although not ambitious, has some interesting lots. I really like the farmhouse chic vibe but I’d love to see what Olivier could do in a four-star setting.

    My friend Jon Erickson disgorges a bottle of 2000 Movia Puro Rosé at Jaynes Gastropub, my standby dining destination in Normal Heights (adjacent to University Heights) in San Diego. As Jon’s wine program continues to evolve, I can always find something I want to drink at Jaynes: most recently, Bertani Valpolicella and Caprari Lambrusco. Namesake Jayne Battle’s haute pub food always hits the spot.

    Jay Porter’s Linkery in North Park, San Diego (a stone’s throw from Jaynes) recently moved around the corner and will reopen on July 10. Eat-locally and think-globally Jay is San Diego’s undisputed king of “organic,” “market fare,” “sustainable” cuisine and he’s also one of the city’s top food bloggers. If you’re looking for socially conscious and politically engaged fare, this is the place to go.

    How to describe the Pearl? In self-described “vintage-modern” style, the owners of the Pearl took over a 1960s-era rundown motel near the U.S. Naval Base in Pt. Loma, San Diego, and turned it into a hipster, poolside hangout and restaurant and lounge. The food is a little affected at the Pearl (“Deconstructed Nachos” anyone?) and the wine list too modern for my palate but the scene can’t be beat. The night I was there, they were screening old episodes of Get Smart poolside.

    The first time I walked into Wine Steals, also in Pt. Loma, I thought I’d been transported into a parallel universe: I found myself in classic San Diego down-and-dirty, get-your-drink-on bar where wine has usurped the supremacy of beer. Using a formula seemingly unique to San Diego, you purchase bottles at retail prices and then pay a small corkage (hence the name “Wine Steals”). The extensive wines-by-the-glass program features affordable, quaffing wine. Is wine the new beer? There’s another Wine Steals (the original) in Hilcrest and the Pt. Loma edition is located in the old (and now obsolete) second-world-war era Naval telephone hub.

    In nearby Ocean Beach, The Third Corner Wine Shop and Bistro is my favorite San Diego “neighborhood” wine bar. Although it also caters to the Silver-Oak-guzzling wine-is-the-new-cocktail crowd, it offers real wine lovers like me a number of solid choices (like Joly, Produttori del Barbaresco, and Tempier, among others). The food is not great but the wine prices keep bringing me back: combining retail and on-premise sales (like Wine Steals), Third Corner lets you purchase bottles at retail prices and charges a small corkage to open them at your table. The owners just opened a new location in Encinitas, North County San Diego.

    They still make a mean Mai Tai at Zenbu in La Jolla. Zenbu has lost some of its local charm as the owner, my high school buddy Matt Rimel has moved on to bigger projects, the prices are high, and the beach-bunny waitstaff could use a crash course in old-fashioned hospitality, but its raison d’être remains unchanged: locally sourced fresh fish prepared by “extreme sushi” chefs (live clams and prawns are often offered) with a California flair.