Brunch at the Pannikin in La Jolla is a sleepy beach town classic. So yummy…
Bagels and lox, California style.
Parzen family welcomes new member Daisy, a rescue. That’s niece Amalia and brother Tad with Daisy. Amalia gave her her name.
Tracie P and I just had to stop for something sweet on our way back to the beach at Michele Coulon Dessertier, who made our wedding cake.
Did I mention that I LOVE BEING ON VACATION. We’re gonna take a nap now… yum…
Above: Tracie P and I have been thoroughly enjoying Chef Esteban’s housemade Tagliatelle with tomato sauce and housemade ricotta at Vino Vino in Austin. I think that Esteban could go a little lighter on the heat in the sauce (my only lament) but this is Texas after all.
Although Italy’s recently installed agricultural minister Giancarlo Galan (from Padua) claims there’s no crisis in the Italian wine industry (see his comments in our post today at VinoWire via Mr. Franco Ziliani’s blog), he is planning to convene a “task force” to address Italy’s tomato crisis — yes, tomato crisis.
The issue is not the sale of tomatoes in Italy (go figure) but rather fraud and counterfeit of Italian-grown tomatoes. The so-called “agropiracy” vehemently battled by Galan’s predecessor Luca Zaia.
Contemplating the Italian tomato crisis as I drank my tea early this morning, Aldo Cazzullo’s 2009 L’Italia di noantri. Come siamo diventati tutti meridionali (The Italy We [Southerners] Remember: How We All Became Southerners, Mondadori) came to mind.*
In it, he writes: Today, “Italians all eat the same things. Two generations ago in Piedmont, they used meat or butter to dress their food. Today, tomato is found in every sauce… The tomato has become a national symbol. If an Italian has a spot on his shirt, it’s a tomato spot.” (p. 43)
Leaving the racist and separatist (and even futurist) implications aside, I do think it’s interesting to note (probably to the surprise of many) that tomatoes were not widely consumed in Italy until the 1960s. I found hard proof of this when I researched my post on the origins of the name puttanesca.
There’s much to be said on this topic but, alas, my work duties call… I’ll leave you today with one of my all-time favorite scenes by one of my all-time favorite Italian actors, Alberto Sordi, in Un americano a Roma (An American in Rome, 1954). In the scene, he plays an Italian-American who claims that the food in America is better and better for you, drinking milk instead of wine. But in the end, you can imagine what happens. Note that the “macaroni” are NOT dressed with tomato. The year is 1954.
* The title of the book plays on the fact that the Roman inflection noantri for the first person plural has been commonly absorbed by the northern dialects (in the Piedmontese of the author’s grandparents, he writes, the first person plural was nuiautri).
It’s like a Sunday in TJ. It’s cheap but it’s not free.
—Donald Fagen
Before, during, and after our trip to Tijuana the other day for our family friend’s beautiful wedding, people have asked me and Tracie P whether we were scared or felt like we were in danger while there. The answer is no and no. On the way back home, Tracie P observed sweetly, “and I thought that folks were nice in Texas!”
Not that I’m surprised at the questions. The New York Times ran this article on how dangerous it is to go to Tijuana just one week before we went. While I don’t agree that it is dangerous for people like us to visit there, I did love the profile of Americans’s relationship with Tijuana in the piece (including quotes from Kerouac and Orson Welles). And I regret that the transnational culture that I enjoyed in the 1980s growing up in San Diego has disappeared, as one of the persons interviewed for the article observed.
I imagine I’m probably roughly the same age as Luis. Growing up in San Diego, attending La Jolla High School in the early 1980s, I had a lot of Mexican friends (most of them very wealthy), I learned to speak Spanish fluently (my first second language), and I traveled to Tijuana and other destinations in Baja California regularly (I also lived a summer in Mexico City). And yes, I went there to party like the other kids. But I also used to take my mother and out-of-town guests there to dinner. Sometimes, we’d even make the 45-minute-or-so drive just to have lunch in one of our favorite restaurants.
And remember: there’s SO much more to Tijuana than the cheesy Revolución district where people go to party.
I much prefer the Zona Río district where there are fantastic restaurants (like the one where we ate), shopping malls, and a wonderful Centro Cultural (where, while we were there, there was a Goya exhibition).
The only thing that’s really different from my high school and college days is the extremely long wait times at the auto crossing. But that’s easily remedied by walking across the border and taking cabs (very inexpensive).
We had so much fun that mama Judy and I are planning to take Mrs. and Rev. B when they come out to California to visit with us this fall.
On this side of the border, people have asked us earnestly if we felt in danger. On the other side of the border, people asked us ironically, “are you afraid?”
The answer in both cases is an earnest, honest, and heartfelt no.
Above: Both my buddy John Rikkers and I ordered the “Market Salad” at Market in Rancho Santa Fe. It’s no longer on the menu but they’ll make it for you on request. All the lightly blanched ingredients are sourced from San Diego’s legendary Chino Farms farmers market.
Everywhere you go in California, people are complaining about the cool summer weather. By most accounts, it’s the coolest summer we’ve had here for more than 70 years.
On Sunday, Vinogirl (who authors my all-time favorite California wine blog, Vinsanity) didn’t mince words: “Actually, I am very surprised that [veraison, i.e., ripening] is happening at all as it only managed a whopping high of 70F today,” she wrote plaintfully. “So far, the weather in 2010 has been pathetic!”
Above: I’d never had the Bouvier grape, known as Ranina in Slovenia, until last night at Market, where sommelier Brian Donegan always has something by the glass that will surprise and delight the adventurous wine lover, like this 2007 Mea Culpa by Kogl. I would have guessed it was a dry Muscat but it had some gentle orchard fruit notes seemed to speak a Slavic as opposed to Romance language.
Yesterday, in a fantastic post, one of America’s wine industry social media pioneers Tom Wark (and all-around nice dude) wrote and asked rhetorically, is this a bad thing?
Clearly 2010 is looking to be a better vintage for early ripening grapes like Pinot Noir. But even the Pinots are likely to suffer a diminishing alcohol content. The question is this: is that a bad thing? I think it might be for many winemakers, particularly those that tend to produce big, fat, huge unctuous Pinots with high alcohol content.
Above: The acidity in Ettore Germano’s Chardonnay was, as Tracie P likes to say, “tongue-splitting.” It’s not like me to order Chardonnay from Italy (outside of Friuli) but I must say that I dug this wine completely. Very mineral, very bright acidity. Always something good by the glass at Market.
Of course, the mystery of California’s unusually cool summer begs the question among its “red state” populace: with summer temperatures like these, how can the pinkos still cling to their claims of global warming?
Above: Seaweed salad at Zenbu in La Jolla.
I’m sure I imagine that Tom would agree with me: anyone who works in the wine industry and spends times with grape growers will tell you that European winemakers — even the most conservative among them — believe that global warming is indeed taking place. In Tuscany, where the grapes used to ripen in October, grape growers will tell you that they now ripen as early as late August (although this year, at least in Sant’Angelo, grapes are ripening about a week behind schedule).
Above: One of the thing I love about Zenbu is the playful California creativity in the menu, with items like the “Jackie Chan” roll and the “Mexicali” roll. That’s the gorgeous sashimi roll (a contradiction in terms?). There’s nothing worse than boring sushi!
Once, when I interviewed a famous winemaker in Piedmont for a commercial writing gig of mine, he unabashedly told me, referring to the remarkable string of great vintages in Piedmont spanning 1996-2001, “global warming has made me a very rich man.”
Above: French Toast at Jaynes Gastropub in North Park (San Diego).
To those who claim and believe global warming is part of a secret left-wing conspiracy, I say: who cares whether it’s true or not? At 43 years of age, I’m old enough to remember the first “energy crisis” in the 70s: whether or not you believe in global warming, there’s no denying that it’s high-time to “clean up our act.”
Above: My childhood and a best friend Charlie George created this “White Trash” gift basket raffle item for a benefit for local musician Michael Muldoon last night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, where Charlie and a bunch of other friends of mine performed.
So whether (weather) you’re sweating your nuts off in the rest of the country, wearing a sweater in Sonoma, or getting ready to pick grapes in Tuscany, don’t forget to turn off the lights! And be sure to eat your California leafy greens…
Thanks for reading!
Above: Sandro and Julia were wed in a Saturday evening mass at the Iglesia de la Divina Providencia in Tijuana this weekend. What a beautiful wedding, what a gorgeous couple! When Julia knelt before the image of the Virgin Mary in the cathedral’s chapel and the soprano sang Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” both Tracie P and I had tears in our eyes.
The Castro and Parzen families have been closely related and intertwined for nearly four decades. The marriage of Julia this weekend to her beloved Sandro marked a milestone that none of us will ever forget. They were married in the same cathedral where brother Micah and I were ring-bearers (he nine years old, I eleven) in 1978 at the wedding of Teresa and Felix, Julia’s parents.
And so mama Judy, brother Micah and sister-in-law Marguerite, Tracie P, and I drove to Tijuana on Saturday afternoon for the night.
The reception was held in the Salón de Eventos of what many consider to be the best restaurant in Tijuana these days, Cien Años, in the Zona Río shopping district (my favorite part of the city).
The main course of our dinner was a wonderful mole blanco (a mole sauce made with white as opposed to dark chocolate) with a roast potato au gratin and a julienne of fresh squash.
Before heading to the wedding, we had a cocktail at our hotel next door to the event space (the Hotel Real del Río, a moderately priced, full-service hotel, highly recommended).
The next morning, we had a fantastic breakfast at Cien Años, which opens every day at 8 a.m., btw. The main dining salon there is one of those magical rooms.
I envied Tracie P’s crepas (crêpes) drowning in a mango and habanero sauce…
…and stuffed with zucchini blossoms, mushrooms, and serrano peppers. Amazingly good… We used to dine regularly in Tijuana when during my college and grad years at UCLA. There are so many great places to eat there.
Chelsea Clinton may have had the wedding of the year, but Julia and Sandro had the wedding of a lifetime! :-)
Muchisimas felicidades!
Just had to add these photos quickly before we head out for the next adventure: we had a great lunch at Michele Coulon Dessertier, who created our wedding cake earlier this year. Most people think of her café purely for dessert, but her savory menu is FANTASTIC. All of her ingredients sourced for local growers, like the salad above, most of which came from San Diego’s famed Chino Farms.
We try to eat at Michele’s every time we’re in La Jolla.
Every time we visit Michele, it brings back such a great memory of our wedding cake! :-)
Now it’s time to get dressed up and head south…
What a beautiful setting and gorgeous wedding in the Santa Ynez Valley!
This is just one of the amazing sunset photos that Tracie P took with our trusty Nikon.
Among other wedding duties, musical and otherwise, Dan enlisted me to play the hora.
I think it’s safe to say that I got the job done. ;-)
It was so great to see so many old friends, from NYC and LA, and to meet Kate’s family from Scotland.
Mazel tov, ya’ll!
Above: The pre-Prohibition cocktails at the newly opened Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town, San Diego calmed my nerves after a 5.4 magnitude quake!
The San Diego Kid (that’s me) arrived in San Diego from Austin, Texas yesterday only to be greeted by a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. Having grown up here, I’m relatively accustomed to such natural occurrences but the young man helping me at the rental car desk nearly pooped in his pants. Luckily, pre-Prohibition cocktails awaited me at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town, San Diego (where my friend and colleague @ChezSheila had just launched her newest project).
Above: The San Diego Kid fit right in with the Old Town 19th-century reenactors (no joke!). Note the first appearance of my Nudie boots.
If you happen to find yourself north of the border tonight, come check out the debut performance of The Grapes at one my favorite sushi destinations, Zenbu, tonight at 9. It should be quite a scene…
In other news…
The Do Bianchi Wine Selections Hard-to-Find Friuli Six-Pack is now available, featuring the wines of Scarpetta (Bobby Stuckey’s winery in northeastern Italy). Click here to read about why Tracie P and I like these wines, made by an American in Italy, so much…
This year’s Mother Day present to mama Judy was round-trip chauffeur service to Palm Springs, California to visit cousins Michael and Naomi, who treated us to lunch at the classic deli, Sherman’s.
Sherman’s is one of those they-don’t-make-’em-like-they-used-to places that evokes another era, when Palm Springs was a favorite vacation spot for Hollywood celebrities (Alfonso lived here then).
The pastrami was delicious.
Thanks again, Naomi and Michael! Happy Mother’s Day, mama Judy!
I couldn’t help but marvel when I came across this story this morning in the feeds (thanks to Italy’s preeminent wine blogger Mr. Franco Ziliani).
What do you serve Pope Benedict XVI when he visits Turin for the current showing of the Holy Shroud? Gaja, of course!
Actually, the Pope drank only some aranciata amara (bitter orangeade) and a glass of Moscato d’Asti. But the other 39 guests at lunch drank the Dean of the College Cardinals Cardinal Angelo Sodano’s “favorite” wines: 2007 Rossi Bass and 2005 Barbaresco by Gaja, “a limited edition of 130 bottles with a back label commemoration signed by the great Langa winemaker.”
The lunch was served at the restaurant Marco Polo, owned by the aptly named Carlo Nebiolo.
I have to confess that I am fascinated by the Papacy and I find the Holy Shroud of Turin to be one of the most intriguing “texts” of Western Civilization (more on that another time). The Shroud is on display until May 23 (check out the Shroud blog here).
In other news…
Check out these photos I snapped when I visited the beach in Del Mar, California yesterday with my buddies around sunset.
I’m just an amateur photographer but lady California is a natural beauty.
The beach at Del Mar (not far from where I grew up) is one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world IMHO.
Do Bianchi 