What’s a wine lover doing in a vegan restaurant? Last week, working in Austin, I spent lunches and dinners with clients and in client’s restaurants, trying out different wines to match with their cuisine. After a couple of days, I started to feel like a vacuum cleaner with a full bag. One evening I met up with a young couple, Anna and Jordan, who I am close to, to take them to dinner. The young lady, Anna, suggested we go to a vegetarian place. No problem for me, when I lived in California I was happily meat-free. Moving to Texas in the late 1970’s proved to be a bit more challenging. Once I got into the wine business it got even harder. Anna’s beau, Jordan, suggested a vegan place, Cafe de Luz in Austin.

Understand, I am in great restaurants all over the world, being served what is thought to be great food. But lately I have been thinking about where the food comes from, who grows it, how it is prepared and if the cooking is straightforward and respectful of the ingredients, or if they merely exist to be molded and manipulated into some wild chef’s idea of food as art.

Cafe de Luz was not any of that. It is part of The Center for Integral Studies, an interdisciplinary convergence of healthy practices and respect for life. Like Slow Food, this is Slow Living.

Understand I am a wine person, but upon entering the Café, where there are community tables that have no servers, except to bring out the main course, I felt relieved that this night I was going to be treated with simple, wholesome food that didn’t just fill me up. Fresh soups and organic salads, not some pre-packaged mesclun mix that was lifeless and wilted, but crisp and tasty greens.

An entrée plate with a grain, a green and a bean. Simple, yes, but filling and fulfilling. Live music, peaceful and not loud filled the room with a wonderful audio perfume.

Yes, one can go back for seconds, but it almost seems like the initial serving is what you are meant to have. Not that anyone is forcing you to leave hungry.

The total cost of the meal was only $12.00, and one must bus their own dishes, just like home. And being away for a week, this seemed more like home than all the exotic food I had been served all week. What a blessing that was.

Casa de Luz
1701 Toomey Road
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 476-2535

MapQuest Map

Prices
Breakfast $7 (you can choose to pay more or less based on how much you eat.)
Lunch $12
Dinner $12
Saturday and Sunday brunch $14
(All prices include tax, beverage and free seconds.)

Each Meal includes:

1. A beverage: Warm kukicha Tea, cool rooibos & red raspberry tea or Vortex filtered Water (Water is triple filtered and run through 3 vortex chambers to revitalize it.)

2. Salad with dressing (self-serve)

3. Soup (self-serve)

4. A raw food bar (self-serve)

5. A grain, (example: organic brown rice or quinoa)

6. A bean dish (example: lentils, black beans, or hummus)

7. Greens (example: collards, kale, mustard greens)

8. A vegetable medley (example: oven roasted yams, or broccoli stirfry)

9. A salt pickle (example: Kim chi, or sauerkraut

Recently, on a layover in Belgium, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Paum Fritz, who has had a global impact on food. The following is the extended interview, conducted at his fabled Chez Paum in Brussels, which will be published in June in World Food Traveler Magazine.

AC – Hello Paum, thanks for sitting down with me for this interview. First let’s get your country of origin settled, where were you born?
PF- I was not born in France, but in Belgium. My ancestors were originally Peruvian, who moved to Spain. Not Ireland.

AC - When did you first realize your worldwide popularity?
PF - Well, because my relatives were so well-traveled, we got along with many cultures. The Italians love us, they got bread and gnocchi from us, and also a starch for the linens for the Mass. So we were able to follow the cultivation of Christianity, because we were necessary for so many things. The Russians and the Poles saw our higher spirit, and interposed us into their ritual of fire with the al-ambic that they had seen and brought back from the Mid-East during the Crusades.

AC - What about the Irish?
PF - When we were traded from Spain, the Irish thought we were low hanging apple plants. Some said it was Sir Walter Raleigh who was responsible, but there is no mention of his name in my family archives. Anyway, the Irish were able to cultivate a relationship with my ancestors and lots of new little Paums starting popping up all over the country.

AC - So where do the French fit in? And why do the Americans call you French fry? Did you do something to anger the American people? Are you short?
PF - Absolutely not! First of all let me explain. When the Flemish language was too hard for another empire to learn they just imposed their language on the land they had conquered. That was the French language. The Belgians are not French, not that we have a big problem with the French. At least not as big as the Americans do. The Americans think tomatoes are Italian and we all knew each other back in the old days in Peru. In fact we often met and got stewed together. Thomas Jefferson called anything fried, French. The Canadians have the same issue, at first people think they are from the US, don’t you know? Eh?

AC - So this whole idea of cutting up and jumping head first into the heat inside a vat of hot oil, where did this come from?
PF - First of all, it was feet first and into boiling hot horse fat. We may be sacrificing ourselves but let’s make sure how and with whom. Anyway, that’s the real way. Not in canola oil or butter or EVOO. Hot horse fat. Quick, painless, delicious.

AC - This name that came up a few years ago, Freedom Fries, did you have anything to do with it?
PF - Actually, hundreds of years ago, that name was given to us by America. Paul Revere was astounded to learn that Jefferson was frying in horse fat, and so he stole a bushel of Paums and ran through the countryside throwing them at bells saying ” Let freedom ring and let them fry in oil. Let them be called freedom fries.”
This was documented in the family archives of John Paul Jones and his great-great-grandson, House Representative Walter Jones took it from the pages of his family history. He did so at the urging of House Representative Robert Ney, who was later disgraced and forced to resign following the revelation of his relationship with Jack Abramoff. They should have never messed with Paul Revere and John Paul Jones, two patriots who loved us.

AC - Last question, what has been your favorite destination in the last 50 or so years? Where do you just love to go, who do you love to be seen with? What is your legacy to the world?
PF - My legacy is set in history. But I do love to visit France, especially the French Riviera in summer. I get a great tan there, and people seem to love me au natural. I don’t like the way they treat me in Britain and I don’t like being called “Chip.” In America I tend to like the West coast best, and love to hang with my friends at In-N-Out all along the seaside. Because I like the ocean, I also get along well with salt. He prefers beer, while I enjoy a French Sancerre or a Sicilian Grillo.
I don’t like ketchup or mustard (that Sling Blade guy was so very creepy), or Cheez Whiz. Two of my favorite exotic stops are Greece (I love that little Garlic-yogurt mix) and Pakistan (also love that mint-cilantro mix they dip me in). I will tolerate a well made mayonnaise. Oh, and I’m more of a mussel than a meat man.
But I am happy with glass of crisp white wine, a shaker of salt and a breezy summer day by the beach, that’s my idea of freedom. I’m lovin’ it.

Currently Alfonso Cevola writes On the Wine Trail in Italy three days a week. The other days he works with his therapist on a screenplay called, “The Dillusionist”, which has been optioned by a major motion picture studio in Hollywood.

Editor’s Note: Yes, this is very tongue in cheek.

Every year, the Maculan estate in Breganze opens up their winery for a Sunday night culinary extravaganza. Part of the Vinitaly after hours wining and dining, this one put on by Fausto Maculan, who is well known for his extravagant wines and large appetite for food and wine.

This celebration, of which food and wine lovers are invited to, is a display of local foods. Cheeses, cured meats, fruits sauces, olive oils and much more are set at tables. Accompanying this are butchers, roasting all kinds and cuts of meats.

The pictures tell a better story, but suffice it to say, if you are in Verona during Vinitaly, this is an easy invitation to snag and one not to be missed.

Maculan winery

Vinitaly

More Pictures

Alfonso Cevola wrote from the safety of his hotel room in Alba. His blog, On the Wine Trail in Italy, keeps him well fed with ideas and dreams.

]]> http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/04/19/maculan-winery-becomes-a-culinary-laboratory-for-a-night/feed/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/21/pizza-gives-a-nod-to-local-and-sustainable-frannys-on-flatbush/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/21/pizza-gives-a-nod-to-local-and-sustainable-frannys-on-flatbush/#comments Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:39:02 +0000 Alfonso Cevola Eating New York Doing New York http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/21/pizza-gives-a-nod-to-local-and-sustainable-frannys-on-flatbush/

The Italian Wine Guy has been a little nuts lately. So he chases a storm to NY, where he can relax and hang with some Italian buddies. Yes, just in time for a snowstorm, ice and St. Patrick’s Day.

An Irish Buddy, from the clan McClung, texts,”Let’s eat pizza”, and off to Franny’s we go. Seems the Irishman is a closet-Italian, and it’s a good thing.

Another friend, a real-Italian, scoffed at my choice. “Luzzo’s, in the east Village, that’s real Napolitano pizza.”

Next week we’ll run over the bridge. Hey, there can be more than one great pizza place in the world, we can all live with that.

Franny’s on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, was a good choice for St. Patrick’s Day dinner. A fresh menu relying on locally available ingredients with a nod to sustainable agriculture. The restaurant’s philosophy is stated on their website:

“The two owners of franny’s, Franny Stephens and Andrew Feinberg, have a strong commitment to sustainable agriculture. In the restaurant business, we define sustainable agriculture as purchasing locally grown foods and serving them in the seasons during which they are grown. Andrew’s love of Italian cuisine is at the heart of franny’s menu. franny’s uses the highest quality ingredients and prepares them simply, to allow the beautiful flavors of the food to come through. Whenever possible, we purchase our vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, and fish from local sustainable sources, assuring the freshest and highest quality possible. All the meats at franny’s are from sustainable sources, containing no hormones or antibiotics, allowing for the most delicious meat from healthy animals raised in harmony with the environment. All meats are cured in house.”

I’m just glad to be away for a few days. Sitting at the table nearest the pizza oven when its 24°F outside (after the windchill), less than a week before spring. Bring on the appetizers: testa with salsa verde, roasted baby leeks with pistachios, roasted turnips with honey butter, a bowl of heirloom beans with Katz Rock Hill Ranch olive oil and some blood oranges with horseradish and Castelvetrano olives.

Starting with a bottle of Sparkling Bonarda from Bruno Verdi. Irishman-turned-Italian Antonio McClung (looking very happy with his fiancee Lisa) is the national sales director for Neil Rosenthal wines, and Verdi is from his stable of artisanal producers from France and Italy. Frothy, like a bowl of cherries that have been tossed in just fermented wine, great with the starters.

A couple of pies arrived, the tomato olive oil and sea salt pizza followed by the clams, chilies and parsley pie. A nice bottle of Bio-Dy rosso from Umbria almost made me forget why I came to NY. It doesn’t matter now, red wine and pizza in Brooklyn, there is nothing to complain about.

This is some Ottimo Pizza.

Franny’s
295 Flatbush Avenue
(between St. Marks and Prospect Blace)
Brooklyn, NY
718-230-0221

Hours
Tuesday-Friday 5:30-11:00 PM
Friday 5:30-11:30 PM
Open for Lunch
Saturday 12:00 PM-11:30 PM
Sunday 12:00 PM-10:00 PM

Closed Monday

The Kitchen Maestros

Alfonso Cevola wrote this from the safety of a basement bunker in Brooklyn. His blog, On the Wine Trail in Italy, manages to save him tons of money, otherwise spent on therapy.

]]> http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/21/pizza-gives-a-nod-to-local-and-sustainable-frannys-on-flatbush/feed/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/07/enoteca-on-the-high-plains/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/07/enoteca-on-the-high-plains/#comments Wed, 07 Mar 2007 13:20:49 +0000 Alfonso Cevola Eating Dallas http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/07/enoteca-on-the-high-plains/

Vin Classic Wines, a wine-and-food boutique in the Shops at Legacy in Plano, Texas, opened quietly six weeks ago. They have polished the edges and are ready for their grand opening, which is underway now.

After many months of construction and fine-tuning, this new-concept store is a dream come true for owner Tony Bandiera and wine guru John Rector.

Allen Brothers aged prime beef, the kind you get at top-of-the-line steakhouses, rests alongside specially matured Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses. But wine is the main draw at Vin Classic. The good thing about the wine selection is this: You can find out-of-the-ordinary wines but you won’t have to take out a 2nd mortgage to acquire them. Vin Classics is meant to be a lively and exciting wine-buying experience, but Bandiera wants you to participate often and regularly.

The place has the feel of a Tuscan enoteca with a hint of French chateau, as if Catherine de Medici had designed the place herself. It’s an easy place to navigate, with espresso bar, wines to sample, flat screen videos of the wine country, and a relaxed but sophisticated environment. Wine tastings and classes will be regularly scheduled, so if you are new to wine, you can learn without feeling intimidated. It’s all about friendly and casual with intelligent style.

Vin Classic has wine experts top to bottom, starting with store director Darrell Gibson, who graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America. Also on board is local wine maven Mark Roberts, who holds a Certified Specialist in Wine accreditation from the Society of Wine Educators. Staffer Rafaella Anderson, a native of Friuli in Italy, can steer you to the finer Italian selections so beloved by Bandiera and company.

At Vin Classic you can find the perfect bottle to go with the perfect steak.

So strap on your tolltag and crank up your Maserati. The espresso machine is hot and ready.

Vin Classic Wines is at 5717 Legacy Drive Suite 120 (north side of street), in The Shops at Legacy, Plano; 469-241-8800. Hours of Operation: 10am - 9pm Monday thru Saturday; Noon - 6pm Sunday

http://www.vinclassicwines.com/

]]> http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/03/07/enoteca-on-the-high-plains/feed/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/02/21/east-bay-alternative-lalimes-in-berkeley/ http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/02/21/east-bay-alternative-lalimes-in-berkeley/#comments Wed, 21 Feb 2007 11:34:02 +0000 Alfonso Cevola Eating San Francisco http://wellfedonthetown.net/2007/02/21/east-bay-alternative-lalimes-in-berkeley/

In a quiet little neighbor hood of cottages and small natural markets, LaLime’s is a destination for local cognoscenti. Once a post-war working class area, the California cottages now sell for upwards of $700 a square foot (for example a 2 bedroom 900 square foot house sold recently for $600,000).

Just like being in NY, but we’re in the Bay, there is Chez Panisse, Freedom of Speech movement, The Avenue. Berkeley is an urban bohemian mecca.

Take a look at LaLine’s mission statement:

We at LaLime’s try to be an all organic and ecologically sound restaurant. Our vegetables and fruits are either from the local farmers markets or delivered to us by small local gardeners.The restaurant’s cuisine is based on the availability of these ingredients, seasonality, sustainable agriculture, fishery and farming. We hope with this ideology we can contribute on a very small scale to the betterment of the world around us.

There is a well appointed wine list and a variety of offals offered, such as Sweetbreads Grenobloise, seared foie gras on brioche bun with Mandarin marmalade or a simpler seafood appetizer of Dungeness crab chalupas with smoked chile crema and avocado.

Seasonal menus offer more substantial dishes, including roast rack of lamb with lavender and olive oil mashed potatoes, grilled Liberty duck breast with sweet potato gnocchi and vegetarian crêpes of Bellwether ricotta and wild mushrooms with beet and carrot sauces.

Not to be missed are the homemade desserts such as the Meyer lemon tart with blood orange granite, pomegranate sorbet and satsuma frozen yogurt and an impressive chocolate and malt crème brûlée.

It’s all in a very nice, laid back, Berkeley atmosphere where you can eat well with friends or colleagues. Definitely a nice neighborhood find that’s tucked away, but only 20 minutes from the glitz and glamour of San Francisco.

Also notable, open on Sundays.

Hours: M-Th 5:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat 5:30 - 10:00 p.m.
Sun 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Dallas has always had a beef connection, but lately imports from New York, Vegas and Chicago have ventured into the power spots of the renewed urban spaces surrounding downtown.

How about a 24 oz. bone in rib eye and a bottle of Araujo? Keep the stretch-hummer cranked outside with the full bar, while we seal the deal.

This ain’t your fathers Dallas anymore, it’s all about leather and chrome and attitude and big bucks. It’s a rush, and the stakes are high in this trendy spot that will set a couple back $300-400.00 for a night on the town. Players only need apply.

N9NE Steakhouse
3090 Olive Street ~ Suite 110
Dallas,TX 75219
(214) 720-9901

Evaristti, born in Chile and living in Denmark, has gone a step further. In his piece, Polpette al grasso di Marco, the artist had liposuction. He then prepared meatballs with the fat removed from his body.

David Zincavage of Never Yet Melted had this to say about an event that followed.

“Ladies and gentleman, bon appetit and may god bless,” said Marco Evaristti, a glass in his hand, to his dining companions seated last Thursday night around a table in Santiago’s Animal Gallery.

Two cans have already been sold to collectors for US$23,200 each. Evaristti claims that the meatballs are not only delicious, but contain less fat than supermarket meatballs.

On the plates in front of them was a serving of agnolotti pasta and in the middle a meatball made with oil Evaristti removed from his body in a liposuction procedure last year.

“The question of whether or not to eat human flesh is more important than the result,” he said, explaining the point of his creation.

Evaristti produced 48 meatballs with his own fat, some of which would be canned and sold for $US4000 dollars for 10.”

“You are not a cannibal if you eat art,” he added.

I’m not sure the generation that grew up with Chef Boy-ar-dee are going to hop on this culinary trail. Perhaps those who love fois gras might pony up the big bucks for a can or two @ $23,200 each. But my money is on those who will pursue abstemiousness regarding this food trend. Ethical issues abound as well as the question of if Evaristti has been grain or pasture fed.

I myself, have been leaning back towards a vegetarian diet and shock artists like this one probably won’t bring me back into the fold. Besides, living in Texas, we already have a plethora of good beef if I so choose. And I am in favor of eating local products over the exotic.

But it does take all kinds ~ and they’re all here.

Exhibit details:
Galería Animal
Alonso de Cordova 3105
Vitacura, Chile
M-F 10:00-8:00
Saturday 10:30-2:00
Until January 27th. 

Alfonso Cevola writes from the safety of his bunker in Texas. His blog, On the Wine Trail in Italy, keeps him well fed with ideas and dreams.

I’m not a 24 groupie. I’ve never seen a whole show. But we all know who Jack Bauer is. While 33 million folks were watching L.A. heat up and reach critical mass, a few friends worked up a menu to go with the season premiere.

First, they started with Kettle Tortilla Chips Organic Fire Roasted Chili , and a couple of hot sauces to go with the chips, Nuclear Waste Hot Sauce and Gib’s Nuclear Hell.

Things were heating up around the flat screen so they made a pitcher of Bloody Marys with Hot Pepper Vodka, chased by Jalapeno Pepper Ale  from Bent River Brewing Company.

For their main course they chose a Trinity of fiery foods, Hot Tamales, the World’s Hottest Wings and, to accomodate the Left Coasters, California Chipotle Garlic Chili, setting the stage for Defcon 4, whereby Jack commences getting his butt kicked, again.

All that remained after the culinary detonation was dessert, non-irradiated  Mango-Habanero Ice Cream and a little after dinner drink, Fiery Balls of Death. That’s how we kicked off season 6 of “24”.

Yes, Jack, right about now you’re hearing Johnny Cash, inside your head, singing, 

“I went down,down,down
and the flames went higher.
And it burns,burns,burns
the ring of fire
the ring of fire”

Alfonso Cevola writes from the safety of his bunker in Texas. His blog, On the Wine Trail in Italy, keeps him sane, and safe for society. 

First we start with Giada and an eggplant. Look how she lovingly cradles that melanzane like a baby. That’s a real foodie (and a real lucky aubergine).

We need something to sautee it in, so let’s drop it in a pan with some Rachel Ray EVOO. It’s a cold pressed  extra virgin olive oil that is cool as a cuke. Slice them up with the Wolfgang Puck Special Edition Magnetic Cutting Board with Santoku Knife

We’ll need a good sauce with that. Francis Ford Coppola has a great selection of tomato sauces. Give me a little suga, Godfather.

Of course, wine is mandatory, so let’s call on a real classy wine from Tuscany, Sogno Uno. A product of a collaboration between actress Savanna Samson and maverick winemaker Roberto Cipresso, has been the talk of the Italian wine world since it was first introduced a few months ago. Sogno Uno or “Dream One” is Ms. Samson’s first foray into the wine world. Sogno Uno wine is a blend of 70% Cesanese, 20% Sangiovese and 10% Montepulciano.

And to finish off the mood, how about a little music from Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson? With Pinot, Pasta and Puccini, we’re talking “Al dente.”

And that’s how to hop on the Food Network gravy train.