Chef Phillipe Corbet Leaves Bouley for Oscar’s on Long Island

I just got an email from the owner of Oscar’s Restaurant & Bar in St. James, NY. The news he shared is pretty exciting. Chef Phillipe Corbet has left his position as Executive Chef at Bouley in Manhattan to become a Principal & Chef at Oscar’s. Chef Corbet, a native of France & veteran of several Michelin rated restaurants in France, began his American restaurant career as Executive Sous Chef at Stone Creek Inn in East Quogue, NY. He left Stone Creek as Chef de Cuisine to accept the Executive Chef position at Bouley where he oversaw and directed the…

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A North Fork Gallery Worth Seeking Out

I consider myself fairly sophisticated and cultured, but a trip to an art gallery — and just an art gallery — isn’t necessarily my cup of tea (or glass of wine.) I need a fine meal either before the gallery or after (or maybe both) to entice me. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?        But, there’s a new Gallery on the North Fork that I’m willing to visit — and open — any time. In fact, I plan to several times over the course of the next few months.       Bedell…

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Heading to Blue Hill at Stone Barns Tomorrow Night

I rarely do "preview" posts, because I really don’t think you care what I’m going to do any given weekend. But, tomorrow night I’m doing something that I’m excited about, whether you care or not. Haha. Today is Nena’s birthday and Saturday is her baby shower in upstate New York. So, tomorrow after work, we’re heading north, and stopping off at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for dinner with our friends M and T. Blue Hill is a restaurant that I’ve wanted to visit for quite some time now, but scheduling has always been difficult, until I realized we could…

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2003 Releases from Sherwood House Vineyards

2003 wasn’t a great vintage for Long Island wines — and many of the wines I’ve tasted from the vintage support that statement. Many, particularly the reds, tend to be under ripe and lacking flavor. The whole growing season wasn’t sub-par, but one of the most important parts was. After a perfectly fine spring and summer, untimely rain and then two October frosts did the vintage in. Basically, frost kills the vines’ canopy, stopping photosynthesis and keeping the grapes from getting fully ripe. You can talk about “hang time” (on the vine) all you want, but without the sugar factory,…

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Gilded Fork: Harvest Celebration Dinner Party Menu

This month on Gilded Fork, chef Mark Tafoya has put together a delicious menu to celebrate harvest season. And, as their wine pairing guru, I’ve suggested some wines — and one little surprise — to go along with it. Check it out today. And, if you haven’t checked out Gilded Fork yet, do yourself a favor and give them a shot. The writing overflows with passion about all things delicious.

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My First Cabernet Franc Harvest

Well everyone, all of the cabernet franc from my adopted vines at Raphael have been harvested, crushed and are now fermenting (with Lalvin M05, a Loire Valley isoloate yeast) in an open-top oak barrel. Average brix was around 22. The fruit was flavorful and the tannins ripe, so I’m pretty excited about how the wine is going to turn out. Let me first say that I have a whole new level of respect for the hard work that goes into winemaking. It took me about four hours to harvest just a single row of grapes. After I was done Don,…

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November 7 — Mario Batali: Roasted, Battered & Fried

Next Tuesday, Superstar chef  Mario Batali will be roasted by a diverse dais that includes some of my favorite celebs like Anthony Bourdain, James Gandolfini, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, Artie Lange and Sarah Silverman. Proceeds from the event go to the Food Bank for New York City. The event begins  at Capitale (130 Bowery) with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:30 and the roast itself at 8:45. Tickets start at $500, but it’s a great cause and should be a ton of fun. Buy tickets online at the Food Bank for New York City.

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Ice Wine vs. Late Harvest

Howard Goldberg’s New York Times column focuses on a LENNDEVOURS favorite, Waters Crest Winery this week. It’s a nice little write up and he highlights the wines I’d probably highlight from Jim’s current releases. But one thing he wrote has me questioning my own definitions of ice wine and late harvest wine. My understanding is that ice wine, true ice wine that is, is made from grapes that are left on the vine to freeze naturally. That is why most local dessert wines, which are made with commercially frozen grapes, tend to use "late harvest" instead. Of course, in the…

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Book Review: What to Drink With What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page

I don’t write very many book reviews despite the fact that several publishers have sent me several books in the past. But, unless I really like a book and think it is worth reading, I don’t feel the need to do a write up. It’s not worth my time to write it — or your time to read it. What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page doesn’t fall into the "not-worth-it" category. In fact, it’s the type of reference that anybody who enjoys cooking, wine and entertaining should keep in their kitchen. Before I…

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LENNDEVOURS Cab Franc Harvest Update

Well, I woke up Saturday morning to a deluge of rain that lasted much of the day….so I obviously didn’t get to pick my cabernet franc grapes. That’s the bad news. The same storm also brought constant, fairly high winds…winds that are still around under blue sky and sun today and are expected to continue at least for another day or so. That’s the good news. Picking will commence Tuesday morning.

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