Posts Written OnJanuary 23, 2013

Some Personal Observations on Long Island Wine’s 40th Anniversary

  This year Long Island wine is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first vinifera grape plantings by Louisa and Alex Hargrave that kicked off the Long Island wine region.  As one who arrived very late to Long Island Wine some ten years ago, my perspective is somewhat different than that of the wine professionals and writers who have watched the evolution of wine making on Long Island over the past 40 years and the establishment of a solid wine region that today is acknowledged as producing both outstanding and unique wines. Although I was raised and educated in Northeastern Pennsylvania,…

Getting Out of That Restaurant Rut

You have probably found yourself in a restaurant rut at some point or another. You want to head out for dinner, and you cycle through the same short list of usual restaurant options. They’re your favorites for a reason, but you get to wondering: Is there anything new that we haven’t tried yet? Is there anything we’ve been meaning to try for a while, but haven’t? How do you break out of that rut? Sometimes it’s about abandoning comfort for a little risk. In the case of a recent Finger Lakes visit, it was simply about making time to visit…