GAYOT's Blog

Two-Bottle Lunch

by Alain Gayot

 

Every once in a while we have the chance to catch up with Richard Goeffroy, Chef de Cave extraordinaire at the fabled Abbey of Hautviller’s Dom Pérignon and France’s master Champagne producer. Real life people like Marilyn Monroe and fictitious characters such as James Bond have loved and publicized DP since the 1950’s, and we’d like to continue that tradition humbly.

 

 

It’s a rather easy task, however, considering the products we sampled during a “casual” lunch: we’re talking lobster and foie gras at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills with Richard and Dom Perignon Ambassador Nicole Ruvo. The entire experience was magical and ethereal and priceless considering the company and the two bottles we sampled.

 

Continue reading “Dom Perignon Rose Oenotheque 1990” »

 

by Jennifer Olvera
Easter is right around the corner, and we’re mighty excited about the ridiculously tasty-sounding—not to mention, atypical—options out there. Since we like a bit of savory with our sweet, we’ve set eyes on the three-course spread at one sixtyblue. You can choose between items like grilled shrimp with curried cucumber-yogurt sauce and fried chickpeas and slow-cooked pork belly with buttermilk biscuits and spicy sausage gravy. From there, opt for a flat iron steak with braised spring radishes, fiddlehead ferns and spring onion gratin or, perhaps, ricotta-English pea ravioli with Parmesan gratin, followed by sorbet with rosemary shortbread. The cost is $39 per person, and a waffle bar ($12) is available for kids under 12. On the other hand, Eve’s $32, three-course brunch features the likes of Toulouse sausage with caramelized onions and sauerkraut; slow-cooked Swan Creek Farm ham with fennel-poached eggs and caramelized fennel; and eggs Sardou with soft-shell crab, creamed spinach, poached eggs, crispy artichokes and béarnaise. Are you thinking Greek? Then head to Taxim, where the $55, five-course lineup includes items like kokoretsi, charcoal-grilled caul-stuffed offal; magiritsa, hearty lamb offal soup; tsouknidopita, nettle pie with house-made phyllo, sheep’s milk butter and feta; and tsoureki, braided sweet bread baked with a red-dyed egg. For the main course, it’s on to whole charcoal-roasted, milk-fed spring lamb. Seatings are at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Want some more ideas on where to eat? Check out our comprehensive list of the best Easter Brunch restaurants in Chicago.

by Jennifer Olvera

 

We love a good, posh meal—especially when it’s based on our favorite ingredients. That’s why we’re excited about Sixteen’s newest promotion, “Feasting at Sixteen with Frank Brunacci.”

 

The skyline-framed, 16th-floor restaurant in the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will shift its focus to serve an a la carte menu for a week each month, from March through September, while emphasizing a single, indulgent ingredient.

 

First up is beef from March 29-April 4. The carnivorous component will be honored in various ways, starting with dishes like Kobe carpaccio with chickpea crunch and cucumber-cilantro salad and Waygu beef cheek ravioli with foie gras-port sauce and chipotle mayo.

Continue reading “Chicago’s Sixteen Launches Week-Long Theme Menus” »

by Sophie Gayot

After nearly twenty successful years, Joe’s restaurant in Venice can certainly be considered a Los Angeles classic. As we’ve have been saying for a long time, chef Joe Miller and his team, chef de cuisine Kristopher Tominaga and sous-chef Phil Pretty, are especially adept in preparing seafood dishes.

 

But some of the ocean’s pleasures need no cooking. Every Friday night, Maître Écailler Christophe Happillon takes over part of the bar to open oysters for appreciative patrons ($17 for 6, $30 for 12). Happillon brings three different kinds, usually Carlsbad Lunas, British Columbia Fanny Bay and Baja California Endless Summer. He is an expert in explaining the differences between the types served.

 

  Continue reading “Oysters and Much More at Joe’s in Venice” »

 by Becky Sauer

 

Rōti Mediterranean Grill is opening its first location in Washington, DC, just down the street from the White House. To celebrate its arrival in the nation’s capital, the restaurant will award one lucky person a free lunch every day for a year. Rōti’s menu will include a variety of fire-roasted meats, pitas, couscous, falafel, kebabs, salads and composed Mediterranean plates, as well as vegetarian and gluten-free items. The reasonably-priced menu offers plenty of options to keep the winner—and the rest of us—coming back again and again.

 

Visit our Washington DC Restaurant News page for details on how to enter the contest, and also check out our Restaurant Reviews, Culinary Events and Washington DC Wine Dinners.

 

Raise your glass to a warmer season with help from our Spring 2010 Wine Newsletter!

 

 

Our Top 10 Brunch Wines are the perfect complement to a mid-morning meal and our list of Top 10 Wines Under $10 features ridiculously affordable vinos. Take lunch to the countryside with the Picnic Time Meritage Wine and Cheese Tote or learn about Malbecs from Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2010.

 

 

 

We also have reviews about sake, port, El Gardo Anejo Tequila, Woodford Reserve Seasoned Oak Finish Bourbon and more. Cheers!

by Jennifer Olvera

 

 

It’s the time of year when Chicagoans desperately look for a reason to think spring. Showy gastro-lounge Sable Kitchen & Bar offers just that, rolling out on March 24 in Kimpton’s soon-to-open Hotel Palomar.

 

 

Chef Heather Terhune—a veteran of Atwood Café in the Burnham Hotel—has developed a seasonally minded opening menu, which relies heavily on local farms and purveyors. Well-versed in both sweets and savories, Terhune expects to serve crisp, fiddlehead-topped flatbreads spun from 00 flour and homemade, boiled soft pretzels with smoked Wisconsin cheese fondue and whole grain mustard butter.

 

 

 

The kitchen will have plenty of Staub cast-iron cookware handy for dishes like steak frites and mussel frites, though Terhune is quick to note she won’t be locked into a single concept.

 

Continue reading “Sable Kitchen & Bar Opens in March” »

Big Jones will be one of several Chicago-area restaurants serving up bacon-themed treats.

by Jennifer Olvera

 

Do you love bacon like we do? Because we really, really love bacon. Fortunately, Chicago chefs do, too, and many of them are gathering for the porcine extravaganza known as Baconfest on April 10, beginning at noon.

 

The seemingly endless number of participants—from The Bristol and Big Jones to Longman & Eagle, Chalkboard, Province and Eve—will fashion dishes (some of them quite edgy) to elevate one of life’s greatest eats.

 

Bacon-makers and bacon-entrepreneurs will hawk wares, plus there will be oodles of bacon-inspired activities, spirits and culinary and cultural events revolving around… well, you know.

Continue reading “Baconfest Fattens Up Chicago” »

By Becky Sauer

 

The much-anticipated opening of ZUMA Miami in the EPIC hotel has been scheduled for May. This modern Japanese sake and tapas bar from chef Rainer Becker has proved to be a big success overseas—reservations at the original Zuma in London are still in demand eight years after its grand opening. Expect casually elegant contemporary Japanese pub grub, sushi and sashimi, and a selection of 40 different sakes.

 

For more on the Miami/South Florida dining scene, check out our Miami Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, South Florida Culinary Events and Wine Dinners.

 

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