he flaky pastry “cake” is filled with a mixture of almond paste and crème pâtissière, baked until puffy and golden, and topped off with a gilded paper crown. Inside the galette is a small figurine – a fève – and the person who finds that in their slice will wear the crown and become king or queen for the day.
Motown legends The Temptations and The Four Tops practically defined popular American music in the late 1950s and 1960s, along with the other performers on the Motown roster. They will be in concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) next April 19, 2025 at 8 pm, and tickets are already going fast! (Photo courtesy of NJPAC.)
I don’t think I have a personal prejudice against low calorie, no-alcohol wines. Still, through the years, I have tasted a number of these bottles and thought most had very little to no taste. But the product line, Ventessa by Mezzacorona, has proved to me that I can be wrong about this and should try more of these wines just to make sure I know what I’m talking about.
One place still cooks the definitive Fegato alla Veneziana – the famous Harry’s Bar, which was Ernest Hemingway’s favorite watering hole where he had his very own reserved table while working on his novel, Across the River and into the Trees, in Venice.
I just received a copy of a cookbook I have been looking forward to called Sri Owen’s Indonesian Food from an imprint of Interlink Publishing. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m very partial to Asian dishes, and I have a good number of cookbooks from different Asian countries.
There are a number of travel hazards that you may not be aware of, so follow these guidelines to be safe during your holiday vacation.
All whisky or whiskey is made from three basic ingredients: water, grain, and yeast. But there is a very wide range of products. They depend on where they’re made, the legal and tradition-required differences in the water and grain used, how the distilling is done, and what the aging process involves.
Butlers in a luxury hotel or on a cruise will act, in essence, as a floor supervisor, usually covering a single floor and making sure that the hotel’s services – such as housekeeping, food, and beverage – are delivered timely. Butlers also ensure the quality of the service you receive.
In the past, luxury stemware preferred by wine drinkers of my father’s generation were fairly thick, ornate, heavily carved, lead crystal glasses. They were produced by companies with a long history such as Baccarat, Moser, Josephinenhütte, Orrefors, Waterford, Cristallerie de Sevres, or Cristalleries Saint Louis, to name but a few of the better European producers.
The time that most people purchase sparkling wines is usually just prior to the winter holidays. People like to celebrate either the end of a challenging year or the beginning of a new one, which will be full of expectations for a great outcome. Therefore, we generally publish a review of sparkling wines that we and the members of our “usual suspects” group of tasters, have enjoyed at the beginning of November each year.
In many of the stories, as well as in toponymics (the study of proper geographic names) based on descriptions from the past, we find references to giants.
On a recent driving trip to the south of France, we stopped for lunch at the fishing village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer known for its Moules-frites or moules et frites (mussels with fries).
Sicily is producing some very interesting white wines. The largest island in the Mediterranean is now one of Italy’s most exciting wine producers. The wines, especially the whites, range from sweet or savory and crisp to complex and startlingly age-worthy.
According to Homer, Ulysses found monsters, giants, and bewitching creatures galore in the waters of Lazio, Italy. While on our own “odyssey,” we found a region filled with lovely seaside hotels, beautiful sand beaches, stunning vistas, and ancient ruins that can be explored without hoards of sightseers blocking our access or cannibalistic giants hurling rocks at us.
The Greeks or Hellenes were never really a totally homogeneous group. Their language is considered an independent branch of the Indo-European group of languages, and the people came down in successive waves of migrating tribes from North of the Balkan Peninsula, settling in different regions of what is now the Greek nation.
North of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea, a group of seven volcanic islands rise from the cobalt-blue waters. They are called Salina, Lipari, Vulcano, Alicudi, Filicudi, Panarea, Basiluzzo, and Stromboli, and they’re definitely worth a visit.
Yearning for both a fun and a delicious dining experience to usher in the upcoming Halloween season, we opted for a visit to the Sugar Factory Restaurant in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. This was our second visit to a Sugar Factory eatery. Last year, it was a Manhattan location, celebrating the Christmas holidays. We had such a good time that we thought a repeat should be on our menu.
Recently, I decided to visit Crete to see the ancient cities that became the cornerstone of our modern culture. They were the precursors of 21st century Western civilization.
Nowadays, we hear a lot about symposia. In current usage, it has come to mean an academic or scientific gathering where distinguished speakers present their insights or findings on cultural, archaeological, economic, or scientific questions. The word’s usage in ancient times, however, meant a sumptuous dinner attended mostly by affluent or influential male participants. In addition to food and drink, there would be entertainment, as well as philosophical or political discussions.
For ages, honey has been considered the “perfect” food. Produced in many parts of the world but especially popular in the Eastern Mediterranean, it has been used as both food and medicine since antiquity. Read about our favorite honeys and hotels with beehives.
In Greece, the land beneath your feet is steeped in very ancient history and lore. Many of our current civic, as well as theatrical traditions, come to us from the city-state of Athena, in Attica.
The price of olive oil in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, where 90% of the world’s olive oil is produced, is rapidly rising to a very high level. This means that the consumers of olive oil in the rest of the world will be paying much more.
It seems that the number 13 is considered unlucky by many cultures around the world. And it’s considered even more unlucky if the date falls on a Friday! There’s even a psychological term for the fear of the number 13, which was supposedly coined by none other than Sigmund Freud. But the etymology is actually of ancient Greek origin: Triskaidekaphobia.
Are you confused about the difference between port and sherry? Port is fortified during fermentation. Sherry is fortified after fermentation. Port tends to be sweeter, while sherry usually has a slightly higher alcohol content. Read on to learn more.
Pastitsio is the Greek answer to Italian lasagna, but what sets pastitsio apart from the Italian version is mostly the use of numerous aromatic spices in the meat ragù. The other difference is that pastitsio uses a thick, long pasta with a hole, topped by a hearty cheesy béchamel instead of the flat Italian lasagna.
Just found another of my mother’s recipes – an aromatic sponge cake that is steeped in orange syrup. This one is a classic Eastern Mediterranean sweet cake called in “revani” or “ravani” in Greek or “rebane” in Turkish. it’s also very popular in Egypt and Yemen.
Since the invention of alcoholic beverages, hangovers have become a universal curse that every culture has to deal with. From “hair of the dog,” to raw egg sucking, to the South American ceviche, both ancient and modern men and women have had to deal with “the Morning After.”
About 66 years ago, I got my first taste of European travel when my father said, “We should instill culture in the children.” At the time, I was living in Greece with my parents and younger brother, and I was still in high school. So my mother, a couple of her friends, and I embarked on an escorted summer trip to Austria and Germany departing from Piraeus by ship to Venice, spending a day in La Serenissima, then by “Pullman Bus” (as high-end motor coaches were called in Greece at the time) to Vienna over the Brenner Pass.
At the recent Summer Fancy Food Show in New York, I found a New Jersey company called Hoboken Farms that makes great Marinara, Vodka Sauce, Basil Marinara, and Low Sodium Marinara. They are all high quality tomato-based sauces – chunky and very good!
Actually, there are three Magnus whiskey variants currently on the market. The Joseph Magnus Bourbon, triple cask finished, is straight bourbon whiskey. The Murray Hill Club blends 18- and 11-year-old spirits with a lighter 9-year-old whiskey. The Cigar Blend Bourbon is blended to enhance the enjoyment of a fine cigar.
The first recorded reference to cider dates back to Julius Caesar’s Britain, where he found the native Celts fermenting crab apples and making cider, as well as fermenting honey to make mead. There were also alcoholic cider-drinking Normans and Anglo-Saxons in what is now France.
This quick and easy take on a Greek classic – shrimp and feta with orzo – will have dinner on the table in 20 minutes from start to finish if you use precooked shrimp as we now do!
The 2024 Summer Fancy Food Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City seems to have recovered the losses of exhibitors during the COVID period, making it as large as (or possibly even larger) than ever. There were exhibitors from all over the world, but I will dedicate this article to my thoughts about the presence of mostly Greek products at the show.
Vermouth is an aged, aromatic, fortified European wine flavored with botanicals, such as citrus peel, star anise, basil, thyme, and wormwood, to name a few. Read our recommendations.
Meissen is considered the oldest high quality porcelain manufacturer in Europe, producing decorative items and tableware of unique quality, design, and timeless elegance. Meissen’s hand-painted, fine bone china eventually became very collectable.
It’s the beginning of what is supposed to be a very hot summer, so we thought a cold glass of a bubbly would be a great antidote to the heat.
The one evening we were in Buenos Aires, we were introduced to a churrascaria (steakhouse) called “Parrilla El Ferroviario,” which means The Railroad Grill – a hidden treasure about 20 minutes from the city center. It is located in what used to be a railroad yard that still has a train engine parked in the front.
Hello, all you current and to-be dads, and welcome to our very first LuxuryWeb Magazine Father’s Day Gift Guide. We have a few suggestions that you might want to pass along to spouses and children who want to celebrate your special day with that extra-special gift.
Try our delicious recipe for Ziti Rigate alle Vongole with white clam sauce.
The success of two films – Boy on a Dolphin with Sophia Loren, Alan Ladd, and Clifton Webb, and Phaedra with Melina Mercouri and Anthony Perkins – catapulted Hydra from a sleepy, quiet Greek island with a notable 19th century naval history to the playground of the Athenian upper class in the very early 1960s and a “must visit” location for the international jet set.
Most Saharan Berbers are still living the same way they did 10 centuries ago in the Western Sahara and the Atlas Mountains. They are both a tourist attraction and an international lesson on “how to live in harmony with the land and the neighbors Allah gave you.”
The unprecedented affluence of the early 21st century and the newfound willingness of the American public to try the pleasures of foods and fresh products from other countries has caused both restaurant chefs and home cooks to make exotic meals that were unknown to the U.S. market twenty years before. The problem is that many of these new products that grace America’s larders are not always what they pretend to be.
Risi e bisi is a traditional Italian dish from the Veneto, initially cooked as a special festive dish in Venice, Vicenza, and Verona. It was served to the Venetian Doges and the ruling families of Venice during the festival of San Marco every 25th of April.
Spain’s Cultural Ministry abolishes its Annual Bullfighting Award.
Pandeli Locandasi is a culinary institution of Istanbul and well-known business lunch hotspot. Every guidebook regarding the city has a paragraph about this storied eatery.
Do wine bottle closures matter to you? Do you think that screw-capped bottles contain cheaper or lower quality wines? Are you a die-hard cork devotee?
Bolgheri is a central Italian village of Castagneto Carducci, a commune in Tuscany in the province of Livorno that is well-known to wine lovers for the exceptional quality of the bottles created in the region.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will be premiering two new works at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC): Amy Hall Garner’s first work for the Company, CENTURY, and former dancer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish’s duet, Me, Myself and You, on Mother’s Day Weekend with performances Friday, May 10 at 8pm, Saturday, May 11th at 8pm and Sunday, May 12 at 3pm.
New restaurants appear in Northern New Jersey all the time. However, some are just run of the mill eateries serving the same tired dishes that have been served for ages, while a few others are serving food of exceptional quality, rivaling Michelin-starred establishments around the world in inventiveness and ingredient quality. The 87 Sussex Restaurant in Jersey City is an absolute stunner – modern and upbeat.
At a recent major wine event in New York City promoting Barolo and Barbaresco wines and general tourism to Piedmont, Italy, I heard a rumor that one of the best and most influential Italian chefs, Davide Scabin, will be opening a new venue. His last renowned restaurant Combal.zero (pronounced Combal Dot Zero) closed in 2020 because of the pandemic, and the culinary world has been much poorer for its absence.
I don’t understand why there are so few articles written about sweet wines, except for articles about madeiras, ports, and sherries. It seems that a number of wine writers veer away from sweet wines and consider aficionados to have “uneducated palates that cannot appreciate the complexity and beauty of dry wines.” That’s exactly what a well-known, very full of himself wine writer commented during a tasting we both attended.
Sherry is one of the two spectacular fortified wines produced in the Iberian Peninsula, in the wine-growing maritime region of Jerez, mostly from white grapes. The other is Port, produced in Portugal at the country’s northwestern Atlantic seaboard, mostly from red grapes grown in vineyards along the Douro River.
For a long time, I thought there was no good New York-style rye bread in any other area than Manhattan’s Lower East Side. So it was with great pleasure that I recently discovered a bakery near me that makes a classic artisanal New York rye loaf with a somewhat dense interior and a crispy crust.
In our office, we received a box with three fruity Johny Bootlegger liquors that can be excellent bases for cocktails or can be sipped as after-dinner drinks. Included in the box was also a metal flask just like the ones the “fellers” used to carry in their hip pockets and “dames” used to tuck in their garters.
As far as this travel, food, and wine writer is concerned, Spain has surpassed most traditional European countries lauded by gastronomes for food and wine excellence.
One of the most elegant hotels in London’s Mayfair, Claridge’s has been the favorite residence of visiting industrialists, international aristocracy, statesmen, and illustrious celebrities since 1898.
Butter is an essential ingredient for everyday cooking and enjoying at our table. But there are some pronounced differences between the butters consumed in Europe and the ones sold in the USA.
Arnavut ciğeri, which means Albanian liver, is a pan-fried savory liver dish livened with crushed red pepper flakes, accompanied by a red onion and parsley salad flavored with sumac. I usually enjoy it as a main course instead of just as meze.
This is a recipe for garlic soup, sopa de ajo – a classic Basque and western Spain dish. Basque housewives believe in “waste not, want not” so this is an excellent and very tasty way to use (and not waste) old bread!
I receive many sample wine bottles so that I can taste and review the wines. I recently received a few “second wine” samples and that reminded me that I had a few older ones in my cellar that I had purchased in the past, which I had never tasted. So I uncorked one of them.
One of the best American New York City-based chefs, David Boulay, passed away February 12, 2024 from a heart attack.
Yes… keeping a respectful distance, I spoke with a sea lion (the Southern cousin of the walrus) during our recent Antarctica trip on board Quark Expeditions’ Ultramarine, an expedition vessel plying the waters of the Beagle Channel and the Drake Passage at the tip of Argentinean Patagonia, the Tierra del Fuego, Cape Horn, and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Risotto alla Milanese is a classic dish from Lombardy in northern Italy. Making risotto the right way may seem like an intimidating undertaking, but with the right ingredients and technique, it’s a dish that’s easy to master and well worth the effort.
One of my favorite dishes is “Imam Bayildi,” a classic Ottoman dish traditionally cooked using Italian eggplant in Turkey and long (Asian) eggplant in Greece with plenty of olive oil. It is an integral part of both Turkish and Greek gastronomy, with variants in Lebanese and Egyptian cookery.
North Staffordshire is the heart of the celebrated English pottery industry. The decorative European porcelain industry started in the late 16th century when traders traveling the Silk Road brought back decorated porcelains mostly from Cathay (China) to grace the palaces and tables of royal houses and European aristocracy.
The Peninsula, the “Grand Dame of the Far East,” is one of the world’s legendary hotels with an atmosphere of unmatched grandeur and timeless elegance. Completely renovated and refurbished, it has kept the elegance of a bygone era and the tradition of service excellence and combined them with the most up-to-date technological innovations.
The story of wine is as old as civilization itself. Most evidence points to Georgia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia, or even China, where literary mentions of what sounds like wine are found in ancient manuscripts, as well as modern archaeological finds. While the hows of neolithic wine production are still a mystery, what seem to be wine traces have been analyzed on neolithic tools where chemicals found in wine were discovered.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, this restaurant is the world’s oldest continuously operating eating establishment. Tucked into the street of the Cuchilleros, i.e. the Knifemakers, just a stone’s throw off Plaza Mayor, Sobrino de Botín (the name means Botín’s Nephew) is a famous Madrileño restaurant that I’m very fond of. I try to eat there every time I’m in Madrid.
One of the tastier traditional French soups is the Vichyssoise. It is a thick and creamy puréed potato and leek soup in chicken stock, mixed with heavy cream or other thick dairy product (sour cream or even drained yogurt). It can be delicious either cold – the classic version – or warm.
In the heart of Madrid, a few blocks from the Atocha railway station, is one of the Madrileño eating and drinking stalwarts, Cervecería Alemana. Established in 1904, it’s a bar devoted to drinking beer and munching on tapas, the savory tidbits that always accompany beverages in Spain.
Anto is the U.S. venture of Korean chef Jeong Muk Kim who has been at the helm as executive chef of the famous Myomi (“subtle charm”) restaurant in Seoul that has garnered and maintained a Michelin star for a number of years.
Pets.com’s demise raises a question: Does spending millions on advertising and promotion make a difference in the Web Age as self-serving advertising and promotion companies would have you believe? And what do companies have to do to adapt to “Web Reality”?
In Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente, across the street from the Royal Palace (Palacio Real) and very near to Madrid’s Royal Theater and Opera House, is a restaurant called Café de Oriente with a long history of excellent food that respects Spain’s culinary tradition, catering to a distinguished clientele. Sometimes, the King of Spain has been seen dining with his guests in one of the private rooms.
There’s a unique joy in sharing culinary delights, especially when it involves baguette slices adorned with authentic caviar, complemented by a glass of effervescent wine — be it Champagne, Prosecco, or Cava — while surrounded by friends and loved ones. This holiday season, thanks to Sturia, a renowned French caviar producer, I had the pleasure of indulging in this very experience alongside my beloved companion and wife of 54 years.
The popular Las Vegas eatery, the Sugar Factory, opened on Manhattan’s corner of 8th Ave. and 44th Street. It is considered an American brasserie with a large confectionary component.
If you are a lover of art or history, then Arles in South France is definitely a place that should be visited. The combination of monumental Roman architecture and Van Gogh’s presence still felt through his numerous paintings of the area, are reasons enough to draw you to this remarkable city.
It’s called The Dolder Grand, and it’s an incomparable example of what made the Swiss “Grand Dame” hotels coveted by royalty and celebrities alike in the 19th and 20th centuries. Now upgraded for the 21st century, with the addition of two modern wings – the Spa Wing and the Golf Wing – behind the original 1899 historic building, The Dolder Grand still maintains the elegance of a bygone day.
Geneva is a major European cosmopolitan city and is the second largest city in Switzerland located on the shores of the eponymous lake.
Turkish cuisine dates back to the 6th century CE, when the Turkish people were nomads in Central Asia, and their diet consisted of mainly meat, dairy and a few, gathered by their campsites, fruits and vegetables. Early in the 11th century, a number of Turkoman...
Many tavernas in Rome serve the earthy and piquant Bucatini all’ Amatriciana. The pasta is cooked with a sauce that combines tomato pulp, guanciale (pork cheek) or diced pancetta, onion, garlic, an assortment of pepper flakes and white wine and is covered with grated pecorino cheese.
Spain’s Catalonia has a very high concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants. However, even small, local restaurants, tascas and rural retreats create delicious food that do not need Michelin stars to be mouth-watering.
In the heart of Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district is the MGallery Galata Istanbul Hotel, a Sofitel property that can be a base for starting a special vacation in Turkey’s largest and most intriguing city.
Whiskey JYPSI Legacy Batch 001 is fairly traditional-tasting delightfully blended, finished and bottled by Whiskey JYPSI in Tennessee and tastes like a true bourbon. However, legally, I don’t think it can be called a bourbon because a bourbon has to be completely made in the USA and JYPSI blends 21% Canadian rye with the US produced other components.
Travelling around the world in search of the perfect meal, I realized that etiquette regarding food is considerably different from one culture to another. For instance, most of us were raised with the idea that finishing your plate is respectful. But, in places like China and some Arab nations, this could suggest your host didn’t provide enough food, which could be viewed as a “loss of face” on their part. That’s why, in Chinese meals, soup is usually served last to ensure you’re full.
I’ve gotten some nice rosés from France, Italy and Chile so I decided to call together some members of the “gang of the usual suspects” and try them on a rare cool summer evening, on the rooftop “garden” of a friend in Manhattan. The same day I also tasted at home an elegant rosé from Domains Ott.
One more time the master winemaker Enrique Tirado enchants us with a new vintage of Don Melchor, the iconic flagship wine of Chile’s Concha y Toro.
For avid coffee drinkers the Turkish, Greek or Arabic version of the beverage is a satisfying sip of a “coffee delight.” It is an integral part of the Arabic, Eastern Mediterranean and Balkan as well as North African culture and social life.
During a recent press trip to Switzerland, we were lucky enough to spend a few days at the landmark Hôtel Bristol in Geneva, near the Mont Blanc Bridge and Rue du Rhône. A hotel location is paramount, and Hotel Bristol is perfectly positioned between the main railway station and the lake.
Whether you call it Lucerne in French or Luzerne in German, it is a very old Swiss city with many of the buildings still in use dating back to the 14th or 15th century. These buildings and the iconic Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), which was built in 1333 and links the Old Town to the Reuss River’s right bank, are lovingly restored and maintained to keep the city’s character alive.
Since the 1300s the Florentine Frescobaldi family, a family that started their fortunes as medieval bankers, produces some of the best known Sangiovese-based wines in a number of estates throughout Central Italy. The family owns 11 different estates in Italy, with 6 of them in Tuscany proper.
Hamdi is a restaurant in Istanbul with three venues located in key city neighborhoods. The locations are: the original in Eminönü, where we have eaten a number of times and like the dishes very much, one in Pera at the Radisson Blu hotel and one in Şişli also at the Radisson Blu.
Our 13-day Legendary Rhine & Moselle* River Cruise with the top ranked UNIWORLD Boutique River Cruise Collection began in Amsterdam, the capital of The Netherlands, with a canal sightseeing cruise.
Antigua, the “Land of 365 Beaches” is in the middle of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, a few degrees north of the Equator. Its culture has been strongly influenced by the British Empire, of which the country was formerly a part. I visited the island in April of 2019 to observe the annual Antigua Sailing Week; a few days of competitive sailboat racing off the rugged southern coast, and a fabulous party atmosphere ashore.
Ouzeri is the Greek equivalent to a Spanish tapas bar that serves ouzo – a potent distillate from grape or grain-based alcohol, which is distilled with anise, fennel, and other herbs and is similar to the French Pastis, only drier – to accompany a multitude of small plates featuring classic dishes beloved by the Greeks.
My most current cookbook discovery is Özlem Warren’s “Turkish Table” with recipes from Southern Turkey and more specifically Southern Anatolia.
Great food is at the pinnacle of gastronomy in Québec. Absolutely fresh, local, seasonal ingredients are starring in Québecoise kitchens, whether eating at home or in a reknowned restaurant.
Located in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, with coasts fronting both the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, lies the second largest autonomous region in Spain: Andalucía. It is best known for gifting to the world Flamenco, Bullfighting, and its own adaptation of Moorish architecture and arts that were developed through nearly 800 years of occupation by North African Muslim tribes.
Modern gastronomy has arrived in Québec and has been influencing in a molecular-gastronomy manner a number of the younger chefs, with kitchens that can rival in inventiveness and quality the dishes of top European and Asian restaurants offering a style of cooking well worth exploring.
I recently received 2 cookbooks that made me revise my thinking about Irish cookery.
There is much talk and fear about AI and the use of robotics and robots in everyday work, such as in restaurants, in retail, in warehousing, in manufacturing etc.