Bourbon Old Fashion

 

An Old Fashion and New Orleans. Two things I Love dearly. And drinking Old Fashions in New Orleans and Bourbon Old Fashions to be more specific is a favorite pastime of mine, especially at such fine Bars as Napoleon House, The Long Bar at Tujague's, or at Arnaud's and Galatoire's.

The first thing i order from my waiter at my beloved Galatoire's is a Bourbon Old Fashion. They make them perfectly here, muddling an Orange Slice with sugar, Maraschino Cherry, Soda, and Angostora Bitters before filling the glass with Ice and adding my Bourbon. The waiter brings my Old Fashion and I'm in Heaven. I'm at Galatoire's in New Orleans. It's one of my favorite restaurants in the World. I have my drink, sitting in the main dining room looking the menu over. "Oh Bliss."

    What to have for lunch. Shall I get a Gumbo, Raw Oysters, or Oysters Rockefeller to start? Decisions, Decisions! And my main Course? Trout Almondine, Shrimp Clemenceau, or Filet Mignon topped with Fried Oysters and Hollandaise. Think I'll go for a Cup of Gumbo, followed by the Oysters Rockefellor, and Trout Almondine for my main. They should go with my Bourbon Old Fashion quite nicely.

    What, "No Wine with Your Meal," you ask. knowing what a Wine freak I am.

"No, not in New Orleans my friends." I do not drink Wine in the Cresent City. It's all pretty much Cocktails when I'm down there, maybe a Beer or two, but no Wine what-so-ever in New Orleans for me. Hey it's the way to go in New Orleans. That's what you do down there, Cocktails are preferred throughout the meal over Wine. And that's fine by me. It just seems to go better. My Bourbon Old Fashion and all the fine Creole Cuisine. I Love it.

So, if you're ever down there, in that wonderful city on the Mississippi, New Orleans, go to Galatoire's, Antoine's, Arnauds's. Order yourself a nice Lunch or Dinner, and don't forget to get a couple Bourbon Old Fashions to go with your meal. It's a match made in Heaven, Creole Food and an Old Fashion in New Orleans, Louisiana. "Do it."

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

.

#TheFoodGuy



#FoodGuy

Rosso di Montalcino Good Times Curtis Stone

 

 

If a good or great Rosso di Montalcino is any indication of how good the Brunello of the same Vintage to be released 3 years later will be, and it usually is, then we are in store for some great Brunello 2009 when they are release in January of 2014.

At the recent "Brunello Tasting" for the 2006 Vintage Brunello's, the 2009 Rosso di Montalcino's that were on hand, where absolutely wonderful and the big surprise of the tasting held at The New York Hilton. Rosso's where on hand by some but not all producers of Brunello, and most that I tasted were outstanding. Some were just about close to perfection, with wonderful balance of an abundance of Fruit, against just the right amount of acid content, and tannic backbone. Some of these wines were an absolute Joy to drink as with examples by; Argiano, Fattoria Barbi, Il Poggione, and the

Rosso di Montalcino from the Castel Giacondo Estate of the Noble Florentine Family, The Frescobaldi's.

      I really loved the Rosso from Argiano which reminded me of the year of 2008 when my friends the Rozner Brothers Dave and Michael found ourselves quite a number of times hanging at the highly popular and one of New York's best Trattoria's "Bar Pitti" having some good ole times drinking

Rosso di Montalcino "Argiano" 2006. This was a good year for Rosso from Montalcino and we must of had at least 50 bottles of the stuff that year. One day we were joined by friend Curtis Stone. We had a wonderful 2 1/2 hour lunch that day, eating Tripp, Prosciutto, and Pasta accompanied by 5 bottles of Argiano Rosso which we thoroughly enjoyed. And this is all of what wines should be along with the food that goes with them and the restaurants or homes we share our meals in; good Friends, tasty Food, and great wine. That's the good life or as we Italians would say La Dolce Vital, "The Sweet Life." Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

 

 

 

 

 

A bottle of ARGIAN ROSSO di MONTALCINO

 

 

"Yes we had many great times drinking this wine at BAR PITTI

 

GREENWICH VILLAGE,  NEW YORK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY SAUCE

AVAILABLE in PAPERBACK on AMAZON.com

 

 

TV DINNER FOOD PORN

 

 

FRIED CHICKEN

 

 

FOOD PORN ???

 

 

Or NOT ???

 

 

 

If you were a little kid in the 1960's, this Fried Chicken TV DINNER

 

may very well been FoodPorn to you ...

 

REMEMBER ???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WANT to KNOW HOW 

 

to MAKE AWESOME FRIED CHICKEN ???

 

 

 

RECIPES in The BADASS COOKBOOK

 

 

SECRET KFC KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN RECIPE

 

BADASS FRIED CHICKEN Recipe

 

and More ...

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

SOLD OUT "SORRY"

#FoodPorn

 

 

 

Daniel Bellino Zwicke and Galatoire's New Orleans

   

GALATOIRE'S RESTAURANT on Bourbon Street in NEW ORLEANS  ... Since 1905

One of Galatoire's long-time Waiters

John Fontenot  ... Since 1967

Yes I have a love affair with that storied old restaurant down in The Big Easy                          of New Orleans Louisiana ... The restaurant is Galatoire's, one of the Grande Old Dames of the great city of New Oreleans. Galtoire's is not the oldest of these grand old restaurants of The Cresent City, no Tujague's is the oldest and Antoine's after that. Then there's Arnaud's which I well love also, and the newest grande dame of them all, Commander's Palace out in the Garden District ...

I've been all around the World, several times at that, and I've eaten at many famous and wonderful restaurants, and ones quite low-bro, yet great all the same ... Galatoire's is not low-brow by any stretch of the imaginations and along with the more so-called well-heeled tourist who make it there Galatoire's is a bastion of the those in-the-know and those of whom might be considered well-heeled and educated .. The restaurant was a bastion of the likes of; Tennessee Williams, Huey Long, and other luminaries .. Tennessee Williams even included Galatoire's in a funny passage in his great play A Streetcar Named Desire ...

“Galatoire’s is a restaurant with traditions that have been preserved with little change through the decades. There has, however, been a slight modification of the restaurant’s once impenetrable policy of no reservations. Known for years by its characteristic line snaking down Bourbon Street, patrons would wait for hours just to get a table — especially on Fridays.”

The folks at Galatoire’s love to tell the story of the Friday when President Reagan placed a call to Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, who was waiting in the line outside. The senator went in, took the call and then returned to his place in line.    

Me in one of my Happiest kind of moments. Eating Lunch at Galatoire's

February 2007

Shane Mitchell wrote a piece for Saveur Magazine that goes like this; “No one hands me a menu. It’s just not done on Fridays. Friday lunch at Galatoire’s … starts in the morning, with bourbon milk punch at the upstairs bar. One floor below, a congenial crush of locals clutch cocktails in the foyer. They wait until manager Melvin Rodrigue, in pressed powder-blue seersucker, opens the doors to the dining room of the 105-year-old institution. It’s 11:30 a.m. “He guides the crowd to their regular tables. The gentlemen hang their Panama hats on brass hooks beneath forest-green wallpaper flocked with fleurs-de-lis, the revived symbol of the city’s fortitude since Hurricane Katrina. A table of ladies in dime-store tiaras and serious diamonds toss confetti into the air. Jacketed waiters bear large platters as they weave between bentwood chairs. “One of them, Peter or Homer or John or Shannon, recites the specials and brings, without anyone seeming to have asked, orders of the twice-fried souffle potatoes, puffed like starchy zeppelins, with a dose of tarragon-scented bearnaise. Next, a side of fried eggplant sticks.” Mitchell goes on to describe Friday lunch at Galatoire’s as a “genteel riot.” That’s as good a description as any.

Moon Light Wine Tasting NewYork

Went to the Moon Light Wine Tasting at Panebianco Wines the other night and it was one of my most enjoyable wine-tastings in quite some time. It was more like a wine tasting of friends that are not in the business of buying or selling wine than the many tastings I go to that are more businesslike, though I always make the tastings I go to somewhat of a social event, more so than business. When I go to these numerous tastings held for professionals in the business I always go to have a good time, taste, learn, and socialize. Well at Panebianco's Moon Light Tasting the other night I didn't need to try very hard to relax and enjoy it purely as a party, for that what it was and the evening was most enjoyable, starting out with a nice refreshing glass of Prosecco (actually two), moving on to some Greco di Tufo and Fiano d' Avelino before tasting the fine Pugnane Barolo and La Togato Brunello before moving on to the main event of a vertical tasting of some 8 vintages of Venturini Amarone which was hosted by M. Venurini of the Venturini Family of San Foriano, Italy in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico Wine Region of Italy, which is the zone that produces; Bardolino, Valpolicella, Recioto di Valpolicella, Amarone and other wines.

A bottle of Venturini AMARONE della VALPOLICELLA 2009

One of 8 wonderful offerings of Venturini Amarone we drank that night.

Just Yummy !!!

Our Host for the Evening M. VENTURINI telling us about her family's wines ..

The History of New York PIZZA

LOMBARDI'S

The ROOT of ALL GREAT PIZZA In AMERICA

GENARO LOMARDI With PIZZAIOLO ANTHONY PERO (Totonno's)

1905: Gennaro Lombardi’s opens America's "First Ever Pizzeria" at  53 1/2 Spring St. in Lower Manhattam, New York, NY .. Some famed Pizzaioli  (Pizza Makers) work there over the years;Anthony Pero founder of Totonno's Coney Island, John Sasso of John's Pizza Bleecker Street, and Pasquale Lancieri aka "Patsy" who opens "Patsy's Pizzeria in Eats Harlem. A Pizza cost a Nickel at Lombardi's in 1905 ..

1924: Anthony “Totonno” Pero opens Totonno’s in Coney Island. Establishes unusual ritual that some Pizzerias carry on to this day. When the dough runs out, the Pizzeria close for the day.

1929: John Sasso opens John’s Pizzeria on Bleecker Street.

1933: Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri opens Patsy’s in East Harlem.

1956: Average cost of a slice of New York pizza: 15 cents. Price keeps pace with cost of subway fare, seen as a kind of an economic indicator.

1959: Ralph Cuomo opens Ray’s Pizza on Prince Street.

1964: Di Fara Pizza opens in Midwood, Brooklyn.

1977: Saturday Night Fever: John Travolta double-slices it at Lenny’s in Bay Ridge.

1990: Three Ray’s owners, none of them named Ray, band together, form a coalition to trademark the name, and eliminate impostors, or make them pay a fee.

1994: Seventy-nine people are arrested for operating an international drug ring out of a midtown Famous Original Ray’s.

2004: Anthony Mangieri opens Una Pizza Napoletana. Some cal him "The Pizza Nazi" 

2004: Zagat awards Di Fara 28 rating for food along with Le Bernardin and Jean Georges; Di Fara also receives lowest rating ever for décor: 5.

TOTONNO'S OPENED IN 1924 

By FORMER LOMBARDI'S PIZZAIOLO

ANTHONY PERRO

photo by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

JOHN'S PIZZERIA

OPENED 1929

By FORMER LOMBARDI'S PIZZAIOLO JOHN SASSO

photo Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

PATSY'S OPENED 1933

by FORMER LOMBARDI'S PIZZAIOLO

PASQUALE LACIERI

PATSY'S

BACK In The DAY

PATSY'S PIZZERIA NAPOLETANA SPAGHETTI HOUSE

Circa 1933

East Harlem, New York

The Maestro of PIZZA

Mr. Dominic DeMarco

DiFara Pizza

Brooklyn, NEW YORK

Many consider DiFara Pizza made by the Maestro of Pizza Mr. Dom DeMarco to be New York's # 1 very best Pizza of all. That my friends means it's the best pizza in America and I wouldn't disagree.

Sunday Sauce 

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

MANGIA ITALIANO

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

.

SOPHIA e la PIZZA

.

      .

The SUPER BOWL of WINE

Bottega del Vino

aka Bottega Vini

VERONA, ITALY

One of the oldest and historical Osteria in Verona. Bottega del vinowas founded in 1890 and nowadays is one of the most renowned restaurant in town, especially for the huge wine selection it offers. More than 1500 labels and 40.000 bottles with rarities and exceptionally valuable vintages. A chance to taste and discover not only almost all the local Veronese, but also other Italian and world wines.

Antica Bottega delVino is an illustrious survivor of the hundred osterias that once dotted Verona, meeting places for guilds and corporations. This was where the local dialect poets hung out together with Berto Barbarani, the bard of Verona, joined by journalists from the L'Arena and Gazzettino newspapers. Painters such as Dall’Oca Bianca and Umberto Boccioni came here to down quinti and goti.Antica Bottega del Vino is the only restaurant in Verona to be officially recognised as a “historic establishment” and boasts one of the 10 best restaurant wine cellars in Italy.

Inside The Bottega del Vini

VERONA

The Board at BOTTEGA del VINO

I first went onto the Bottega Vini on a trip I made to Italy in 1995 .. I fell in love with the place immediately. What Italian Wine lover wouldn't, for the Bottega del Vini iw without quetion Italy's single most famous WIne Bar of all. Some have coined it a Shrine to Wine, and I attend to agree. Over the years I've coined a number of terms myself that no one else had ever thought of until I myself, terms like Meatball Parm Mondays and others including one I thought up for the famed Bottega d' Vini of Verona, Italy ... The term I invented pertains to the Bottega Vini for just 5 days of the year. These 5 days are during the great Italian Wine Expostion held every April in Verona which is known as Vinitaly, which happens to be the largets wine exposition in the world incuding the great one they have in Bordeaux. 

Vinitaly for an Italian Wine Freak like me is one of the highlights of the year. I usually go to Veron and the fair the last three days of the event, to see and taste wine at Vinitaly with my many friends who have vineyards all over Italy. Friends like Nadi Zenato (Zenato Amarone), Sebastiano Rosa (winemaker of Sassicaia & Barua), famed wine-maker and owner of Podere Scalette in Greve Mr. Vittorio Fiore, Marchese Ferdinando Frescobaldi, Luigi Cappellini of Castello Verrazzano (Chianti), the Columbini's of Fattori Barbi (Brunello) Raffaela Bologna of Giacomo Bologna (Barbera), The King of Barbaresco my buddy Italo Stupino of Castel Neive and others.

I see all my friends who have vineyards all over Italy, we tatse their wines ; Brunello, Barolo, Chianti and ??? We chi-chat and I make plans with some to visit their vineyards for 5 days after Vinitaly has closed. I wake up, have breakfast, head to the fiar grounds and taste wine for about 6 hours before heading back to my hotel to freshen up, take a shower and a nap for a couple hours before going out for dinner at one of my favorite osteria or trattoria in Verona. We have a splendid meal each night with antipasti, pasta, Amarone, Valpolicella and what-not. After dinner it's off to Bottega Vini which is packed to the gills with Italians, Japanese, New Yorkers and others in the Italian Wine and or restuarant business along with some hardcore Italian Wine Geeks. The place is packed and for a New York Italian Wine Guy (formely Wine DIrector of; Barbetta, Bar Cichetti, and Bar Stuzzuchini) it's pure heaven. After the Italians the second highest number of peoples ahppens to be New York Italian Wine Guys such as myself. These New Yorkers are made up of people who sell wine on either the wholesale level (Wine Distributors and Importers) or the retail level (mostly at Italian Restaurants in NY or wine stores) ... Yes it's great to be in this shrine to Italian Wine in the beautiful little Italian city of Verona during the greatest Italian Wine Event of all, Vinitaly. We're here at this historical wine bar with our Italian friends who make wine along with our friends and fellow New York Italian Wine Peeps and it's pure Bliss, and thus when describing it one day to a friend who wanted to know a little bit about it, I gave him a description and then just told him that being inside the Bottega Vini during Vinitaly was like the Super Bowl and for Italian Wine Guys it was quite literally The Super Bowl of Wine.

Priming a Grand Burgundy Glass

at Bottega Vini

VERONA

This is the preferred Wine Glass to Drink Amarone

in Verona and its surrounding wine towns

.

Severino Barzan

longtime owner of Bottega Vini

has sold this famed Osteria to a consortium of Amarone producers

The Amarone Families

as They are Called

Who Now Own The Bottega Vini

ALLEGRINI

MASI

SPERI

MUSELLA

TEDESCHI

TOMMASI

VENTURINI

ZENATO

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Giampaolo Motta (owner La Massa ... Greve)

and Author Daniel Bellin Zwicke at Bottega Vini

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TOMMASI AMARONE

One of The Top Producers

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Author / Italian Wine-Guy DANIEL BELLINO

with NADIA ZENATO

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Joe Macari of Macari Vineyards Mattituk, 

New York with Giovanni Folnari of Nozzole

Author Daniel Bellino Zwicke and Anthony Bellino

Vinitaly 2003, Verona, Italy

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..   TRIP ADVISOR Review of BOTTEGA del VINO by Daniel Bellino



Most wouldn't know, but for those "In The Know" The Bottega del Vino in Verona is Italy's Greatest Wine Bar .. Yes it's a restorante as well, but this place is historical and in the 5 days every year in the begining of April when the World's largets Wine Expostion Vinitaly is held in Verona the Bottega del Vino becomes what I alone have coined "The Super Bowl of Wine" for there is nothing like it in the entire World of Wine . I've been in the Italian Restaurant Business in New York for more than 30 years and with being a a Wine Director of some of New York's top Italian Restaurants for the past of those years I have gone to VinItaly in Verona 5 times ... During Vinitaly you go to the Fair Grounds where the WIne Exposition is held, you go there in the morning, taste a lot of great Italian Wine as you see your Italian friends that own Vineyards all over Italy. You leave the fair in the late afternoon, go back into the center of town to take a nap and shower at your hotel. After that you go to have dinner in one of Verona's many wonderful restorante / osteria .. After dinner you go to the famed Bottega del Vino and The Super Bowl of Wine, which is packed to the gills with Italian Wine Producers, Sommeliers, Wine Directors and Italian Restaurant People from around the world and with a large faction from New York. yes the place is filled with Italian Wine lovers celebrating the Italian grape to the Wee Hours of The Morning (5 AM) and there is nothing like it, that's why I've coined it the Super Bowl of Wine .. If you're an Italian Wine Lover the Bottega del Vino is an absolute must! Basta!

Secret Italian Recipes - SEGRETO ITALIANO

     

AMAZON Review of SEGRETO ITALIANO

5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZON REVIEW

If You Love Italian; Italian-American or Sicilian Cuisine You Must Buy This Book! Review by un Siciliana-Americana Signora

By swedeon October 16, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase  


.. AVAILABLE in Paperback on AMAZON.com

If you're just beginning to learn Italian cooking - or you're advanced.....you'll find at least ONE recipe in this book you'll have to try. But more likely, you'll find several. What I love about this selection of recipes is that they include strictly Italian; Sicilian; and Italian-American dishes. The author recognizes Italian-American as a cuisine unto its own. Falling into all three categories myself, I have a large collection of Italian and Sicilian cook books, but none specifically for Italian-American. I think this is about as close as I'll get. Dishes from my childhood (along with some charming anecdotes from the author) are in here and my mouth waters just thinking about which one I'll make first. The recipes are rather simple just like *real* Italian food. I remember the time I asked Zia Elena for her spaghetti sauce and meatball recipes. To me, she was the Queen of authentic and delicious Sicilian / Neapolitan cookery (she married one of those northern Italians, so learned to cook for him. I had to ask her on the sly as no one would admit to her superior culinary skills in front of their own mothers!) Her list of ingredients was short and of course, delicious. Most Italian recipes are like that ---- not complicated, but delicious. I give this book two paws up! For the price, it's such a deal, it should be in any cook book collection which focuses on the three types of Italian food. And lest the reader say, "But I thought Sicilians *were* Italians..." You can read up on this on the internet and see that Sicily had hosted numerous types of colonies for hundreds of years by everyone from Greeks, Arabs, Byzantines, even Scandinavians!. It only became part of Italy in 1860. Then in 1946 it became an autonomous region. Why does this matter? Sicilian cooking has many influences and so differs, although at times in subtle ways and sometimes in a complete composition expression to the more northern Italian food and customs. Due to Sicily's proximity to Greece, a dear Greek man once told me (as I choked on the sweetness of the baklava he had just given me), that Sicilians were "just Greeks" who wanted to be Italians. May be a grain of truth in that.! If you love this outrageously ethnic food, then I highly recommend this. It's the kind of book I wish Zia Elena would have written and left to me!

Thanks, Daniel

LOOK For DANIEL'S New Forthcoming Book

"MANGIA ITALIANO"

WILL Be AVAILABLE on AMAZON.com


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