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Wine Bars 2.0

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

The New Tasting Rooms These unconventional wine bars appeal to connoisseurs of all kinds, from beer geeks to artisanal-cheese fanatics to book lovers. Bouley Bakery. Photo © Nicole Bartelme. Chicago: Rootstock This hip new bar puts equal emphasis on small-production beers and wines. Iowa City: Prairie Lights A favorite of David Sedaris's, this cult bookstore added a wine bar to pay homage to a literary society that drank there in the 1930s. New York: By the Ounce at Bouley Bakery …

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Editor's Letter

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

I don't have a whole lot of patience for people who take themselves very, very seriously. Particularly if those people are wine experts. Wine should be fun. Yes, I think you should swirl and sniff and play the guess-the-flavor game , but at the end of the day, I like to drink wine because it tastes good and I have a great time. This issue provides lots of opportunities for that kind of satisfying wine experience . In this quest, I have a few role models. Two are star chef Daniel Boulud …

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Wine with Style

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

Glassware Photo © Antonis Achilleos Unbreakable Stemware We dropped, bashed and stepped on these new BPA-free plastic glasses from Sur La Table (left) , but they would not crack. The delicately lipped, crystal-clear glasses come in several styles, from highballs to flutes, and are perfect for outdoor entertaining. $40 for a set of six; surlatable.com . Curvy Glasses Holmegaard's "Cocoon" glasses have undulating stems (right) . $37 for two; scantrendsusa.com . Heart Decanter …

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Grape Causes

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

Water and Wages for Africa Photo © Indego Africa Job Training Indego Africa returns all profits from the sale of fair-trade handicrafts, like wine-bottle bags and Dutch wax cloth coasters (left) , to its Rwandan artisans. Plus, it provides training in entrepreneurship, literacy and computer skills. indegoafrica.org . Clean Water Wine to Water began as a series of wine-tasting fund-raisers. Now, founder Doc Hendley works directly with people in places like Darfur and Uganda to build …

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Is Greatness Overrated?

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

Plus: Good Wines, Great Values Everyone I know drinks good wine. When I made this observation to a friend of mine recently, he was unimpressed. "It's hard not to drink good wine," he replied. "There's so much of it around." And he's right. Thanks to a near-global wine glut and major improvements in viticulture and winemaking technology, good wine is suddenly extremely easy to find. Great wine is something else altogether. Great wine is produced in small quantities …

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Good Wines, Great Values

Date: Mon, Mar 1, 2010

Five Great Value Wines: 2007 Kracher Pinot Gris Illmitz ($16) This Austrian Pinot Gris from the late master Alois Kracher is surprisingly rich, with a wonderfully penetrating minerality. As restaurateur Phil Walters says, "It screams terroir." 2007 Cameron Hughes Lot 110 Carneros Pinot Noir ($18) The near-global wine glut has helped producers like Cameron Hughes, who are procuring fruit from some very good (and very secret) sources in California . This bright, lively red has true …

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Where to Stay and Drink in Hong Kong

Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010

Where to Stay Central Park Hotel This high-rise hotel offers sleek, affordable rooms in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan district. Mandarin Oriental Legendary for its service, the iconic hotel also hosts Zachys' Hong Kong wine auctions. Where to Drink Domani An Italy-focused wine list complements Italian chef Mauro Uliassi's exquisite Adriatic dishes. Lei Yue Mun Seafood The vintage (BYOB) Kowloon restaurant lets diners pick their fish from nearby shops, like the excellent So Kee Seafood. …

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Will Hong Kong Drink Up All Our Wine?

Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010

At first, I didn't panic. Last year, I began getting the occasional press release about another successful Hong Kong wine auction, but brisk sales there made perfect sense: In 2008, the city abolished import duties that once stood at 80 percent. Wine there was essentially half price, so of course it was a good time to buy. But then, last December, I heard this: The city's 10-plus wine auctions in 2009 had grossed an estimated $64 million. After New York City, Hong Kong was suddenly …

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Erin Martin's Tips for an Airy, Modern Kitchen

Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010

Repeat materials and colors for a unified look Martin likes the clean, bright-white color of statuary marble, which she used for both the countertops and the hood. Use metal accents Martin added rivets on the sandblasted steel backsplash built by JJ Forge and forged-steel rings on the edge of the stainless steel shelf for hanging ladles. 707-987-2400 or jjforge.com . Pick pendant lamps "Holes in the ceiling distract your eye," Martin says, so she avoids recessed lighting. She …

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5 New Eco-Style Favorites

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Photo © Antonis Achilleos 1. Golden Bowls Susan Dwyer of Chicago's Up in the Air Somewhere hand-molds clay and recycled paper into food-safe bowls and vases. She enhances the organic shapes of some pieces by covering them with ethereal gold leaf. Photo © James Ransom 2. Bamboo Trays Diane Ruengsorn of Domestic Aesthetic in Brooklyn, New York, creates contoured tabletop pieces—such as a topography-inspired sushi tray—from sustainable woods like bamboo. She's now …

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An Overachieving Underchewer

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Although I have to instruct my kids on a lot of things, I never have to remind them to chew their food. They chew like champs. You see, my wife and I have lapsed into the bad habit of letting our three-year-old twin boys watch TV while they're having dinner. Problem is, they've figured out that as long as they're still eating, they can keep watching Yo Gabba Gabba! So the crafty little buggers will stretch out dinner for an eon or two by chewing their food to a fine pulp. …

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A Foodie's Culture Calendar

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Art in Philadelphia See: The Philadelphia Museum of Art is the only U.S. stop for the epic Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris exhibit, on view through April 25. Photo courtsey of Philadelphia Museum of Art, A.E. Gallatin Collection, 1952. © 2010 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society. Village Whiskey. Photo © Steve Legato. Eat: Village Whiskey , the latest venture from chef Jose Garces, serves stellar burgers and delicious bourbon drinks . Stay: Kimpton's new …

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Home Cook Superstar Winner

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Congratulations to Sarah Simmons , a digital marketing consultant in New York City. She told us, "I live to eat. No, wait—I live to watch other people eat food I've made." Sarah's taste is adventurous (bourbon-balsamic ice cream), and she loves her food processor so much that she gave it a name (Francine). One of her friends told us, "Sarah regularly feeds an army of New Yorkers who are overworked, underfed and yearning for a home-cooked meal." For more on Sarah and the …

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Editor's Letter

Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010

Maybe it's because I grew up skinny. Or maybe it's because I believe portion control solves all nutritional ills. Whatever the reason, I've long subscribed to a holistic approach to well-being for F&W that embraces everything, even triple-pork pastas. I will always believe in balance, as it allows the magazine to skip over fad diets and questionable science. But there has been an undeniable shift in how health-minded people are eating: They're moving meat off the center …

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