Gary Vaynerchuk Talks About Banyuls On Wine Library TV
My favorite episodes of Wine Library TV are the ones where Gary Vaynerchuk drops some knowledge and helps me expand my understanding about the wine world.
The latest episode is a great example. In it, Gary talks about the Banyuls region of France and their well known dessert wines. It’s an area that I’m not familiar with and am anxious to try.
Check out the episode and let me know what you think.
Magically Delicious
You’re going to want to run out and get one of these. Go now.
Want more latte art? Check out Art In My Coffee. Have submitted a few photos there.
Samuel Adams Noble Pils is Now Available in Stores
This afternoon, on the way home from work, I ducked into the local liquor store in my neighborhood and we pleasantly surprised to find a new Samuel Adams beer that I had never seen before. It’s the Samuel Adams Noble Pils. It’s obviously a pilsner.
Samuel Adams Noble Pils is the Boston Brewing Company’s brand new spring seasonal. It replaced the Samuel Adams White Ale. The Noble Pils is made with the 5 noble hop varieties.
It’s a light, easy drinking, and really delicious beer. If you can find it, I’d recommend giving it a try.
(Photo by H Dickins)
Boston’s Beer Culture
When I was in Boston a couple of weeks ago, I definitely stopped by my share of neighborhood pubs, bars, and restaurants. It seemed like each one had a pretty decent baseline choice of beer on tap or in bottles.
At the very least, every bar has Sam Adams or Harpoon (the locals) on tap.
When I talked to Boston folks, I was really impressed with the level that beer is a part of the culinary culture of Boston. It’s just everywhere.
It’s very different than DC. You could go into DC bars that just have Coors Light and only in bottle. It was funny telling this to Bostonians. They responded like I was coming from a third world country.
So… yeah. Boston is great for beer.
(Photo by xJasonRogersx)
Food Love
If you’re going to have a baby and do not have a church community, I suggest finding one. Why? Among other reasons is the fact that they tend give wonderful meals to new families. The good people at Church of the Resurrection sure came through for us.
Church volunteers coordinate a ministry called “meals for moms,” which provides new mothers with, well, you guessed it, meals. That means that three days a week, since the birth of our daughter on January 1, different parishioners came to our house toting some mouth-water, homemade concoctions. I would have been thankful for the meal no matter what I’ve gotten, and I expected it all to be satisfying in a homemade sort of way. But I’ll tell you what – we have some good cooks in our ranks. Beef ragout, pulled pork barbecue, squash soup and breadsticks – and let me tell you about the chicken. There has been a lot of chicken, as you can imagine, but it was never repetitive. A casserole one week, sesame the next, chicken breast in a tangy, tomato-based sauce cooked with squash, we even got a whole roasted chicken – it was all delicious. The meals were complete too. There were salads, side veggies, and desserts. There was even D.S., who did not cook, but brought us pizza from our favorite pizza restaurant. We have been well fed and well loved.
Having a baby has been one of the best things we’ve ever done. I recommend them. But make no mistake, these first few weeks have been tough. It is tough for us, and we are privileged in so many ways. We are together, our parents flew in to take care of us, we have a great community, a warm apartment, employment – had any of this been missing, it would have been all the more difficult. And it is still tough. It’s tough to throw together a nutritious and good-tasting meal when you’ve been up all night, trying to comfort a 10-pound crying person. Our church loved us in a way we did not expect or ask for, and it has made a huge difference.
One of the best ways to show love, to be a friend, to be a family member, is to share a meal. New parents could always use some, and if you have a child, I hope there is someone to provide one for you. This should also remind us to share meals with the new parents in our community (as my landlord did, who is not part of our church, but came by with an amazing lasagna). This is especially true for those in more challenging situations – new parents estranged from their own families, single parents, new parents where the money is tight – no questions these are people whose days would be lit up by a warm supper from a friend. Those of us who write here at Justin Loves Food love food indeed. We can also use food to love others.
A big thanks to our brothers and sisters at Church of the Resurrection, especially those who have loved us with food.
Boston’s Pizzeria Regina Is So Good I Dream About It
Not this weekend but last weekend, I was in Boston for work. The conference was on Saturday so I had some time on Sunday to explore and have fun before I came back to Washington, DC.
I decided to walk through Boston’s North End or what looked like ”Little Italy.” It was a lot of narrow and bumpy brick paved streets. Every corner had some type of shop, cafe or restaurant on it, most of which had some type of amazing smell emanating from it.
Now, I remember 2-3 years ago I was in Boston for a different conference and going to this pizzeria up on the North End but I didn’t remember what its name or where it was exactly. I just remembered that it was good, that it was in kind of back alley and that it was on the North End of the city.
And, like wise men getting guided to the stable by the star, I was led just out of muscle memory back to Pizzeria Regina. It’s at an intersection where three or 4 streets come together. None of them are particularly busy streets. You kind of felt like you were wondering through a series of back allies but you knew what was in there was going to be amazing because it was 11am on a Sunday and people were already lining up for it outside.
I decided that I’d come back a little bit later, get a spot at the bar, and enjoy some pizza for lunch. When I came back, it was just like I remembered it. The staff was doing everything that they could to stuff as many patrons into the restaurant as possible. They patrons knew what they were about get was going to be worth it. It was a delicious brick-oven pizza.
I ordered the white pizza. (I have an obsession with white pizza. I’m not sure why.) I got the small, which was PLENTY of food for one person. The mix of all the cheeses together with the very good crust in your mouth is just a magical combination. Really, how can you go wrong with anything with goat cheese on it? Hah!
All in all it was like $9 and another $4 for a beer. It was the perfect way to end a great trip.
The next time you’re in Boston, you need to seek out Pizzeria Regina. You won’t regret it.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pizzeria-regina-boston-4
Beer Wars Movie Now Available For Purchase Or Download
I’m kind of excited. The previously mentioned movie Beer Wars, which chronicles the interplay between the big and micro-breweries, is now available for purchase, download, or streaming. The indie film got a distribution deal through Warner Bros., which is AWESOME. I can’t wait to get my copy. Will write a review as soon as I see it.
Have you seen it yet? If not, here’s the trailer.
Magic Hat Brewery’s Spring Seasonal – Vinyl Lager
Was at the beer store this weekend and little bit surprised to see that Magic Hat Brewery had already introduced their 2010 Spring Seasonal, Vinyl Lager, considering I had to trapse through snow to get to the store.
Now that I have it back at home and have drank a couple, I have to say that I really like this easy drinking amber lager. It’s quite delicious.
Go to your local liquor store, pick up a 6 pack, and let me know what you think.
Here’s a little promotional video that Magic Hat did for the Vinyl release:
Navigating A New City’s Food Scene With Yelp Mobile
Lately, when I travel, one of the things I try really hard to do is avoid the restaurants that just appeal to the tourists and really go to the places where the locals go. I want to eat what’s going to give me a flavor of that local culture.
Now, I have had some success with doing this by just wandering. I remember when I was in NYC, I was looking for a cool indie non-Starbucks coffee shop. I happened to find my way to Think Coffee in Greenwich Village. I was very happy about this but it’s not easy to replicate.
Last weekend, I was in Boston, wasn’t meeting with friends that I could ask for recommendations for a few hours, so I decided to use Yelp on my iPhone as a way to guide my noise. I was looking for a good latte and a sandwich.
I found my way over to Cafe L’Aroma in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. I was thrilled with the results. Not only was I able to get a really quality latte, I was able to get a great sandwich. It was a turkey sandwich with this cranberry bread. Mmmmm… It was about $12 all together, which isn’t bad considering.
I was impressed with how Yelp was able to steer me in the right direction.
Have you used it before to find new places? How has it worked for you?
Backlogged…
Per an earlier blog post, I’ve done a lot of traveling over the last week. I was both in Boston and San Francisco.
While traveling, I definitely went out of my way to make sure that I tried new things and take notes of trends that I saw. Over the next week, I’ll do my best to go through my notes, clear my backlog, and tell you about my various adventures.
Let me tell you. There’s something about traveling which gets me especially excited about food & drink. Every area really has their own culinary language. You learn so much about the attitude of an area by what kind of food they eat.
So I hope you enjoy my regaling you with my stories.
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