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Friendly Research Squad
Tikicult - the beers I prefer tend to be very heavy so not ideal for a hot day, however, I can meet you halfway with the sangria (I have a slight preference for white sangria). david— September 5, 2009 12:51 p.m.
Friendly Research Squad
Casting a wider net I have three other recommendations for refreshing summer libations... Lillet -- an herbed wine from France (in either red or white), served on the rocks with a slice of orange. Spritz con Campari (or for slightly less bitterness, con Aperol) -- this classic Venetian, early evening aperitif is made by mixing prosecco (very slightly sweet Italian sparkling wine) with Campari (bitter apertif) to taste, served on the rocks with a splash of club soda on top and garnished with a green olive and a slice of orange. Use Aperol instead of Campari for less bitterness. Portotonic -- a 50/50 blend of white port (I like Krohn Lagrima White Port for it's rich nutty flavor) and tonic water, with a squeezed wedge of lemon served on the rocks. david— September 5, 2009 11:02 a.m.
Friendly Research Squad
Albariño is a good choice and would definitely make my list. A few others I like depending on mood would be: Vinho Verde - made from green grapes. young, tart, low alcohol, not fancy but refreshing like lemonade. Moscato d'Asti (the full-sized bottles with a little spritz rather than the dessert variety) - this low alcohol, lightly spritzed, mildly sweet wine makes a wonderful accompaniment to sitting outside with a little bread and cheese. Most people don't realize that sweet wines so often pair better with cheese than drier wines. A sparkling rosé such as Chandon Etoile Rosé Cuvée or the Nicolas Feuillatte Rosé are also delightful when shared with good friends outside under the umbrella. Slightly heavier whites that I can also enjoy in the summer heat include Sancerre, Vouvray (both sparkling and non-sparkling), and the Sokol-Blosser Evolution No.9 white blend from Oregon. Wow. All this wine talk makes me want to blow off the day and just sit outside watching the clouds and sip wine - and it's not even 10a.m.! david— September 5, 2009 9:52 a.m.
Flying Solo
Let me preface my comments by disclosing my biases. We tend to like very full-bodied, complex (hopefully), fruit-forward wines, with well-balanced silky tannin. This is what some might call "New World Style". It may not be as sophisticated as a lean, mineraly Bordeaux, but it's what we like and for that we make no apologies. Your mileage may vary. In the $35 range, we like Orin Swift "The Prisoner", Leal Syrah, Laird Cabernet Sauvignon, some pinot noir like the $36 Rusak. In the past we've liked the Hitching Post Highliner, but I haven't cared for more recent vintages. The price on that has also dropped to the $20's which makes me think they are just trying to capitalize on their appearance in the movie Sideways. If you want to go up a few more dollars to the $40 range, Mollydooker's Blue Eyed Boy Shiraz would be fun. If you really want to splurge... One of the absolute best wines I've ever had was the Mollydooker "Carnival of Love" Shiraz (decanted for a few hours). You can find that for around $90. Do you have any thing you like that you would recommend? david— September 3, 2009 9:58 a.m.
Flying Solo
You can lay the blame on me. It's my fault -- I turned her on to the good stuff. The first sample's free, ya know... :) But seriously, it has absolutely nothing to do with cost. Dive bar, hole-in-the-wall, or 15-course chef's tasting menu, we don't care so long as it rocks; and there are many hole-in-the-wall places that do. Like I said to Barb after we went to that 100-point wine-tasting, "No matter how good a fifteen-hundred dollar wine is, it will never taste better than a five-dollar milkshake." N.B. actually we didn't much care for the snooty, expensive wines, but I'm glad we went because now I know that if I splurge on a $35 wine for a special occasion, it will make me happier than any of those $1K+ bottles. And, THAT made it all worthwhile! david— September 2, 2009 6:01 p.m.
Flying Solo
All this leash-talk is getting Barbarella excited... :) david p.s. "pron" is a generally accepted substitute for the word "porn" when one is trying to avoid overzealous net filters.— August 31, 2009 11:14 a.m.
Happy Tummy
Josh, Are you really implying that food can't taste good unless it is made with animal products? wow.— April 14, 2009 4:16 p.m.
Happy Tummy
MSNavarro, Barbarella’s use of the word “militant” was used as an adjective to indicate a small subset of poorly mannered vegans. She was not suggesting that all vegans are militant or that one is militant simply because they are vegan. Since there still seems to be some confusion regarding Barbarella’s column, I have produced the following summarization. I hope this will clear up some of the misunderstanding as both Barbarella and I think it’s totally cool to be a vegetarian or vegan. Really. Her article in no way criticizes someone for choosing a vegetarian of vegan lifestyle. She only criticizes rude, inconsiderate, ill-mannered people which she knows come in both vegetarian and meat-eating forms. Barbarella’s column says (in a nutshell): I have a chef friend, Hanis, who is raising pigs. Quite a number of our friends are vegetarian [ed. Note the use of the word “friends”]. People make their dietary choices for differing reasons. I am not a vegetarian and I am o.k. with that. Occasionally, I find myself put off by people who tell me that is o.k. for me to order whatever I like from the menu. I am also put off by people who lecture me on how I should live my life. There are innocuous vegetarians and vegans (good-mannered) and miltant vegetarians and vegans (bad-mannered). I do not care for bad-mannered people. David was once a vegetarian.— April 13, 2009 10:03 a.m.
Happy Tummy
Señor Gringo, That's very interesting -- I didn't know that. That may have been the case at the restaurant north of Boston but I would be very surprised. Boston doesn't have a particularly large Mexican population (many Portuguese and Brazilians however). In fact, at the time I think I only knew of two Mexican restaurants (not counting Taco Bell). This one was very much of the Chevys variety -- specializing in fajitas and margaritas -- and our server was not even remotely Mexican. I'll never know, but I got a good story out of it.— April 10, 2009 2:06 p.m.
Happy Tummy
continued from last comment... We understand that when a vegetarian announces “It’s o.k. if you order meat.”, this is most often meant as a thoughtful gesture, but it can come across wrong. Our assumption is that if you, the thoughtful, considerate vegetarian, has chosen to dine with a group of people at a restaurant that serves meat, then you have already implied that people can order whatever they like from the menu without fear of offending or disturbing you. If this is not the case, then you should never have accepted the invitation to that restaurant. The point is, that it is not necessary to tell us that it is o.k., and when people do we sometimes hear ourselves thinking, “Why thank you, Your Majesty.” But this type of thing is just an innocent, well-meaning faux pas. The real offense is the casting of stones by those who live in glass houses – the hypocrisy to which Barbarella was referring -- the person with 3 kids that becomes apoplectic when we buy water in plastic bottles. Barbarella and I are childless by choice. One of that person’s kids will use up far more of the earth’s resources and do far more to damage the environment than all the plastic water bottles we’ll ever use. We respect their choices – to have kids and to not buy water in plastic bottles – but they should respect ours as well. We don’t go around telling people not to have kids, and they shouldn’t tell us how we should shop.— April 10, 2009 12:10 p.m.