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Great News For Foodies – America’s Oldest Food And Wine Festival Is Back
Beef Wellington from Chef David Daniels at the Forbes 5-Star Boston Harbor Hotel.
Early pandemic lockdowns raised appreciation for the joys of travel and for eating out, two things people quickly found they really missed when they could no longer do them. This has fueled the current pent-up demand, and one easy way to satisfy both urges is with a visit to America’s longest running food and wine festival – which just happens to be held annually (except for the pandemic) at one of the nation’s very best hotels , the Forbes 5-Star Boston Harbor Hotel.
The Boston Wine Festival has been a fixture on the culinary and oenophile scene for three and a half decades, and for almost all of that time, it was the labor of love of its founder, Chef Daniel Bruce, career executive chef at the property and one of the world’s leading experts on food and wine pairings. For 30 years Bruce spent a good part of each year visiting vineyards, meeting with wine makers and tasting wines, carefully designing dishes and creating special menus entirely focused on best matching the special pours.
But two years ago he retired, and in his second year under the direction of it his successor, Chef David Daniels, the event returns this winter with an added emphasis on food and a slightly new name to reflect this, the Boston Food and Wine Festival , now in its 34thth seasons.
The Boston Harbor Hotel, designed by acclaimed firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, is Boston’s … [+]
I have had the good fortune to attend the festival a couple of times in the past and can personally vouch for its excellence. I now understand why so many regular patrons give it high priority on their annual calendars.
This festival has a very different format than newer ones such as South Beach, Aspen, New Orleans and such. Most run from a single day to a long weekend and are typically spread across multiple venues throughout an entire city, often with conflicting scheduled events you have to choose between. In sharp contrast, this one is an ongoing series of brunches, seminars and dinners, only one at a time, that runs for a staggering three months, all winter long. This makes it very easy to attend, whether you live in Boston, happen to be visiting for business or pleasure, or plan a special trip for the festival. However there are often events on back to back nights or twice in a single day, which makes it more worthwhile for planning a weekend visit.
It kicks off on January 12 with a special Staglin Family wines dinner and brings back some of the biggest special nights that have become a regular part of the festival, including the opening night gala, Far Niente and Opus One dinners and the Battle of the Cabs (two editions, one for California and one for the world), along with some high-profile new additions such as Hitchhiking Through Napa With Kevin Zraly. One of the biggest names in the wine world, Zraly was the legendary sommelier from New York’s late Windows on the World, a world-renowned wine tasting instructor and author. New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov is another special guest.
The Boston Food and Wine Festival is the longest running such event in the nation, now in its 34th … [+]
Those are just some of the highlights of the all-star lineup of 34 intimate winemaker-hosted dinners, seminars, thematic receptions, and celebratory brunches. Some of the world’s great winemakers consider it an honor to come to Boston and explain each of their choices, of course, in an up close and personal way that is hard to replicate anywhere else. Unlike the so-called “Grand Tastings” you find at most festivals, with dozens of winemakers of varied quality pouring minuscule samples in big tents, each event is an intimate special day or night, most of them are full service, sit down multi-course meals co-hosted by Daniels, explaining the dishes and pairings, and the winemaker, explaining the wines and how he or she created and selected them. These often include special limited editions that are never for sale.
There are also a handful of spirits events such as the Cocktail Jazz Brunch and a Chocolate & Spirits Pairing. Tasting seminars like Wines of Chile and Rose Master Class start at just $65, and multi-course wine pairing dinners start at $195.
You don’t have to be a guest of the hotel to attend the events, and many locals take advantage. But the Forbes 5-Star is one of my favorites in the entire country, as well as one of the world’s best dog friendly luxury hotels, and
DR MEGAN ROSSI: How to enjoy a festive drink without the hangover!
Are you the sort who feels rotten after just one glass of wine, while your friends can down half a bottle or more and feel just fine?
There are many reasons people react to small amounts of booze badly — even the make-up of your gut microbes can play a part — and there are steps you can take to help.
People who feel ill after only one or two drinks often assume they have some kind of allergy to alcohol. In fact, a true allergy is really rare and the symptoms, such as difficulty breathing and abdominal pain, for example, tend to be severe enough to ensure you never touch a drop again.
More common is an alcohol intolerance. This is usually linked to a genetic fault, which means you produce a less active form of an enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Are you the sort who feels rotten after just one glass of wine, while your friends can down half a bottle or more and feel just fine?, writes Dr Megan Rossi (pictured)
The liver initially breaks alcohol down into acetaldehyde and, at this point, this enzyme should get to work turning it into acetic acid (the main component of everyday vinegar).
If aldehyde dehydrogenase doesn’t do its job, then acetaldehyde, which is toxic, lingers in the body, causing a cascade of symptoms that often include nausea and vomiting as the body tries to expel it — as well as headaches. It can also cause the blood vessels to widen, leading to facial flushing and a stuffy nose.
How much alcohol anyone with an intolerance can withstand before feeling sick varies — I see people in clinics who can hold a few glasses fine and others who can barely sniff a drink. I’m afraid the only way round this one is to find your limits.
For others, it may be a component of booze — not the alcohol itself — that’s the problem: for example, the gluten in beer or sulphites added as preservatives to wines and also present in the grapes (levels tend to be higher in white wines) .
Sulphites can trigger a range of symptoms including stuffy nose, wheezing, hives and bad hangovers — people with eczema and asthma can be especially sensitive to them.
Swapping to organic wines might help — while they’ll have some sulphites from the grapes, they won’t have added sulphites, so might be easier to tolerate.
A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2019 found that switching to organic wine led to fewer alcohol-induced headaches among those sensitive to sulphites.
Histamines in wine and beer can also cause a problem. This chemical is produced as part of the fermentation process and can trigger a hot, red face, hives, nausea or diarrhea when you drink it.
The histamine level can vary with the drink, depending on the vintage, type and fermentation process (red wine contains more than white, with 60 to 3,800 micrograms per liter, while white has between three and 120 micrograms), so it’s a question of trial and error to see which suits you.
A more surprising factor in all this is the health of your gut microbes. Research suggests that they support the work of the liver — the so-called gut-liver axis.
So, if your gut microbes are not in good shape, your liver might not be processing alcohol as effectively as it could.
While our understanding of the link between gut microbes and liver function is still in its infancy, one study from the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi, India, in 2017, found that giving people with liver disease a daily faecal transplant (ie , a treated stool transplant, which provides a new community of gut microbes) for a week brought about ‘significant’ improvements in liver function, and that improvement remained a year later.
What we do know for certain is that excess alcohol can impact our gut microbes, especially those higher up our gut, where the alcohol is absorbed.
For others, it may be a component of booze — not the alcohol itself — that’s the problem: for example, the gluten in beer or sulphites added as preservatives to wines and also present in the grapes (levels tend to be higher in white wines)
In turn, they produce less of the organic fatty acids such as butyrate which helps fuel the protective gut lining: at the same time, alcohol itself irritates and weakens our gut walls.
As a result, toxins are more easily able to pass from our
15 celebratory restaurants and bars in Dallas
As we jog toward the busiest time of the year, this month’s Hot List will add a special theme: celebratory restaurants and bars in Dallas. These spots are wonderful gathering places to celebrate a successful year, toast a friend, remember a birthday or anniversary, and get into the holiday spirit.
Bring one person, bring 10 — all of these places offer a dash of delight to a hectic season.
We’ve chosen to limit the list to Dallas only, to keep it concise. Email [email protected] if you want a celebratory restaurant recommendation in another North Texas city.
Apothecary
on Greenville Avenue in Dallas
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Dip into one of Dallas’ most interesting cocktail bars, Apothecary on Greenville Avenue. It’s a dark and mysterious place, often chosen as an after-dinner cocktail spot, although the Apothecary serves ambitious bar snacks if you’re hungry, too. Cocktails can be playful, like the Toomami that’s made with cereal milk and dark rum. They can also be peculiar, like the Kimchini that’s made with kimchi-infused vodka, mushroom soy and gochujang. End with the Candelabra dessert: a trio of candles that are lit on fire. You blow out the candles, then eat them. It’s a fun party trick.
The Apothecary is at 1922 Greenville Ave., Dallas. It’s open Tuesday through Sunday, evenings only. Walk-ins are available, but it’s better to make a reservation.
Brass Ram
in downtown Dallas
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My No. 1 place in Dallas to celebrate anything right now is Brass Ram, Nick Badovinus’ new prime rib restaurant in downtown Dallas. He’s managed to make a giant cut of sexy meat while you load up on mac and cheese, French onion soup, steak frites and crab cakes. Toss in a plate of $41 lobster bucatini or a $27 burger, because hopefully someone else is paying, right? Brass Ram is expensive, opulent and a hell of a good time. It’ll be one of the toughest reservations to get this season.
Brass Ram is at 2130 Commerce St., Dallas (on the second floor, above the National Anthem). Reservations are recommended. Call 469-677-6170 Tuesday through Saturday between 2 and 5 pm, or email [email protected].
Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine
near Highland Park
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You’ve likely heard by now that Carbone’s Fine Food & Wine on Oak Lawn Avenue will close in Jan. 1, 2023. After an elaborate food fight between Carbone’s and the new Italian restaurant Carbone, the smaller, local company has agreed to take a knee. Owner Julian Barsotti plans to close, then reopen his Italian restaurant — exactly the same spot, similar menu — in spring 2023, with a new name. Get to Carbone’s before New Year’s Eve for Sunday-night gravy. You won’t regret it in early 2023, when you’ll have to go without.
Carbone’s Fine Food and Wine is at 4208 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas. Call for reservations: 214-522-4208.
Custom Meats
in University Park
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Home cooks, here’s one for you: Custom Meats is a new specialty butcher shop on Lovers Lane near the Dallas North Tollway. Stop in for your family’s typical steak order — it’s a rib-eye for him, a filet for me, in my house — or ask the knowledgeable butchers about a more interesting cut. They also sell house-ground hamburger meat, beef tallow, duck eggs and raw dog food.
Custom Meats is at 4333 Lovers Lane (near the Dallas North Tollway), University Park.
Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine
in the Dallas Design District
Bonus: Delucca also has restaurants in Fort Worth, Plano and Southlake
Doesn’t matter your age, if you like pizza, you’ll enjoy Delucca. (And if you don’t like pizza, first, why?) There’s no need for a dinner menu at Delucca because servers bring around lobster bisque, salad, meatballs and slices of pizza for a flat fee of $24.50 per person. It’s like a buffet, but you never have to get up. A bottomless pizza party, if you will. i love it.
Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine is at 1628 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas. Reservations are not required, however consider them for larger parties.