Fans of viognier and gewurztraminer will be pleased to discover another flower-scented white wine making an appearance in wine stores: the torrontes grape, an ancient aromatic variety that has been nearly forgotten in Europe, but is finding new life in the New World. Argentina, where this uncommon grape is widely planted, produces delightful wines like $13.00 Alta Vista Premium Torrontes, with overtly floral aromas and flavors, reminiscent of roses and honeysuckle.
White wines from warm arid zones like Argentina’s high-altitude Mendoza region were once a tough sell. Excessive heat in the wineries affected both fermentation and aging, yielding tired, flabby wines that tasted flat or oxidized. But the rapid spread of temperature control technology in the last few decades has changed the region’s white wine landscape dramatically.
This torrontes from Alta Vista is full-bodied, a natural for rich foods and sauces. Its intense peach and mimosa aromatics are a natural with highly seasoned foods. Try it with Tom Ka Gai, Thailand’s coconut-chicken soup, or with Gambas al Ajillo, classic Spanish garlic shrimp.
Diet gurus always advise nixing the bread basket in restaurants — I disagree. While it’s true that doing so can cut calories, abstinence also deprives you of a kitchen’s opening act. The best restaurants show attention to detail and a commitment to quality with flavorful, distinctive rolls or slices and perfect accompaniments like green, fruity olive oil or fresh, creamy butter.
Supper, for example, prides itself on house-made breads that are prepared with wild — not commercial — yeasts. And the difference is pronounced; Supper’s sourdough has a particularly airy texture and toasty aroma. (Some lucky late-night diners are occasionally sent home with leftovers.) But restaurants need not tackle baking to get it right. Choosing a top bakery is just as good an option. (Beau Monde and Bar Ferdinand, for example, both buy bread from the excellent French-Vietnamese bakery, Artisan Boulanger.) And Le Virtù offers yet another take on the tradition with its irresistible fried dough, which hails from the Abruzzese region of Italy. — Joy Manning
Chef Marcie Turney, of the Gayborhood’s Lolita, and its new Indian sister spot, Bindi.
1.Your of-the-moment ingredient of choice right now:
Oh, definitely fenugreek. We’re using it at Bindi a lot right now. You can use it fresh, or use the leaves dried, or use the seeds toasted, or ground, or use it as a powder. We use it in a lot here, the seeds, in the lamb meatballs. The dried version, we use to marinate meats, like the chicken chana masala. It’s interesting because all the forms smell different and have different flavors to them.
2. One trend that you’re just totally over:
All of this chemistry cooking — the foams, the gels, the gelees. It’s one thing to go somewhere where it tastes good, but I’ve been out to eat places where someone’s just using the methods, and it doesn’t taste like anything.
Some diners balk at tasting menus because choice is removed from the equation, but I welcome the abdication of responsibility when a master chef is calling the shots. For instance: the first Monday night of the month at Snackbar, when the restaurant invites a notable toque to take over its Rittenhouse kitchen.
It isn’t the only place in the area to have this experience, but the restaurant has been attracting some of the town’s top talent. Shola Olunloyo (formerly of Le Bec-Fin, Blue Angel and Studiokitchen) kicked off the guest chef series back in November, with a luxurious menu featuring Kobe beef with an oxtail dumpling, chanterelles and parsnip puree, among other unforgettable dishes.
And last week, Marc Vetri (Vetri, Osteria) stepped behind the stove. He created an eight-course tasting of Italian inflected dishes, including a toothsome squid ink pasta so richly pigmented that my lips were flecked with black for hours. Trust the chef: A tasting menu can introduce you to new dishes or even change your notions about the way certain ingredients taste. I know its part of my ongoing palate education. — Joy Manning
Allow me to introduce our new restaurant critic, Joy Manning. You’ll find her smart and delicious restaurant reviews in Philly Mag on a monthly basis, but you’ll also get to know her through her posts here on Taste Daily. To start things off, I asked Joy about her food philosophy.
On her love of food: “It’s hard for me to pinpoint just when food took over my life, but I have become one those people whose dinner conversation revolves either around the dishes and ingredients at hand or else what to have tomorrow for breakfast. At restaurants, I compulsively check for the perfect sear on a scallop, the perfect pink at the heart of a burger, the perfect creamy-but-al dente risotto, even when I’m off the clock. I am obsessed by the techniques and ingredients, the chefs and recipes that leave me satisfied and inspired.
On the place of food in Philly: “For me, food is more than a biological necessity. Food is history and culture everyone can experience and enjoy. In Philadelphia, our restaurants are an expression of our identity as a city, with each neighborhood bistro and fancy fine-dining venue contributing to a sense of place.”
On Taste Daily:“The scope of Philadelphia food makes it impossible to fit everything into my monthly restaurant reviews, so you’ll find those extra tips and observations here on Taste Daily.”
So you already make an effort to buy organic, and you’ve got — and use — those cute reuseable grocery bags from Whole Foods. Good news is, the green doesn’t have to stop there.
Next week at Scott Aboretum, Mark Highland, president of The Organic Mechanics Soil Company, reveals the secrets behind executing, maintaining and using a rich compost pile in your backyard, an essential for any green gourmet.
Get this: Compost cuts down on the amount of reuseable waste sent to landfills, improves soil fertility, and saves you money (yet another green benefit we love).
$35 for non-members. 2 to 4 p.m. Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, 610-328-8025, scottarboretum.org.
The Organic Mechanics Soil Company, 110 East Biddle Street, West Chester, 610-692-7404, organicmechanicsoil.com
It seems no matter which New Year you celebrate, the New Year’s Eve dinner binge and New Year’s Day resolution to eat healthy is universal. According to chef Joseph Poon, a healthy dish is traditionally served on the first day of the Chinese New Year — that’s tomorrow — after tonight’s characteristically decadent New Year’s Eve banquet-style meal. So whether you are celebrating the Year of the Rat, or you’re just trying to get back on your 2008 diet plan, try chef Poon’s recipe for an antioxidant- and protein-packed stir-fry.
If it’s February, then it’s time again to make space in the fridge for this luscious brew from Downingtown’s Victory Brewing Company. St. Victorious Doppelbock honors the true Bavarian style, but with a sly twist — a subtle touch of beech-smoked malt that adds depth and character.
Bock beers are strong beers, which in Germany usually means strong lagers. Doppelbocks, or double bocks, are strongest of all. Rich chocolate brown with ruby highlights, these beers defy any assumption that lagers are all weak yellow beers. Originally brewed to sustain monks during Lent, Doppelbocks are made with far more malt and far less water than your average pilsner. Packed with toffee-like flavors and aromas of gingersnaps fresh from the oven, these beers are unctuous on the palate. They slip down the throat like melted butter, their silky richness disguising their hefty alcoholic kick.
Victory is one of the country’s leaders in brewing German-inspired styles. St. Victorious may well be the finest Doppelbock produced in the USA. So, grab a case while it’s fresh. It’ll be a terrific partner for hearty meals, from pierogies with fried onions to bacon cheeseburgers.
Benny Lai, chef-owner of the Chinatown gem, Vietnam, and week-old Vietnam Café, the 32-seat West Philly outpost of the original, on staying true to his roots:
“I love to try different restaurants. Italian, Greek, Chinese. I love to eat, and I love to try everything, so that I can learn more from other people, and get better myself. But I don’t try to mix those foods with my food: If you like Chinese, then you go Chinese. If you Vietnamese, then you go Vietnamese. Those fusion places, you don’t know what you’re getting. I like Italian — traditional Italian — not those places where they cook Italian and Thai on the same plate. No, you won’t see that here.” — Christine Speer
On the horizon: Pearl, an Asian-centric restaurant and lounge brought to us by the folks who own Old City’s Red Sky Restaurant and Lounge. Set to open mid-February at 19th and Chestnut, the new concept will replace the former Little Pete’s with drinks, dinner and — if you are so inclined — dancing in the upstairs lounge. We got a sneak peek from Gladwyne-born executive chef Ari Weiswasser. — Christine Speer
TD: First things first. How would you describe the cuisine at Pearl?
AW: The concept is Pan-Asian, pulling ingredients from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, China, even India. We want to be a restaurant that appeals to the masses, but that can also appeal on a higher, gourmet level — a place you can visit frequently, but also bring in a high-end dining crowd on the weekend.
TD: You’ve worked at Gilt, Daniel, Picholine [in New York] and Striped Bass here in Philly. Any of those places give you a background in Asian fare?
AW: When I look back at those kitchens now, I see a lot of Asian influence. I’ve never worked in an Asian restaurant, but at Daniel, the executive chef who opened the restaurant was Alex Lee, and his influence rubbed off on that restaurant. What we’re doing at Pearl is Asian cooking from a French perspective. I want to distinguish that from fusion — we’re not combining ingredients, we’re just combining techniques.
Fans of viognier and gewurztraminer will be pleased to discover another flower-scented white wine making an appearance in wine stores: the torrontes grape, an ancient aromatic variety that has been nearly forgotten in Europe, but is finding new life in the New World. Argentina, where this uncommon grape is widely planted, produces delightful wines like $13.00 Alta Vista Premium Torrontes, with overtly floral aromas and flavors, reminiscent of roses and honeysuckle.
Diet gurus always advise nixing the bread basket in restaurants — I disagree. While it’s true that doing so can cut calories, abstinence also deprives you of a kitchen’s opening act. The best restaurants show attention to detail and a commitment to quality with flavorful, distinctive rolls or slices and perfect accompaniments like green, fruity olive oil or fresh, creamy butter. 
Chef Marcie Turney, of the Gayborhood’s 
Some diners balk at tasting menus because choice is removed from the equation, but I welcome the abdication of responsibility when a master chef is calling the shots. For instance: the first Monday night of the month at 
Allow me to introduce our new restaurant critic, Joy Manning. You’ll find her smart and delicious restaurant reviews in Philly Mag on a monthly basis, but you’ll also get to know her through her posts here on Taste Daily. To start things off, I asked Joy about her food philosophy.
So you already make an effort to buy organic, and you’ve got — and use — those cute reuseable grocery bags from Whole Foods. Good news is, the green doesn’t have to stop there. 
It seems no matter which New Year you celebrate, the New Year’s Eve dinner binge and New Year’s Day resolution to eat healthy is universal. According to chef Joseph Poon, a healthy dish is traditionally served on the first day of the Chinese New Year — that’s tomorrow — after tonight’s characteristically decadent New Year’s Eve banquet-style meal. So whether you are celebrating the Year of the Rat, or you’re just trying to get back on your 2008 diet plan, try chef Poon’s recipe for an antioxidant- and protein-packed stir-fry.
If it’s February, then it’s time again to make space in the fridge for this luscious brew from Downingtown’s Victory Brewing Company. St. Victorious Doppelbock honors the true Bavarian style, but with a sly twist — a subtle touch of beech-smoked malt that adds depth and character.
Benny Lai, chef-owner of the Chinatown gem, 
On the horizon: Pearl, an Asian-centric restaurant and lounge brought to us by the folks who own Old City’s