With Pinot Paradise upon us, oenophiles will want to make educated choices about where to go and what to taste. For heft, muscular beauty and minty complexity, the Burrell School Vineyards 2007 Estate Reserve Pinot Noir will deliver and then some. This full-figured creation was among the 45 local pinot noirs, vintage 2007 and 2008, ranked last week by a team of tasters and wine writers.
Articles by Christina Waters
Futzie Nutzle In Full Color
Still one charismatic guy after all these years, Futzie Nutzle recently worked his way through 40 years and two lattés reflecting upon his new show at the Cabrillo Gallery, which opens March 18 and runs through April 11, with a reception this Saturday. Even sitting still, Nutzle is a restless bundle of hippie tropes, from his long white hair and off-center pyramidal goatee to his agitated eyebrows and sly smile.
PLATED: I Screamery!
Equipped with a double scoop cone—one of cardamom, pistachio and chocolate, the other of honey walnut—I pause to find out how business is going at the chic Penny Ice Creamery. “We couldn’t make enough olive oil, chocolate and sea salt ice cream,” admits Kendra Baker, who along with her partner Zachary Davis is experiencing the breakneck pace of success. “And we ran through candycap mushroom ice cream immediately—which is an unusual flavor.”
PLATED: March Madness
Even a quick glimpse at the Westside Farmers Market last Saturday convinced me that spring really is about to, well, spring. There’s nothing like baby shallots and leeks—for example the splendid lineup at Dirty Girl Farm’s well-stocked stand—to convince any foodie that new ingredients are blossoming in our local organic fields.
PLATED: The Brew Mistress
The blatantly retro Red Restaurant and Lounge has always championed distinctive beers such as Chimay Cinq Cents and Boont Black IPA. And if all goes well next month, it will have its own cicerone, or certified beer expert. UCSC graduate Miriam Victor already has almost three years of learning the food and beverage biz at Red under her belt. “Artfully crafted beer is a big movement,” she notes, handing me a snifter of deep chocolate-hued India Pale Ale (yes, IPAs can be dark) loaded with toastiness and creamy depths.
PLATED: Terroir in A Bottle
A $20 Pinot for pork and salmon, a taco for $1 and a meal by Master Cheftestant Jake Gandolfo.
PLATED: Spice of Life
Clever idea, having a zip code for a wine label. That’s just what Terroir 95470 is, a spin-off 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Redwood Valley, produced by Chance Creek Vineyard. A lovely creation weighing in at a perfect 13.5 percent alcohol and made from organic grapes, this is an astonishing bit of oeno-expertise for a mere $8.99 a bottle (thank you, New Leaf).
PLATED: Meat of The Matter
Butcher Chris LaVeque—posing above with his lipstick-red vintage saw—and crew are putting the finishing touches on the gleaming interior of El Salchichero, slated to burst forth with handcrafted charcuterie next Friday, Feb. 11. Vowing to cater to “all your meat needs,” sausage maestro LaVeque revealed his starting line-up. “Fresh and smoked sausages, all seasonal.
PLATED: Fresh Beginnings
The Weekly‘s new food column by award-winning writer Christina Waters debuts with a report from the Wine & Crab Taste-Off and news from local eateries and artisan food purveyors.
Paul Bowles @ 100
If you were a creative artist—composer, writer, dramatist, musician—during the middle of the 20th century, you knew the work of Paul Bowles. If you were an international insider, you probably vacationed at his Moroccan lodgings. His arc of influence left no art form and no intriguing personality untouched, and sooner or later the gifted and celebrated found their way to his Tangier hideaway. Known to mainstream audiences as the author of The Sheltering Sky and renowned among art world cognoscenti as an innovative composer, Bowles led a charmed and utterly independent life on three continents. To celebrate 100th anniversary of his birth, UCSC will host performers, filmmakers and scholars to celebrate “all things Bowles” this weekend, Feb. 4-6. All lectures, readings, exhibitions and performances are free and open to the public.
