WE CAN ONLY HOPE

On this day, I hope we can remember what it was like to have an inspirational leader who spoke to us, and what it was like to listen.

 Yes, today is the day. The liveliest wine day of the year.  As the website for Beaujolais Nouveau Day states:

Beaujolais Nouveau Day is marked in France on the third Thursday in November with fireworks, music and festivals. Under French law, the wine is released at 12:01 a.m., just weeks after the wine's grapes have been harvested. Parties are held throughout the country and further afield to celebrate the first wine of the season.

Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk young. Most vintages should be consumed by the following May after its release. However, in excellent vintages (such as 2000) the wine can live much longer and can be enjoyed until the next harvest rolls around..

This year's vintage is very fresh and fruity, not quite the body of last year's heftier wine, but bright and very fruit-forward, with some pepper and peach in the nose, and then a big boom of berries, strawberry and raspberry upfront, blackberry toward the back of the sip.

Here are some comparative tasting notes of nine different BNs from the folks at Wine Spectator, specifically Gillian Sciaretta:

JEAN BERERD & FILS Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau Domaine de la Madone 2016 Score: 87 | $13
This light-bodied red is creamy, with ripe layers of macerated cherry and pureed strawberry, edged by licorice drop and cocoa powder accents. Marjoram and plum aromas linger into the finish. 6,000 cases made.—G.S.

GEORGES DUBOEUF Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2016 Score: 86 | $13
Fresh blackberry, spice box and pomegranate aromas show savory undertones of pink peppercorn and herb. The juicy finish is highlighted by minerally details. 3,000 cases imported.—G.S.

JEAN-PAUL BRUN Beaujolais Nouveau Terres Dorées l'Ancien Vieilles Vignes 2016 Score: 85 | $15
A light-bodied red, with floral aromas giving way to juicy cherry, currant and raspberry fruit, backed by licorice snap, anise and cedar accents. Offers a clean, lightly tannic finish. 800 cases imported.—G.S.

JOSEPH DROUHIN Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $12
Juicy cherry and strawberry flavors burst through the creamy midpalate, with licorice drop and floral details giving expression to the finish. Light tannins. 5,000 cases imported.—G.S.

GEORGES DUBOEUF Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $12
This light-bodied red displays a creamy palate of cherry, pureed raspberry and marjoram flavors, with licorice snap and light smoke details lingering into the lightly chewy finish. 85,000 cases imported.—G.S.

DOMAINE ROCHETTE Beaujolais-Villages Nouveau 2016 Score: 85 | $10
A savory edge of grilled herb and fresh earth lines the boysenberry and cherry fruit. Ample sweet spice and zesty elements linger into the tangy, lightly grippy finish. 400 cases imported.—G.S.

PASCAL CHATELUS Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 84 | $9
Bright and fresh, with raspberry and strawberry flavors matched to creamy gumdrop and light spice details. Offers a zesty, clean finish. 415 cases imported.—G.S.

MOMMESSIN Beaujolais Nouveau 2016 Score: 84 | $13
Crushed raspberry and cherry notes are interwoven with pink peppercorn, anise and light herbal elements, accented by fresh earth undertones. Offers a modest, clean finish. 1,946 cases imported.—G.S.

PAUL DURDILLY Beaujolais Nouveau Les Grandes Coasses 2016 Score: 83 | $14
Aromatic and zesty, with tangy raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, backed by grilled herb and gumdrop details. Crisp finish. 7,000 cases imported.—G.S.

So get out there and grab some bottles, for early quaffing, but especially for Thanksgiving. You won't find a better wine match for all of the diverse flavors of Turkey Day than Beaujolais Nouveau.  

Cheers!  Let me know what you think of this year's BN!

TONE DEAF

Here in Lawrenceville, the school district has just informed parents that Donald Trump's May 19 appearance at the National Guard Armory on Eggerts Crossing Road will bring increased activity and traffic at around the same time as many children are leaving Lawrence Intermediate School across the street. 

This fundraiser for Trump's chubby Sancho Panza, Chris Christie, and the NJ Republican party, will bring countless TV trucks, TV and radio reporters and gawkers from all over the state and will  bring "congestion in the area" says the school district's gently worded announcement. 

That's an understatement.  Eggert's Crossing Road is a very busy two lane road. Traffic to the Armory will be thick for a couple of hours before the anticipated start of the Trump "rally". 

On top of that, Trump's arrival will strangle activity travel to and from  the seven baseball, softball and soccer fields at Central Park, also across from the Armory, as kids, parents and coaches all attempt to get to games and practices scheduled for that day.It's the height of Little League baseball season here in Lawrenceville. Thank God my son doesn't have anything scheduled there tthat day.

In case people need reminding, Trump and Christie are showing the electorate just how insensitive, self absorbed and tone deaf they really are when it comes to the average American, and especially children, whose lives they will be disrupting on Thursday. All this rudeness is taking place to help PAY OFF CHRISTIE'S CAMPAIGN DEBTS and raise money for the NJ Republican party. As with most Republicans, this is all about them and not about us. 

And if you ever wanted a preview of things to come in a Trump presidency, Thursday will be it---Trump's first financial bailout of one of his friends. 

ELECTION 2016 FOR ME.

I’ve put a great deal of thought into this. I have scoured my brain through every scenario. I have explored the depths of my soul. I have wrestled with my conscience and played the devil’s advocate and almost every introspective cliché I could find. But, in the end, at the very end of the day, only one conclusion was left to me.

I’m endorsing Donald Trump.

I should have known the inevitability of this decision. The facts are overwhelming. The momentum is unstoppable. And the nation is definitely rallying around The Donald, and now so will I.  I love rallies. The louder the better.

There’s something about the way he shoots from the hip verbally that appeals to the PR person in me. And his endless memory for impressive fact from economics to foreign relations to construction and downright deal-making grabs the intellectual in me. What a command of damning facts this man can recall in an instant!

And he and I share the same alma mater, Penn. Yes, he was Wharton School and I was Classical Studies, but you never forget your alma mater. I wonder if he knows Latin like I do. I bet he does.

But perhaps the most impressive thing he’s done to far is to align himself with NJ Governor Chris Christie, a real Jersey guy like me, a real tough Jersey guy, and a real big Jersey guy. Like me.

Well THIS Jersey guy is going to stand behind Donald Trump, starting today. Believe me, this is just the beginning. 

THE ETERNAL OPTIMISM OF BRACKETOLOGY

The anticipation is almost too much to handle for those of us who go crazy for the NCAA Mens Basketball Championship, known everywhere but Mars as "March Madness". Yes, I'm one of those guys that gets totally caught up in every one of the 36 games that lead up and through the three weeks of thrilling college basketball. And I play as many bracket contests as I can find. I don't (and won't) bore anyone about my research and hours of analysis of all of the matchups, annd my strategy for winning every year, but suffice to say, I love this time of year.

I don't think it's a coincidence that baseball's Spring Training season and March Madness and Little league baseball all start at around the same time. Despite any unusual temperature fluctuations outdoors,this is the Season Of Eternal Optimism, Fresh Starts and Anyone Can Win It All.

Buds are on the trees, green is poking up from the earth, and it's time to win something.

Bring it on.

THE HOLIDAY SEASON

I know a couple of people who will will be missing a loved one this Christmas. My thoughts go out to them. I have lost a few friends this year, too, and it colors the season a little differently this time around.

Some thoughts as we enter the holiday season:

It's important to remember that not everyone is surrounded by large wonderful families. Some of us have problems during the holidays and are overcome with great sadness when we remember loved ones who are not with us. And many people have no one to spend these times with, and are besieged by loneliness. We all need caring, loving thoughts right now. I ask my friends, wherever you might be, to give a moment of support to all those who have family problems, health struggles, job issues, worries of any kind and just need to know that someone cares. 

Do it for all of us, for nobody is immune. 

Be grateful! Merry Christmas!

The Day IS Here: Beaujolais Nouveau Est Arrive'!!

I love this day. But after several years of my hyperbole on the matter, you should know what I'm excited about. And from everything I've been reading so far, this year's edition of Nouveau should be epic.

The folks at Sherry-Lehmann, NYC's preeminent purveyor of the Georges Debeouf version of Nouveau have posted this review from Debeouf himself:

“The 2015 vintage is going to be one of the all-time greats. The colour is a beautiful red with tones of purple and deep garnet. As for the nose, it offers a magnificent array of forest fruits: blackcurrant, blackberry and blueberry. On the palate, these are round, savoury, rich, full-bodied, unctuous and silky wines. Even better, they offer a truly exceptional persistence in the mouth. What a wealth of delightful flavours! The quality of this vintage is unprecedented. We are exploring heights which we’ve never seen before. You know that every vintage has its own history, and we know that 2015 will be breath-taking. What pleasure awaits the drinker!” -Georges Duboeuf"


So, as you might expect, I am very excited to try some. I will report back as soon as I do.  I'd also be interested in hearing YOUR take on the wine this year, and how many different bottlers you've been able to find.

A votre sante'!

"HERE GOSE NUTTIN'" AND OTHER TALES OF BEER ON THE RADIO

Coupla  weeks back I was privaleged to be a guest on the international radio phenomenon, "Time Out With Phillip Silverstone" which airs around the world on TuneIn radio. I've known Phillip for almost 30 years now, and our paths have crossed so many times at food and wine and other social events we've both lost track.

His online bio goes  a little like this: 

In the latter part of the 1990's Phillip realized many of his lifelong ambitions, reached circuitously through the world of wine and food. He became a syndicated TV and radio wine commentator, author and columnist, writing and hosting his award winning daily radio features "Wining About The Good Life" and his twice Emmy nominated PBS TV vignettes "One On Wine with Phillip Silverstone".

Phillip's column "Wining About The Good Life" is published in weekly newspaper syndication and in magazines, and his book "Cheers! The World of a Wine-osaur" is still available on Amazon. He hosts his very popular “Wine-tertainment” parties for groups of 12-300 in the US and the UK and Phillip organizes wine and food events for the hospitality industry.

Phillip produces and hosts “Time Out With Phillip Silverstone” a weekly two-hour entertainment and lifestyle podcast heard exclusively on TuneIn radio anytime and anywhere worldwide either on the free TuneIn app for all smart phones and tablets (Search: Phillip Silverstone) or online on Tunein at: http://bit.ly/1gY2Ht4.

So we had some recorded fun, Phillip, wine archaeologist/aficionado Jill Weber and me, and now you can hear about the beers we tasted and the stories we told, on the latest edition of "Time Out With Phillip Silverstone".  Let me know what you think!

http://tunein.com/radio/Time-Out-with-Phillip-Silverstone-p574053/

INSIDE, OUTSIDE, NOWHERE IS HOME

Yesterday was a sad day for Philadelphia journalism, for its Jewish community and for me. 

The nearly 130-year old Jewish Exponent, the second oldest newspaper of its kind in the country, decided to turn its editorial and production operations over  to Baltimore-based Mid-Atlantic Media, resulting in the layoff of 15 editorial and reporting staff at the paper and its companion magazine, INSIDE.

In an official statement on the Jewish Exponent's website, officials from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia,who published the Exponent and all of its companion publications, wrote:

We are proud to announce a new affiliation with Mid-Atlantic Media, a growing media company centered in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., corridor with which we have contracted for the Jewish Exponent’s editorial and production operations. Readers of Jewish newspapers in three large regional Jewish communities already benefit from the expertise of Mid-Atlantic Media, which today publishes the Baltimore Jewish Times, Washington Jewish Week and Pittsburgh’s Jewish Chronicle.

What can we in Philadelphia expect from Mid-Atlantic Media?

• A commitment to more local content, with less reliance on wire services
• A thriving, vibrant online presence that augments our print edition
• A website optimized for viewing on smartphones and other mobile devices
• A greater commitment to social media content by our journalists
• A newspaper that remains for many years the voice of Philadelphia’s Jewish community

I wrote for INSIDE magazine and a couple of those companion publications  for the past 4 years, and I enjoyed every minute of those 4 years. The magazine was offically discontinued yesterday in the transition over to Mid-Atlantic, and I will dearly miss working with its terrific editor, Greg Salisbury. 

4 years ago this month, Greg asked me to fill in for one of his columnists, our mutual friend, Katie Loeb, at her suggestion, and write an article about beer. He had been the recipient of more than a handful  of press releases from me over the years, and knew I could write, and he knew of my beer pedigree from my years of running the Golden Age of Beer in Philadelphia Tours. But in truth I had never written an article on beer before.  Greg had the story angle ready for me: asking various restaurateurs and tavern owners where they would go to have a beer and who some of their favorite bartenders were. It was the easiest article I've ever written.

Two months later, he asked me to pen another article. "Explore the idea of Jews and baseball,"  he wrote.  At first, I was confused; I had been a food writer and editor in all of my journalistic pusuits, going back to high school. And, well, I thought, I'm not Jewish.

"You're a good writer, though," he said. "You'll figure it out."

He then directed me to request a copy of a relatively new video entitled "Jews and Baseball" from its Canadian producer, and to use the video as a springboard for the article, adding the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY and the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia as places I should contact. That was the kind of editor Greg was. Intensely creative, strategic and supportive.  I dove into the material and wrote a respectable piece for INSIDE. He was effusive in his praise of the piece, maybe a little too effusive, but he knew that I had been in unchartered territory. That's the kind of editor he was.

Months before I worked for INSIDE  I had written Greg about a friend of mine who had become something of an adventurer, mountain climber and  ice wall climber, who recently made the ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Greg suggested that I tackle that story myself for the magazine. "You already know most of the story anyway," he told me, and he gave me the name of another person, a local female tennis instructor, who had also recently made the climb. "Give me two articles, side  by side, about 1,000 words each," he instructed. "You can do that." 

And for the next three years, Greg gave me assignments that had barely anything to do with food or any subject with which I was familiar, a risky gambit for  any editor, but Greg plied me with confidence in my abilities as he plied me with unfamiliar subject matter to write about. I wrote about medical weight loss, superstitions (for which I was nominated for a journalism award), unusual wedding venues, Hurricane Sandy's aftermath at the Jersey shore, charitable giving, hard cider, re-purposed industrial buildings, beer cocktails, a Three Stooges museum (!), Kosher Spanish wines,  local craft distillers, eau de vies, a drink advice column, and lastly, for the magazine pictured above, the final issue of INSIDE, artisan coffee roasters in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Every article for INSIDE was an adventure, and every one of them, except for the coffee piece, was a Greg Salisbury idea. And for that I am very grateful. Greg expanded my journalistic bandwidth, helped me polish my writing style and gave me confidence to write outside of my foodie comfort zone, which helped me in a big way to tackle the articles I have written for The Trentonian.

This blog post sounds like an appreciation of Greg Salisbury, something you write after he passes or retires, but I am sure he is quite alive and no where near retirement (he's more than a bit younger than me actually). Greg WAS the magazine, and this  screed started out as an obituary for it, but this is what I should have been writing about all along.  He would probably have suggested that I not write about him at all.  But I chose this story all by myself.

FROM PRINT to TV.......

Things have been moving rapidly here in Lawrenceville, and it's slowed just long enough for me to celebrate some good news. My hard work at The Trentonian (and to a certain extent, INSIDE Magaziine) has caught the attention of a major news network, and, after weeks of negotiations and counter-negotiations, the meticulous vettting of my resume and even a brief trip to Australia, I'm prepared to announce that I will be joining Fox News as a Senior Editor and Commentator.

To those of you who think you know my political bent, let me assure you that I will be as fair and balanced in my reporting and commentary as one could ever hope for at Fox News, which, of course, means, hopefully a fresh new voice at the network. Diversity is very important there.

At first I will join the team at Fox and Friends, adding to the roster of Steve Doocy, Elisabeth Hasselback and Brian Kilmeade and helping them with daily corrections, news facts and current events such as ethnic stereotypes, gay/LGBT culture and celebrities reported dead that are very much alive. I will soon after move around the broadcast day's schedule at the network, joining Gretchen Carlson in her time slot, then Tucker Carlson on Red Eye and any of the other Carlsons working at Fox News (turns out there's a LOT of them!).

I've been told by none other than Chairman Rupert Murdoch himself (well, through Roger Ailes, the News Director, but he said Mr. Murdoch was talking into his earpiece at the time) that I will eventually make my first contributor appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, but I will need to exercise patience until the network can ascertain if Mr.O'Reilly has concluded his raw meat diet. I don't have the complete details on that yet, but I know that interns aren't even allowed near Mr. O'Reilly before mealtime. I'm certainly no intern, but I can wait. I have a lot to live for.

I will also become a part of Sean Hannity's universe as well, and will initially be tasked with guest appearances of "total agreement" (the network's term), so I have to brush up on the birth history storylines of the current President as well as the pending Democratic presidential candidates for 2016, as well as learn how to polish Mr. Hannity's  hair. I'm a team player, believe me.

So wish me luck; I'm as excited as I've ever been, believe me. The commute to New York every morning at 4AM will take some getting used to, but hey, that's show biz. I mean, the news biz. I mean, Fox News.

POTUS AND ME

Well I finally have something in common with our Commander in Chief, The Big Kahuna, The Prez, Mr. POTUS himself.

We've picked the same NCAA Basketball Tournament bracket. And we're tied. Precisely.  We're in the 72.9% percentile of  winning brackets, which is tantamount to 37th places losers.  Our rank? 3,131,506.

I feel so proud.  Hail to the Chief.

UPSET CITY

We're not even more than a few hours into the NCAA Men's Tournament, and already a couple of huge upsets, with UAB eliminating heavily favored Iowa State, 60-59, and Georgia State  winning by a single point as well, bumping off 3rd seed Baylor, 57-56.  Even Notre Dame barely escaped with a wine against Northeaster, 69-65.Yeah, my bracket is likely ruined (I had  Baylor going to the Elite 8, so there ya go), but that's why this is the best sports tournament on earth.  Upset City can happen at any moment.  Wow.

THE MADNESS IS HERE

You know what this is. It's the universally recognizable symbol for college basketball insanity. It's the symbol for dogged research by late-comer college basketball afficionados (like me) to fill out countless numbers of brackets on countless websites, office pools and other friendly gambling venues to see whose powers of prediction reign supreme.

Well I'm in the mood to win this year and I've officially lost track of how many brackets I've filled out so far. But here's my ESPN entry: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/2015/en/entry?entryID=3028182


How does yours compare?

The Madness is here!

EST ARRIVE!

And I thought the day would never arrive.

Today, the 3rd Thursday of November, is traditionally "Beaujolais Nouveau  Day", when the fresh pressed juice of the Gamay grape is rushed into bottles and shipped from Beaujolais around the world to celebrate this year's harvest and to portend the quality of the traditionally aged and bottled Beaujolais yet to come.

I will report back here as soon as I've secured a few bottlings to sample. I'll be roasting  a turkey tonight for dinner, and making some of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes to go alongside, to test this year's Nouveau's legs in advance of next week's big food orgy. So check back here later today and tonight.

And now that the dust has settled after the evening meal, let me tell you about this year's Nouveau. First of all, buy it. It's going to be a good year for Beaujolais. Lots of strawberry and blueberry in the nose, and some of that green vineyard aroma that makes you think of a walk in the vineyard. I personally love that about Nouveau, that you taste the entire cycle of the wine from earth to vine to grape to drink. So few wines ever give you that gift, unless you get to visit a winery and taste a new wine from the siphon.

But the drink is what is so  worth it this year: blackberries, wild blackberries right up front in that first sip, wild Oregon blackberries like the ones I found alongside the highways outside of Portland, big blasts of juice. Then nice, round jammy grapes, nicely sweet with a little tang. The wine bounced nicely off my herb-roasted turkey,  nicely counterpointing the sage and marjoram pepper, salt and oregano that I rubbed all over the turkey. Married well with the oniony, celery stuffing I made as well.  A nice finishing dryness to this year's Nouveau, too, cutting nicely through the buttery mashed potatoes and gravy.

Sipping a glass now, after dinner, this year's  wine has enough to pair with a nibble of  cheese, maybe a medium to sharp cheddar, nothing complicated.. But you will definitely be able to enjoy this wine on its own, long after you've basked in the compliments for pouring it at Thanksgiving. It's that good.

MONEY TALKS

You've gotta give new NBA Commissioner Adam Silver credit. The man has balls. And he knows what makes the NBA world go 'round.

In a league that is 80% African American, and with a team in a city that is heavily populated with Hispanics, what Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling thinks in private and says in private is still his business, but once it becomes public, no matter HOW it becomes public, you can't turn back. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, the toothpaste back in the tube, whatever analogy you wanna use. 

The league was on the brink of a league-wide player boycott, the exit of substantial sponsorship dollars, and national/international ridicule. And Adam Silver, the OTHER 29 owners, and the 450+ players, were not about to suffer through that. 

Money talks, and exposed racism walks. And Adam Silver knows that. And now, so does Donald Sterling.

EYES WIDE OPEN

It has probably been years since I'd actually opened and tasted a Budweiser. But last night, I broke down and bought a six pack of those uniquely shaped cans and popped one open. Beautiful yellow pour, bright white head.  Gentle subtle aroma of, well, it was absolutely 100% Budweiser aroma. I could almost smell the beechwood and rice (yes, they use rice).  Big bright light crisp first sip, playful bubbles (they tickled my nose!), with a lingering Budweiser finish.

Something in Annheuser-Busch beers has always given me a headache. I've been told by brewer friends that there is something they put in the beer to make the head white that often doesn't agree with some people. Well, I am one of them, and I waited for the headache as I sipped each sip, sip after sip, until my glass was empty.  The head ache will come soon enough, I guess.

But I have seen the light.  I have been missing this experience for most of my life and now I feel free. I have grown SO tired of craft beer, so tired of the bourbon barrel aging, so tired of the hop varietals, so tired of the brettomyces, so tired of the wild yeasts running free. So tired of the collaborations, the blends, the bombers, the brewpubs, the tickets for Pliny the Elder and his son/nephew, Pliny the Younger, so weary of the wait for Pliny the Great Grandfather and Pliny The Grandmama.  I mean, what ever happened to simple , plain yellow beer with a bubbly white head (that tickles your nose!)?

This is my beer now.The voice of George Clooney in all those Bud commercials has finally broken through and spoken to me. And I have heard. And I have acted on what I have heard. And I have drunk the bright yellow beer and it was good. I can endure the headaches.

I'm a Bud man now.

MADNESS!

The gaps between posts here have been growing larger in the past two years, and I don't really have a good explanation, but this time of year always gets my attention and ruffles my feathers and gets me writing about my favorite sporting event:  the NCAA Mens Basketball Tournament, forever re-dubbed by CBS Sports as March Madness.

I am falling for every bracket contest out there, from those sponsored by local hoagie joints, to the more visible and popular bracket challenges from ESPN, CBS Sports (of course), P.C. Richard & Sons (the regional appliance retailer), and yes, that silly "Billion Dollar Challenge" from Quicken Loans and Yahoo Sports that promises to pay you $1 billion of Warren Buffett's money if you happen to fill out a perfect bracket.

I believe in Santa and the Easter Bunny, and I'm ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, too.

But I'll still fill out any and all brackets that I find.  I like the challenge, and lately, I've been pretty good at it. Even won a few things. Coupla TVs. Cash.  Gift cards. What good's a billion from a billionaire, if you don't at least try to win it, silly as it may be? Am I right, or am I right?

Good luck with YOUR brackets!

THAT DAY

I was in first grade at the Sacred Heart School in Scranton, PA on November 22, 1963. It was a Friday. Pizza Day. And I had an earache.

The pain was so bad that the school nurse made the decision to send me home early, with my square slice of  Proferra's pizza wrapped in wax paper and a napkin. I lived just 2 blocks away from my school, and my mother, 8 months pregnant with my brother, and with my 3-year old sister in tow, met me halfway, and we walked the block back to our apartment, where she put my sister down for a nap, put some drops into my pained ear and had me nap on the living room sofa.

I woke up to the sound of Walter  Cronkite reporting about a shooting in Dallas, TX, and the possibility that someone took a shot at the President of the United States. I woke up immediately and began watching the unfolding drama and tragedy. I was wrapped in a blanket, and shivered uncontrollably as I watched the unimaginable.

The rest of that day was a blur, but I do recall  eating dinner that night on TV trays in the living room, riveted to the marathon of news coverage that blanketed every channel on our TV that day. It was a sad weekend and on Sunday, after going to  a somber mass at our church, we returned to watch the live coverage of Lee Harvey Oswald being brought out of a building and being shot by a man wearing a fedora.  Right in front of our eyes. I remember thinking that the world was going crazy.

It was a quiet return to school on Monday, but something had changed. I was just 6 years old, but I felt different;  stunned, confused and sadder than I had ever been before.

That is how I remember that day, 50 years ago.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau.....

......est arrive!  One of my favorite days of the year, simply for the sheer fun of it, when this sprightly wine is released just in time for Thanksgiving (and Hannukah too!), and just in time for some leisurely quaffing.

And again, the reason I am so fond of this wine is that is allows the drinker, I think, to taste the entire cycle of wine making: the earth, the vine, the leaf, the grape, the juice and all the flowers and berries and fruit from nearby fields. It is quite an exciting whirlwind of smells and tastes in just a few sips.

And the wine flat out goes with anything you might eat, from cheeses to veggies and fruit, fish, fowl and meats, pastas,  even dessert.  Versatility is the key word here.  This year's  vintage explodes with strawberry and raspberry and even some apple in the nose, and smacks your mouth with black cherry and raspberry, more of that apple taste, more than in previous years, and even a little citrus, while still holding onto the earthy, slightly vegetal tastes that remind you of the vineyards from where the grape (Gamay) came. Swirl your first sips of this year's Nouveau  and you will feel it all, a remarkable experience, actually.

The Nouveau will really show its stuff with holiday dinners, though,  because it is able to straddle all of the diverse flavors of a holiday meal, from Hannukah latkes to cranberry relish, herbal stuffing, butttery potatoes candied yams and roast turkey, even (gasp) green bean casserole.  I happen to think it goes pretty well with pecan pie, too, if that is part of your holiday dessert selections. It will also hold its own with pumpkin and sweet potato pie and chocolate desserts.

So, kick back and enjoy this year's  Nouveau. It's shockingly inexpensive ($8.09 at my local Joe Canal's store in Lawrenceville) and fun to drink!

Cheers!

DAZZLED BY FUSION

I've had a few "whoa" dining moments in my life. Not as many as you'd think, given my food writing career, but enough to make each one distinctly special. My first bites of tomato pie from Delorenzo's on Hudson St. in Trenton in 1992. Escargot in Champagne Butter at the original Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia in 1980. Square pizza topped with porcini mushrooms from DiFara in Brooklyn in 2004. Buffalo shrimp from Frenchy's in Clearwater, FL in 1995. Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale and a plate of nachos at Isaac Newton's in Newtown, PA in 1996. Shrimp wonton noodle soup at NY Noodletown in NYC's Chinatown on more visits that I can count.

Lsst Saturday I had another startling "whoa" moment at a new restaurant in town, Inchin's Bamboo Garden, a new outpost of the 11-locations chain from, of all places, Georgia.

The restaurant concept boasts a fusion of Indian and Chinese cuisines (from which the fictional Inchin name is derived), with some Thai and Malaysian notes thrown in for good measure,  But this food is nothing like any Asian food I've ever had before.

The backstory of this small chain is based on the 18th century Chinese migration to India, specifically to the ports of Calcutta and Madras. And it is the substantial Chinese population and influence in Calcutta that inspires the menu at Inchin's.

The photo above gives only a hint of the atmospheric decor of the places, housed in what used to be the decades-old Rider college hangout bar, The Carousel, and briefly a Chinese buffet restaurant.

Moody statuary exaggerated faces greet you at the entrance and vestibule, dark woods, bamboo and carved teak decorate the walls and help create several different dining spaces, and set the escapist tempo of the place. A solicitous host and waitstaff (maybe a little too solicitous) great you quickly and eagerly. OK, points for enthusiasm.  They have a lot to be enthusiastic about.

The menu is huge and highlighted by an abundance of vegetarian dishes and options. The kids ordered egg drop soup and coconut soup with chicken, from a menu of 19 different soups (9 non-vegetarian, 10 vegetarian), and both bore no resemblance to any such soup in a Chinese or Thai restaurant that I've ever seen. The egg drop soup was snowy white with a rich chicken broth aroma and a tamarind note that elevated it several levels above the Chinese soup staple. The dark orange coconut soup was perfumed with galangal and had sliced dark mushrooms and dark meat chicken and a growing heat level courtesy of jalapeno threads that rested on the bottom of the bowl.  It proved even a bit too spicy for my daughter, who can hold her own when it comes eating the heat of most Szechuan dishes.

An order of "veg coins" brought small pancakes, slightly bigger than poker chips, damn near drowned in a "hot garlic" sauce and shreds of onions, red and green peppers. On the menu the hot garlic sauce is billed as "spicy", which is on the lower end of the heat scale at Inchin's ("very spicy" and "fiery" are the hotter settings).The plump patties, made from shredded carrot, cauliflower and squash, were greaselessly fried and the sauce packed quite a punch, and was a preview of how hot things can get here. Chili Chicken, touted on the menu as the house specialty, was a definite notch higher in heat (and listed as "very spicy"---sweet Jesus,  how hot can "fiery" be??)and the equal of anything I've had at notable Szechuan eateries such as Szechuan House in Hamilton and the Han Dynasty restaurants in the Philadelphia area. The sauce was sweet and tongue-numbing hot and studded with green and red peppers and scallion rings.  Mongolian Chicken was white meat chicken tossed in a sticky sauce of caramelized sugar and onions over a nest of puffy fried taro root shreds, and the kids gobbled it up.I kinda liked it too.I ordered beef with hot garlic sauce and it looked to have the same sauce that graced the veg coins, but this dish's heat level was turned up quite few notches, which really enhanced the beef slices but put a serious hurt and sweat on my head.

My daughter really took charge of the menu here, showing her growing confidence in restaurant dining, and ordered Burnt Garlic Chili Fried Rice with Vegetables and Singapore Noodles with vegges for the table. Good choices for the most part. The rice was a nice departure, studded with browned garlic bits and crushed chillies, it has a spicy undertone which cut some of the extreme heat of the entrees, while the Singapore noddles were actually a bit dull, lacking the usual yellow curry punch that most versions have. But again, along with some bowls of white rice, the noddles were a good foil for the spice wallop of the chicken and beef dishes.

But the overall experience, the atmosphere, the vibrant color and composition of the dishes and the startling heat level of what we ate, combined with the fusion of Asian flavors in ways we had just never experienced before in any Chinese, Indian, Thai or Malaysian restaurant, were flat out dazzling.

There are 10 other Inchin's Bamboo Gardens in the US so far, from Atlanta to Austin, Cleveland to Columbus, Dallas (2) , Raleigh, Scottsdale, San Fransisco and Seattle. I would hope they would be at the same culinary level as we found this new one in Lawrenceville.  Don't hesitate to get to one. You'll be dazzled.
But bring your best asbestos tongue.