[imagebrowser id=1223]
The fellow pictured above is named Robert Smith. Boring name that. So boring in fact, ELV thinks his name been working against him when it comes to his (not yet) winning a James Beard Award for having the best wine program in the nation. ELV thinks if his name was Shirley Yamamoto or Rampun Anamanawannamoana he would’ve garnered one by now.
[nggallery id=1171]
When Ed Selyem and Burt Williams sold their award-winning winery to John and Kathe Dyson in 1998, a shudder and a sigh went through the California wine world. Here were two of the original California garagistes — their original vintages, starting in 1981, were literally made in a two-car garage — selling out…and to a New Yorker nonetheless! Napa may have eventually developed its Harlans and Screaming Eagles into cult wine status, but a decade before they became coveted, Williams Selyem’s single vineyard pinot noirs had every California collector begging to get on its mailing list. The fact that the winery was so modest, and output so small, only added to its prestige.
Continue reading “Williams Selyem Wine Dinner at TUSCANY KITCHEN”
[nggallery id=1029]
You have to admire what Michael Mina and Marc St. Jacques have done to this venerable seafood-er, tucked away for over twelve years now in a corner of the Bellagio Conservatory. Since the departure of Anthony Amoroso a couple of years ago, this place has struggled to find its sea legs as the ebb and flow of a choppy economy have threatened to leave it floating adrift as it navigates an ocean of heavy tides and difficult sailing. (Block that metaphor!) In other words: Michael Mina (the restaurant) has been searching for an identity ever since our economy hit the skids.