Tag Archives: Reviews

White Wine Reviews: Mr. Sommelier, What Exactly Makes This A Dry Wine?

From a Wall Street Journal online article by Lettie Teague

Dry White Wines Wall Street Journal Illustration by Heather Landis 2019There is no official definition of what constitutes a dry wine in the U.S. The amount of sugar left in the wine after fermentation or added afterward is, however, sometimes noted on a wine’s label, in grams per liter. According to Mr. Ramey, a wine generally considered dry would have less than 1 gram per liter RS (residual sugar), or 0.1%. Beyond that, a wine with 1% RS (10 grams per liter) is off-dry, and a wine at 3% RS (30 grams per liter) or above is sweet.

WHAT’S A DRY WINE? If this seems like a question with a straightforward answer, then you probably don’t work in a wine store or restaurant. Retailers and sommeliers tell me they are regularly asked to recommend dry wines by customers who don’t seem to know what they really want. These customers offer examples of the “dry” wines they favor—which often turn out to be technically sweet.

To read more click on the following link:  https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-you-sure-that-wine-you-ordered-is-actually-dry-11566492508

New James Bond 007 Film: Daniel Craig In “No Time To Die” Opens April 8, 2020

From an Esquire.com online article:

No Time To Die James Bond 007 Movie graphicNo Time to Die, as Bond 25 is called, will be out on April 8, 2020 in the U.S. and April 3 in the UK.

Directed by True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga, No Time to Die was delayed earlier this year when Daniel Craig injured his ankle on the set and underwent reparative surgery. Also starring Rami Malek as the main villain, the film will follow Bond after he’s left MI6, “when his friend Felix Leiter enlists his help in the search for a missing scientist. When it becomes apparent that they were abducted, Bond must confront a danger the likes of which the world has never seen,” according to the film’s official synopsis.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a28761356/james-bond-25-title-no-time-to-die-release-date/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_esq&utm_medium=email&date=082019&src=nl&utm_campaign=17826563

Trends In Food: Erewhon Organic Market Keeps Expanding By Keeping Prices (And Quality) High

From an LAMag.com article:

Erewhon Natural Food Stores Products“In the beginning, the company was so in rapture with health and wellness, that they’d get cashews from some exotic place and you’d end up spending 20-some dollars for a bag of nuts,” Widener says. “But I’d still buy a bag because I wanted to learn about it, and I felt better when I ate ‘em.” The supermarket-as-classroom ethos even influences Erewhon’s physical layout: the grocer builds shelves that are too tall so that customers will be forced to ask for assistance, thus building a relationship with salespeople.

Erewhon, a natural foods grocer based in L.A., has inspired cult-like devotion among those who can afford to pay four dollars for an avocado. On Instagram, a torrent of celebrities can be seen pushing bags of Erewhon produce to their Escalades, while beaming earth mother types with names like “healthjunky” cradle the chain’s green beverages. The store has even inspired a line of merch.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/erewhon-shopping/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Update&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75852994&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–GmpdOgZ2NYDU32TTOQ6Gqhus0hNfDfpCleCSES-n_3yZKwHpd-fTuBlp9BycKnouKgvoMgzjQ4d0ayP7fP4dN3E7daQ&_hsmi=75852890

Future Driving: Smart EQ Fortwo Cabrio Electric Drive Is “Fun-Filled, Quirky Open Air Experience”

From a DesignBoom.com online article:

smart fortwo cabrio electric 2020 interiorthe result of its energetic design, both on the exterior and interior, ensures the smart ‘fortwo cabrio electric drive’ is fun-filled and quirky yet stylishly typical of the brand. at a size of 2.69 meters in length, 1.66m in width and 1.55m in height, the model delivers agile functionality for city mobility, even turning circles in less than 7 meters. however this time, smart has provided all this whilst offering electric economy with accelerating power and a fresh, open-air driving experience.

smart fortwo cabrio electric drive test: from weaving between bustling city streets to winding down swiss country roads, designboom test drove the smart ‘fortwo cabrio electric drive‘ around geneva, switzerland, and the surrounding area. in just 12 seconds ‘the roof opens.. and you can cruise almost silently through the city’, says dr annette winkler, head of smart. the folding soft top becomes a complete convertible with removable roof bars, combining an open-air element to smart’s already notoriously fun driving experience. the openness of the car’s design enables the driver to feel ‘the fantastic acceleration get right under your skin.

To read more click on following link:

 https://www.designboom.com/technology/smart-fortwo-cabrio-electric-drive-test-07-05-2017/

WHO SHAPED THE 1960’S?: CULTURAL CHANGE SWEPT UP THE BOOMERS, IT JUST DIDN’T BEGIN WITH THEM

From a New Yorker article by Louis Menand:

Woodstock GenerationAlthough the boomers may not have contributed much to the social and cultural changes of the nineteen-sixties, many certainly consumed them, embraced them, and identified with them. Still, the peak year of the boom was 1957, when 4.3 million people were born, and those folks did not go to Woodstock. They were twelve years old. Neither did the rest of the 33.5 million people born between 1957 and 1964. They didn’t start even going to high school until 1971. When the youngest boomer graduated from high school, Ronald Reagan was President and the Vietnam War had been over for seven years.

The boomers get tied to the sixties because they are assumed to have created a culture of liberal permissiveness, and because they were utopians—political idealists, social activists, counterculturalists. In fact, it is almost impossible to name a single person born after 1945 who played any kind of role in the civil-rights movement, Students for a Democratic Society, the New Left, the antiwar movement, or the Black Panthers during the nineteen-sixties. Those movements were all started by older, usually much older, people.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-misconception-about-baby-boomers-and-the-sixties

Landmark Restaurants: Frank Fat’s Has Served Sacramento Politicians Great Food For 80 Years

From a KCRA.com article and Frank Fat’s website:

Frank Fat's 1939 - 2019Walk into Frank Fat’s and you’ll find people today of all political stripes, with a love for authentic Chinese food — cuisine that attracted politicians like former Gov. Jerry Brown. As a bachelor governor in the 1970s, he loved to hang out in the kitchen at closing time, where he might find a free meal, according to California State Librarian Greg Lucas.

It’s not often that a restaurant celebrates its 80th anniversary. It’s even more uncommon when that restaurant happens to be a political landmark. But in August of 2019, the city’s oldest eatery, Frank Fat’s, will celebrate eight decades of business.  A short walk from the Capitol, Fat’s established itself from the beginning in 1939 as a place where politicians could meet with colleagues and discuss business, as well as enjoy a bite to eat and have a nice conversation. Frank Fat was known for a simple mantra: You give people good food, a nice place to eat it in and make them happy. Pretty simple, really.

Frank Fat's Logo
https://frankfats.com/

To read more click on following link: https://www.kcra.com/article/sacramento-frank-fats-80th-anniversary/28705042

Boomers Travel: The Arts District Firehouse Hotel In LA Is A Destination To “Dine And Dwell”

From a Dezeen.com online article by Paul Jebara:

Arts District Firehouse Hotel Los AngelesThe nine suites at Arts District Firehouse Hotel are intended to capture a “dreamy mix of the elegant and bizarre”. Each is individually designed in layout and colour theme and named accordingly: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, White and Black.

A new boutique accommodation, envisioned as a “dreamy mix of the elegant and bizarre”, has opened up inside a 1970s firehouse in Los Angeles.

Arts District Firehouse Hotel Los Angeles.JPG

The property marks the first boutique hotel in the city’s up-and-coming Arts District, and is aptly named the Arts District Firehouse Hotel.

https://www.firehousela.com/home

To read more click on following link: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/08/03/arts-district-firehouse-hotel-los-angeles-creative-space/

Top Restaurants In Maine: “The Shop” Serves Oysters, Caviar & Tinned Seafood Spreads, Fabulously

From a Bon Appetit online article by Alex Delaney:

The Shop MenuIf you do something simple the wrong way, that’s a one-way ticket to boredom. Case in point: Unsalted potato chips. (Just, why?!) But if you do something simple the right way, it’s like the world just makes sense. The folks at The Shop in Portland, Maine, understand this, and absolutely nail it.

There are no elaborate seafood stews or grilled whole fish or ambitious desserts at this seafood joint from the crew at Island Creek Oysters in Massachusetts. It sells oysters, caviar, and tinned seafood spreads. That’s it. The oysters, usually local Maine and Massachusetts varieties, are just $1.50 each and come on large trays of ice with the classic fixings: lemon wedges, horseradish, cocktail sauce, and shallot mignonette. The caviar is also produced by Island Creek and best enjoyed on top of said oysters (not to mention very affordable). The tinned fish—smoked mussels, oil-packed tuna, beautiful sardines—is served with slices of sourdough bread, spicy mustard, butter, chives, flaky salt, sauerkraut, pickles, onions, and saltines, and is arranged in such a way that you almost don’t want to disrupt the harmony of the composition. Almost.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/the-shop-portland-maine

New Artistic Short Films: “Dear Enemy – The Journey Of Bashir” Directed By Arne Totz (2019)

“An abstract visual journey based on the true story of Bashir Ramathan.”

Directed by: Arne Totz

Dear Enemy - The Journey Of Bashir Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed By Arne Totz (2019)

Production Company: Friends & Fellows
Director of Photography: Paul Meyers
Editor: Matt Osborne
Colorist: Marina Starke
VFX: NHB Munich
Composer: Jakob Balogh

Dear Enemy - The Journey Of Bashir Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed By Arne Totz (2019)
Sound Designer: David Herbst
Copywriter: Arne Totz, Vicky Jacob-Ebbinghaus
Voice Over Artist: Isaac Simba

Dear Enemy - The Journey Of Bashir Cinematic Poem Short Film Directed By Arne Totz (2019)

Website: https://friendsandfellows.com/work/dear-enemy/

Top Exhibits: Empire State Building Mini Museum Opens To The Public

From a Curbed NY online article:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Empire State Building, New York City’s most iconic skyscraper, has been reimagining its observatory experience for some time now. As part of a two-phase project, a new observatory entrance at 20 West 34th Street debuted last August, and now, a new set of immersive exhibits are open to the public.

The 10,000-square-foot galleries, part of a $165 million project which began more than four years ago, include several displays that tell the history of the building from its construction to its prominent place in the city’s culture.

To read more click on following link: https://ny.curbed.com/2019/7/29/8934703/empire-state-building-exhibit-observatory-history-nyc