Taste for Travel

Historic whiskey site in controversy

2012-01-09T14:45:00.000-05:00

Museum workers sort through artifacts.

SCOTTSDALE, PA -- West Overton Village and Museums, established as an agrarian museum, will have a new new mission when it reopens in 2013 after a renovation project.

At that time, it will refocus on the western Pennsylvania village's rye whiskey distilling history.

Meanwhile, however, a controversy has arisen over the sale by Executive Director Kelly Linn of numerous artifacts that are the property of the 18-building museum complex.

West Overton Museums operates on $80,000 a year from the Henry Clay Frick foundation and from public donations. It receives no state funds. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is part of the American Whiskey Trail that includes museums, distilleries and visitors centers in five states.

West Overton Village is the birthplace of industrialist Frick, who spent the first 30 years of his life here. The village was founded in 1800 by Abraham Overholt, Frick's grandfather. Overholt began making rye whiskey under the name Old Overholt, which now is distilled by Jim Beam.

TribLive.com has a thorough story on the controversial sales.

ON THE WEB
• West Overton Village and Museums
• American Whiskey Trail
• Dowd's Guides home page

23rd Boston Wine Festival a 45-day event

2012-01-04T14:59:00.002-05:00

Chef Bruce

• From CBS Boston

BOSTON -- Boston has no shortage of wine events: from free tastings at boutique stores to the appropriately-named Wine Riot to tours and classes, there’s something for everyone. If you’re looking for something on the less riotous end, the Boston Wine Festival might be for you. In its 23rd year, the festival spans all the way from January 6 to March 30, comprised of 45 wine-related dinners, tastings, and seminars. The price tag for many of the events is steep, but the payoff is high for wine connoisseurs.

The Boston Wine Festival was created by Daniel Bruce, executive chef of the Boston Harbor Hotel (which houses the festival). Over the lifetime of the festival, Bruce has created over 3,000 original dishes to pair with the wines.

The festivities kick off with an opening reception on January 6 which includes tastings of more than 50 wines from featured vineyards as well as tastings of some of Bruce’s creations. At $100, this is the least expensive event in January. On the higher end, the month ends with "Super Tuscans," a $295-per-person four-course dinner paired with Tuscan wines, such as Ornellaia, Brancaia, and Sassicaia. Another January pick is the Battle of the Cabernets (January 12 or 13, $225-per-person): Napa Valley cabernets, food pairings, a blind tasting led by a cabernet expert panel, and a vote for the favorite. Châteauneuf-du-Pape more your style? A seminar and dinner on the January 20 highlights this region; the event is hosted by Ambassador Alain Junguenet and his son, John ($185).

[Go here for the full story and schedule.]

Happy birthday, dear Guinness ...

2011-12-31T15:57:00.001-05:00

Arthur Guinness

Pssst. See that guy over there on the right? He's responsible for the Irish government's major income stream, something more important than ever now that the economic chaos that has roiled around the world has hit Ireland a rollicking good thwack.

Today is the 252nd anniversary of the founding of the iconic Guinness Brewery at St. James's Gate in Dublin by that fella, a man by the name of Arthur Guinness. At one time, it was the largest brewery in the world.

Guinness Brewery (Travelpod photo)

Guinness leased the property for a term of up to 9,000 (no kidding) years at an annual rent of £45 per year. That means the lease will come up for renewal in the year 10759 A.D.

The adjacent Guinness Storehouse is Dublin's No. 1 tourist attraction. The converted brewing factory is a seven-story Guinness museum, the topmost of which is home to the Gravity Bar, where visitors can get a free pint of "the black stuff," as the dark Guinness stout is known.

ON THE WEB
• The Official Guinness Site
• Touring Dublin
• Dowd's Guides main page

Sacramento board encouraging wine tourism

2011-12-23T10:55:00.001-05:00

• From Eat, Drink, Explore

SACRAMENTO, CA -- The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors have voted to adopt new zoning code amendments designed to encourage local wine tourism.

The amendments set development standards for wineries that will grant smaller-scale grape producers the right to produce and bottle their own wine.

“We feel this is an important step to encourage economic growth, job creation and keep tourism dollars in our County,” said Don Nottoli, Supervisor for District 5. “By reducing regulatory obstacles, we can help Sacramento County become an important part of the wine tourism industry.”

In a press release, the supervisors said the streamlined codes can save business both money and time. They board also pointed to the "grow local, buy local" movement saying the amendments will "help keep agricultural entities viable in Sacramento County."

Details of the Draft Zoning Code Amendments:

Allows some agri-tourism uses by right in certain zones and allow others through the use permit process.
Creates specific parking and signage development standards for wineries, farm stands and farm stay operations.
Outlines additional permitting requirements from other County departments.
Provides four classifications for premises that sell produce that would be permitted by right in agricultural zones if the sales areas do not exceed 1,500 square feet.
Allows small wineries by right in agricultural zones provided they have tasting rooms under 1,500 square feet.
Allows small wineries to host special events without a conditional use permit, with the size of events dependent on the size of the property.
Allows Farm Stays (similar to Bed and Breakfast Inns with focus on farming activities) with five or fewer rooms in agricultural zones by right.

ON THE WEB
• Sacramento: Discover Gold
• Dowd's Guides home page

Harry's NY Bar celebrates its 100th in Paris

2011-11-25T14:37:00.002-05:00

Inside Harry's New York Bar.

PARIS -- Harry's New York Bar turned 100 on Thanksgiving Day, one more milestone in the storied history of the iconic watering hole.

Harry's claims to be the home of the Bloody Mary, was a favorite stop for the author Ernest Hemingway, home to expatriate Americans and the glitterati.

As the establishment explains in its capsulized history, "In 1911, a former U.S. jockey convinced a friend who owned a bar in New York to dismantle it and to shift it Rue Daunou in Paris. Harry MacElhone is then approached to open the bar on Thanksgiving Day, 26 November 1911. The adventure starts!

"Since then, generations succeeded one another in this mythical place. Authors such as Hemingway, Sartre or Blondin came to taste a few of the most famous cocktails in the world which were created here, e.g the Bloody Mary or the White Lady."

Originally, the establishment was called simply the New York Bar. Harry MacElhone later added his own name.

"The MacElhone family is still at the helm of this legendary bar with the assistance of an excellent team fully dedicated to the bar and its customers. Harry transmitted the reins to Andrew who in turn passed them on to Duncan. Franz-Arthur, Harry's great-grandson, was born, like him, on June 16, 98 years down the line."

ON THE WEB
• Harry's New York Bar home page
• Dowd's Guides home page

'Road Trip Experience' in one NY county

2011-11-10T12:50:00.006-05:00

Visitors gather lakeside at Long Point Winery.

Fresh local cuisine.

Merchants and facilities in the Cayuga County area of Upstate New York have come up with an interesting marketing push to promote tourism -- a fusion of wine tasting, dining and leisure experiences reminiscent of bygone times.

Visitors to this slice of the Finger Lakes region can be involved in a wide range of wine and culinary events and experiences being promoted as an "American Road Trip Experience."

Here is a checklist of of recommended sites:

✔ Where to Wine Taste:

Heart & Hands Wine Company offers a hands-on winemaking opportunity during the harvest season. Participants discover winemaking activities including picking fruit, sorting grapes, daily punchdowns, lab analysis, pressing grapes and equipment cleaning. Their limited production, currently under 1,500 cases, allows for an intense focus on quality. Committed to producing cool climate wines which authentically express the character of the Finger Lakes, Heart & Hands Wine Company is located in a serene setting overlooking the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake.

Bet the Farm features a farm winery, regional wine shop and gourmet market. Their wines are sold alongside a premier selection of other Finger Lakes wines at their shop in the village of Aurora. In addition to wine, they offer gourmet foods produced throughout the state.

King Ferry Winery -focuses on Chardonnay and Riesling varieties. It offers "Taste the Artistry," a series of of Treleaven wines in the company of works by local artists in the Tasting Room gallery and gift shop.

Long Point Winery winemaker Gary Barletta focuses his attention on dry reds such as Merlot and Syrah. Wife Rosemary serves up her specialty sandwiches in Amelia's Deli. Located just off scenic State Route 90 the winery overlooka Cayuga Lake.

Insider Winery Tips:

• Most wineries have a small tasting fee which often is refunded with a purchase of wine.

• Cheeses can be found between wine tastings along the Cayuga Scenic Byway. Go to the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail website for details.

• Escorted wine tours are a safe way to indulge while letting someone else do the driving. You can get information on rates and hours from Big D's Limo Service in Auburn, Experience! The Finger Lakes in Ithaca, or Quality Wine Tours in Pittsford.

✔ Where to Eat:

Aurora Inn -- Seasonal American cuisine made with fresh regional products and paired with a large list of Finger Lakes wine. Indoor dining room as well as lakeside dining.
on their spacious veranda, perfect for taking in Finger Lakes sunsets.

Moro’s Table -- Finger Lakes ingredients are used to create American-style cuisine.

Pumpkin Hill Bistro -- Comfort food "with a twist" in a unpretentious atmosphere. Cayuga Lake wines can be paired with the dishes, and diners can take advantage of the antiques and gifts at the Country Store.

✔ Where to Pick & Buy Local:

Long Point Orchard -- Fruit enthusiasts can pick their locally grown produce or purchase it from the farm stand located at 2007 State Rte 90 in Aurora. Closed on Mondays.

Grisamore Farms -- Featuring an array of fruit crops from strawberries to sweet cherries to blueberries. Want to bypass the picking process? The farm store is located in a 19th Century dairy barn and equipped with an array of delectable items for sale.

The Produce Place -- Specializing in fresh, local produce as it ripens -- sweet corn, tomatoes, etc. -- plus pies and custards.

King Ferry Farmer's Market -- This pop-up marketplace located just off of Route 90 sells farmstead cheese, organic flour, organic vegetables, plants and flowers, fiber art, pottery and jewelry among many other locally grown and produced items.

✔ Where to Stay:

Aurora Inn, set on the shores of Cayuga Lake in a heritage village, has a pedigree dating to 1833. The original Finger Lakes inn, built in Federal style with red brick and wide columned balconies, has been restored as a bed and breakfast.

E.B. Morgan House, formerly the home of Colonel Edwin Barber Morgan, co-founder of The New York Times and American Express. The house offers seven guest rooms, living spaces, porches that overlook the lake and lawns and a collection of original modern art.

Dill’s Run Bed & Breakfast and Vineyard is located on the east side of Cayuga Lake on State Route 90 in the Town of Ledyard. The Italianate Victorian house was built in the late 1830s and has recently been restored. It sits on a 15-acre plot four miles north of Aurora. It also has a vineyard that produces grapes for its own wines.

Cayuga Marina and Campground is located on the north end of Cayuga Lake, a short distance from Lock One, Seneca Canal, and the Montezuma Wildlife Preserve. Good for an overnight, weekend or week-long stay for outdoor sports enthusiasts and those who just appreciate the countryside and lakeside atmosphere. Seasonal guest accommodations and marina services for patrons.

ON THE WEB
• Cayuga County Tourism
• Finger Lakes Travel
• Dowd's Guides home page

Whiskey anthology perfect for holiday gifts

2011-11-07T13:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a thought for an easy holiday gift. Pick up copies of my new book, "Barrels & Drams: The History of Whisk(e)y In Jiggers and Shots," just released by the New York publisher Sterling Epicure.

The suggested retail price for the hardcover book is $18.95. You can get a copy, often at a discounted price, via such online sites as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and others.

Bill Dowd

I selected, edited and co-wrote this collection of essays from numerous writers famous in the field, from F. Paul Pacult to David Wondrich, and such multi-field notables as Tom Wolfe to Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Okrent of The New York Times.

Through them you will discover the spread of whiskey throughout the world and how it helped build countries. Read profiles of some of the most famous giants of the industry as Jack Daniel, George Smith and the Beam family.

Plus, go behind the scenes of Prohibition to check out the legendary gangsters, small-time rumrunners, and a famous NASCAR champion who made his mark as a moonshine runner. And, you'll get insiders' looks at legitimate whiskey-making in such diverse spots as Scotland, Ireland, the U.S., South Africa, India and Japan, as well as how the infamous Whiskey Ring scandal almost brought down a U.S. presidency.

Carnival ships revamping drinks venues

2011-10-05T16:02:00.005-04:00

Last year I finally broke down and took my first "pleasure" cruise. I hated it.

From the time we set foot on the Norwegian Cruise Lines love boat it was one non-stop bazaar, with staffers of all sorts trying to sell you an array of goods and services. Before leaving the Port of New York, we decided to check out the cocktail lounges, since we were waiting to meet up with some friends and we had been promised at least six different bars by the NCL literature.

What we found, besides poorly stocked bars that couldn't come through on my first two drink orders taken directly from the menu, was that one bar had been divided into three parts and given three different names and decors. Six bars, my eye.

Now I read that a fleetwide overhaul plan for Carnival cruise ships unveiled this week includes plans for five new branded drinking venues to be installed on multiple Carnival ships over the next four years as part of more than $500 million in upgrades.

I hope for the sake of Carnival's customers, these bars -- three of the designs are shown below -- are indeed standalone venues.

Incidentally, among other Carnival changes are a deal for on-board burger joints created by TV personality Guy Fieri and hiring entertainer George Lopez as its creative director for comedy and the rebranding of its shipboard comedy clubs around the star.


Red Frog Rum Bar design.

A sports bar branded around video game manufacturer EA Sports.

The Library Bar with automatic wine dispensers.

ON THE WEB
ª Dowd's Guides home page

Final days for whiskey book discount

2011-08-31T14:53:00.001-04:00

My new book, "Barrels & Drams: The History of Whisk(e)y In Jiggers and Shots," will officially be released on September 6.

The retail price then will be $18.95, but you can get a hefty 33% pre-release discount from Amazon.com by going here.

It is a collection I co-wrote and edited with essays from numerous writers famous in the field, from F. Paul Pacult to David Wondrich to Tom Wolfe.

You'll discover the spread of whiskey throughout the world and how it helped build countries. Read profiles of some of the most famous giants of the industry as Jack Daniel, George Smith and the Beam family.

Plus, go behind the scenes of Prohibition to check out the legendary gangsters, small-time rumrunners, a famous NASCAR champion who made his mark as a moonshine runner. And, you'll get insiders' looks at legitimate whiskey-making in such diverse spots as Scotland, Ireland, the U.S., South Africa, India and Japan.

The Return of the Copacabana

2011-08-27T17:16:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- OK, first things first. It's not on East 60th where the original was. And, it's not on 34th Street and 11th Avenue where it once was. But, dammit, the Copacabana is back!

For those of us of a certain age, the Copa was the height of New York nightclub fashion back in “the day.” The headwaiter, Manny, lived across the street from me in a Long Island suburb, and his status was as great as that of any rock star in those days before the term “rock star” was the epitome of fame. His wife, Eleanor, ran the coat check concession and even she was at least a minor deity.

The Copa dancers, the fascinating orchestras, the pretty-good-for-a-nightclub food, the fantastic cocktails ... . It was all a whirl of colors, flavors and fashion. Barry Manilow's anthemic "At the Copa" hit some years afterward captured a bit of the excitement.

Last night, the Copacabana officially opened in its new Times Square location with Willie Colón as the headliner.

This spot at 268 West 47th Street, in the former China Club space, is the fourth Copa reincarnation. It's on the fourth floor with a dance club, restaurant, rooftop cocktail/dining space. A VIP room is scheduled to open in September.

The Copa dates to 1940, when it opened at 10 East 60th Street, welcoming such performers as Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Tito Puente and others over the years.

The new Copa is offering live Latin music nights on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and has revived its famed Copa Dancers, guys and gals specializing in everything from salsa to merengue to bachata and cha-cha-cha.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides home page.

How to create a regional museum

2011-08-27T17:14:00.002-04:00

Visionary John Adamski.

• From The Corning (NY) Leader:

BLUFF POINT, NY -- A few years ago, freelance writer and photographer John Adamski spent a few vacation days exploring the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake and The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, which delve into the culture and history of the North Country.

"It got me thinking," Adamski said. “I said to myself, 'Why don’t we have a place like this that tells the story of the Finger Lakes?' "

Upon returning home, Adamski wrote an essay for Life in the Finger Lakes magazine, pitching his idea.

Before he knew it, he was the board president for the Finger Lakes Cultural and Natural History Museum, an ambitious $30 million project slated to open in 2014 in Keuka Lake State Park in Yates County. ...

ElevenFinger Lakes (Conesus, Hemlock, Canadice, Honeoye, Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasco, Skaneateles and Otisco) will be prominently featured.

The flora and fauna native to the region will also be highlighted, along with the people that have called the Finger Lakes home, including Native Americans, early white settlers, Amish and Mennonites.

Many of the displays will be interactive, Adamski promises.

“We’re going to redefine the word 'museum,' " he said. “It won’t be looking at old sticks and bones, but a place where people are educated about their environment."

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Keuka Lake State Park
• Dowd's Guides home page

Fed grant to bring local foods to NY B&Bs

2011-08-27T17:12:00.002-04:00

• From the Albany Times Union:

A $73,824 federal matching grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program will help local food producers and tourism by encouraging bed and breakfast operators to feature locally produced food and agricultural products, State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel Aubertine said Monday.

The Department will receive the grant in cooperation with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Madison County, which will lead the two year project, NOFA-NY, the Empire State B&B Association, Central New York Bounty, the New York Small Scale Food Processors Association, and the University of Illinois Extension.

New York is one of 19 states to receive 25 grants. The grant money will be available for the entire state.

Producer organizations and B&B owners are encouraged to participate in the project, which will begin in the fall.

ON THE WEB
• Times Union home page
• Dowd's Guides home page

Culodden visitors center a site to behold

2011-08-27T08:07:00.002-04:00

William M. Dowd photos

CULODDEN, Scotland -- Bonnie Prince Charlie was the icon of 18th-century Jacobites who wanted to put him on the throne of Scotland, freeing the nation from the shackles of the ruling English crown.

After all, they reasoned, he was a descendant of the Stuarts, a clan descended from the almost mythical Scottish hero Robert the Bruce. And the English were ... well, they were the hated English.

The movement had a few problems. For one, Charles Edward Stuart Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart, born in Rome in 1720, was not much of a hands-on guy as uprisings go. He spent only 12 months of his 68 years in Scotland, living a big chunk of the final 20 in Rome as the Duke of Albany. For another, any overt sign of allegiance to him could be punishable by death.

The high point of the Stuart uprising was 265 years ago. It was on April 16, 1746, that an English force led by the Duke of Cumberland crushed the massed Highlanders on a battlefield here less than 35 miles from Inverness, with 1,500 or so Scots killed in less than an hour compared to about 50 Redcoats.

It was the last battle on British soil, and ushered in a long period of English moves aimed at tearing apart the Scottish clan system that was the central nervous system of the country.

A definitely state-of-the-art visitors center was opened here in April 2008 on the anniversary of the battle. After touring it, I feel comfortable predicting it will be used as a prime example of what today's visitors centers should look like.

The multi-level structure is designed to take advantage of today's visually-oriented society to tell a centuries-old story. As visitors are led through the center, the English side of the story is told on one wall, the Scots' side on the other, with a variety of displays in the center of each corridor.

Included are opaque screens offering silhouettes of combatants and others who "come to life" when an interactive screen is touched. They tell the story of Culodden and the times from their points of view, often in words taken from actual diaries of the times.

In the "immersion room," visitors are led into a seatless space with projection screens on each wall. Each shows a different angle of the battle; you can watch on one screen an English cannon being fired, then turn and look at the opposite wall and see its impact on the Highland forces. The sound and fury are designed to give the visitor an idea of the noise and confusion inherent in a battle.

Among the numerous displays are several glass cases filled with weapons of the sort used in the mid-1700s. Rather than being lined up in precise lines as is the case in most museums, a guide explained, "these should be viewed as being brandished the same way they would be in battle, but then remove the people from the equation and leave the weapons as they would be then."

Other artifacts on display are several pieces from the glassware collection owned by the Drambuie Liqueur Co. Ltd. of Edinburgh. (Drambuie is a Scottish liqueur based on the recipe imparted by Bonnie Prince Charlie to one Makinnon of Skye for assisting him in the uprising of 1745. The Makinnon family to this day owns the exclusive Drambuie franchise.)

The complete collection includes some items with beautiful, swirling designs of leaves, grapevines, birds and other nature elements. Others have numerous designs peculiar to the Jacobite movement, usually etched into what were called "Amen'' toasting glasses that were stored in secret lest the English authorities see the pro-Prince Charlie designs on them.

For example, such words as redat (may he return) and revireseat (let it grow again) on the glasses were notes of support for the exiled Stuarts. The six-petaled white rose, another Jacobite symbol, is a common design as well, and a wide variety of intricate swirls, legends and designs make one long to hoist a Drambuie or two in honor of the craftsman if not of the Stuarts.

Once outside, visitors are given GPS-connected handsets to carry as they walk through the battlefield where red flags indicate the English lines, blue flags the Scots'.

As one reaches a point of interest, the GPS is triggered and the handset broadcasts information to the visitor who can take advantage of on-screen prompts to get additional information.

Only one building from the battle period remains on the land, and even that may have been rebuilt from the stones used in an earlier building. But, it gives visitors a feel of the type of structure common in the area at that time.

ON THE WEB
• Culloden Battlefield Site
• Battlefield video before the new center
• Dowd's Guides home page

The grand dames of Southern hospitality

2011-08-13T06:37:00.004-04:00

The Hermitage Hotel main lobby, complete with stained cut-glass ceiling.

In a nation replete with motel chains slugging it out for the public’s dollar, the thought of staying in a luxury hotel with pedigree probably doesn’t occur to most travelers.

This is neither about the overwrought décor of the sort commonplace in lavish Las Vegas hostelries, nor about having to re-mortgage your home to raise the money to underwrite a night for two in such a place.

At one time, a young and rambunctious America thought nothing of wild spending to replicate in some form the visual amenities and creature comforts commonplace in the grand hotels of Europe. Most, however, have fallen victim to the wrecker’s ball, the flight to the suburbs and the rush to architectural sameness.

The George V in Paris, Claridge’s in London, the Hotel Bristol in Vienna, the Medici in Rome … . They and their ilk have persevered through world wars and economic upheavals to remain in the upper echelon of grand hotels and their names are familiar to most travelers, by reputation if not from personal experience.

For the most part, the grand hotel concept does not apply in American towns and cities outside New York and Chicago, for example. That makes the exceptions all the more remarkable.

In a still-young country, the East Coast is our “old society,” so you’ll tend to find a few more of the surviving grand dames built during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Take Nashville, Tenn., and Louisville, Ky., for example. Each a center of Southern pace and style, each with a core activity that carries its own special cache and its own financial lifestyle that can help support grand hotels.

In Nashville, the global center of the country music industry, stands the Hermitage Hotel, located on Sixth Avenue North across from the Tennessee state capitol. It marked its 100th birthday in 2010, although it was closed from 1977 to 1981. Luckily for those who enjoy such places and traditions, Historic Hotels of Nashville purchased the property in 2000, ran it for several years, then closed it and put $18 million into a nearly year-long restoration effort.

The result is a breathtakingly elegant 123-room facility offering accommodations ranging from the 2,000-square-foot presidential suite to a trio of 1,000-square-foot executive suites and 120 other rooms, a grand ballroom, the mezzanine-level Governor’s Salon where the legendary pool player Rudolf Wanderone Jr., better known as Minnesota Fats, held forth on his own table against all comers when he lived in the hotel for several years in the 1980s.

Today’s sporting activities lean more toward the National Football League (the Tennessee Titans), National Hockey League (the Predators) and NASCAR.

Nashville has always been a major city in the pre- and post-Civil War South, home to two presidents – Andrew Jackson, after whose home, The Hermitage, the hotel was named, and James Knox Polk -- and a hotbed of politics.

Today it is the quintessential country music spot with, according to The Encyclopedia of Country Music, 90 record companies, 174 recording studios, 5,500 union musicians, 24 talent agencies, nearly 300 music publishers, 17 professional music organizations and 104 film and video production companies.

The famed Music Row anchored by the Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Old Opry, isn’t glamorous until the sun goes down. Then the neon lights and the cruising traffic cover up the drabness of the strip. I found I quickly forgot about the outdoor ambiance once I caught some hard-charging country-rock bands at places like Tootsie’s, where I recommend the proximity to the cramped stage, or Robert’s, where a decent sized dance floor is a big lure.

But way back when, Nashville was more a gathering place for musicians and singers involved in big band music, when hotel orchestras were being broadcast nationally. The Francis Craig Orchestra reigned at the Hermitage Hotel’s famous Grille Room and Oak Bar from 1929 to 1945 and was broadcast over NBC Radio for 12 of those years when. It was Craig who introduced a shy local singer named Dinah Shore to America’s listening audience.

Those performers who could afford to flocked to the Hermitage Hotel to drink in the luxury as well as the cocktails at the Oak Bar.

Architect John E.R. Carpenter, a native Tennessean who had studied in Knoxville, Boston and Paris before setting up shop in New York City where he became known for his apartment building designs, designed the hotel. He utilized the lines of Beaux Arts classicism, which he had studied in depth at the Les Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris.

The interior, restored to its original style and color palette, is elegance personified. Grecian and Tennessee marble accentuate the soaring lobby, which is topped by stained cut glass. The Grand Ballroom is paneled in Circassian walnut from Russia and, like many of the building’s public spaces, has an ornate handcrafted ceiling.

Arched openings between coupled columns and extravagant decorative detailing in the French Renaissance style lead visitors from the lobby to the lush mezzanine as well as the eating and drinking areas. The Capitol Grille is a AAA Four Diamond-rated restaurant that serves nothing that has ever been frozen except ice cream. And even that is made on premises.

On the upper floors, the guest rooms are spacious and plush. Anxious as I was to see the sights and sample the nightlife of Nashville, the huge, cushy beds and spacious baths plus all the other room amenities tempted me to linger.

One might think all this history and luxury would be prohibitively expensive. Not so. While full suites range from $550 to $1,259 a night, you can book a perfectly nice deluxe room with a king or two queen beds, plenty of amenities including complimentary wi-fi for those who can’t live without Internet availability, for just $209 a night for a couple. And, there are numerous room and meals packages available, always worth considering when the establishment is known for good food as is the Hermitage. So, take that, Manhattan.

The Seelbach Rathskeller

Three hours’ drive north on I-65 is Louisville, in the heart of Kentucky’s bluegrass country. Home to the Kentucky Derby, the Muhammad Ali Center, University of Louisville basketball and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.

And, of course, the Seelbach Hilton.

This grand hotel has attracted the rich and famous for more than a century. F. Scott Fitzgerald was so taken by its posh look that he had his “The Great Gatsby” characters Tom and Daisy Buchanan marry there. Gatsby himself, it is said, was based to some degree on George Remus, a personable Cincinnati mobster who liked to make the easy 90-mile drive from his home turf to Louisville for bourbon and cigars at the Seelbach, pastimes Fitzgerald also enjoyed.

While Nashville’s Hermitage has had plenty of famous visitors, the Seelbach tops it. Its location in bourbon and horse country and its proximity to Cincinnati, Baltimore, Richmond and other sizable cities made it a mecca for the literary, gambling and bootlegging sets before Prohibition and a cast of equally colorful characters afterward.

The Seelbach is a descendant of Seelbach’s Restaurant and Café, an exclusive gentlemen’s club that was opened in 1874, the year before the first Kentucky Derby, by Louis Seelbach, who had emigrated from Bavaria.

Five years later, he brought his younger brother, Otto, to Louisville and they opened a larger establishment, with 30 guest rooms over the bar. Over the years, the business kept expanding until a brand new Seelbach Hotel opened in 1905. It was such a smash hit an additional 154 rooms were immediately added.

But, as with most undertakings, the Seelbach ran its course and was repeatedly sold or leased out. It finally closed in 1975 as business began moving to the newly emerging suburbs. It reopened in 1982, run by a subsidiary of Radisson Hotels, and became a successful convention venue as well as a hotel.

The Seelbach you see today, owned and operated by the Hilton company, has been restored to its original grandeur. In 1996, its Oakroom Restaurant reopened and earned the AAA 5 Diamond Award. In 2001 it was named to the Fine Dining Hall of Fame by Nation’s Restaurant News. It also has been named to Conde Nast Traveler magazine’s gold list of “The World’s Best Places to Stay.”

Curious yet about price? Details on that in a moment. There are a few other things to know about the Seelbach.

For one, it is located at 500 Fourth Street, a prestigious spot in Louisville because of something called ''Fourth Street Live,'' the city’s premier entertainment and retail district located right across the street between Liberty and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

Restaurants and nightclubs such as the Hard Rock Cafe, Red Cheetah dance club, Parrot Beach, Howl At the Moon and the Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge that is run by the bourbon maker of the same name make finding something to do impossible not to.

Actually, you don’t even have to leave the premises. The Old Seelbach Bar, named to several “Best Bars in the World” list, is a study in old-fashioned comfort and ambiance. Low lights, soft leathers, dark woods and an excellent line of drinks make it a great place to while away some leisure time. I recommend the house special, the Seelbach Cocktail, a delicious combination of bourbon, champagne, triple sec and Peychaud and angostura bitters in a champagne flute.

Like the Hermitage in Nashville, the Seelbach is on the National Register of Historic Places. Unlike the Hermitage, its rooms are a bit on the small side. However, they’re fully appointed, immaculate and up to date without losing the period feel.

Price? You can stay there for as little as $219 a night for two people.

Old-fashioned Southern charm, modern conveniences, easy access by air or by car, all in affordable packages. Who says the era of the grand hotel in America is over?

The main entrance to the Seelbach Hilton at night.

The ornate lobby of the Seelbach as seen descending the staircase from the guests' rooms.

The famous Oak Bar at the Hermitage.

ON THE WEB
• The Hermitage Hotel
• Give Me Nashville
• Seelbach Hilton
• Louisville.com
• Dowd's Guides home page

On the trail of musical heritage

2011-08-03T16:07:00.000-04:00

On this website, we deal mostly with matters of taste concerning food and drink, as well as some cool destinations.

On this post, we digress to deal with a matter of musical taste -- Appalachian music, to be more specific.

We're all used to hearing about wine trails, sometimes even beer, cheese, fruit, farm and other sorts of trails that link like-minded businesses in an effort to attract and guide tourists.

In the southwestern part of Virginia, we see something called "The Crooked Trail," subtitled "Virginia's Heritage Music Trail."

Its website deals with workshops, conventions, concerts and other activities involving bluegrass, old time and traditional country music. We highly recommend you visit it by going here.

ON THE WEB
• Ralph Stanley Museum & Traditional Mountain Music Center
• Dowd's Guides home page

Airlines hoping to lure passengers with wine

2011-07-25T13:21:00.000-04:00

Andrea Robinson working.

• From The Associated Press

ATLANTA, GA -- Delta Air Line's master sommelier Andrea Robinson opened up bottle after bottle of white and red wine from France, Italy, Australia, the U.S. and other parts of the world.

As she tasted them, a blue bucket sat on the table next to her. It was there so she could spit out each sip, ensuring she didn't get tipsy and could distinguish between the different wines. By the time she's done in the next few days, Robinson will have tasted and smelled roughly 2,000 bottles.

The delicate work of a sommelier has become more important as U.S. airlines fight for premium passengers willing to shell out up to thousands of dollars to fly business class on international and transcontinental flights. The idea isn't to make money on the wine — the passengers in those seats drink for free -- but rather to keep those customers coming back and encourage their well-heeled friends and co-workers to join them.

Other airlines including United Airlines and American Airlines also work with wine experts to help them choose what to serve on their flights.

And there's a market for it: According to the International Air Transport Association, through the first four months of this year, there was an 8.5% increase year-over-year in premium passenger traffic, which includes business class and first class seats. Those seats are among the most pricey and profitable for airlines. The trade group expects fuel costs to weigh on premium traffic, and stronger growth in the second half of the year will depend on how well the economy holds up.

[Go here for the full story.]

Queen Mary 2 is a dirty, filthy girl

2011-06-25T14:45:00.003-04:00

Queen Mary 2 sails past the Statue of Liberty.

• From The Mirror of London

NEW YORK -- Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 has failed a hygiene inspection by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scoring a shocking 84 out of 100.

Fruit flies and cockroaches in a storage locker, sediment in ice-making machines, and a "filthy" swimming pool were among more than 60 violations cited in the report on the inspection, carried out when the ship was berthed here on June 10.

The 3,000-passenger ship has passed every previous CDC inspection, scoring a perfect 100 on three occasions. It has only once before scored less than 92 in 15 checks carried out during the last seven years. Anything below 85 is counted as a fail.

The unwelcome visitors were found in a locker in the Kings Court buffet restaurant. Ice machines in Kings Court and in the Commodore Club bar needed cleaning, and a human hair was found under the lid of an ice maker in a crew galley.

Draught beer lines in the casino bar and Golden Lion pub were found to be "heavily soiled," and the inspectors criticised the storage of food on wine directly on open decks. and various chemicals stored near napkins, paper cups and utensils.

Tiles and water in the Minnows splash pool were said to be "filthy with dark materials and hairs."

Cunard say some staff have been disciplined and re-trained as a result of the inspection. A spokesman said: "The poor assessment resulted largely from one small area of the ship's overall operation. All the issues raised in the report were immediately addressed and have now been corrected.

"Ship and shore management have now redefined certain roles and responsibilities to clarify accountability and the company's already rigorous training schedule has been stepped up."

The CDC carries out surprise Vessel Sanitation Program checks twice a year on all ships using American ports. No other cruise ship operated by a major line has failed a CDC inspection during the past three years .

A Dowd's Guides note:

The Queen Mary 2 also made news in May when a Malaysian man was arrested for smuggling nine Chinese illegal Chinese immigrants into Brooklyn. They were not stowaways and their names appeared on the ship's manifest, but they were found to be trying to get onto U.S. soil without proper documentation.

Seen on our travels

2011-06-25T13:11:00.003-04:00

Chinese top 'world's highest bar' list

2011-06-23T13:49:00.005-04:00

Ozone, 118 floors up in Kowloon.

A few years back, I reported on the world's smallest bar, a former railroad structure in Cleethorpes, England. Now comes word of the world's highest bar, a title that has come to be dominated by the Chinese.

Ozone, at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong hotel, presently reigns as the highest -- on the 118th floor of the International Commerce Centre in Kowloon.

The new spot moved ahead of 100 Century Avenue on the 92nd floor of the Shanghai Park Hyatt which itself had edged out Cloud 9, located on the 87th floor of the Shanghai Grand Hyatt.

ON THE WEB

• Dowd's Guides
• Shanghai Travel Guide
• Touring Kowloon

Wild Turkey latest to spread its wings

2011-06-22T17:49:00.003-04:00

Visitors flock to new Wild Turkey distillery.

If you've heard about the periodic, albeit brief, shortages of bourbon in some markets, you know the demand for the iconic American spirit continues to grow.

The latest expansion in the production process went on line this week with the dedication of the expanded distillery that produces Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg, KY. The new $50 million distillery will be able to produce twice as much bourbon as the old one.

Eddie Russell

Kentucky produces 95% of the world's bourbon and the spirit has become globally in demand.

"The export market is so great for us," said Associate Distiller Eddie Russell, "and bourbon has had a resurgence in the U.S., so it lets us be prepared for the next 20 to 30 years."

Maker's Mark is working on a $50 million expansion that will boost production by about 50% and expand bottling capacity at its operations near Loretto, KY. It plans to build 20-25 new warehouses needed for storing barrels of whiskey that will age at least six years.

Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc., whose brands include Evan Williams bourbon, added two storage warehouses earlier this year, boosting its capacity by about 40,000 barrels at a cost of about $5 million.

Also, several bourbon makers have expanded, or are expanding, visitors facilities as whiskey tourism continues to grow.

There now are more than 4.7 million barrels of bourbon aging in warehouses across the state, the highest inventory since the early 1980s.

ON THE WEB

• Kentucky Bourbon Trail
• Dowd's Guides

Tullamore building new visitor center

2011-06-12T16:11:00.004-04:00

Manager D.E. Williams' name was the basis for the "dew" in the brand.

TULLAMORE, Ireland -- Since new owner William Grant and Sons took over Tullamore Dew, not all the changes are behind the scenes.

The decade-old Tullamore Dew Heritage Centre is to be upgraded as part of the company's aim of making it a major tourist attraction in the Midlands.

The original center was opened in the old bonded distillery warehouse in 2000 as a joint venture between C&C -- which then owned the brand, and the tourism support service Fáilte Ireland.

The new center will include an interactive Tullamore Dew history, a whiskey tour and expert tasting sessions. The company hopes it will be completed in time for peak tourist season in 2012 and attract 40,000 visitors annually.

Tullamore Dew is the second largest selling Irish whiskey in the world, behind Jameson's. It was purchased by William Grant and Sons last year. The distillery was founded in 1829 by Michael Molloy in County Offaly.

Contrary to popular belief, the "dew" in Tullamore Dew isn't totally an homage to Irish moisture. The initials of Daniel E. Williams, the distillery's general manager in the late 1800s, were used as the brand of whiskey he created.

ON THE WEB

• Dowd's Guides
• Fáilte Ireland

Wherever we are, we have BBQ in common

2011-05-29T15:46:00.000-04:00

Photo by April Dowd

On the first day of spring back in March, I had gazed at the snow piled deep on my backyard deck and thought, “Better get ready for barbecue season.”

It wasn’t a matter of denial. It was the sight of the charcoal grill peeping out from the snowdrift, that shiny, dome-topped apparatus I never did get around to dismantling and putting away for the winter. Again.

Unlike some of my neighbors who swear by the use of gas grills and use them year-round, I favor the old-fashioned charcoal version to be used "in season." The kind that provides leaping flames that help whet the appetite and add flavor to the meats, fish and vegetables grilled on it that I can never fully discern from foods cooked over propane jets.

True, this preference can occasionally lead to experiences that evolve into legend among people in my circle. Such as at the wine tasting/barbecue gathering I hosted and forgot I already had put starter fluid on the charcoal. A second dose and a flick of the butane lighter resulted in a roar of flames so high we feared planes overhead might mistake them for a landing beacon.

But, I assure you that was an aberration. What normally happens is a smooth-running event, be it for the immediate family or an extended circle of friends and acquaintances. The key is planning.

So here we are at the Memorial Day Weekend, the traditional time for prepping the swimming pool, checking the tire pressure on the bikes, cleaning up the garden and handling a hundred and one other chores, pleasurable and otherwise. And, most of all, time to begin barbecuing.

It’s a task, or a pastime, that has intrigued me since childhood. My first Boy Scout merit badge was earned by cooking a four-course meal unassisted over an open campfire, no mean feat at age 11.

In many American backyards grilling remains stereotypically a man’s domain. You know the old saying: “Give a man barbecue and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to barbecue and you’ve kept him out of your hair all summer.” However, the inexorable blending of gender roles in our society is changing that job. Bobby Flay, high-tech grills and accessories that mimic indoor stoves and ovens, and a return to group dining that had faded for a generation or so are encouraging that change.

Which seems only right. Cooking over an open flame and eating together have been a human communal event ever since Ooog the Hairy accidentally dropped a hyena steak on the fire and everyone in the cave crowded around to discuss what happened.

Barbecue -– or barbeque, BBQ, bar-b-q, barbie or however one cares to spell it -- has become a word that refers to both an event and a style of cooking, although there are purists who insist one should always say grilling when cooking and barbecue for the style. The more you travel, the more variations you find on the zen of barbecue or the local equivalent of the term. And, the more you know about them the more fuel you have for barbecue party conversation.

For example, during a trip through rural parts of Kentucky and Tennessee I availed myself of one heaping platter after another of “barbecue,” but there the term referred to pulled pork with a barbecue sauce ladled over it rather than being restricted to meats grilled after being soaked in the tantalizingly stereotypical vinegar-based Southern marinades.

In most of Spanish-speaking South America, the term churrasco refers to a cut of grilled beef; in Portuguese-speaking Brazil it refers to the actual process as well. In Hong Kong, outdoor barbecue grills fired by coal are popular. Even in old civilizations such as the United Kingdom where outdoor cooking was anything but commonplace, the influences of American, Australian and Caribbean barbecue cultures have resulted in a boom in backyard barbecuing since the late 1980s.

Most commercial barbecue operations try to differentiate themselves from the others by emphasizing one style of cuisine over another -- St. Louis, Memphis, Southwest, Texas, Cuban, Cajun, whatever. However, in most parts of the country barbecue remains primarily a backyard event and those who take it seriously go far beyond the standard burgers, hot dogs, chicken and steaks no matter how much we love them.

The rise in fish consumption, for example, has impacted grilling. Tender fishes cooked in foil packets with onions, peppers, herbs and a dot or two of unsalted butter is an easy dish. Swordfish, ideal for grilling because it takes to marinades well and is dense enough to keep from falling apart when cooked directly on the grill, is popular. It also is ideal for cutting into chunks and being threaded on skewers with vegetables and fruits.

Speaking of skewers, the increasing ethnic diversity of the American population also is affecting what we eat.

An influx of people from cultures that have clung for centuries to cooking over open flames rather than “rediscovering” it as a seasonal backyard thing has broadened our menus. Ethnic food stores are allowing local residents to obtain the ingredients to mimic what they’re experiencing in ethnic restaurants. We’re seeing such toothsome items as doner kebabs from Turkey, usually lamb or tightly-packed ground chicken loaf slowly roasted on a vertical rotating spit then sliced very thinly as it cooks and served on pita bread with a salad and fries. Or seekh kebabs from the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, marinated in spiced olive oil, grilled on skewers and served with sweet-and-sour fruit salsas or chutneys.

Beyond what you’re cooking, drawing up several checklists, mental or otherwise, can save a lot of trouble in how you’re cooking it.

The most important of these actually is good practice for any type of cooking, indoors or out. It is mise en place (MEEZ awn plahs), a French term referring to having all your ingredients selected, measured, cleaned, sliced, chopped or whatever you need to do to them up to the point of combining them into your dishes. Just as your favorite TV cooks have many of their ingredients laid out for them by their crew before taping a show, this is one way to have family or guests have fun helping do the prep work, making it a true communal experience without losing control of the process to well-meaning hands that can otherwise get in the way.

• Having a written menu plan, including specific amounts of food to properly feed the size of the group you’ve invited, is a must. It helps you in shopping and in preparation. The latter is particularly important if you’re the lone chef because in some instances you may be simultaneously cooking indoors and out -– grilling your kebabs on the deck but cooking the rice to go with them in the kitchen, for example. Your menu should take such things into account.

• Mise en place also can cover making as many things in advance as possible –- the marinades, the cooked-ingredient salads, the cleaned and cut-to-size fruits and vegetables you’ll be cooking on skewers or in a metal grilling basket.

• Have all your seasonings on a tray at your fingertips –- the salt, pepper, paprika, lemon or lime wedges, etc.

• Have all your cooking implements –- long-handled fork and knife, tongs with insulated handles, spatula, etc., handy. Better still, if your grill did not come equipped with an implement holder, pick one up at a home supply store. It keeps utensils from “walking away” at crucial times.

• Particularly if you use a kettle-shaped barbecue, be sure to get cooking baskets with angled handles that allow you to place the entire basket evenly over the flame. Straight-handled baskets tend to keep food tilted over the fire at varying distances, making for uneven cooking.

As with so many things, your menu comes down to a matter of taste. Even budget doesn’t have to factor into it because marinating, slow cooking over low or indirect heat, and plenty of patience can make even less-costly cuts of meat tender and appealing.

Pairing up the main dish with traditional make-ahead items such as baked beans, potato or macaroni salad, crusty artisan breads with herbed butters and some sliced tomatoes and onions drizzled with olive oil and fresh-cracked black pepper can result in a “wow” factor meal that looks complicated but isn’t. Which will leave you time to enjoy your guests and the results of your own labors.

One final observation. While I enjoy a bowl of greens as much as anyone else, when it comes to a backyard barbecue it’s all about the meat and sides. As some movie macho guy once said, you don’t win friends with salad.

DO's & DON'Ts

DO be sure to clean up your grill if you procrastinated on that chore at the end of last grilling season. Soap and water, steel wool, scrapers -- a lot of things can be used to clean the non-cooking surfaces. To cleanse the parts that come in contact with food, try one of several things. (1.) Use an indoor oven cleaner spray, letting the sprayed grill sit in the sun for a half-hour, then thoroughly wash off the cleanser with soap and water. (2.) Cover the grills with aluminum foil, turn the propane up, and let it work until any leftover particles turn to white residue, which can be brushed away.

DO discourage chipmunks, squirrels and other rodents from gnawing on your gas hose to get at the barbecue drippings by at least occasionally wiping down the hose with ammonia water when the grill is cool.

DO look into the newer types of ready to-light charcoal even if you’ve been dissatisfied with the older versions that imparted an unpleasant taste to some foods. I’ve found the current versions, particularly Kingsford Match Light, quite satisfactory and a definite timesaver for after-work grilling when you don’t want to wait forever for the fire to be ready.

DO keep a spray bottle of water handy to quickly put out any flare-ups that might char the food or be a danger to anyone.

DO use apple juice or flat beer as a spritzer liquid on chicken, ribs or any slow-cooking meats to keep them moist. Both liquids are thicker than water so they last longer without turning instantly to steam, and they don’t negatively affect the taste.

DO soak wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before putting ingredients on them for cooking. That will prevent the skewers from burning through and breaking during the grilling process.

DON’T ignore your grill owner’s manual. You might be surprised the things you’ve forgotten, or neglected, when it comes to upkeep and operating maintenance. Like replacing a gas grill’s lava rock more than annually if it becomes saturated with drippings. That keeps the heat even and avoids flare-ups.

DON’T forget to use the proper ventilation setting on your charcoal grill to maintain proper airflow for even burning. Top and bottom vents should be fully open while cooking, and closed only when you are ready to extinguish the flames or want to lower the temperature for slower cooking.

DON’T slather your meats, fish and poultry with sauces too early. Unlike marinades that have permeated the food, most of the sauces tend to merely cook away or get excessively caramelized. It’s best to brush on the sauces late in the process.

DON’T be reluctant to use wood chips to add smoky flavoring both in charcoal or gas grills. Soak the mesquite, applewood or hickory chips in water for at least 20 minutes before using. For charcoal grills, shake excess water off the chips, then sprinkle them evenly atop the cook-ready coals. For gas grills, wrap the moist chips in aluminum foil, poke several holes in the foil, and place the packet directly on the lava rock or ceramic briquettes.

DON’T cook everything right over the heat source. Some foods need direct cooking, but others should be cooked indirectly, meaning food is placed to the side of the heat source. A good rule of thumb: If foods take less than 25 minutes to cook (steaks, burgers, boneless chicken, etc.) use the direct method. Others (roasts, whole fowl, etc.) should be cooked indirectly.

DON’T put cooked foods back on plates that have held raw foods or you may pick up dangerous bacteria.

ON THE WEB

• The Barbecue Bible
• National Barbecue Association
• Barbecues & Grilling
• So You Wanna Learn to Barbecue
• Dowd's Guides

A tour through English wine country

2011-05-29T15:21:00.002-04:00

Visitors tour the Biddenden fields.

• From The Independent UK:

By Sally Hawkins

"English wine," emphasized Nigel, my guide at Biddenden Vineyards [in Kent], correcting my mistake. "British" wine, he was keen to point out, can be made using grapes flown in from anywhere in the world.

As we wound our way through Biddenden's vineyard, I began to understand his eagerness to clarify my misapprehension.

While the Romans had vineyards spread widely across Kent by A.D. 250, they left no legacy of winemaking. So, when the Barnes family planted their first acre of vines in 1969 they were true pioneers, going about it through a process of trial and error. The biggest question hanging over them was whether it was really possible to grow vines in the English climate: a late or early frost can ruin a crop.

Four decades on, and Biddenden now is the oldest commercial vineyard in the county, with 22 acres of vines. Kent now has more than 350 acres of vineyards, and English wines are raking in international awards (including two gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze medals at the 2011 International Wine Challenge, the Oscars of the wine world).

It's all very exciting for oenophiles. As Julian Barnes, second-generation winemaker at Biddenden, explained: "While the varieties of grapes are German [such as ortega and dornfelder] or French [such as pinot noir] they are grown in England -- and the local conditions and soil influence the flavours of the wine."

In Biddenden's farm shop, shelves heave with local produce including the farm's own wines and ciders, all free to taste.

"What produce is Kent famous for?" asked Nigel. "The same nutrients they take from the soil are going into the grapes that make the wine." With one slurp of the Gribble Bridge Ortega 2009, I understand: apples, pears, elderflower. The 2007 Pink Sparkling has hints of strawberry. You can't get more English than that.

[Go here for the complete story.]

ON THE WEB

• Official Kent Tourism Site
• Dowd's Guides

Pittsburgh getting new micro-distillery

2011-05-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

PITTSBURGH, PA -- The city's first distillery in nearly a century will open in the Strip District this summer.

Wigle Whiskey, a micro-distiller, will operate on the ground floor of the Pittsburgh Wool Co. building. Its owners, Eric Meyer and his father, Mark, and other family members named the whiskey after Philip Wigle, one of two men convicted of treason and sentenced to hang for his role in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.

The last legal distillery in this part of the state was the Schenley Distillery in Armstrong County which closed in the 1970s. The last distillery in the city is believed to have been Joseph S. Finch, which closed by 1920 and moved its operations to the Schenley plant after Prohibition ended.

The Wigle hanging is commemorated in the new company's label, with the rope incorporated into the name. Incidentally, the aforementioned Strip District is a popular mile-long dining and nightlife neighborhood that runs along the Allegheny River just northeast of downtown. Many of the businesses are in former warehouse and industrial buildings.

ON THE WEB

• Pittsburgh neighborhood tours
• Historic Attractions Near Pittsburgh
• Dowd's Guides

KY distillery opens new visitor center

2011-05-14T13:57:00.003-04:00

Cutting the ribbon to open the Barton 1792 Distillery Visitor Center in Bardstown, KY. L-R, Chuck Braugh, former plant manager; Mark Brown, president and CEO, Sazerac Co.; Gov. Steve Beshear; Johnnie Colwell, VP/Operations, and Ken Pierce, master distiller.

BARDSTOWN, KY -- Tourists will find the Barton Brands of Kentucky operation here a lot more accessible after the official opening of a visitor Center at the Barton 1792 Distillery.

The 1,000 square foot facility containing branded "1792 Distillery" merchandise and a tasting bar. It also serves as the base of operations for the distillery's tours, which have been enhanced with new areas to view.

Visitors now taking the tour can learn about the history of the 130-plus year-old-distillery, see the area where the grain is received, plus the hammermill and the still used in making its bourbons. The complete tour will wend its way through the aging-barrel warehouse, the bottling hall and the finished-products storage warehouse.

"We're proud to say that we have, despite the challenging economic environment, significantly increased our investment in the distillery, hired additional staffing and committed to keeping this vital industry alive in this part of the state," said Mark Brown, president and chief executive officer for Sazerac, which owns the Barton 1792 Distillery.

Sazerac purchased the former Tom Moore Distillery from Constellation Spirits in 2009 and has since heavily invested in renovating the site to making it visitor and tour-friendly. The facility employs nearly 200 people.

The new visitor center is projected to bring in 10,000 tourists to the region its first year. It will be open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours start every hour on the hour. The last tour is at 3 Monday through Friday and 2:00 on Saturday. Entrance to the Visitor Center is at 501 Cathedral Manor (31 E-New Haven Road). Phone: (866) 239-4690.

ON THE WEB

• Kentucky Bourbon Trail
• Dowd's Guides

2 states ease alcohol restrictions

2011-04-30T18:19:00.003-04:00

LIFE magazine archives

Consumers will be getting more choices under new pieces of legislation in two states.

• Georgia communities now have the option of voting to approve Sunday alcohol sales under a bill signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal that repeals the state ban on such sales.

• In the state of Washington, consumers will be able to sample distilled spirits at state liquor stores under a bill signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire.

The Georgia action takes effect July, and will allow for special alcohol sales voting as early as November. Georgia is the 37th state to allow Sunday sales in some form. Connecticut and Indiana are the only states that still ban Sunday sales of liquor, wine and beer at off-premise establishments such as package stores, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

The Washington action designates 30 state liquor stores to undertake a year-long pilot project beginning September 1. Samples are limited to one-quarter ounce, with more more than one ounce of samples served to any person in a single day.

Caribbean photo vignettes

2011-03-15T17:01:00.007-04:00

PHOTOS BY BILL & APRIL DOWD

Feeding a Doctor Bird, the hummingbird that is Jamaica's national bird.

A sunset sail off St. Maarten

English Harbour seen from the hills of Antigua.


Rose Hall, the best preserved of the old plantation great houses in Jamaica.

The most beautiful bar in the world

2011-03-07T18:55:00.015-05:00

PHOTO BY BILL DOWD

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- OK, I haven't been in every bar in the world, but I have visited a lot of them in a lot of countries and shot a lot of pictures. No special occasion for posting this. I was just going through some of my personal photo files and came across it.

It is The Dome, is a gorgeous bar and restaurant located in Edinburgh in what once was the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Scotland. The 1930s-style cocktail lounge leads to a parasol-covered garden café and an elegant grill room with mosaic floors and stained glass windows.

WWII golfing had special rules in London

2011-03-02T19:14:00.003-05:00

RICHMOND-UPON-THAMES, England -- By now, the common wisdom is that the generation that endured World War II was one of the toughest ever. In what might otherwise seem like a light-hearted bit of proof -- but one that shows how many people tried to keep some semblance of normal life during the German blitz, this set of golf club rules issued in 1940 shows what the mindset was in England.

The Richmond Golf Club, which was opened in 1891, is a private club in this suburb of London. Unless you're the guest of a member, you can't play there, but if you're planning to be in the area, you can visit the adjacent Royal Richmond Park, the largest open space in London covering almost 2,500 acres and home to a wide array of wildlife.

Did your favorite airport restaurant make the Frommer's Top 10 list?

2011-03-02T17:07:00.005-05:00

Do you have a favorite airport restaurant? Frommer’s Travel Guides does, and today released its list of the 10 best.

Here they are, complete with locations:

Atlanta: One Flew South, Terminal E.
Baltimore: Obrycki's, at Gate B-11,
Boston: Legal Sea Foods, Terminal A; Legal Test Kitchen, Terminal B before security; Legal C Bar, Terminal C before security.
Chicago O'Hare: Tortas Frontera, Terminal 1.
New York JFK: Deep Blue Sushi, Terminal 5.
New York LaGuardia: Custom Burgers, Delta Terminal.
Los Angeles: Encounter at LAX, before airport security.
Minneapolis: Ike's Food and Cocktails, Concourse E.
Raleigh, NC: 42nd Street Oyster Bar, Terminal 2.
Seattle: Ivar's, Central Terminal.

Back to Dowd's Guides home page.

Spain to smokers: Butt out

2011-01-01T14:46:00.002-05:00

MADRID -- Spain will join several other European countries on Sunday, January 2, when an official ban on smoking in indoor bars and restaurants goes into effect.

Britain, France and Italy already have such a ban.

A ban on smoking in the workplace was instituted in 2007, but the nation's estimated 300,000 bars and restaurants were given the chance to opt out of the ban. Most did so.

Back to Dowd's Guides home page.

PA wineries target world toasting record

2010-08-07T16:17:00.003-04:00

Pennsylvania wineries are thinking big this month. Very big.

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 14, concurrent wine tastings will be conducted in 30 counties across the state, linked by video for what is being billed as "The Great Pennsylvania Wine Toast."

Wine lover and motor of Nazareth, PA, will serve as toastmaster for the event, leading the crowds at 58 different locations in a simultaneous toast by video link under the sponsorship of the Pennsylvania Winery Association.

The current record is held by the United Kingdom. Last year, 17,429 participants at 400 pubs across the UK set that record by raising their wine glasses in unison.

Participating wineries:

Adams County:
Adams County Winery (Ortanna) (717-334-4631)
Hauser Estate (Biglerville) (717-334-4888)
Reids Orchard (Orrtanna) (717-677-7466)

Bedford County:
Briar Valley Winery (Bedford) (814-623-0900)

Berks County:
Blair Vineyards (Mertztown) (610-682-0075)
Kog Hill(Morgantown) (610-913-6609)
Long Trout Winery (Auburn) (570-366-6443)
Manatawny Creek Winery (Douglassville) (610-689-9804)
Pinnacle Ridge (Kuttown) (610-756-4481)

Bradford County:
Antler Ridge Winery (Rome) (570-247-7222)
Grovedale Winery (Wyalusing) (570-746-1400)
Laddsburg Mountain Winery (New Albany) (570-363-2476)

Bucks County:
Crossing Vineyards (Washington Crossing) (215-493-6500)
Sand Castle Winery (Erwinna) (800-PA2-WINE)

Butler County:
Rustic Acres (Butler) (724-283-6236)

Centre County:
Seven Mountains Wine Cellars (Spring Mills) (814-364-1000)

Chester County:
Black Walnut Winery (Sadsburyville) (610-857-5566)
Chaddsford Winery (Chadds Ford) (610-388-6221)
Paradocx Vineyard (Landenberg) (610-255-4159)

Clarion County:
Deer Creek Winery (Shippenville) (814-354-7392)

Clearfield County:
Evergreen Valley Winery (Luthersburg) (814-583-7575)
Stone Mountain Wine Cellars (Pine Grove) (570-739-4418)

Dauphin County:
Cullari Winery (Hershey) (717-533-8985)
Westhanover Winery (Harrisburg) (717-652-3711)

Erie County:
Arrowhead Wine Cellars (North East) (814-725-5509)
Courtyard Wineries (North East) (814-725-0236)
Heritage Wine Cellars (North East) (800-747-0083)
Lakeview Wine Cellars (North East) (814-725-4440)
Mazza Vineyards (North East) (800-796-9463)
Penn Shore Vineyards (North East) (814-725-8688)

Elk County:
Winery at Wilcox (Wilcox) (814-929-5598)

Fayette County:
Christian W. Klay (Chalk Hill) (724-439-3424)

Franklin County:
Tuscarora Mt. Winery (Chambersburg) (717-261-9463)

Indiana County:
Windgate Winery (Smicksburg) (814-257-8797)

Lancaster County:
Mt. Hope Winery (Manheim) (717-665-7021 x129)
Tamanend Winery (Lancaster) (717-560-9463)
Twin Brook Winery (Gap) (717-442-4915)

Lehigh County:
Blue Mountain Winery (New Tripoli) (610-298-3068)
Clover Hill Winery (Breinigsville) (1-888-CLOVERHILL)
Vynecrest Winery (Breinigsville) (800-361-0725)

Luzerne County:
Bartolai Winery (West Pittson) (570-388-8466)

McKean County:
Flickerwood Wine Cellars (Kane) (814-837-7566)

Mifflin County:
Brookmere Winery & Vineyard Inn (Belleville) (717-935-5380)

Montgomery County:
Boyd's Cardinal Hollow Winery (North Wales) (215-661-9580)

Northampton County:
Amore Winery (Nazareth) (610-837-1334)
Franklin Hill Vineyards(Bangor) (610-588-8708)

Perry County:
Hunters Valley Winery (Liverpool) (717-444-7211)

Schuylkill County:
Benigna's Creek (Klingerstown) (570-425-3090)
Galen Glen Winery (Andreas) (570-386-3682)

Snyder County:
Shade Mountain Winery (Middleburg) (570-837-3644)

Sullivan County:
Eagle Rock Winery (Laporte) (570-946-7767)
Winterland Winery (Lopez) (570-928-7771)

Westmoreland County:
Greendance, The Winery at Sand Hill (Mount Pleasant) (724-547-6500)

York County:
Allegro Vineyards (Brogue) (717-927-9148)
High Rock Winery (Hanover) (717-633-1288)
Hummingbird Ridge Winery (York Haven) (717-315-0209)
Moon Dancer Vineyards & Winery (Wrightsville) (717-252-WINE)
Naylor Wine Cellars (Stewartstown) (800-292-3370)

ON THE WEB
• Pennsylvania Winery Association
• Dowd's Guides

Beam sends six-grain spirit to limited outlets

2010-07-31T18:28:00.003-04:00

Jim Beam is known mostly for the consistency of its standard version of bourbon. That's one reason it is such a favorite with cocktail makers for such standards as a Manhattan.

Now, the company has come up with a new six-grain expression called Jim Beam Signature.

It is beign tried at the moment as a product available only through what is known as "travel retail" -- in other word, European duty-free shops at 29.99 Euros.

It is made from a blend of spirits distilled from corn, barley, wheat, triticale, rye and brown rice. (And, no, Start Trek fans, triticale is not the same grain used in the immortal episode "The Trouble With Tribbles.")

The limited-production spirit -- 13,800 bottles of the six-year-old, 89-proof spirit, to be precise -- is, says a gramatically-challenged company statement, "a result of us mingling different bourbons together. Each were made from a standard bourbon recipe (high percentage of single grains). For instance, we distilled a high wheat, small grain bourbon; a high triticale, small grain bourbon; and a high brown rice, small grain bourbon. Each were barreled separately then mingled together prior to bottling."

NY a hotbed of sports Halls of Fame

2010-07-14T19:36:00.001-04:00

Fame, as the saying goes, may be fleeting, but in New York State, you have a better-than-average shot at making it stick.

That's because New York has at least 30 halls of fame that are open to the public, filled with honorees ranging from athletes to abolitionists, dancers to doyennes, soccer players to singers.

The number actually tops 30, but that would include virtual halls -- several of which have buildings in the planning stages but most of which are programs of honors rather than physical venues. Plus, numerous schools, colleges, municipalities, teams and business organizations have virtual halls of fame, which pads the total well beyond 50.

I recently attended a wedding reception at the Saratoga Auto Museum in Saratoga Spa State Park. Because it also is home to the New York State Stock Car Association Hall of Fame, I got to thinking of all the sports-related hall of fame sites within easy reach of New Yorkers.

The most visible and best known is, of course, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (888-425-5633). But it does not stand alone. There are:

• National Museum of Racing & Hall of Fame, devoted to thoroughbred horse racing, Saratoga Springs (518-584-0400).

• National Soccer Hall of Fame & Museum, Oneonta (607-432-3351).

• Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, Goshen (845-294-6330).

• International Boxing Hall of Fame, Canastota (315-697-7095).

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, Amsterdam (518-842-0022).

• National Distance Running Hall of Fame, Utica (315-724-4525).

ON THE WEB
• New York Museums Guide
• Dowd's Guides

Passport fees going up on July 13

2010-07-05T13:59:00.003-04:00

WASHINGTON, DC -- If you're in need of a passport for upcoming international travel, better hurry or you'll be paying more for the privilege.

As of Tuesday, July 13, adult passport book fees will go from $100 to $135, and the fee for persons under 16 will go from $85 to $105. Renewals of adult passports will go from $75 to $110.

The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, which oversees the passport office, also is raising 24 other related fees.

The "switch to the e-passport with the chip and the additional security features are what is increasing the costs," said John Echard, a spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs. "It's a lot more expensive to make passports now than it used to be."

New passports have had an electronic chip embedded in them since October 2006. The chips contain all the information in the passport plus facial-recognition data.

Passport cards, which resemble driver's licenses and are used to allow entrance to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean at land border crossings or sea ports-of-call.

ON THE WEB
• Passport Home Page
• Dowd's Guides

Vintage Indiana coming up fast

2010-05-24T13:35:00.002-04:00

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Vintage Indiana is expected to draw more than two dozen state wineries when the annual festival is held Saturday, June 5.

The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. downtown in Military Park, also will feature about a dozen restaurants as well as live entertainment, art, kids’ activities and educational programs. A crowd upwards of 10,000 is expected.

One sidenote: This is the first Vintage Indiana since the Indiana Wine Grape Council named Traminette the official state grape. Look for a number of expressions of that particular hybrid, developed at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

ON THE WEB
• The Traminette 'coronation'
• Dowd's Guides

Old Johnnie Walker site being revived

2010-05-24T13:33:00.003-04:00

• From the Carlisle, Scotland, News & Star

ANNAN, DUMFRIES-SHORE, SCOTLAND -- A former distillery that last produced Johnnie Walker whisky more than 90 years ago is set to go back into production.

Under a £6 million project, the dilapidated 180-year-old building will be restored and equipped to distill a distinctive single malt. It also will become a visitor center and whisky academy providing courses on all aspects of the creation of the perfect dram.

Behind the scheme is Dumfries-born businessman and whisky enthusiast David Thomson, an honorary professor of food and nutrition sciences at Reading University, and his wife Teresa Church, an animal nutritionist.

Professor Thomson, 55, said: “We bought the old distillery three years ago and the project is now set to go. We have been given a £350,000 grant from Historic Scotland who are keen to see the buildings restored. Unfortunately, a £150,000 grant awarded by the Scottish government has been withdrawn although I hope it may be reinstated."

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides

New England Wine & Food Expo doubling up

2010-04-26T13:36:00.005-04:00

WORCESTER, MA -- Too often major events are scheduled in conflict with each other. The DCU Center has taken care of that little problem this year by scheduling the New England Gourmet Food & Wine Expo and the Worcester Kitchen, Bath & Home Remodeling Expo adjacent to each other Sunday through Tuesday, June 18-20.

Admission to both shows is free.

Food & Wine Expo attendees will be able to sample from among 1,000 wines, beers and spirits from around the world. This year’s theme is "Wines of California."

The expo offers guests the chance to participate in the tastings program and sample high-end wines in the Fine Wine Tasting Lounge. The chefs stage will feature education and samplings with celebrity and local chefs. The Cheese Corner will have presentations and tastings.

In addition, the entertainment area will present an array of French-style performances and will include The Art of the Cocktail Stage.

Best in Category awards will be presented in numerous categories, including top organic wine product and top organic beer product. In addition, consumers choice awards will be presented in such categories as wine and beer. Plus, beer/wine/spirits awards will be presented for international winery, domestic winery, gold-silver-bronze wineries, and international and domestic breweries plus the medal awards.

ON THE WEB
• Food & Wine Expo website
• Dowd's Guides

Hudson Valley culinary history in a day

2010-03-06T17:12:00.001-05:00

HYDE PARK, NY -- The rich culinary history of the region will be explored and celebrated during the 4th annual "Bon Appétit: Food and Dining in the Hudson Valley," a conference scheduled for Saturday, March 20, at the Roosevelt Library and Home.

The day-long event, organized by the Great Estates Consortium, will be held in the Henry A. Wallace Center. It was scheduled to coincide with Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, which this year will be held March 15-28. (Details of the restaurant week -- actually two weeks -- are available here.)

The schedule will offer presentations on regional cuisine from Dutch colonial days to the present. Some of the highlights:

• Heidi Hill, historic site manager of Crailo and Schuyler Mansion State Historic Site, will open the conference by exploring 17th century food, using Dutch genre paintings and archaeological evidence.

• Valerie Balint, associate curator at Olana State Historic Site, will explore evolving mid-century dining tastes and trends using Olana and the daily practices of the Church family as an example.

• Frank Futral, curator of Decorative Arts at the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Historic Sites, will explore the food customs of millionaires during the Gilded Age, including the behind-the-scenes work of the 24 domestic servants needed to present a "Dinner of Ceremony" in a Gilded Age mansion.

• Lunch will be provided by Gigi Hudson Valley and will feature local food. Laura Pensiero, chef/owner of Gigi, will introduce the lunch and discuss how she uses local farm products for her business .

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to visit participating Great Estates where they will be given an opportunity to engage in special food related tours and activities. Each site will pair with a restaurant offering visitors a Hudson Valley treat. While there is no additional cost for visits to the historic sites, participants must pre-register for the sites they expect to visit.

They are the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Staatsburgh State Historic Site, Locust Grove Estate and Clermont State Historic Site.

Space is limited, and meals and refreshments are included in the conference fee. The $60 per person registration fee includes coffee/tea in the morning, the catered luncheon, and afternoon Great Estates site tours.

Additional details and registration are available by phone at (845) 889-8851.

ON THE WEB
• Hudson Valley Restaurant Week
• Dowd's Guides

Kansas to join smoking ban list

2010-03-01T16:44:00.007-05:00

TOPEKA, KS -- If you're sick of making your way through clouds of smoke in public places, circle July 1 on your calendar if you plan to be in Kansas.

Gov. Mark Parkinson's office says he plans to sign into law, and make effective July 1, a ban on smoking in restaurants, bars and other enclosed public and work places. The legislation was approved last week by the state House of Representatives.

The 1,000-member Kansas Restaurant & Hospitality Association had expressed a preference for a weaker law, one that would allow restaurants, taverns, casinos and private clubs to designate their facilities as a smoking section as long as they paid an annual fee and did not admit minors.

Kansas will become the 31st state to ban smoking in restaurants. Michigan will become the 30th when its statewide ban goes into effect on May 1. Virginia became the 29th when its ban went into effect on December 1, 2009.

ON THE WEB
• Somking bans in the U.S.
• Dowd's Guides

Subway plans beer and wine in Colorado airport

2010-02-19T17:06:00.007-05:00

GRAND JUNCTION, CO -- Burger King, which recently opened in Miami the chain's first burger-and-beer bar, has nothing on Subway.

The sandwich shop chain will be offering both beer and wine at a new Subway sandwich shop under construction at the Grand Junction Regional Airport.

The Grand Junction Regional Airport Authority this week approved the franchise store's plans to serve alcohol when it opens on the airport terminal's second floor in May or April.

Kevin Kane, spokesman for Subway in its Milford, CT, headquarters, said alcohol is not served at stores that have street access, but there are exceptions when it's part of the lease agreement with the landlord. The airport will hold the liquor license.

ON THE WEB
• Grand Junction Regional Airport
• Dowd's Guides

Mass. tightens food allergen notifications

2010-02-12T16:09:00.004-05:00

BOSTON, MA -- In the Bay State, tourists and residents alike will be given more information at restaurants on potential food allergens beginning this summer.

The state Department of Public Health unveiled new requirements this week that will require restaurants to be more proactive in addressing potential allergic reactions.

Restaurant employees will be required to undergo training and education on preventing foods from becoming contaminated by allergy-inducing items. Restaurants also will be required to post allergy alert stickers on all menus to notify staff and customers before orders are placed.

"This law isn’t perfect, but it’s a meaningful first step towards raising awareness," said Janine Harrod, director of government affairs for the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. "It emphasizes the responsibility of the food-allergic customer to remain vigilant about everything they put into their bodies."

The new regulations have been in the works for several years, with the industry being largely cooperative.

Harrod said that, while the law does not now require operators to post allergy alerts on menu boards and drive-thrus, the Public Health Council can expand the scope of requirements before the requirements are formally adopted into law in April.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides

'30 Most Important Restaurants' rated

2010-02-08T19:23:00.003-05:00

Interested in eating at the best -- or at least top-rated -- places in town, depending on which town you plan to visit?

The annual "30 Most Important Restaurants in the United States," compiled by the online guide Opinionated About Dining, lists Thomas Keller's French Laundry in the Napa Valley, CA, and Per Se in New York as the tops this year.

The annual survey was conducted between September 1, 2009, and January 8 of this year. It is based on more than 29,000 rankings from about 1,900 respondents.

The list is composed of restaurants that earn a rating of at least 95 points in the Opinionated About Dining guide.

This was the second straight top finish for the French Laundry with a perfect score of 100. Per Se scored 99.73 to rank second.

The full survey, which examines 1,000 restaurants throughout the United States, will be released March 1. Here, however, is the Top 30 list:

1. The French Laundry, Yountville, CA, 100
2. Per Se, New York, 99.73
3. Masa, New York, 99.00
4. Manresa, Los Gatos, Calif., 98.53
5. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY, 98.50
6. Mini-Bar, Washington, DC, 98.48
7. Urasawa, Beverly Hills, CA, 98.43
8. Jean Georges, New York, 98.30
9. Alinea, Chicago, 97.78
10. Corton, New York, 97.53
11. McCrady's, Charleston, SC, 97.50
12. Le Bernardin, New York, 97.17
13. Sushi Yasuda, New York, 97.08
14. Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, 97.00
15. Schwa, Chicago, 96.71
16. Kuruma Sushi, New York, 96.43
17. Eleven Madison Park, New York, 96.27
18. Momofuku Ko, New York, 96.26
19. Komi, Washington, DC, 96.11
20. (tie) Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA, 95.93
20 (tie) Providence, Los Angeles, 95.93
22. Marinus, Carmel, CA, 95.81
23. Town House, Chilhowie, VA, 95.73
24. Coi, San Francisco, 95.72
25. Hugo's, Portland, ME., 95.66
26. Bouley, New York, 95.45
27. Aubergine, Carmel-By-the-Sea, CA, 95.39
28. L' Atelier de Joel Robuchon, New York, 95.28
29. O Ya, Boston, 95.16
30. Elements, Princeton, NJ, 95.04.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides

DC prepping for International Wine & Food Fest

2010-02-02T18:58:00.004-05:00

WASHINGTON, DC -- Finishing touches are being put on the 11th annual DC International Wine & Food Festival, set for February 11-14.

The four-day event will feature more than 600 wines, along with a variety of events at various venues.

The major event is the Grand Tasting & Street-Fare Food Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on Saturday and Sunday, February 13-14, from 2 to 6 p.m.

The festival will conclude with a screening of the film "Bottle Shock," a movie about how Napa Valley’s Montelena Winery challenged France’s position as the world’s top wine producer in 1976, putting California wines on the map.

ON THE WEB
• Festival tickets
• Dowd's Guides

SF Beer Week promises big stuff

2010-01-30T19:36:00.003-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO -- The annual San Francisco Beer Week is scheduled to begin next Friday, February 5, and run through Valetine's Day, Sunday the 14th.

An estimated 60 rare, limited-release beers will be popping up, along with a host of activities at multiple venues. Herewith, a small sampling:

• A music concert, live comedy, and a dozen breweries at a "Beer-In for Charity" at Cobb's Comedy Club.

• A dinner with barrel-aged beer pairings by Beer & Nosh's Jesse Friedman, with celebrity chef Jen Biesty, at Scala's Bistro.

• Nightly food pairings with Drake's Brewing Co. new Belgian Trippel at The Front Porch.

• "Beer to Breakers" bike ride with breaks at breweries in San Francisco.

• Such new beer releases as Triple Rock's Keyser Soze Imperial Stout, Gordon Biersch's Rauchbier, Special Bock and Barrel-aged Dunkles, Russian River's Pliny the Younger, Schmaltz's Jewbelation Bar Mitzvah, and Speakeasy's new collaborative beer with Whole Foods.

• "Meet the Brewers Nights" with Black Diamond, Sudwerk, Trumer, Allagash, Marin, Ballast Point, Moylan's, Triple Rock, Bear Republic, and the San Francisco Brewers Guild.

• A Peninsula pub crawl on CalTRain with Wet Your Whistles.

You can get the full rundown on the interactive events map on the website, along with details on tickets, lodging and the like.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Brews Notebook
• Dowd's Guides

Kosher wine-and-food extravaganza in NYC

2010-01-29T15:06:00.002-05:00

NEW YORK -- From time to time, I get an inquiry about kosher wine and food events. They're few and far between in most areas.

However, if you're willing to trek to Manhattan, you can take care of that problem on Monday (February 1).

The Royal Wine Corporation of Bayonne, NJ, is hosting a "Kosher Restaurant & Wine Experience" at 6:30 p.m. at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers. The event will feature tastings from 20 kosher restaurants -- Abigael's, Cho-Sen Gardens, Fumio, Glatt a la Carte, Le Marais, Pomegranate, Noi Due and Taverre 84 among them -- and 200 varietals from 40 international wineries.

Numerous winemakers will be on hand. There also will be a seminar by Jay Buchsbaum, Royal’s fine wine director Jay Buchsbaum.

The cost is $100 per person or $175 a couple. Details and reservations: Call (888) 710-2439 or go online.

ON THE WEB
• Kosher Wine Society
• Kosher Wine Review
• Dowd's Guides

Have a cold one your way

2010-01-24T12:45:00.005-05:00

MIAMI, FL -- Burger King likes to refer to itself these days as BK. Now, the B can stand for beer with your burger.

If you're here in Miami, that is. That's where the fast-food chain has opened its first "burger bar" where it is selling beer to drinking-age patrons.

The Whopper Bar South Beach is offering Whopper sandwich with Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors brews. With fries, the combo costs $7.99. A beer alone, served in special aluminum cans made for BK, costs $4.25.

This restaurant is the company's pilot project. If successful, it plans to introduce the concept in other tourist markets such as Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles, according to Chuck Fallon, president of Burger King North America.

Can a wine list be far behind?

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides

Coffee & Tea Festival in NYC

2010-01-20T15:58:00.003-05:00

NEW YORK -- Wine, beer and spirits have their extravaganzas, but coffee and tea don't have nearly the number of showcases. However, the 5th annual Coffee & Tea Festival NYC is a major event.

The international event, open to the public and the trade, is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, February 2021, at 7WEST, located at 7 West 34th Street in Manhattan.

The event will offer two days of programming including classes/lectures/demos from industry pros and pioneers. Chocolates and sweet treats will offer a wonderful compliment to the spectacular collection of coffees and teas.

ON THE WEB
• Ticket information and reservations
• Dowd's Guides

San Francisco about to be ZAP-ed

2010-01-18T16:15:00.002-05:00

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 19th annual Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) Festival is set for January 28-20 here.

The event, to be held at the Fort Mason and Intercontinental Hotel, is three days of tastings, wine pairings and seminars.

Beverly Gannon (above left), chef of the Hali'imaile General Store in Maui, Hawaii, will prepare Hawaiian-themed food to pair with selected Zins at the January 28 dinner at Herbst Pavilion in Fort Mason.

More than 250 producers will offer samples of their wines at the Grand Zinfandel Tasting on January 30.

Admission to individual events or all three days ranges from $59 to $524, and is by advance purchase only. Information is available online.

ON THE WEB
• A video interview with Chef Gannon
• Dowd's Guides

Classifying the castles of Scotland

2010-01-12T20:02:00.000-05:00

William M. Dowd photos

Ancient Edinburgh Castle sits atop an extinct volcano.

ABERDEENSHIRE, Scotland -- In the craggy Highlands of Scotland, and to some extent in the lusher lowlands as well, life has always been harsh.

Rough weather, generations-long disputes between family-led clans, hard-scrabble earnings pried from rocky fields and shaggy cattle, invaders from Scandinavia and England imposing their will and their rule … . All have played a part in producing a stubborn, hardy race of people known for clinging to their ethnic heritage as strongly as any people you’ll find anywhere.

Little wonder, then, that most of Scotland’s structures have been built, at least in part, of stone – the strong granite type quarried in abundance throughout this land about the size of South Carolina; stone that defies armed attacks, howling winter winds and debilitating cold and snow. Stone that can be cut and muscled into various shapes to accommodate the needs of the people.

Most types of granite tend to sparkle when wet, and in a land where “wet” is synonymous with “typical day” and where you’re never more than about 45 miles from the sea, it’s not unusual to see a certain gleam ahead when approaching a town or village after a storm.

As I traveled throughout Scotland I noted that even the meanest villages were made up mostly of stone structures. And Aberdeen, one of the major cities, is, in fact, known as the Granite City. The granite blocks are found in private homes, farm outbuildings, commercial facilities and, of course, the ubiquitous castles.

Castles have always had a special place in the life and legend of Scotland. The structures themselves vary widely, rather than automatically falling into the “Ivanhoe” or King Arthur model Hollywood created for us.

From the earliest stone fortifications, known as brochs and motte castles, to fortified manor houses (essentially tower-like structures built vertically for security reasons ) erected in the 13th through the 15th centuries and often expanded in later years -- and large, sprawling castles whose names are well known to us today –- Balmoral, summer home of the British royal family; Cawdor, scene of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”; Ardverikie House, the manor house on the BBC America television series “Monarch of the Glen,” and, of course, magnificent Edinburgh Castle that stands on an extinct volcano overlooking that ancient city – these are a legacy that punctuates the history of the nation.

Today, the castles fall into three categories:

• Those that have gone into ownership of such official agencies as Historic Scotland or the National Trust.

• Those that have become tourist accommodations as a way to pay the heavy taxes that have caused most other families to sell them off.

• Those that have fallen into disrepair and now provide mute testimony to the fate of all things made by man, no matter how immortal the feel of their stones.

Many of the historic sites were spruced up in 2009 during the national tourism promotion effort called "Homecoming Scotland."

I've come across several examples of each castle category during my travels of the country.

A welcoming committee greets guests for a Leith Hall luncheon.
One of the most historically interesting was Leith Hall, built in A.D. 1650 and now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

It’s a preserved treasure trove of Scottish memorabilia in the form of chinaware, oil paintings by the likes of Gilbert Stuart, as well as household and personal articles of the period. It’s a typical example of a residence for a Scottish laird (lord), set on a 286-acre estate in the rolling countryside of Aberdeenshire.

The remnants of Huntly Castle.
It stands in marked contrast to Huntly Castle, looked after by Historic Scotland. The original was built 500 years before Leith Hall. The stone structure that now stands in ruins replaced the original wooden fortifcation in about 1410, and one still can see much of the shell of the main building as well as the remnants of outbuildings -– a winery and a bakery -– and of the motte, a circular artificial defensive mound.

Huntly has always had a cursed existence, usually because its lairds were on the losing side of political and military battles, the winners continually setting the place afire and defacing much of its masonry art. It eventually became an unintended “quarry” for people stealing stones to build the nearby town of Huntly. Finally, in 1923 it passed into state care.

The best example of the third category –- a family home turned commercial enterprise -– was Ballindalloch Castle in an area known as Speyside, a large crescent of land where the river Spey meanders, and where much of the ubiquitous Scotch whisky such as The Glenlivet and Glenfiddich is distilled.

The 16th Century castle has been home to the Macpherson-Grant family since 1546. The original structure was in the traditional Z shape, but has been modified and enlarged over the centuries. It’s a good example of the evolution of a fortified tower house into a sprawling estate.

The people who own and operate Ballindalloch are the picture of British aristocracy, motion picture style.

Oliver Russell, 68, a onetime banker raised in London, is the son of a highly decorated British admiral, and as a young man was what is known as an “honors page” to Queen Elizabeth II. He’s tall, slightly stoop-shouldered, with carefully combed silver-gray hair, a long handsome face and a courtly manner.

Clare Macpherson-Grant Oliver, lady of the manor at Ballindalloch Castle. Husband Russell Oliver greets visitors, below.

His wife, Clare Macpherson-Grant Russell, 62, through whose family the castle has been owned, is the only child of the sixth baron of Ballindalloch. She is an elegantly turned-out woman, dressed in a tailored skirt and jacket, her gray hair worn in sort of a Thatcheresque poof, hands clasped as she speaks, softly and with a clipped English inflection.

When her father died during her childhood, the family title went to his brother who passed ownership of the estate to her upon his death. However, legally the title may only be passed from male to male in the family line.

“Such a silly thing,” Lady Clare said with a dismissive wave. “The very idea that women can’t be just as accomplished as men.”

To avoid having the title die out, the Russells' elder son, Guy Ewan, 41, has officially changed his surname to Macperson-Grant which means he can eventually inherit the sobriquet.

She does, however, hold a title of her own. She is the Lord-Lieutenant of Banffshire, which means she is the Queen’s representative in the locality.

“It also means I have to be sure everything is in proper order when the Queen comes for any occasion,” she told me during a tour of Ballindalloch.

She also is the author of several published cookbooks and designed a number of the items among the jewelry, cashmeres and tartans sold as part of “the Ballindalloch Collection.”

The main dining room of Ballindalloch Castle.
The castle, which has undergone a continual upgrade over the 40-plus years of the Olivers’ marriage -– “I very cleverly married a banker, so he knew all the particulars of how to financially support this venture,” she said -– is a pristine place, with gilt-framed portraits, fine fabrics, heirloom dishware, draperies and silver tableware and bric-a-brac, photos delineating the more modern adventures of the family, and collections of weapons from many generations. All of which stand in stark contrast to seeing the laird and lady of the manor off in a corner stuggling mightily to overcome an office computer problem in the absence of a staff member who usually handles such chores.

Visitors wander through the house, moving through one corridor after another that range in size from two-abreast to tiny, cramped winding staircases once used by servants to stay out of sight of guests while going about their household duties.

The grounds of the estate contain about 100 stone buildings, smallish affairs that over the years served as living quarters for estate workers. Many have been refurbished to serve as guest houses. The grounds also offer salmon and trout fishing in the rivers Spey and Avon that run through the grounds, shooting and hunting on the riverbanks and in the mature hardwood forests, and golf on the private course Oliver Russell runs.

The flora and fauna of the estate are worth seeing. Flower gardens, a walk-through arbor and river walks; a herd of Aberdeen Angus, a breed developed by Lady Clare’s great-grandfather in the 1860s.

“In the States you call them Black Angus,” she explained to me as she pointed out a trio of the great beasts lounging under a shade tree, “but the true name is Aberdeen Angus and they came from right here at Ballindalloch.”

Many of the castles, such as Blair Castle at the Atholl Estates right in the heart of Scotland midway between Inverness (located at the top of Loch Ness) and Perth, are excellent family stops. Child-oriented displays and activities such as wildlife tours via Land Rover, farm tractor tours, pony treks and country fairs abound.

Next year’s “Homecoming Scotland” festivities undoubtedly will ramp up tourism throughout the country. If you’re of Scottish descent, July 25-26 will be the pinnacle when “The Gathering 2009” is projected to be the largest international clan gathering and Highland Games ever held in Scotland.
Around 8,000 clans-people from around the world are expected to take part in a parade along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and 40,000 visitors are expected to attend the Highland Games’ Heavy Event Championship.

The competition moves from country to country each year since its inception in 1980. This year’s championship was won by American Sean Betz in West Virginia, and he plans to defend his title next year in Edinburgh.

ON THE WEB
• Homecoming Scotland
• The Gathering 2009
• Scottish Tourist Board
• Clans & Castles
• Fishing In Scotland
• Golf Travel Scotland
• The Malt Whisky Trail
• Dowd's Guides

Boston Wine Expo discount tix available

2010-01-06T19:04:00.003-05:00

BOSTON, MA -- Discounted tickets are available until January 15 for the 19th annual Boston Wine Expo, scheduled this year for January 23-24 at the Seaport World Trade Center.

The organizers call this the largest trade and consumer wine event in the country, with more than 450 wineries participating and pouring samples of more than 1,800 wines from domestic and foreign producers.

The event also includes free food samples from a wide variety of vendors, as well as workshops and seminars.

Full details are available online.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Wine Notebook
• Dowd's Guides

72 participants for HV Restaurant Week(s)

2010-01-05T19:44:00.004-05:00

The 4th annual "Hudson Valley Restaurant Week" will be offering a three-course, prix-fixe lunch for $20 and dinner for $28 at participating restaurants in the historic region of New York State.

The event this year actually is a two-week event despite its name, scheduled for Monday, March 15, through Sunday. March28.

Prices are per person and do not include beverage, tax or tip. Reservations are recommended eveywhere, and required at some establishments. No tickets or passes are required, simply review the restaurant list below. Contact restaurants directly for details and reservations.

There are 72 restaurants signed up as participants so far, including the following:

Armonk: Marc Charles Steakhouse, Opus 465

Bangall: Red Devon

Beacon: Piggy Bank Restaurant

Bellvale: Iron Forge Inn

Brewster: Santrista Grill

Chappaqua: Crabtree's Kittle House

Chatham: Blue Plate

Cold Spring: Brasserie Le Bouchon, Cathryn's Tuscan Grill. Hudson House River Inn

Congers: Restaurant X and The Bully Boy Bar

Dobbs Ferry: The Cookery, Halfmoon, Off Broadway Restaurant

East Chester: Casa Brusco

Fishkill: Hudson's Ribs & Fish, Il Barilotto

Garrison: The Bird & Bottle Inn

Goshen: Catherine's Restaurant, Il Tesoro

Hastings On Hudson: Blu Riverfront Bar & Bistro, Harvest on Hudson

Haverstraw: Union Restaurant and Bar Latino

High Falls: Depuy Canal House

Hyde Park: The American Bounty at the CIA, Twist

Irvington: Il Soriso, River City Grill

Katonah: Le Fontane

Mamaroneck: Zitoune Restaurant

Marlboro: Hidden Cellar Restaurant, Raccoon Saloon

Middletown: Nina

Millbrook: Charlotte's

Milton: Ship Lantern Inn

Montgomery: Backyard Bistro

Mt. Kisco: Cafe of Love

New Paltz: Beso, Village Tea Room Restaurant & The Bake Shop

North Salem: 121 Restaurant and Bar

Nyack: Two Spear Street

Pawling: McKinney & Doyle Fine Foods Cafe

Peekskill: The Peekskill Brewery

Pine Plains: The Stissing House

Pleasantville: Iron Horse Grill

Port Chester: Sonora Restaurant

Poughkeepsie: Amici's, The Artist's Palate, Babycakes Cafe, Beech Tree Grill, Shadows on the Hudson

Rhinebeck: Starr Place, Terrapin Restaurant

Somers: Luce Seafood & Pasta House

Staatsburg: Porotino Restaurant

Suffern: Marcello's of Suffern

Tarrytown: Bistro Z, Caravella, Eqqus at the Castle On the Hudson, Harvest Grille at the Westchester Marriott, Ruth's Chris Steak House

Tappan: Il Portico

Valhalla: Valhalla Crossing

Wappingers Falls: Aroma Osteria

White Plains: Legal Seafood, 42, The Melting Pot, Niko's Green Taverna

Yonkers: La Lanterna Restaurant, Tombolino Ristorante, X2O Xaviars on Hudson

ON THE WEB
• Restaurant Week updates
• Dowd's Guides

Long Island wineries plan jazz series

2009-12-31T13:46:00.005-05:00

Call it "Long Island Winterfest." Call it “Jazz on the Vine.” It goes by both names.

Whatever you choose to call it, the Long Island Wine Council-sponsored event will feature more than 70 different jazz groups appearing at 26 different member wineries' tasting rooms and other venues during the six weekends from February 13 to March 21.

Steinway Pianos is sponsoring the talent.,

The event also will include special offers at numerous wineries, restaurants, hotels and B&Bs across the east end of Long Island, NY.

ON THE WEB
• Winterfest details
• Dowd's Guides

Virginia smoking ban begins Dec. 1

2009-11-30T15:54:00.010-05:00

RICHMOND, VA -- Virginia will become the latest state to ban smoking in many public eating and drinking places when December rolls around.

Beginning Tuesday this week, smoking will be banned in most of the 17,500 bars and restaurants across Virginia. The law was signed in February after years of pro and con lobbying in the state where John Rolfe in 1611 planted the first commercial tobacco crop.

The new law does permit walled-off smoking areas with separate ventilation. Private clubs are exempt from the ban. Owners and customers who violate the law are subject to a $25 fine.

As of last week, about 75% of the state's eating and drinking establishments had gone completely smoke-free, said Gary Hagy, a spokesman for the Virginia Health Department.

ON THE WEB
• Wisconsin smoking ban
• North Carolina smoking ban
• Dowd's Guides

Saratoga horsey set getting wheels

2009-11-10T16:47:00.001-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY -- Here's one for your future file: August 18, next summer.

That's the date for "Get Your Motor Running." No, not the Steppenwolf song that opened with that line, but rather a fundraiser for Saratoga Bridges, to be held at a place better known as a gathering spot for the horsey set during the annual Saratoga Race Course thoroughbred season.

Siro’s restaurant, located next to the race course, will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. that day for the 21st annual gala.

Included in the event will be a pig roast, an open bar, live music and an appearance by Goldy McJohn, founding member and original keyboardist of the Steppenwolf rock group that recorded "Born To Be Wild."

Attire will be cocktail casual or biker garb.

Saratoga Bridges began with a community-based home for people with developmental disabilities. It now has a residential program and a variety of day services.

ON THE WEB
• Download "Born To Be Wild"
• Siro's restaurant
• Dowd's Guides

Canandaigua historic homes tour set

2009-11-07T14:37:00.001-05:00

CANANDAIGUA, NY -- This small Finger Lakes city is replete with historic homes, many of Victorian design. Usually, all that visitors can do is drive by them and wonder what's inside as they head to the nearby New York Wine & Culinary Center. Usually.

The Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park has planned a tour of some of them along Howell Street, from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, December 5.

Six historic Howell Street homes, such as one shown above, will be open for display that day, plus the Gate House at Sonnenberg, just inside the Sonnenberg Gates at Howell and Charlotte streets.

Tour booklets will detail the history of each home, including special architectural features. Visitors will park in the Sonnenberg lot, and tram shuttle service from the main parking lot to the front gates of Sonnenberg will be provided.

Tour booklets, at $20 per person, may be purchased by calling Sonnenberg at (585) 394-4922. They will be available for pickup at Sonnenberg the day of the event.

During tour hours, Sonnenberg's 1887 mansion also will also be open with light refreshments available. Starting at 4:30 p.m., carolers and a Victorian Santa will be on hand at the Mansion. Community members may visit the mansion throughout the home tour hour free of charge.

ON THE WEB
• Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion
• Visiting Canandaigua
• Dowd's Guides

Maine's top lobster chef a new grad

2009-10-28T11:36:00.003-04:00

PORTLAND, ME -- Being a good lobster chef is one thing. But, if you're the best in Maine, world-renowned for its lobsters, you've really added to your list of credentials.

If you're planning to visit Maine, you may want to dine at whatever restaurant winds up hiring Mackenzie Arrington (right), who just graduated from the the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

He won the title of "Maine Lobster Chef of the Year 2009" after a weekend cook-off competition at Harvest on the Harbor, part of a food and wine festival on the city's waterfront.

Arrington's dish was a roasted lobster tail on braised cabbage and cornbread.He finished ahead of Melissa Bouchard, chef at DiMillo's Floating Restaurant in Portland, who prepared maple butter poached lobster tail served with sweet potato and Fuji apple bisque and frizzles of green onion, and Rick Skoglund, sous chef at the Samoset Resort in Rockland, who prepared butternut-mascarpone lobster ravioli with balsamic pomegranate spinach salad.

The chefs were selected from a field of professionals who submitted recipes over the summer. Their dishes were samopled and voted on by about 200 attendees.

Arrington grew up in Boothbay, ME, son of chef Margaret McLellan. He was awarded $1,000 in prize money.

ON THE WEB
• Maine Lobster Council
• Dowd's Guides

McDonald's closing up in Iceland

2009-10-28T09:08:00.006-04:00

There are currently just three McDonald's fast-food restaurants in Iceland. After next week there will be none.

The north Atlantic island nation, still struggling with the effects of a financial crash that hit it last year when its banks collapsed, will join the list of European countries without a McDonald's. The others are Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jon Ogmundsson, managing director of Lyst, which holds the McDonald's franchise in Iceland, said the rising cost of importing ingredients and no sign of economic recovery meant the business no longer is financially viable.

He said the cost of McDonald's ingredients, which the company insists be imported, mostly from Germany, had doubled in the last 18 months as a result of severe depreciation of the Icelandic krona and high import taxes.

"I've sold more hamburgers in the last few months than ever before, but the cost is prohibitive. It just makes no sense," Ogmundsson told Reuters. "For a kilo of onion, imported from Germany, I'm paying the equivalent of a bottle of good whiskey."

ON THE WEB
• Official Iceland Travel Guide
• Dowd's Guides

Ohio drinkers to get an earlier start

2009-10-17T16:00:00.002-04:00

The world will change just a bit for drinkers in Ohio tomorrow.

That's when October 18 rolls around and a new state law goes into effect, allowing the sale of wines and liquors to begin two hours earlier than now.

Restaurants, bars and carryouts will be allowed to begin sales at 11 a.m., courtesy of the state's need for revenue. The change was part of the state budget bill that recently was passed by the legislature.

ON THE WEB
• Dowd's Guides

Keeping up with NY's changing leaves

2009-10-01T15:39:00.000-04:00

This is the sort of map you can access to keep up with the fall foliage progression statewide.

It is available from the state's I Love NY website.

The site provides a text foliage report as well as providing additional information on demand about scenic views and foliage forecast.

The latest report says, in part:

"This weekend, look for nearly complete color change and peak conditions at Whiteface Mountain in Essex County, with leaves of deep, rich red and gold. To the west, in the Mt. Arab and Tupper Lake areas of Franklin County, spotters are calling for 85-90 percent color change marked by an abundance of brilliant yellow and orange leaves accented by sporadic reds, which are quickly overtaking any remaining green. Old Forge leaf peepers in Herkimer County are predicting peak foliage, with bright shades of red, orange, and gold contrasting beautifully with the evergreens. Foliage will range from peak to just emerging from the early stages in Warren County.

"The best colors in the county will be found around the Upper Hudson River Gorge area, with 95 percent color change. In the Middle Hudson River Gorge areas of North Creek and Warrensburg, look for near-peak foliage with around 80 percent change. Predominating colors in both areas are bright red, yellow, gold and orange.

"Further to the southeast, the Lake George area should see color changes of up to 30 percent, with a nice display of red, bronze and yellow leaves set within the still predominantly green backdrop."

ON THE WEB
• I Love NY tourism site
• Dowd's Guides

Ithaca, NY, may expand smoking ban

2009-09-29T19:23:00.000-04:00

• From WBNG 12 Action News

ITHACA, NY -- You may be able to dine outside in Downtown Ithaca during warmer months, but soon you might not be able to smoke outside.

"The city is considering the effects of second-hand smoke on the public, and so they're interested in providing a healthy safe place for people where they can come down to the commons and not have to have the second hand smoke," says Vicki Taylor with the Downtown Ithaca Alliance.

The city is looking to ban smoking in roughly half of Ithaca Commons and within 10 feet of outdoor dining areas.

This plan would result with an entire block of smoke free restaurants on Aurora Street, making customers leave the table and the street in order to light one up.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• State Smoking Laws
• Dowd's Guides

Coffee, tea or wheee!

2009-09-12T13:53:00.005-04:00

US Airways may not be the most service-oriented passenger transportation company around, but it is looking to one aspect of creature comforts.

The airline has just introduced a trio of new cocktails to its in-flight drinks menu.

They are a pomegranate martini, a margarita and a mai tai, priced at $8 each. They are made with real fruit juice, triple-filtered water and cane sugar.

The carrier also has added several non-alcoholic beverages, including Red Bull, Starbucks Frappuccinos and AriZona Arnold Palmer Lite Half & Halfs, an iced tea and lemonade concoction, priced at $3 each.

ON THE WEB
• US Airways
• Dowd's Guides

Widmer vineyards donated to RIT

2009-09-11T13:59:00.000-04:00

ROCHESTER, NY -- In the midst of an unprcedented growth in the number of wineries in New York State, one of the oldest is being closed.

Widmer Winery, located in Naples about 40 miles southeast of here, will be closed by 2011 and the building and vineyards donated to Rochester Institute of Technology. RIT offers academic programs in wine, sustainability and culinary arts.

Widmer is owned by Constellation Brands Inc., headquartered here in Rochester. It is the world's largest wine company.

Constellation CEO Rob Sands said the company plans to move production of its Taylor, Paul Masson and Manischewitz wines from Widmer to its Canandaigua Winery, located about 20 miles away. It said it probably will move the 55 jobs at Widmer to Canandaigua.

RIT is getting a piece of history as well as 860 acres of land on which there are 220 vine acres with 640 vines to the acre.

The foundations of Widmer's Wine Cellars began more than a century ago when Swiss winemaker John Jacob Widmer and his wife, Lisette, moved to the Finger Lakes. He planted his first vines in 1883 and his wine business started in 1888 when he began filling kegs and barrels on request, mostly for Swiss immigrants in Rochester and in Paterson, NJ.

ON THE WEB
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Widmer Wine Cellars
• Dowd's Guides

Monster whisky bottle one for the book

2009-09-11T13:16:00.003-04:00

TOMINTOUL, Scotland -- If you're limited to just one bottle of Scotch, the distillers here in the highest village in the Highlands have come up with just the thing for you.

They've made it into the Guinness Book of World Records by producing the world’s largest whisky bottle for their Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet Single Malt. It holds the equivalent of 150 regular bottles.

It recently was filled by hand at the distillery in August with 105.3 litres of the 14-year-old whisky, and stands just under five feet tall. The bottle now is on permanent display at the Clockhouse in the Tomintoul village square.

Tomintoul is located in the northeast of Scotland in Ballindalloch, Banffshire.

ON THE WEB
• Tomintoul Distillery
• Undiscovered Scotland
• Dowd's Guides

Avoiding stress? Skip these cities

2009-09-07T18:58:00.006-04:00

If you're looking to travel to low-stress cities, you may want to consider skipping Chicago.

For the second consecutive year, the Windy City ranks No. 1 in the Forbes.com compilation of America's most stressful cities.

Following in close order:

2. Los Angeles
3. New York
4. Cleveland
5. Providence, RI
6. San Francisco
7. Detroit
8. Boston
9. Washington, DC
10. San Jose, CA

(You can get a slide-show capsule report of the 40 cities studied by going here.)

The study examined the country's 40 largest metropolitan statistical areas, or metros -- geographic entities defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for use by federal agencies in collecting, tabulating and publishing federal statistics.

Forbes says it looked at June 2009 unemployment figures provided by the federal Bureau of Labor and Statistics and cost of living figures from the Council for Community and Economic Research. It examined median home-price drops from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of this year as provided by the National Association of Realtors. Population density based on 2008 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and ESRI also factored.

Crowding, poor air quality, a high 11% unemployment rate and free-falling home values went into ascertaining the Chicago stress level.

ON THE WEB
• The full Forbes.com report
• Dowd's Guides

'Water, water everywhere ...

2009-09-07T14:12:00.003-04:00

... and not a drop to drink."

That line from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) came to mind on Sunday afternoon when I stopped to gaze at the Cohoes Falls in the little Albany County, NY, city of Cohoes and found someone with a much better view.

A lone bicyclist left his wheels close to shore (see background when you double-click on the image to enlarge it) and somehow managed to make his way to the edge of the falls where he sat down and looked around. He also outwaited me. I presume he got back safely.

ON THE WEB
• Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway
• City of Cohoes, NY
• Dowd's Guides

Vermont honors its hospitality stars

2009-08-26T16:54:00.005-04:00

Suzanne Johnson of Tilley's Café in Burlington, VT, has been named "Restaurateur of the Year" by the Vermont Hospitality Council, the tourism division of the state Chamber of Commerce.

The award is designed for an individual who continues to demonstrate excellence in the operation and management of a restaurant in Vermont. Johnson, says the Hospitality Council, "is a marketing expert and innovative entrepreneur [who] contributes to the community and supports her staff in improving their service and knowledge. Tilley’s Café is Vermont’s first green restaurant and Vermont’s only restaurant with valet service."

The four other Hospitality Council awards:

• Borden E. Avery Innkeeper of the Year: Bud McLaughlin and Bill Wolfe, Holiday Inn, Rutland.

• B&B Innkeeper of the Year: John Perkins and Jay Kerch, The Phineas Swann B&B Inn, Montgomery Center.

• Chef of the Year: Gerry Nooney, Sugarbush Resort & Timbers Restaurant, Waitsfield.

• Allied Member of the Year: Rochelle Skinner, Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, & Recreation.

Award recipients will be honored at the Vermont Chamber Hospitality Gala, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, at The Essex, Vermont’s Culinary Resort & Spa.

ON THE WEB
• Tilley's Cafe
• Holiday Inn, Rutland
• The Phineas Swann B&B Inn
• Sugarbush Resort & Timbers Restaurant
• Dowd's Guides

Harvesting hops in Upstate NY

2009-08-24T13:56:00.002-04:00

• From the Albany (NY) Times Union

... This is the season for harvesting hops, which can be turned into tasty beer. On Sunday, a group of about 25 volunteers gathered at Tom Riley's Johnsonville [NY] farm to strip about 100 pounds of Cascade variety hops from their vines. The bounty will soon become Brown Brewing Company's Harvest IPA.

The hops are not just a local link to a piece of New York's history that was long presumed dead. They're also what makes craft beers a niche market and allows companies like Brown's to expand in a recession, said Gregg Stacy, director of marketing and sales.

"These are flavors a lot of people haven't experienced," Stacy said as he ran a vine through green-stained fingers in search of more hops. "This is the way beer used to be made."

Upstate New York once was the center of America's production of hops, an essential ingredient in making beer. About a century ago, 80 million pounds came out of the region, said Duncan Hilchey, who helped develop the Northeast Hops Alliance, a group of farmers and brewers trying to build a hop resurgence in the state. Farmers recruited beer drinkers from places like New York City to come and help harvest the hops by making it a weekend celebration, with plenty of product sampling allowed and dances called, not surprisingly, "hops."

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Hops In the Backyard
• Dowd's Guides

Empire State Brewery Trails hit all four corners

2009-08-23T21:09:00.001-04:00

New York State is known for its numerous wine trails, formal lineups of wineries and related tourist sites. But, what is lesser known are the four Empire State Brewery Trails.

Here, by individual trails, are the member companies. You can check out an interactive online site for additional details.

NORTHERN BREWERY TRAIL

Adirondack Pub & Brewery
33 Canada Street
Lake George, NY 12845
518/668-0002

Brown's Brewing Company
417-419 River Street
Troy, NY 12180
518/273-2337

C.H. Evans/Albany Pump Station
19 Quackenbush Square
Albany, NY 12207
518/447-9000

Coopers Cave Ale Company
2 Sagamore Street
Glens Falls, NY 12801
518/792-0007

Davidson Brothers
184 Glen Street, Route 9
Glens Falls, NY 12801
518/743-9026

Great Adirondack Brewing Company
34 Main Street
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518/523-0233

Lake Placid Pub & Brewery
14 Mirror Lake Drive
Lake Placid, NY 12946
518/523-3813

Lake Placid Craft Brewing Company
1472 Military Turnpike
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
518/563-3340

Olde Saratoga Brewing Company
131 Excelsior Avenue
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
518/581-0492

SOUTHERN BREWERY TRAIL

Black Forest Brew Haus
2015 New Highway
Farmingdale, Long Island, NY 11735
631/391-9500

Blue Point Brewing Co.
161 River Avenue
Patchogue, Long Island, NY 11772
631/475-6944

Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718/486-7422

Captain Lawrence Brewing Company
99 Castleton Street
Pleasantville, NY 10570
914/741-2337

Chelsea Brewery
Chelsea Piers, Pier 59
New York, NY 10011
212/336-6440

Gilded Otter Brewing Company
3 Main Street
New Paltz, NY 12561
845/246-1700

Heartland Brewery
127 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
646/366-0235

Heartland Brewery
35 Union Square West
New York, NY 10003
212/645-3400

Heartland Brewery
1285 6th Avenue @ 51st Street
New York, NY 10019
212/582-8244

Heartland Brewery
93 South Street @ Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038
646/572-2337

Heartland Brewery
350 5th Avenue @ 34th Street
New York, NY 10118
212/563-3433

Hyde Park Brewing Company
4076 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY 12538
845/229-8277

John Harvard's Brew House
2093 Smith Haven Plaza
Lake Grove, Long Island, NY 11755
631/979-2739

Keegan Ales
20 St. James Street
Kingston, NY 12401
845/331-2739

Skytop Steakhouse and Brewery
30 Forest Hill Drive
Kingston, NY 12401
845/340-4277

Sixpoint Craft Ales
40 Van Dyke Street/234 North 12th Street, 1R
Brooklyn, NY 11231
917/687-1725

Southampton Publick House
40 Bowden Square
Southampton, Long Island, NY 11968
631/283-2800

CENTRAL BREWERY TRAIL

Brewery Ommegang
656 Route 33
Cooperstown, NY 13326
607/544-1808

Butternut's Beer & Ale
4021 Route 51
Garrattsville, NY 13342
607/263-5070

Cooperstown Brewing Company
P.O. Box 276/River Street
Cooperstown, NY 13807
607/286-9330

Empire Brewing Company
120 Walton Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
315/256-7608

Ithaca Beer Company
606 Elmira Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
607/273-0766

King Arthur's Steakhouse & Brewery
7 West Bridge Road
Oswego, NY 13126
315/343-6033

Market Street Brewing Company
63-65 W Market Street
Corning, NY 14830
607/936-2337

Matt Brewing Company
811 Edward Street
Utica, NY 13502
315/624-2401

Middle Ages Brewing Company
120 Wilkinson Street
Syracuse, NY 13204
315/476-4250

Rooster Fish Brewery
223-301 North Franklin Street
Watkins Glen, NY 14891
607/535-9797

Sackets Harbor Brewing Company
212 West Main Street
Sackets Harbor, NY 13685
315/646-2739

Syracuse Suds Factory
320 South Clinton Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
315/471-2253

Wagner Valley Brewing Company
9322 Route 414
Lodi, NY 14860
607/582-6450

WESTERN BREWERY TRAIL

Buffalo Brewpub
6861 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14221
716/632-0552

Custom Brewcrafters Inc.
93 Paper Mill Street
Honeoye Falls, NY 14472
716/624-4386

Ellicottville Brewing Company
28A Monroe Street
Ellicottville, NY 14731
716/699-2537

Ellicottville Brewing Company
34 West Main Street
Fredonia, NY 14063
716/699-2537

Flying Bison Brewing Company
491 Ontario Street
Buffalo, NY 14207
716/873-1557

Mac's Village Brewhaus
4246 N. Buffalo Street
Orchard Park, NY 14127
716/667-2314

Pearl Street Grill & Brewery
76 Pearl Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
716/856-2337

Rohrbach Brewing Company
3859 Buffalo Road
Rochester, NY 14624
585/594-9800

Southern Tier Brewing Company
2051A Stoneman Circle
Lakewood, NY 14750
716/763-5479

ON THE WEB
• New York Wine Trails
• Dowd's Guides

It came from New Mexico

2009-08-12T18:20:00.003-04:00

• From the El Paso (TX) Times

MESILLA, NM -- Executive chef Lauro Campos has faced many challenges in his 48-year career, the past 18 at the Double Eagle and Pepper's Café.

"I don't have any problems with any food I am asked to make, no matter how crazy it is," Campos said.

He has pretty much seen it all. Some of the culinary experiments have been successful, while others have not.

Banana enchiladas? No problem, still on the menu.

Chocolate tacos? Not on the menu yet but available for the asking.

S'mores pie? That one didn't work out so well.

So it's no surprise that Campos was receptive when Jerry Harrell, the restaurant general manager, approached him with another challenge -- to develop the world's largest green chile cheeseburger.

Harrell wanted a burger that would make the mouths of guests of Double Eagle and Pepper's Café water and that was big enough to make the Guinness World Records.

What Campos developed was a grilled, 10-inch, 1-pound patty of hand-ground beef draped with roasted green chiles and a half-pound of sliced white New Mexico queso fresco. The burger is then topped with the restaurant's colorful pico de gallo and sandwiched inside a specially baked yeast bun with garlic-infused mayonnaise made by the well-established and respected Lujan's Bakery in Las Cruces.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Texas Burger Guy
• Dowd's Guides

Philly ale house turns 150

2009-08-05T12:26:00.001-04:00

• From the Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA — If he were alive today, William "Pa" McGillin probably wouldn't recognize the nachos and watermelon martinis being served at his namesake pub. Yet he'd no doubt be heartened to see that its core commitment to beer and camaraderie has remained largely unchanged since he opened it 150 years ago.

McGillin's Olde Ale House began celebrating its sesquicentennial this week, cementing its status as the oldest continuously operated tavern in Philadelphia and one of the oldest in the nation.

Established in 1860, just prior to the Civil War and before City Hall was built, McGillin's sits tucked away in a small alley at the heart of downtown. Even some residents need a map to find it.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• McGillin's Olde Ale House
• Dowd's Guides

National Buffalo Wing Festival nears

2009-08-02T13:40:00.001-04:00

BUFFALO, NY -- If you like the Buffalo wings served at your local tavern or restaurant, you may want to put their quality to the test by visiting the 8th annual National Buffalo Wing Festival.

The event is scheduled for the Labor Day weekend, September 5-6, at Coca-Cola Field, formerly called Dunn Tire Park.

The festival includes the U.S. Chicken Wing Eating Championships and National Wing Sauce-Off Competition. In addition, the Celebrity Chef Challenge will be held again this year, sponsored by Frank’s RedHot Cayenne Pepper Sauce, the original sauce used to create the first-ever Buffalo Wings in 1964.

The festival came about after the 2001 movie called "Osmosis Jones" cited a then-non-existent event called the National Buffalo Wing Festival. Bill Murray starred as a compulsive eater with a goal of attending the Super Bowl of junk food. Buffalo native Drew Cerza seized on that to create the real event.

ON THE WEB
• National Buffalo Wing Festival
• Dowd's Guides

Jacques Pepin even more at sea

2009-07-23T14:36:00.005-04:00

NEW YORK -- Celebrity chef Jacques Pepin will open a new restaurant late next year. The gimmick: It will be aboard Oceania Cruises' new 1,258-guest Marina.

Pepin's namesake restaurant will, not surprisingly, be French-themed.

The space will showcase a grand rotisserie, Pepin-signature china, antique flatware and Lalique glassware, as well as chandeliers fashioned from crystal decanters.

An art collection comprised of some of Pepin's favorite personal pieces and original works Pepin created especially for Marina will add a personal touch.

In addition to being a popular TV show host, Pepin is the author of more than 20 cookbooks and has served as personal chef to numerous heads of state. As executive culinary director for Oceania Cruises, he has overseen the creation and operation of restaurants aboard the line's ships Regatta, Insignia and Nautica.

"As we designed the culinary experience aboard Marina, a restaurant by Jacques Pepin was at the top of our guests' wish lists," said Bob Binder, Oceania Cruises' president. "Jacques will present a traditional French dining experience in a casually elegant fashion."

The Marina has been purposefully designed for epicureans with 10 dining venues, including six open-seating, gourmet restaurants with different themes.

ON THE WEB
• Oceania Cruises
• The Marina
• Jacques Pepin: The Apprentice Then & Now
• Dowd's Guides

Big Apple entries head 'Tales' awards

2009-07-14T12:42:00.001-04:00

PDT, a New York City cocktail lounge, was named “World’s Best Cocktail Bar” at the 7th annual Tales of the Cocktail convention.

Not only that. Co-owner Jim Meehan was named “American Bartender of the Year.”

PDT is located at 113 St. Marks Place in Manhattan, near First Avenue.

New York magazine calls it “the hot-dog joint for grown-ups. Actually, it’s the cocktail-lounge annex to Crif Dogs, an East Village mainstay known for its deep-fried Jersey-style franks. Accessed through a vintage phone booth within Crif Dogs, PDT (short for Please Don’t Tell) is a snug, sexy speakeasy with a twist: Along with its high-quality classic cocktails and a well-chosen selection of beer and wine, patrons can order food from Crif’s kitchen next door. Oddly, it works. …

“As well as rendering classic cocktails with unparalleled expertise, mixologist Jim Meehan (formerly of Gramercy Tavern and Pegu Club) offers up irresistible seasonal creations … .”

The Merchant Hotel of Belfast, Northern Ireland, won three awards:

• World’s Best Hotel Bar
• World’s Best Drink Selection
• World’s Best Cocktail Menu

Other winners:

• World’s Best New Cocktail Bar: The Clover Club, Brooklyn, NY
• Best American Cocktail Bar: Pegu Club, New York City
• International Bartender of the Year: Tony Conigliaro, England
• Helen Davis Lifetime Achievement Award: Peter Dorelli, manager, American Bar, The Savoy Hotel, London

Tales of the Cocktail is an annual event held in New Orleans, where bar professionals, enthusiasts, writers, chefs and others gather to share information in a variety of seminars and demonstrations. This year’s Tales ended Sunday night.

ON THE WEB
• World's Best Bars: NYC edition
• Dowd's Guides

Seneca Falls gets a Hollywood touch

2009-07-14T11:25:00.002-04:00

SENECA FALLS, NY -- The owners of the former Gould Hotel are hoping the structure's new name will signal a wonderful second life for it.

The renamed Hotel Clarence is named for the angel from the 1946 Frank Capra film "It's a Wonderful Life." That's in keeping with the contention of many residents of this Finger Lakes village that their community was the inspiration for the film.

Karolyn Grimes, who portrayed Jimmy Stewart's daughter in the film, is expected to attend the opening. (In photo above, she is seen with Stewart and Donna Reed.)

The Hotel Clarence is scheduled to open Thursday of this week. It is a 48-room hotel with a restaurant and banquet facilities and a restaurant, located in a downtown building that opened in 1918 and operated for decades. Two Syracuse-area developers bought the property in 2007.

ON THE WEB
• Gateway to the Finger Lakes
• Dowd's Guides

Let's go to Bahston for chowdah

2009-07-07T20:31:00.007-04:00

BOSTON, MA -- Cape Cod is a peninsula chock full of tourists in search of the perfect breakfast and ice cream. It used to be full of folks searching for the perfect clam chowder, but that changed in 1987.

Anthropologists cite that as the year the number of chowder contests and restaurants achieved perfect balance, thus allowing every eatery on the Cape to confidently claim its concoction was No. 1.

The same can be said of the Boston area. However, certain "chowdah" competitions there retain a strong cachet, so if you win the right one you're a major star.

Enter Ned Devine's Irish Pub. On Sunday, it won "Chowderfest" for the third time and has been elected to be enshrined in the event's Hall of Fame.

Manager Greg Springer credits New York City chef Sean Ryan's 20-year-old recipe.

The 28th annual Chowderfest was held as part of Boston Harborfest, a Fourth of July festival showcasing the city's heritage. Eight restaurants competed for the title of Boston's Best Chowder. Organizers says 2,000 gallons of New England's signature dish of clams, cream and potatoes were served to about 10,000 people.

Ned Devine's Irish Pub also won in 2004 and 2005.

The establishment, located in the historic Quincy Market building (a/k/a/ Faneuil Hall), is a two-story facility that includes Ned Devine's, Parris Lounge and the Parris Nightcluib.

It has a wonderful dress code it enforces from Labor Day through Memorial Day, and it is very straightforward:

No hats
No tank tops
No logo'd T-shirts
No athletic jerseys
No sneakers of any type
No work boots
No flip flops
No hooded sweatshirts

How very refreshing.

ON THE WEB
• Dining in Boston
• New England Clam Chowder Recipes
• Qunicy Market/Faneuil Hall
• Dowd's Guides

KY cooperage will begin welcoming visitors

2009-07-07T15:29:00.005-04:00

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Brown-Forman announced today it is opening its world-famous cooperage to visitors for the first time in its history.

The barrel-making facility also has had its name changed, from Blue Grass Cooperage to Brown-Forman Cooperage. Brown-Forman created the facility in 1945.

Barrels are crafted there from American white oak for the aging of spirits owned by Brown-Forman, such as Jack Daniel’s, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Early Times, Canadian Mist, El Jimador and Herradura. Brown-Forman is the only spirits company in the world to make its own barrels.

Tours must be arranged in advance online through Mint Julep Tours or by phone at (502) 583-1433. Mint Julep Tours also is offering an “All Woodford, All Day Tour” which includes transportation to both the Brown-Forman Cooperage and Woodford Reserve Distillery, a guided tour, admission to both venues, and lunch.

Is it worth the trip? Having visited Woodford several times as well as having a private your of the cooperage, I'd definitely say yes. The cooperage is a beehive of activity that turns out more than 1,500 barrels a day.

Here's a small photo tour of what I saw the last time I visited.

William M. Dowd photos

Workers known as “barrel raisers” assemble 32 staves into barrels.

As part of the process of a zero-waste manufacturing stream, some scrap wood is made into dowel pegs to hold together barrel headers.

Barrel headers are coated with beeswax, then run through a charring apparatus.

Finished charred headers are stacked up until the remainder of the barrels come off the assembly line.

Meanwhile, the barrels are “toasted.” Wood begins to ignite at 482°F, creating a controlled char of the inside of each barrel.
Once barrels are fully processed, they are put on conveyer belts and head for their final destinations.

ON THE WEB
• Mint Julep Tours
• Brown-Forman
• Visiting Louisville
• Dowd's Guides

Long Island wine country in a growth spurt

2009-07-06T14:41:00.001-04:00

• From Newsday

Recession or not, a new crop of wineries, tasting rooms, vineyards and wines is making its way to Long Island wine country this season, suggesting that the business of sipping may not only defy but thrive in tough economic times.

From the planned September opening in Southold of a 10,000-square-foot tasting room and winery called Sparkling Pointe devoted exclusively to sparkling wines to a quaint red tasting shed across the road called One Woman Wines & Vineyards, Long Island will play host to nearly a dozen new winemaking operations over a one-year period, pushing the total to more than 60.

The "newcomers" include some stalwarts in the business. Just this week, Jason Damianos, the winemaker of Pindar Vineyards fame, plans to open a two-story, 5,500-square-foot winery and tasting room called Jason's Vineyard in Jamesport. His plans preceded the economic downturn, Damianos said. But financial changes since then actually have helped, because interest rates are down. "I'm hoping they stay low," he said.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Long Island Wine Country
• Dowd's Guides

Miss Liberty's crown re-opens for July 4

2009-07-04T14:09:00.006-04:00

NEW YORK -- With a tip of the nation's hat, the Statue of Liberty opened her crown to the public for the first time since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

The iconic statue that sits on Liberty Island, once known as Bedloe's Island, in New York Harbor received the first passenger ferry of July 4 at 7 o'clock this morning. As part of the festivities, a special swearing-in ceremony for new citizens was held under a tent. Seven U.S. servicemen from various countries took the citizenship oath.

Visitors who climb inside the statue to reach the crown must negotiate a narrow "double helix" staircase, working their way up 146 steps with no turnarounds allowed. The total steps from the statue's base to the crown is 354.

The statue, whose official name is "Liberty Enlightening the World," was created by French architect Frederic Auguste Bartholdi and shipped from France as a gift to the U.S. in 1886, the nation's centennial year.

It is made of a pure copper sheeting hung on a framework of steel (originally puddled iron), except for the roch's flame which is coated in gold leaf. It originally was made of copper and later altered to hold glass panes. It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal which in turn stands on a foundation in the shape of an irregular 11-pointed star. The statue is 151 feet tall. With the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 feet.

ON THE WEB
• Visiting the Statue of Liberty
• Visiting Ellis Island
• Dowd's Guides

Bare essentials for Air New Zealand

2009-07-04T10:00:00.005-04:00

Bad taste, good taste, or just a taste of good fun?

That's the debate over the Air New Zealand commercials that have everyone from luggage-handling ground crews to pilots and flight attendants clad in nothing but body paint that resembles their work uniforms.

Private parts are strategically hidden, but for amateurs the employees do a fine job of representing their employer.

I even suspect passengers would pay more attention to the pre-flight safety briefing if these painted versions became the official everyday uniforms.

Go here for the commercial, here for the blooper outtakes, and here for a look at the behind-the-scenes preparations.

ON THE WEB
• Tourism New Zealand
• Dowd's Guides

Rhone wine dinner festival gets under way

2009-07-03T20:39:00.006-04:00

"Celebrate Summer the French Way," a two-week promotional event involving 27 restaurants in nine states plus Montreal, begins tomorrow, July 4.

The project pairs French cooking and Rhone Valley wines. It is held in collaboration with Maitres Cuisiniers de France Restaurants, will offer a special $30 prix fixe menu paired with Cotes du Rhone wines along with complimentary Maitres Cuisiniers de France "Celebrate Every Day the French Way" booklets.

The event is scheduled to coincide with both the American and French days of independence, officially beginning on July 4 and continuing through July 18, Bastille Day.

Daphne Payan, Rhone Valley wines brand ambassador, says the "Celebrate Summer the French Way" honors the commonalities of French and American culture.

"The versatility and food-friendliness of Cotes du Rhone wines make them perfect for by the glass experimentation and allows diners to try pairing the wines with a variety of different fare," she said.

ON THE WEB
• Participating restaurants list
• Dowd's Guides

No surprise, Riesling tops NYS Fair wines

2009-06-28T14:00:00.005-04:00

SYRACUSE, NY -- Belhurst Winery's 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling won the blue ribbon for "Best In Show" at this year's New York State Fair Commercial Wine Competition.

As a run-up to taking that honor, the wine took "Best of Category - White" double gold as well. Not a terribly surprising decision, considering rieslings' preeminence among New York wines. This year, 61 New York wineries entered 390 in the contest.

The competition was held at the Wegmans Pride of New York demonstration kitchen at the fairgrounds in Syracuse. Competition for fair ribbons are held in categories ranging from dessert cakes to dairy cattle, most of which will be decided during the Great New York State Fair scheduled for August 27 to September 7.

However, commercial wine judging traditionally has been held well before the fair to allow winners to use the results in summer marketing. The award-winning wines are featured in a special display in the Horticulture Building during the fair.

Belhurst (shown above) is located near Geneva, overlooking Seneca Lake. It is dominated by Belhurst Castle, a stone building dating to the 19th Century which is part of a year-round lodging complex that includes White Springs Manor, a Georgian Revival Mansion with period guest rooms, and the Vinifera Inn.

[Go here for a full list of category, double-gold and gold-medal winners.]

ON THE WEB
• New York State Fair
• Belhurst Winery and lodgings
• Dowd's Guides

Excavators target colonial RI distillery

2009-06-15T14:00:00.004-04:00

NEWPORT, RI -- An archaeological team from Salve Regina University plans to return to a historic residential site this summer to dig for a colonial-era distillery.

The team, working with the Newport Restoration Foundation, began excavating at the Thames Street site in the summer of 2007. Thomas Richardson II, an 18th Century Newport merchant, sea captain and slave trader, also manufactured rum, using slave labor, on his waterfront property.

The team, led by Jim Garman, chairman of the local university's Cultural and Historic Preservation Department, used ground-penetrating sonar tests that indicate the possible presence of the remains of a distillery.

Rum was commonly manufactured in New England during that period as part of the triangular trade among Africa, the Caribbean and New England involving slaves, rum and molasses.

ON THE WEB
• Go Newport
• Newport Mansions
• Dowd's Guides

A flair of language piques curiosity

2009-06-15T12:58:00.002-04:00

LONDON -- They shall sip whisky, flaunt tartan, bang the drums and dress as a cow.

That's the sort of sentence that will grab anyone's attention. If you want to find out a bit more about what Scotsman writer Stephen McGinty refers to, just go here for his mini-report.

And the winnahhhhhh -- Glen Breton!

2009-06-13T18:39:00.004-04:00

OK, it's over. I think it is. Then again, who knows? I never completely count out those tenacious folks at the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

Scotland's trade group, which has a history of pouncing with full legal force on any entity it thinks may be encroaching on its members' turf, had appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to proceed with its third appeal of the use of the word "glen" by a small Nova Scotia distillery. The SWA has consistently claimed the word tends to confuse consumer into thinking the single malt whisky is made in Scotland -- even though it says "Canada" on the label, a label that also bears the Canadian maple leaf.

After a protracted, nine-year-long fight, the Supreme Court now has refused permission, which would appear to be the final blow to the SWA argument. In any case, Glenora Distilleries now is clear to register its trademark Glen Breton whisky under Canada's Trade Marks Act.

Glenora President Lauchie MacLean said he has always believed that Glenora competed honorably for success in the very challenging marketplace of single malt whisky, and that he hopes the SWA and its members will accept the ruling and that there will be open communication going forward.

The Glenora Inn & Distillery is located in Glenville, Inverness County, Nova Scotia. The heritage of the community definitely is Scottish, from the name of the province -- which means "New Scotland" -- to the name of the county, taken from the location of the same name in Scotland.

You can read my coverage of the naming battle in chronological order:

• Tempest in a glen
• Canadians backing Glen Breton with dollars
• Scotland vs. Cape Breton, Round 2
• Canada's Glen Breton loses labeling battle
• Glen Breton wins another court round
• SWA not giving up on Glen Breton
• Battle of the 'glen' continues in Canada

And, you can go here to find out the availability of Glen Breton.

ON THE WEB
• Glenora Inn & Chalet
• Nova Scotia Dept. of Tourism
• Dowd's Guides

San Antonio: A city with a river for a heart

2009-06-04T00:01:00.002-04:00

William M. Dowd photo

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- From 10,000 feet the first impression you get is of land as flat as a pool table but considerably less green.

Swooping a bit lower, the snaky San Antonio River comes into view, cutting through the heart of this city that began in 1718 as nothing more than a Franciscan mission in a remote northern province of Mexico.

And then I am here, in the second largest city in The Great State of Texas. Home of both the tiny Alamo and of the 7,000-acre Lackland Air Force Base, among other military installations. Proud location for such modern entertainment complexes as San Antonio SeaWorld, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and the Alamodome, home to the NBA's Spurs. A community that is home to numerous colleges, from the University of Texas/San Antonio to the University of the Incarnate Word. A place soon to be home of the Museo Americano Smithsonian.

But, above all, there is Paseo del Rio, the River Walk.

It is the heartbeat of San Antonio, a waterway down below street level, accessible by stairways or elevators.

Paseo del Rio is the culmination of generations of fooling around with the depth, flow and direction of the river as part of various flood-control, navigation and ecological projects.

Since the 1960s, when the city got ultra-serious about making a portion of the San Antonio River a world-class draw for locals and tourists alike, it has continually developed its amenities under strict zoning regulations.

The river is flanked by pedestrian walkways that lead past dozens of cafes, shops and bars, each with umbrella-shaded tables lining the riverbanks.

Cypress and magnolia trees reach out lazily over parts of the water. Thick stands of philodendron flank stone benches. Flower gardens are tucked into every available niche in the stonework that dates from the 1930s as part of a government renovation project.

Large barge-like tour boats ply the river, sometimes quietly, other times with boisterous passengers exchanging brief choruses with singing cafe patrons on land.

River Walk, a tourist magnet for margarita-sipping in outdoor cafes and chowing down in restaurants dishing up Tex-Mex, is going to keep growing. Nine more miles in the $279 million project are due by 2014. Two miles of that stretch were opened this week, doubling the River Walk in size.

The River Walk food covers the spectrum from pub food to fine dining -- Tex-Mex, Cajun, Japanese, Italian, German ... . You can dine at waterside or indoors, on the pedestrian level or on small balconies overlooking the passing scene.

As I strolled both sides of the river on a sunny Friday afternoon, I shared the narrow pathways and climbed the arched stone bridges that link the two sides with a seemingly endless flow of young parents pushing strollers and herding lagging toddlers, of older couples strolling hand in hand, of groups of obvious tourists trying not to get separated, and with Mexican visitors here for the day from the other side of the border down near Laredo, a mere 2 1/2 hour drive away.

Curiously, despite the mass of humanity, a laid-back atmosphere persists -- no pushing, no jostling for space. It was all more civilized than a visitor from the aggressive northeast could have expected.

The next day I found out that despite how busy the River Walk is during the day, when the sun goes down on Saturday night the activity rachets up, way up. Seating is tough to come by as evening closes in. No wonder, with all the free music and people watching to be had.

I commandeered a patio-style chair at the water's edge near a bend in the River Walk. Strains of Tejano music trickled from several bistros. A loud sing-along from a nearby Irish pub made one almost unconsciously join in. A jazz combo behind me played New Orleans-style music on a tiny open-air stage.

For one moment I couldn't quite believe another sound intruding into the mix. But, there it was. The skirling of bagpipes bouncing off the underpinnings of one of the arched stone bridges. It was real, shared courtesy of a Celtic organization in convention downtown and anxious to test the River Walk acoustics.

The jazz musicians good-naturedly waited for the impromptu concert to end, then resumed their own music after the piano player observed, "Ain't that some kind of jazz?"

Captivating though it is, the River Walk is not all there is to San Antonio, a city that might have ended up being called Yanaguana for the original Payaya Indian name for the river. It was renamed on June 13, 1691, by Domingo Teran de los Rios, first Texas provincial governor who selected San Antonio as the name after participating in a St. Anthony's Day mass at the water's edge.

The Alamo, a brief stroll from the Riverwalk, obviously is a must-see for all visitors.

Many people know that the building we refer to as The Alamo is quite small, virtually empty, and not particular inspiring to see. But The Alamo of the famous 1836 battle in which an overwhelming Mexican force overran a small band of 189 Texians -- as the independence- minded locals were then called, foreign adventurers, frontiersmen, freed slaves, and various others was far different from today's unimposing physical structure.

The history of The Alamo -- originally called Mision San Antonio de Valero but renamed by soldiers from the Mexican town of Alamo de Parras when the complex was turned into a cavalry post -- is clearly spelled out in poster-sized displays and in pamphlets supplied by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas who operate the admission-free site that has a gift shop larger than the main building.

At the time of the fateful battle in which such American icons as Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie died, The Alamo was a series of buildings, including the present mission structure and the Long Barrack, the first recorded hospital in Texas.

The Alamo is located in an otherwise frivolous neighborhood. It is fronted by a large plaza, one corner commandeered the day I visited by a self-styled street preacher, another by an ice cream vendor. The vendor drew a larger crowd.

Across the street are a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum, a souvenir T-shirt store and a jackalope museum and store that is a tribute to the mythical cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope that is one of the Southwest's great tongue-in-cheek creations.

Oddities are not confined to that area of the city, however. The Buckhorn Saloon, established in 1881, takes up an entire corner plot on the major East Houston Street thoroughfare that is lined with non-theme hotels and restaurants. It is a combination lunchtime restaurant and museum of Old West memorabilia ranging from stuffed animal trophies to personal items from William S. Hart, perhaps the greatest of all silent film cowboys.

In addition to its historic architecture and safe downtown walking areas, San Antonio takes great pride in its wide array of museums. Rather than the typical museums so many cities offer, those in and around the city often are very specific to the region. And not all of them involve animals and cowboys.

Take the San Antonio Museum of Art. It houses a vast collection of pre-Columbian art and antiquities as well as modern and Mexican folk art and the 30,000-square-foot Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Arts.

The Witte Museum is a complex of historic homes and log cabins and is known for its history and science exhibits of Texas dinosaur finds and Paleo Indian cultures of the Rio Grande Valley.

The University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures showcases the 27 major ethnic groups identified as shaping the culture of the state.

Outdoors, the area has many attractions both inside Loop 410, the interstate route that encircles the city and makes getting around simple, and outside. In addition to the aforementioned theme parks, there are the San Antonio Zoo, Travis Park -- named in honor of William Barret Travis who commanded the Alamo, the 33-acre Botanical Gardens, the Japanese Tea Gardens and the 232-acre Friedrich Wilderness Park that offers hiking trails in hilly, heavily forested land.

San Antonio is a complex city that, with its lack of big-city skyscrapes and hustle-bustle sort of sneaks up on you. It's a nice feeling.

ON THE WEB

• San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Community Portal
• My San Antonio.com
• The NBA Spurs
• The WNBA Silver Stars
• Stock Show & Rodeo
• San Antonio Zoo & Aquarium
• Dowd's Guides

WI nears OK for spirits samples, on-site sales

2009-06-02T16:43:00.002-04:00

The Wisconsin State Legislature's Joint Finance Committee has proposed allowing the state's makers of spirits to provide samples and sell their wares on site.

That is a provision in the proposed state budget approved Friday by the committee. Analysts expect the budget to be approved by the full Legislature.

Wisconsin's wineries and breweries already may provide samples and make sales to people who visit their facilities.

There are three craft distillers in the state -- Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee, Yahara Bay Distillers in Madison, and 45th Parallel Spirits in New Richmond. Some wineries have said that if the proposal is adopted into law, they will distill wine into brandy.

Wisconsin going smoke-free

2009-05-19T13:44:00.003-04:00

MADISON, WI -- If you're a smoker, Wisconsin no longer is your kind of place.

Gov. Jim Doyle signed a smoking ban Monday, making bars, restaurants and other workplaces smoke-free starting next summer.

"Today is a day that we all can take a deep breath and enjoy the accomplishment that will occur here today," Doyle said just before signing the bill in the Capitol.

The Democrat-controlled Legislature passed a compromise last week that bans smoking in virtually all workplaces but delays the start date until July 5, 2010, later than Doyle and other supporters wanted.

Indian-run casinos are exempt from the ban because lawmakers do not have the power to fully regulate them under federal law. Also exempt are existing cigar bars and specialty tobacco shops.

ON THE WEB
• Travel Wisconsin
• Wisconsin Tourism Attractions
• Dowd's Guides

NC joins neighbor in restaurant smoke ban

2009-05-17T15:29:00.006-04:00

North Carolina is the latest entity to join the growing global ban on smoking in restaurants.

The state legislature this week passed House Bill 2 to ban smoking in restaurants, and a spokesman for Gov. Bev Perdue said the governor is expected to sign it into law this coming week.

"The General Assembly finds that secondhand smoke has been proven to cause cancer, heart disease, and asthma attacks in both smokers and nonsmokers," according to the final version of the bill. "It is the intent of the General Assembly to protect the health of individuals in public places and places of employment and riding in State government vehicles from the risks related to secondhand smoke."

Neighboring Virginia's legislature passed such a law in February, and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine signed it in March. It is scheduled to take effect in December.

About 60% of Virginia's full-service restaurants already are smoke-free, according to statistics compiled by the Virginia Department of Health from restaurant inspections.

ON THE WEB
• Explore North Carolina
• Touring Virginia
• Dowd's Guides

Waterside dining history on Long Island

2009-05-14T16:27:00.006-04:00

GREENPORT, NY -- A recent Business Week magazine compilation of the oldest restaurants in the U.S. didn't rank as No. 1 the very establishment recognized as the one that has been operated the longest by the same family since inception.

It's Claudio's, located harborside in Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island. The National Restaurant Association authenticates it as the oldest, same-family-run restaurant in the United States.

This charming, maritime restaurant was established in 1870 by Manuel Claudio, a Portugese merchant sailor who gave up the whaling life to establish a presence in this fishing-and-tourist village that now extends to Claudio's Marina, Claudio's Clam Bar, Claudio's Liquors, Claudio's T-Shirts & Souvenirs, and even Crabby Jerry's, which inexplicably eschews the Claudio name.

One side of the establishment looks out over the harbor. The "blind'' side is dominated by a Victorian-style bar salvaged in 1886 from a New York City hotel being demolished. The romantic days of Prohibition rum-running and America's Cup sailing competition touched Greenport heavily, and there is pictorial evidence of those days all around the walls.

The food? Wonderful clams casino using tiny local Little Necks with bacon, garlic, cheese, peppers and spices. Succulent broiled fresh swordfish steak with herbed butter, and an equally succulent fresh flounder in white wine sauce. Pepper-and-herb crusted mahi-mahi. A true New York-style cheesecake. A tangy key lime pie. Good coffee, fine drinks and good service.

Tempted to visit? The restaurant is open from mid-April to December 1st at 111 Main Street. Phone (631) 477-0627.

ON THE WEB
• Claudio's restaurant
• Dowd's Guides

Kentucky Bourbon Trail re-launches

2009-05-13T13:03:00.003-04:00

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail today marked its 10th anniversary by unveiling a new logo, brochure, souvenir passport and commemorative T-shirt.

“This is a significant milestone for one of Kentucky’s most popular tourism attractions,” said Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. “It’s also a perfect opportunity to introduce a fresh new look that reflects the growing bourbon revolution.”

The association created the Trail in 1999, inspired by the tourism and marketing opportunities in California’s wine country and Scotland’s whisky trails. The Trail features eight historic distilleries located in the Bluegrass country:

• Jim Beam
• Maker's Mark
• Buffalo Trace
• Four Roses
• Heaven Hill
• Tom Moore
• Wild Turkey
• Woodford Reserve

Visitors who collect stamps on their souvenir "passports" at all eight distilleries can redeem the passport for a free Kentucky Bourbon Trail T-shirt. This year’s shirt commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Trail.

The Trail also has added a Facebook page, and a revised Web site and Twitter page are due to be launched soon.

ON THE WEB
• Kentucky Bourbon Trail
• Dowd's Guides

Maine Beer Trail unveiled

2009-05-11T16:59:00.002-04:00

PORTLAND, ME -- Most states have wine trails. Some cooperatively operate a whiskey trail. Maine now has a beer trail.

The Maine Restaurant Association and the Maine Brewers Guild today announced the unveiling of the Maine Beer Trail.

The purpose is to attract visitors to Maine to enjoy the micro- and craft-brewing industry found throughout the state. A brochure (seen at right) provides a guide to more than a dozen of the state's breweries and brew pubs. Brochures can be downloaded and also will be available at Maine Visitor Centers and participating breweries and brew pubs.

Maine ranks fourth in the nation in the number of breweries per capita, with one brewery for every 42,000 residents, according to the Brewers Association.

It is home to New England's first microbrewery, D.L. Geary Brewing, established in 1986 in Portland. Gritty McDuff's opened its doors in 1988 and became the first brew pub to open in Maine since prohibition. It has sites in Portland, Freeport and Lewiston/Auburn.

ON THE WEB
• Maine Restaurant Association
• Maine Brewers Guild
• Dowd's Guides

Vermont broadens wine, spirits tastings, sales

2009-05-06T13:12:00.003-04:00

MONTPELIER, VT -- Vermont winemakers and distillers got good news Tuesday when Gov. Jim Douglas signed a bill allowing them to sell more products on-site.

Previously, wineries could offer tastings or sell bottles of wine. Distilleries could do neither.

Now, wineries also may sell glasses of wine on-premises, and distilleries can offer tastings and sell bottles of their spirits.

In addition, wineries will be allowed to sell and offer tastings of other winemakers’ wares, rent their sites for events such as weddings, and produce and sell fortified wines such as ports.

Vermont’s first winery was founded 25 years ago, and the state now is home to 20.

Ed Metcalfe, of Whitingham, told the Associated Press he was on the fence about opening a distillery in Vermont if he couldn’t sell his vodka and specialty liquors on site. He said the new law cinched it for him, allowing him to sell and offer tastings at the distillery he plans in Marlboro.

ON THE WEB
• Vermont's Wineries
• Vermont Craft Distillers
• Dowd's Guides

It's Opportunitini summer in Las Vegas

2009-05-01T14:16:00.003-04:00

Introducing The Opportunitini.

The 20-gallon, gin-based martini was created at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas as a fundraiser for Opportunity Village, a local not-for-profit that provides vocational training, job placement and respite to people with intellectual disabilities.

Proceeds from sale of individual drinks made from the giant cocktail were raised Tuesday with Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman pouring in the final bottle of gin.

The Opportunitini was created by bartenders at the Hard Rock and will be on the menu, in standard size, all summer.

ON THE WEB
• Hard Rock Cafe/Vegas
• Opportunity Village
• Dowd's Guides

Trader Vic's re-emerges in LA

2009-05-01T11:07:00.004-04:00

• From the Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES -- There was much sorrow among history buffs and tiki aficionados alike when the iconic Beverly Hills bar Trader Vic's shut its doors in spring 2007. The old-school watering hole, which opened in 1955, had fostered a sense of L.A. history despite the perpetual renovations and changes happening all around its location at the intersection of Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards.

After months of rumors and speculation, Trader Vic's returns Saturday to Southern California with an expanded and updated version in downtown's sprawling L.A. Live entertainment complex on the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street. With picture windows looking out onto Olympic, this super-sized version of the classic Polynesian experience is essentially two places in one.

The front half is a party-ready bar area, complete with a wrought-iron enclosed patio outside. But deeper inside is the plush, wood-paneled dining room, where booths line the custom tapa cloth-covered walls, with everything focused around the giant Chinese wood-fired oven located at the back of the room. There is a posh private event room adjacent to the dining area, with an impressive outrigger imported from the Dallas Trader Vic's hanging above the room's huge communal table. And, of course, there are tikis, large and small, everywhere.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• The History of the Mai Tai
• Dowd's Guides

Catskills casino gets county OK

2009-04-27T14:19:00.005-04:00

MONTICELLO, NY -- The Sullivan County Legislature today approved an agreement with the Seneca Nation of Indians and Seneca Catskills Gaming Corporation to develop a casino resort on 63 acres of land in the Catskill Mountains.

The long-discussed project will be located off Interstate 86 Exit 107 in the Town of Thompson.

Once completed, the Seneca Catskill Mountains Hotel & Casino will include 2 million square feet of space, 6,000 slot machines, 120 table games, 30 poker tables, a race book center, a 1,500 room hotel and spa, 12 restaurants, retail space, a 5,000-seat arena, 100,000 square feet of banquet space, and an arcade center.

The agreement calls on the county to "actively work with and assist the Nation, to obtain any and all approvals required for the project from governmental entities. In further consideration of this Agreement, the County will undertake, in its sole discretion, to enter into agreements with locally impacted entities to mitigate impacts of the project."

The Seneca Catskills Gaming Corporation will pay directly to Sullivan County for the benefit of the locally impacted entities as determined by the county annual local-impact payments in accordance with the following schedule: years 1-2 prior to hotel completion, $15.5 million; years 3-7 subsequent to hotel completion, $20 million.

Rotate Black projects that the hotel and casino will generate approximately $160 million in exclusivity fees to state and local governments.

ON THE WEB
• New York's Indian Casinos
• Dowd's Guides

There's something intoxicating in the air

2009-04-16T18:05:00.001-04:00

If you happen to find yourself in London between now and April 25, you can get the effects of a good stiff drink while being able to honestly say you didn't have a drop.

What's the gimmick? It's a temporary bar dubbed Alcoholic Architecture. It is offering a cloud of breathable gin and tonic to its patrons for about $7 an hour.

The "bar" creates an intoxicating vapor using an ultrasonic humidifier system. Patrons put on protective suits and "drink" in the air.

The cocktail mist is made using gin, tonic water and the same technology as Anthony Gormley’s Blind Light at the Hayward Gallery. The interior of the bar is decorated to look like the inside of a cocktail with giant limes and straws.

Harry Parr, partner of Bompas & Parr which created the bar, told the media, "I’m interested in states of matter. Here we’ve vaporised a cocktail. In the future I would like to make a liquid banqueting table.

"In the 1905 Gondola Banquet the Savoy Hotel was flooded and the meal was eaten on a floating gondola surrounded by live swans with dessert presented on the back of a baby elephant. That would be the ultimate meal."

Alcoholic Architecture is open today through April 18th and 23-25 at 2 Ganton Street, Newburgh Quarter, London, W1F 7QL.

Upstate NY town is nation's 'coolest'

2009-04-16T15:44:00.004-04:00

• From WBNG.com Channel 12

OWEGO, NY -- The Town of Owego was buzzing with excitement after the CBS Early Show announced it is the "Coolest Small Town In America."

"I thought it was totally awesome. I am so proud that people outside the village come in and take a look and say, yes, it is. ... It's a really cool town," says Lisa Curatolo of Owego.

... Owego [located west of Binghamton in Upstate New York's Southern Tier] received 24,000 votes since BudgetTravel.com began its contest in February.
More than 150 towns were nominated, but only about 20 were chosen as finalists. Owego beat second place Rockland, ME, by a thousand votes.

[Go here for the full story.]

ON THE WEB
• Visit Tioga County
• Owego: The Heart of River Country
• Dowd's Guides

'Save our pubs' cry grows in UK

2009-04-11T14:53:00.003-04:00

Beer sales at pubs are way down, and several of the traditional drinking spots close each day in the United Kingdom.

There have been sporadic "Save our pubs" meetings and calls for help in the national press, but they haven't created quite the groundswell Bob Russell wants to see.

The Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) has made a parliamentary motion calling on the government to adopt a five-point plan to save the institution of the British pub.

Traditional public houses are being "unfairly priced out of the market while supermarkets offer cheap deals without the level of restrictions and responsibilities required" by licencees of pubs, Russell said in a statement.

He's not alone in the move. A total of 202 MPs backed the motion which came at the start of National Cask Ale Week.

Also, TV news readers Melanie Sykes and Oz Clarke have suppported a call by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and the Independent Family Brewers of Britain (IFBB) for a declaration of a National Beer Day.

Russell noted in his statement that five pubs close down in the UK every day, and beer sales in pubs at their lowest level for nearly 40 years. He said further tax increases are planned that "will place traditional public houses at even greater risk of closing down".

The five-point plan by the British Beer and Pub Association is:

• Cut plans to increase beer tax.

• Enforce existing laws, rather than creating new ones, to deal firmly with irresponsible drinkers and premises.

• End irresponsible promotion of alcohol in supermarkets, pubs and elsewhere.

• Trust responsible adults to make informed choices about what they drink rather than punishing them for the actions of an irresponsible minority.

• Support the British pub as a vital part of social life in local communities.

ON THE WEB
• CAMRA: Campaign for Real Ale
• Save the Great British Pub
• Dowd's Guides

A bar, a beer and a boar

2009-04-05T14:26:00.015-04:00

William M. Dowd photos

IN THE RAIN FOREST, St. Croix -- As rain forests go, this isn't much of one.

We're bumping along a rutted one-lane road, or what passes for one on an island with no particularly good roads of any kind and a lot of deserted shells of buildings. Typical of the other face of the Caribbean, the one the tourists aren't meant to see. The rundown homes, peeling paint, piles of rusted-out barrels and other metal debris; the scrawny goats and chickens that meander about, poking into corners for something to eat, and competing for walking space along the roads with uniformed school children looking bright-eyed despite the obvious poverty.

We'd been put on the trail of a particular drink called a "Mama Juana," apparently something very special on this American Virgin Island. Go into the rain forest, we'd been told. Look for The Domino Club. That's where you'll find it. And look for the beer-swilling pigs while you're at it.

The 15-acre western part of the island is dotted with all sorts of trees -- kapok, mahogany, turpentine -- as well as scraggly vines and ferns. The occasional banana quit, hummingbird or yellow warbler darts through the thick vegetation.

This spot north of the capital city of Frederiksted is privately owned, although no one stops the public from wandering through it, especially on a variety of narrow trails that snake through the underbrush.

Just when it seems we might have taken a wrong turn, suddenly we are there.

Our driver pulls off the tight road and our little group scrambles out, anxious for a Mama Juana or two. But first, we have to visit the wild, beer-swilling pigs.

A couple of accuracy alerts. For one, according to the strictest botanical definition, this isn't technically a rain forest, we're told, although no one seems to be able to supply that definition. For another, the pigs we were there to visit actually are boars. And for a third, we are told these particular boars are domesticated and have inherited their jobs from a previous generation of once-wild ones that drank real beer. The current creatures drink only O'Doul's non-alcoholic brew, a nod to animal rights groups.

Jacqueline, a stout, blonde-haired woman of indeterminate age, lines us up in front of the high-walled enclosure where she says the pigs live.

"Here's the drill," she says, mustering up all the charm of a Marine drill instructor. "Three dollars each for admission, a dollar a can for the beer, an extra five dollars if you want to shoot any video. Now, how many of you are coming in?"

We dutifully pay our money, then walk through the doorway, immediately spotting a pair of boars behind cement pen walls. They'd just stepped in from their larger outside pen. They are thirsty and bang against the walls.

"Don't let their tusks scare you," Jacqueline says. "Their teeth don't start till way back in their mouth, so you can place a can of beer in their mouth and they'll bite down on it without hurting you."

Several timid feints and the first of our group successfully "feeds" a beer to a boar. It clamps its powerful jaws on the can, crushing it and releasing the foaming brew. He guzzles the beer, spits out the can and looks around for more. His penmate does the same.

The process goes smoothly through most of two six-packs, until one of our group gets a little sloppy, or one of the boars does. A crushed can explodes its contents onto our companion's shirt front, soaking him to the skin. That's the end of the boar fest, and we head across a small clearing to the Mount Pellier Hut of The Domino Club.

We commandeer a rickety table in the thatched three-room hut. The place is dominated by a long bar in a dark part of the structure peopled by a couple who look as if they've been seated there for a very long time. Jaxcqueline, it turns out, also is the head bartender and in charge of the only other obvious employee.

The Domino Club is a structure that looks as if, in case a shot is fired and the authorities are called, it can be packed away and disappear in seven minutes flat.

We order Mama Juanas, then think to ask what is in the drink. Rum, honey and herbs, we're told. What kind of rum? What kinds of herbs? Just herbs, is the answer. Special herbs. And, don't chug the shots, we are warned.

We hoist, toast and -- despite the instructions -- chug. God almighty. This is vile stuff, is my first thought. I'll never need cough medicine again, is my second. The potion should be called Mama-don't-wanna.

Our driver is getting impatient. We don't mind, clambering back into the van and rattling off into what's left of this not-quite-a-rainforest, curiosity quenched, even if our thirst isn't. But, there is a nice bar back at the hotel that serves any kind of cocktail you can think of.

Aah, civilization.

ON THE WEB
• St. Croix, USVI, Tourism
• Dowd's Guides