Wine of the Week

 

Aussie Threesome

Here's one of the best deals I've encountered lately: three wines from South Australia (that at regular price are already more than reasonable) are now carried by Costco at discounts exceeding 20%! Check to see if they stock these in your region before making the trek -- at the Los Feliz branch they were fairly picked through and my guess is they'll go fast. All are imported by The Grateful Palate, which is owned by Dan Philips (of Marquis Philips).

Hare's Chase Red Blend, Barossa Valley 2004

Robert Parker says: Located in the Marananga sector of Barossa, Hare’s Chase is a reliable producer of Australian reds. Their value-priced 2004 Red Blend (70% Shiraz, 16% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and tiny amounts of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon) offers a dark ruby/purple color as well as aromas of cherries, black currants, and flowers, a graceful entry on the palate, no hard edges, lush fruit, surprising elegance (a characteristic of the finest 2004s), admirable freshness and purity, a layered mouthfeel, and medium-bodied flavors. Drink it over the next 2-4 years. 89 points. Estimated cost $15 (Costco price: $11.49)

3 Rings Shiraz, Barossa Valley 2004

Robert Parker says: The aim of this project, a partnership between importer Dan Philips, renowned winemaker Chris Ringland, and famed grape grower David Hickinbotham, is to offer good value Shiraz from relatively old vine Barossa fruit from vineyards in the Kalimna, Gomersol, and Vinevale sectors. There are 9,000 cases of this voluptuous, supple-textured 2004. Its dense purple color is accompanied by a flamboyant, extroverted bouquet of blackberries, white flowers, earth, and background oak. The wine offers pure, supple, blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with hints of graphite and camphor. Consume this excellent value over the next 3-4 years.9 1 points. Estimated cost $20 (Costco price: $14.99)


Marquis Philips Shiraz, South Eastern Australia 2004

Robert Parker says: The 2004 Shiraz reveals blackberry, tar, pepper, and toasty oak characteristics in its spicy, rich, deep, voluptuous personality. It will drink well for 1-3 years.

This partnership between Dan Philips and winemakers Sarah and Sparky Marquis (who will no longer be making these wines starting with the 2005 vintage) has been a blockbuster success in the American market. And why not? They are delicious efforts possessing varietal character in addition to being loaded with fruit. In short, they are hedonistic, fun wines to drink ... just what wines should be. And, when you consider their prices, they represent exceptional values. The 2002s were knock-outs, the 2003s, while good, were less successful, and the 2004s hit the bull’s eye once again. 90 points. Estimated cost, $15 (Costco price: $11.49)

My Disappearing Madeleine...McDonald's Deep Fried Hot Apple Pie Locator

 

At some point, whether in science class or while reading Proust, we've all learned that olfaction and memory are closely related (guess where the post-literate Dabbler learned this tidbit?). Just the other day, I was at a neighbor's house sitting with her son, who was concentrating intensely on molding his play-do. I joined in, and as I brought the squishy, fluorescent lump to my nose, I was transported by the slightly salty odor to the comfort of childhood. And not to a specific moment in my youth, but that general feeling of being a kid.

Of course, closely related to the sense of smell is that of taste. And as I age, I find myself seeking out tastes from my youth that seem to be on the brink of extinction, if not totally vanquished. I speak of brand-name items such as the individual Betty Crocker chocolate cakes that one cooked in an Easy Bake Oven; of the McDonald's Shamrock shake (they don't offer this, even seasonally, in California); of one of a kind, local delicacies like the long shuttered Wellesley Cookie Jar's wafer thin, crispy, buttery, chocolate chip cookies. The cocoa morsels weren't Toll House gooey, but tiny bittersweet punctuation marks, to cut the almost carmelized, overly sweet flavor of the silver dollar sized biscuits.

Maybe this explains my fascination with 'yogurt that tastes like yogurt', as the early 1980s saw the invention of Fro-Yo, and Columbo soft-serve machines all over the North East dispensed a Raspberry variety that was not too sweet, not too tart. My quest for acidipholous in its purer forms could be a psychological grasp at some sort of fountain of youth. Sadly, this product is not readily available in the United States, and maybe one of the reasons I feel so ancient these days.

And neither is one of my most coveted flavors of the past: the McDonald's deep fried 'Hot with a capital H' apple pie. As in, law suit-inducing, 'careful, filling is scaldingly hot' apple pie. No vented crust, no baking, and certainly no fear of lard. The item was virtually obliterated by Ronald and company in 1993.

But, fortunately, just like 'yogurt that tastes like yogurt', there are places outside of the U.S. (and apparently a few inside) that still carry the actual deep fried delight. Places, perhaps, where the people are less litigious. Lands, perhaps, where people realize that its preferable to eat a small portion of meat, fruit and vegetables, sumptuously fried to a crisp in animal fat , than humungous portions of low cost items baked (or fried) using supposedly more health conscious vegetable oils. If the health consequences are six and one half dozen, I'll take taste over quantity.

So, where can one still find the deep fried hot apple pie? While normally I would not set foot in an American fast food chain (save In 'n Out), I find no shame in having entered a Champs-Elysees adjacent Mickey D's to get my fix. Nor was I embarrassed to dine alongside Harajuku Girls in, well, Harajuku, Tokyo, on the endangered dessert. And I certainly felt no shame in Puerto Vallarta in buying the fifty-cent confection, at least compared to the 100 ounce spring break special Margaritas at Senor Frog's that I could have chosen instead. My only complaint? The sell-through on this item must not be that high, as in all countries I ended up with something akin to a warm apple pie due to the pastries' prolonged waits for suitors.

According to McDonald's Corporate Relations department, there are a few outlets left in the U.S. that due to space limitations can't accommodate the 'baking' oven and therefore continue to fry their pies (many of these are actually in Wal-Mart stores). The percentage as of 2003 stood at roughly 90% serving baked, and 10% fried. In the rest of the world, that figure can surely be inverted. Yet another reason to travel -- I can be transported not just to another country and culture, but also to my youth, when on Tuesdays before all-city band practice, I would regularly burn my tongue on the nearly boiling filling, leaving my mouth numb enough to get through an hour playing the Dallas theme song on the trombone.

I sense another issue of the Wandering Dabbler coming soon. I hear they still fry their apple pies in China...

P.S. Get your old-fashioned Easy Bake Oven soon, as Hasbro has announced plans to change the heating element from the trusty light bulb to something more akin to a toaster coil. Where's the fun in that?

Loophole Alert!

 

If you're as persnickety as the Dabbler, you probably find yourself on phone calls trying to navigate the ever increasing web of voice activated prompts on your way to a 20 minute plus wait for a customer service representative. Sometimes the wait isn't worth the minor complaint you were going to lodge, or question you intended to ask. Recently, for instance, I spent over an hour on hold with Cingular tech support -- while sitting at a Cingular store no less -- just for somebody to tell me that pressing a little reset button on my Treo would restore the Caller ID function. Why nobody at the store knew this little tidbit about one of their flagship items, I do not know.

What I do know is that it sure would have been nice to get through to a human being right away, rather than after pushing myriad buttons, saying 'yes' or 'no' or 'technical support' only to be misheard by HAL, and ultimately having to listen to corporate Muzak for a good chunk of my Sunday.

So imagine my delight when I was told about the following website, designed to furnish loopholes to various automated call centers for corporations with whom one might be likely to have a gripe. It's called Get Human. I can't wait to try it out the next time my computer breaks down. Customer service reps, be warned!

Art Galleries -- free booze (well, maybe) and culture!

 

New York edition

One of my favorite young LA-based artists, Saelee Oh, is having a show at Giant Robot New York, and will be in attendance at its opening this weekend. Her boyfriend, Souther Salazar, is also an artist on my 'list' and the two have a very illustrative style that is both playful and profound. Well, maybe not profound. But the alliteration sounds good, doesn't it?

Here's the flyer for the New York show. The pieces should be reasonably priced as Saelee is still an artist of the more underground or low-art variety. But she could be on the rise, you never know...and her cut-outs are intense.

Swap Meet!

 

The Dabbler has been doing some organization at home, now that the garage project is coming to a close (photos to eventually follow). And with spring cleaning comes the necessary paring down of possessions. While I was able to sell a couple of items on Craig's List, for some reason I kept getting fraudulant emails in response to a desk I listed.

Hence, I am moving said desk, and other items, from Craig's List to the newly inaugurated Swap Meet section of DoD. Please send this posting to anybody you know who might be interested in the following items. Note, large items are probably most suitable for purchase in the Los Angeles area.

Item number one: reproduction mission style sconce by Mica Lamp Company. This is suitable for indoor use only, and no longer fits with the decor of Domicile Dabbler. The retail value (though it came with the house so technically I didn't pay this) is about $300. It can be yours for a mere $75 (obo).


Item number two: restored vintage steel desk with unique credenza style and bookcase design. Beautiful metallic gray/green color with glass top, in perfect condition. Purchased within the last 8 months, the desk has become obsolete due to garage project. Measures approximately 18 deep by 60 long and normal desk height. Purchased less than a year ago. $400 (obo; note, mess does not come with desk).















Item number 3: Heywood Wakefield M175/M190 China Cabinet. Finish is in fair to good condition, but still a nice looking piece. Classic deco that will never go out of style. Comes with sliding glass doors not pictured here. Please note, this photo is not of my piece, but of the same exact model. Mine is in slightly poorer condition. $400 (obo; note, top and bottom of cabinet are not attached, so it is easily transportable in truck or S.U.V.)

Somebody, please buy the Dabbler's stuff!

The Ivy Pinkerton Files

 

From New York, Ivy reports:

Starved for Leggings

While visiting the Dabbler in LA last week I learned a few important things:

1) LA is sometimes colder than NYC in the spring
2) The Dabbler and I have the same pajamas
3) Leggings are spreading like bird flu

You might figure that when a trend is featured in Star magazine it is practically over. Not so. This one is just getting started.

While lunching with the Dabbler in a vegan-macrobiotic- inanimate-object-cruelty-
free restaurant as hip Angelinos tend to favor, I became aware of another important fact about leggings – they attract the very, very skinny. As I waited in line to order, the legging-clad woman in front of me (pictured left, center), ordered “brown rice with steamed kale” and then debated over what additional flavor-free roughage should accompany her “meal”, I couldn’t help think that I’d rather have pie (make mine meat pie) than leggings any day.

Leggings are really only fashionable on the super-skinny, cause if you aren’t whippet thin, you risk looking about as unfashionable as a pre-surgery Star Jones in dance pants (see right). And who can take that chance? --IP

Restaurant Review: Lou on Vine

 

The Dabbler's Los Angeles neighborhood, Larchmont Village, is a great little spot, the street lined with restaurants, coffee establishments, a local general store, hardware store, flower shop and bookseller. However the restaurant category leaves a lot to be desired. Almost all of the restaurants are Italian, and the ones that aren't are either overpriced (Le Petit Greek), chains (Louise's Trattoria) or just plain bad (Cafe Chapeau, which thankfully closed a week or two ago). And there's not one place where you can go to just get a drink, unless you count the wine store where drinking on the premises is a no-no.

So imagine my excitement when I read that a new wine bar/small plates establishment, named Lou, would be opening at the intersection of Melrose and Vine. Though not on Larchmont, Lou's locale in the generic mini-mall anchored by the quixotic and always empty Flaming Patty's (home of the grease grenade) is certainly convenient.

Unfortunately, my high expectations led to a disappointing first encounter at Lou this past weekend. For the time being, Lou is a poor man's A.O.C. -- and while my wallet appreciates the financial aspect of the 'poor man' designation, my palate does not. The carefully picked wine list is really not that interesting (not even one Australian red on the menu), the food might have been good if it hadn't been seasoned with an entire jar of sea salt, and the service left a lot to be desired. I'll chalk up the last two items to opening month jitters.

The wine list must evolve, though, to include some more appealing options. Of the four wines the Dabbler and her oenophilic spouse tasted, only one was quaffable. We started with a pour of the most expensive red on the menu, a Super Tuscan which was barely a Decent Tuscan. At $50 a bottle (and a two ounce pour for ten dollars or so) it was hardly a huge loss, but I expected more from the highest ticket item. A Napa Cab, a California Pinot, and a Syrah from somewhere I can't remember were less expensive (all bottles under $35, pours in the $5 to $7 range) and equally as good (or should I say bad). The wines were too young, had been open too long, or hadn't been open long enough considering their age.

Though I'm basically panning the place, I will definitely give Lou on Vine another chance. It really is so convenient. And that it's owned by the husband of the New York Times' lead film critic means there are sure to be loads of film intellectuals and other people-watching-worthy Hollywood types hovering around. It really could be a sweet little spot.

But unless the wine list gets better, even the crispiest pig candy (heavily fried maple and brown sugar glazed bacon with a dash of cayenne pepper) won't be enough to bring me back a third time. There isn't enough food on the menu to really constitute a meal, so the wine component is quite important. And though I admire the proprietor's attempt to offer what he calls "real wine" from "family producers, regional grapes and traditional winemaking" sources, his palate could use some refinement or he might consider hiring a sommelier.

(Or, if Lou happens to be reading this, the Dabbler would be happy to share some of her recent well priced discoveries with him...Oregon's Raptor Ridge to name just one.)

Lou on Vine
724 N. Vine Street
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 962-6369 (no reservations accepted currently)

Name That Breed interactive guessing game

 

Bandit has joined our family, and though all of your name ideas were greatly appreciated, his slave name has stuck. Thanks for participating in that debate.

But the fun doesn't end here. It seems that Bandit, who was billed as a Chihuahua-Dachshund mix (known as Chiweenie's in the crazy-dog-people world), is probably half Chihuahua and half something else. What do you think the other half is? Several people have already suggested that he shares similarities with a breed not to be named that has been outlawed in a few states and countries, but I am in denial of such a possibility.

Keep in mind that he's over twelve weeks old, only six pounds, has very long, skinny legs and shows no aggressive tendencies. Here's a recent photo to fuel your speculation.

Finally, I welcome not only suggestions of breed, but I encourage you to designate an appropriate designer dog neologism (like Labradoodle) to describe his mix.

Free Coffee Alert!

 

This one goes out to everybody in the vicinity of a Peet's Coffee outlet. If I hadn't been on hiatus you might have been able to take full advantage of this month long offering, but at least you still have the rest of April to imbibe.

To celebrate Peet's 40th anniversary, every Peet's location is giving away free coffee between 1PM and 3PM daily. You can get hot coffee or iced coffee. I don't believe you can get blended drinks; and if you are a tea drinker, you may be out of luck (though you might be able to argue discrimination and get a pot on the house if you're pushy enough).

Now, this isn't the type of giveaway involving a dixie sized cup enticing you to try the latest Sumatra beans or hazelnut flavored beverage. The staff asks what size you want, and it's up to you to choose. Presumably refills are allowed too.

So, if you continue to remain disinclined to become your own barista, I offer you yet another reason to stop frequenting Starbucks .

Return of the Dabbler

 

Some new and exciting things are soon to appear on Diary of a Dilettante. You can all relax now, the hiatus is over.

Coming up, look out for:

--Free Coffee Alert!
--More Ivy Pinkerton (I hear a piece on leggings is in the works)
--Design that is actually within reach (unlike the store of the misleading name)
--Guess the Breed interactive game
--More Dabbler mixes
--Restaurant reviews (Lou on Vine, Cafe Verona)
--TIVO Travails, spring edition
--And additional random musings on art, coffee, home theater projectors and MUCH MUCH more

BLOG HIATUS

 

The Dabbler is off...dabbling. She will return sometime next week with reports of her activities.

Until then, you'll have to find clever tidbits elsewhere on the internet (since this blog is undoubtedly your usual epicenter of wit).

Cheers.