Taste With The Eyes: Travel Wine & Dine

1.01.2010

Travel Wine & Dine

I recently had over 3 hours to kill at Newark Liberty International. While shopping for some airport souvenirs I stumbled upon this fabulous upscale wine bar Vino Volo. And the time just flew by...

There are Vino Volo locations in several airports in the US. They offer an interesting menu that complements the wine selections, including small plates of cheese and cured meats. Wine by the glass, tasting flight, and bottle are all available.

The wines come with this neat tasting chart which describes the bouquet and flavors as well as the style; charting fruit and complexity.

The tasting flights are creative, esoteric, and a good value too!

The World Noirs Flight $13

California Russian Hill Estate 2006 "chocolate cherries & vanilla"
New Zealand Martinborough Vineyards Russian Jack 2008 "wild strawberries & clove"
France Roger Belland Santenay-Beauregard 2006 "macerated cherries & cocoa"

The Christmas Cabernets Flight $14

California ZD Napa Valley 2006 "cassis & cocoa"
Australia Plantagenet Great Southern 2004 "blackberry & cigar box"
Chile Clos Quebrada de Macul Domus Aurea 2004 "wild berries & tarragon"

The California Kings Flight $11

Lake County Obsidian Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 "wild blueberries & Chinese five-spice"
Contra Costa County Trinitas Zinfandel 2006 "raspberry jam & white pepper"
Carneros Truchard Syrah 2005 "cassis & white pepper"

The staff was very knowledgeable, engaging, and passionate about the wines they were serving. Also, since Vino Volo is located within the airport's secured area, wine bottles purchased here can be carried onto the plane.

Vino Volo, when are you coming to LAX?

In-flight Meals

I have been flying Continental Airlines from LAX to Newark. They have a number of celebrity chefs and sommeliers that consult on their impressive restaurant-quality menus and wine service including Bryan Caswell, James Canora, Michael Cordúa, Paul Minnillo, Roy Yamaguchi, David Gordon, and Martin Korson.

The flight attendant was curious about my interest in photographing the food. I was thrilled when she shared the "Galley Attendant Briefing Sheet" with me.

Offer hot towels at beginning of service.
Place linen on tray table.
Snacks are pre-packaged. Serve with first beverage after take-off.

Arrange appetizer and salad on tray setup together.
Remove wrap from appetizer and lid from salad.
If compressed, loosen to improve presentation.
Fill water glass.

Southwest Breast of Chicken

Tamale filled breast of chicken served with ancho pepper and corn sauce, roasted red and yellow tomatoes and grilled yucca stalks.

On Another Trip

Smoked Salmon with Cream Cheese and Caviar

Bread Basket Service

Garlic Bread, Mini Pretzel Rolls, Mini Artisan Ciabatta Rolls, Mini Kaiser with Sesame Seed, Crusty Wheat Rolls

Garlic Bread is boarded in foil wrap and remaining breads are boarded in oven bags.
Warm bread and rolls lightly.
Offer from basket throughout service.

Herbed Breast of Chicken with Tomato and Olive Ragout

Saffron couscous with dried cranberries, red roasted tomatoes, fresh broccolini, red bell pepper strips.

For best results heat in steam oven.
Place couscous in center of plate with chicken across top.
Top with tomato and olive ragout.
Vertically place broccolini spears at right side of plate with red bell pepper garnish across lower stems of broccolini.
Garnish plate with parsley sprig.

Ice Cream Sundae
Toppings: Chocolate syrup, butterscotch, strawberry sauce, cherries, nuts, whipped cream.
Remove toppings and ice cream from refrigeration 30 minutes prior to delivery.
Offer pre-scooped ice cream glass on a medium plate with topping choices and a spoon.
Gotta love those frequent flyer miles!

Happy New Year!

May we all travel safely in 2010.

Julia Child Quotes - TOUJOURS BON APPETIT!

“You should never apologize at the table. People will think, ‘Yes, it’s really not so good.'"

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

"It's easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don't bring you oysters." Paul Child on speaking French

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. "

"Life itself is the proper binge."

"It was a Morsel of Perfection."

"I was in pure, flavorful heaven at the Cordon Bleu."

Julia Child sees herself on TV, July 1962, she saw room for improvement, and still she can say it was fun : "There I was, in black and white, a large woman sloshing eggs too quickly here, too slowly there, gasping, looking at the wrong camera while talking too loudly and so on...But it had been fun."

She has her own opinions on kitchen equipment: "Clairborne sniffed at our use of a garlic press, 'a gadget considered in some circles to be only one cut above garlic salt or garlic powder.' I happened to like garlic presses..."

Understanding Julia's captivation by French food: "This is the kind of food that I have fallen in love with: not trendy souped-up fantasies, just something very good to eat. It was classic French cooking, where the ingredients have been carefully selected and beautifully and knowingly prepared. Or, in the words of the famous gastronome Curnonsky, 'Food that tastes of what it is.' "

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always." Julia's instructor, Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu

"Oh, 'crise de foie,' that French sole was so delicious!"

Julia's passion comes through loud and clear as she describes a fish dish: "La Truite's true glory was the Sole a la Normande, a poem of poached and flavored sole fillets surrounded by oysters, and mussels, and napped with a wonder-sauce of wine, cream, and butter, and topped with fluted mushrooms. 'Voluptuous' was the word. I had never imagined that fish could be taken so seriously, or taste so heavenly."

Julia's unique way with words, on Crepes Suzette: "The creature named Suzette may or may not have been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but whoever she was, she long ago inspired a magnificent dessert that is still one of our favorites."

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over."

"With a handsome package such as Jacques's, you can neatly cut the top open at the table with a pair of scissors..." Julia on Salmon en Papillote

"There's no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté. You can just think of it as meat loaf."

From Julia's dear friend Jacques Pepin, "You are what you cook."

"Understanding egg yolks will make you a master of hollandaise sauce."

Julia encouraging us not to be intimidated: "When you know how to saute your meat so it browns rather than steams, you're cooking. What's difficult about that? You heat the pan, you dry the meat, you don't crowd it into the pan, and you're browning it. Is that difficult?"

Food Quotes

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."

Orson Welles

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit."
Charlie Trotter

"Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. "
Thomas Keller

"I love to make people happy."
Wolfgang Puck

"Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking as olive oil is to Italian."

The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le

"I wish, I wish lunch could last forever...waiter, bring us one more bottle of wine..."

Jimmy Buffett

"My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis."
Emeril Lagasse

"Gordon Ramsay makes me laugh because he knows that I'm not a chef."
Nigella Lawson

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."
Mario Batali

"I always knew the importance of it, since I was three or four years old my mother used to feed me wine and water. I grew up with wine as liquid food."
Robert Mondavi

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at his/her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers."
Laurie Colwin

"Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth, and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul."
Ethan Becker