Joe Morello Dies

Drummer with the Dave Brubeck Quartet died Saturday.

RIP

NYT- Joe Morello Dies

The French Culinary Institute, NYC

NYC, March 2011.

After what has become de rigueur in domestic air travel, we arrived in NYC four hours late and did not get to our mid-town hotel until 1:00am, a morning jaunt downtown to visit one of my favorite espresso bars in the US helped us forget the lunacy of commercial airlines. Gimme! Coffee is a spot for the purest. No half caf -decaf mocha frappa-something with part skim part soy blah blah blah is served here. If you fancy expertly pulled espresso, cappuccino, americanos etc. and outstanding American style coffee then Gimme! Coffee is for you. Oh and don't bring your laptop, there are no sofas or tables. The interior is a classic European stand -up bar. It's great.

Located on Mott between Prince and Spring, Gimme! is a must visit for true lovers of artisan coffee.

CHICKEN POT PIE AND BECKHAM

Last week we had the chance to see the Los Angeles Galaxy play Club Tijuana in a preseason soccer match at the University of San Diego. A friend and colleague who works in soccer management provided us with a pair of outstanding tickets for the match...mid-field ..row "J." In a small stadium like USD's being that close to some of the best soccer players in the game was pretty amazing.

We began our outing with a stop at a great spot in San Diego called Shakespeare's Pub. After a pint or two and the house made chicken pot pie, we were off to the stadium.

A word on the match. Landon Donovan played the entire ninety minutes which was great to see him up close..right in front of us. He is a gifted athlete and watching on TV doesn't do his skill justice. David Beckham played seventy five minutes and spent a considerable amount of time in front of us as well. I know it has become quite a sport to bash Beckham. He is one of the most recognizable and highest paid athletes in the world. He lives a jet-setting life and is always clad in the most trendy fashion on the planet. But to see his footwork, first touches, crosses and distribution from a few yards away is amazing. Effortless physical efficiency differentiates the great ones from their peers and he lives up to the hype.

It was a very good match that ended up being won by Tijuana in kicks.

BASKETBALL

After a long and very fun season of assistant coaching our high school basketball team, time now exists to write again. BUT SPEAKING OF BASKETBALL...How about those HEELS. In a season of uncertainty and parity in college basketball, UNC rose to the occasion and re-found their roots in uptempo, unselfish play. Gone are the twins that needed to be home in Orange county CA and the guard who left the program via a phone call to Coach from daddy. It's been a fun team to watch: great defense, the old fast break is back and a deliberate well orchestrated half court offense led to another ACC championship.

What a game last Saturday night when the DOOK blue devils traveled the seven miles to THE UNIVERSITY to attend a basketball clinic at the Dean Smith Center. Sorry DOOKIES but the HEELS unselfish offense coupled with a relentless trapping defense rendered coach K's perimeter run and gun 3 point offense impotent (27 three point attempts by DOOK compared to UNC's 9). I was fortunate to have been in Manhattan over the weekend and had the opportunity to watch the game at a bar in my old neighborhood of Murray Hill. Surrounded by Carolina fans / alums made for great night out.

But what makes the greatest basketball rivalry so fun is we all know DOOK will be back next year as good or better... and we can't wait. That's what makes great Universities so special: a tradition of excellence...in the classroom and on the fields and courts.

BLEU BOHEME

Had the opportunity to dine this weekend with a group of colleagues at a great little neighborhood restaurant call Bleu Boheme. Located in the Kensington section of San Diego, Bleu Boheme is representative of the current restaurant scene here. A well appointed dining room, good cross section of guests, a trained wait staff and well executed comfortable offerings from the kitchen. It seems that finally our local Chefs are creating solid dishes with outstanding ingredients and good technique. All along with a keen eye on flavor and balance. Hopefully the days of FUSION-CONFUSION, stacked food cooking has been relegated to the "remember when" category of gastronomic history.

Under the tutelage of Chef Ken Irvine, the kitchen produces an excellent array of French staples. Chef Irvine is one of the old guard of San Diego Chefs and has garnered many accolades over the years. Re-connecting with him in the dinning room this weekend brought back many fond memories of my days in whites. Good luck to Ken and his staff.

I enjoyed the duck confit served with classic beluga lentils, braised cabbage and a rich duck stock flavored sauce. Others at our table dined on mussels, beef bourguignon and rack of lamb. All were very well done. For a first course to share, we opted for a platter of perfectly aged cheeses, mousse de foie gras and a nice selection of saucissons. The 2007, Drouhin, Moulin-A-Vent paired perfectly throughout the evening.

Definitely a return visit is in our future. The rest of the menu deserves a taste.

NEW YEARS DAY 2011

We dined in grand style this New Years Day. After reading an article in the New York Times Food Section listing the best dishes in the city for 2010, I set out to duplicate a rather decadent dish of Tagliatelle tossed in truffled cream sauce and finished with proscuitto. It most definitely lived up to the mention in the NYT. The sauce was made with chopped black truffles, shallots, garlic, white wine, cream and butter. No, not for the faint of heart. The finishing touches really made the sauce pop. After sweating and reducing the ingredients, tossing the al dente pasta in the sauce and finishing with strips of prosciutto, slices of black truffle, truffle oil, salt, white pepper, nutmeg and a grating of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano; you have an over the top dish. We enjoyed it as a first course and then proceeded to Noisettes of pork tenderloin and Tuscan cabbage served with a classic gastric sauce.

Paired with a 2008, Regis Bouvier, En Montre Cul, Burgundy France.

Perfect.

Happy New Year To All.