Prezza: Gravy Sundays

Chef Anthony Caturano will reprise the tradition of “Gravy Sundays” this month at Prezza in Boston’s North End. Gravy Sundays bring together all of the ingredients needed for the perfect fix of time-honored Italian hospitality: great food and great company.

This month, Chef Caturano will also add in a weekly special to join the typical Gravy Sundays’ carte du jour of: Pork Ribs braised in garlicky tomato and basil ($12); Chicken Parmigiano, tagliatelle and San Marzano tomatoes ($24); Meatballs and Sausage, creamy polenta and tomato ($24); Hand Made Potato Gnocchi and San Marzano tomatoes with basil ($18).

June’s “Gravy Sunday” Specials - $12:

June 6th: Tomato arancini stuffed with mozzarella with San Marzano tomato and parmigiano
June 13th: Tomato risotto, chopped clams, oregano, parmigiano
June 20th: Heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and aged balsamic
June 27th: Eggplant Parmigiano

WHEN: Every Sunday in June beginning at 5:30pm.

Prezza is one of my favorite Italian restaurants and I heartily recommend that you check them out.

TasteCamp: Ravines Wine Cellars

I first got a chance to taste the wines of Ravines Wine Cellars back in 2009 at the Boston Wine Expo. I liked several of their wines and it was one of the wineries that convinced me of the potential of the Finger Lakes region.

At TasteCamp East 2010, after our Heron Hill Grand Tasting, we drove to Ravines Wine Cellars (pictured above) for a private tasting. It is a small winery, created and operated by Morten and Lisa Hallgren, a Dutch Winemaker/Oenologist and his Chef/Foodie wife. Their objective is to create "elegant and food friendly wines using Old World winemaking traditions with New World innovation." They specialize in dry European-style wines and produce about seven to eight thousand cases of wine annually.

Morten was raised in the Provence region of France and his family owned and operated Domaine de Castel Roubine. From the age of fifteen, Morten began working at the family winery. He eventually received an advanced degree in both Enology and Viticulture at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier, one of the world’s top winemaking schools, and spent his first harvest in Bordeaux, at Chateau Cos d’Estournel.

Eventually, Morten moved to the U.S. and spent six years working as the chief winemaker for Dr. Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars. In 2000, Morten purchased his own land and vineyards in the Finger Lakes region. The estate is situated between two deep ravines, which became the namesake for the winery.

Morten presided over the tasting, sharing his thoughts about his wines as well as on the Finger Lakes region in general. He came across as very straight-forward and sincere. He mentioned the debate between the quality of westwide and eastside wineries. The westside gets the early sun and the eastside gets the late afternoon sun, and consequently their grapes are usually riper. He also stated his belief that wineries should not label their wines as "estate" because most wineries are only first and second generation, and "estate" vineyards really need many more years before it can be determined whether that label is appropiate or not.

He also added that the Finger Lakes is a remote region and thus it is very easy to become insular. So, Morten feels the region needs to acquire a broader perspective, which will be helped by an influx of fresh, new wine makers. That is probably true of many wine regions, though more so the more isolated area. Plus, he does not believe the region will ever have organic wineries as the climate is not conducive to such.

We got to taste nine of their wines, including Riesling, Rosé, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Meritage, and Merlot. Lisa (pictured above) assisted with the tasting and even made the crackers which were on the tables to help cleanse our palates. They were simple crackers but quite delicious, and I would usually not mention crackers, but these were much better than the usual. Plus they were homemade, and that is a rarity when most crackers come from store bought boxes.

The tasting began with three vintages, 2006-2008, of their Dry Riesling ($16.95-$18.95) as well as the 2008 Dry Riesling ($24.95) from the Argetsinger Vineyard. My favorite of the Rieslings was the Argetsinger, where the grapes come from one of the oldest Riesling vineyards in the region. The nose presented an alluring aroma of green apple and floral notes. On the palate, I was enthralled by its complexity, an interesting blend of green apple, citrus, mineral notes, and hints of herbs. It was crisp and dry with a long and satisfying finish. The 2006 Dry Riesling also impressed me, just not as much as the Argetsinger. It was similar to the Argetsinger in many respects, just to a slightly lesser degree.

The 2008 Dry Pinot Rosé ($14.95) seemed to me to be somewhere between an Old World and New World style. It had an almost orange color with a mild red fruit aroma. On the palate, it was mostly dry with bright strawberry flavors. A pleasant wine, perfect for the summer and would be a nice accompaniement for many different foods.

The 2007 Pinot Noir ($22.95), which I had previously tasted last year, actually seemed better to me this time, possibly due to its additional time in the bottle. Besides its red fruit flavors, there also seemed to be some earthy and spicy notes in the wine, reminscent of a Burgundy. Those later flavors had not been so apparent the last time I tasted this wine. Thus, I enjoyed this wine very much and would recommend it.

Ravines is producing some very good wines, which are reasonably priced, and I suspect the quality will only continue to improve as Morten hones his wine-making skills in this region. Morten and Lisa are both passionate individuals, and their love of wine is contagious. If you are visiting the region, you should stop by for a tasting. Or maybe Lisa will be back next year at the Boston Wine Expo.

Where's Lulu: Accessiblity for Disabled Bostonians

There are plenty of restaurant review sites in Boston, from Urbanspoon to Chowhound. I get notifications about new sites all the time. But do we really need another one? Probably not, unless such a site is truly unique, offering something that existing sites do not or cannot. I recently received some information about a new site, one which I believe is truly unique.

Where's Lulu, which reviews restaurants and other establishments, is "...a free online community where people with disabilities can finally obtain accurate, reliable information on accessibility, and provide that information to other users by reviewing their favorite (or least favorite) local businesses. A guide to accessible places and services, Lulu provides an open forum where people can share information on everything from menu readability to bathroom accessibility." I don't believe anything else like this currently exists in Boston.

Founded in 2008, Where's Lulu currently covers Portland, San Francisco and Boston, with coverage of New York City coming soon. Lulu's co-founder and disability rights activist Caitlin “Lulu” Wood states: “As a disabled woman, I used to have to hear about accessibility through word-of-mouth, or call a place ahead of time - and even then, I often got the wrong information. Where's Lulu provides a way around that. It's really empowering."

Co-founder Toshio Meronek adds: "We aim to eliminate the stress and frustrations of trying to find accessible, fun venues, so disabled people can connect with other people who are into the same kinds of things. Plus, people love to speak their minds, and we give them an outlet.”

It is free to join Lulu and anyone can post a review. Reviews will list about what accessibility is available at the restaurant, how the staff handles people, any known issues, and much more. Most of this information is not provided on other review sites. Thus it truly fills a need. You can even read their blog, which covers many issues of significant to the disabled community.

As Lulu is still relatively new, a number of the listed restaurants and establishments have limited information. Hopefully, as this site catches on, additional information and reviews will be added. I would encourage you to check out Lulu, and contribute to their reviews.

Woodchuck Hard Cider

Last week, I dined for lunch at the Elephant Walk in Cambridge and wanted something cool and refreshing to drink with my meal. I opted for the Woodchuck Pear Cider and was very satisfied with its taste. So, over this Memorial Day weekend, I decided to check out some of their other flavors too, mostly hard apple ciders.

Hard cider is an alcoholic cider which is popular in many different countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, France, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. It is most popular in the United Kingdom, which has the highest per capita consumption. Hard cider comes in a variety of styles and flavors, from dry to sweet, and the alcohol content commonly ranges from 2% to 8.5%. Though it can be made from almost any type of apple, some types are preferred and you can even get hard ciders made from a single type of apple. Pear cider, sometimes called perry, is also becoming popular nowadays.

Hard cider was extremely popular in the U.S. during colonial times. Water was often considered unsanitary and hard cider was very easy to produce so made for an enticing alternative. As an example, in Massachusetts in 1776, the average consumption per capita of hard cider was about 35 gallons. During this period, hard cider also served as currency and might be used to pay salaries. Some goods and services were priced in barrels of cider. But by the time of Prohibition, the popularity of hard cider had diminished significantly, and it was not until the 1990s that hard cider started to become popular once again.

In 1990, the Proctorsville Winery in Vermont produced some apple wines and “Vermont Old-Fashioned Hard Cider.” But they wanted to make a much better hard cider and worked at improving their existing cider, making it a more artisanal product. They named this new hard cider, Woodchuck, and it did very well. They grew so much that in 1996 they moved to Springfield, Vermont, calling their new place the Green Mountain Cidery, though they would eventually relocate once again, this time to Middlebury, Vermont.

The cidery is eco-conscious and recycles all of their waste plastic, paper, cardboard and glass. They use water saving measures that cut their water usage in half. Their bottles are made with up to 50% recycled glass and they also use Earth-friendly cleaning products. They use other eco-conscious measures as well.

They currently produce five different ciders: Amber, 802 Dark & Dry, Granny Smith, Pear and Raspberry. They vary in alcohol content, either 4% or 5%, and each 12oz bottle has 150 calories. So they have less calories than sodas or wine coolers. They are all lightly carbonated, almost a mild effervescence. I tried all of the ciders except for the Raspberry (though I will try it in the near future).

The Amber is their original hard apple cider, and it has a clean, strong apple flavor with a bit of sweetness. I enjoyed its taste, though, as a personal preference, I would not drink more than a couple of them at any one time due to the sweetness. Their 802 Dark & Dry is more my style, as it has a drier taste. It was made with caramelized sugar rather than white sugar, which makes it taste less sweet and also gives it a darker color. It still possesses a strong apple flavor, but it something I could drink bottle after bottle because it is drier.

Their Granny Smith is also more dry, but as it is made from 100% Granny Smith apples, it has a more tart and tangy taste. I enjoyed this flavor too, but I couldn't drink too many of these at any one time due to all that tartness. The Pear is a bit sweet, but not as much as the Amber, and has a rich pear taste. It almost seems like biting into a juicy, ripe pear. I love the taste of pears and this cider really pleased me.

Overall, I would recommend all four flavors, and it will depend on your personal preferences which ones you might prefer over the others. My own suggestion would be to buy a mix of the varieties and drink different ones over the course of the day. That is what I did this weekend, and I appreciated them even better when I could drink different ones, and not get into a rut drinking the same style, bottle after bottle.

Though I certainly will buy more of the Woodchuck ciders, I want to try some other hard ciders too. Anyone have some suggestions?

13th Annual Chefs in Shorts: June 25

The 13th Annual Chefs in Shorts event will be held on June 25. The event brings together a group of the area’s leading chefs who will fire up the grills and create their favorite dishes during this outdoor, summer-in-the-city barbecue. Join some of the city’s most talented chefs for a night of grill-offs and fun, including:

Greg Griffie, 606 Congress
Rachel Klein, Aura Restaurant/Tamo bar
Kelly Armetta, Avenue One
Rodney Murillo, Avila Modern Mediterranean & Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse
Jay Silva, Bambara
Jason Byron Owens, Biltmore Newton
Mark Sapienza, BOND at The Langham Boston
Evan Percoco, BOKX 109 American Prime
Jason Santos, Gargoyles
Shore Gregory, Island Creek Oysters
Harjit Singh, Kashmir
Josh Beuhler, KO Prime
Justin Hamilton, Legal Sea Foods
Nicholas Dixon, Lucky's Lounge
Jerry Pabla, Mantra
Chris Damskey, Market (W Hotel)
Todd Winer, Metropolitan Club
Scott Crain, Morton’s
Chef S. Giridhar, Mumbai Chopstix
Carla & Christina Pallotta, nebo
Stefan Jarausch, Oak Room at the Fairmont Copley
Philip Rotondo, Philip R's
Jackie Kelly, Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill
Brian Anderson, Sauciety
Richard Rayment, Seaport Hotel
Karen Hodsdon, Seaport Pastry
Raymond Southern, Stanhope Grille (The Back Bay Hotel)
Mark Cina, Stoddard’s Fine Food & Ale
Salvatore Firicano, Strega & Nico
Glenn Quirion, Sweet Tooth Bakery
Marie-Claude Mendy, Teranga
Mark Porcaro, Top of the Hub
Mark Goldberg, Woodward

WHEN: Friday, June 25th
VIP/Media Reception: 6:30pm
Main event: 7:00-9:30pm

WHERE: Seaport Boston
200 Seaport Boulevard, Boston
(along the upper level viaduct)

COST: $60 per person, which includes complimentary beer, wine and tastings.

BENEFICIARY: The Greater Boston Food Bank distributes nearly 31.5 million pounds of food annually to more than 600 hunger-relief agencies in a dedicated partnership to end hunger in eastern Massachusetts. Founded in 1981, The Food Bank celebrates its 29th anniversary this year. For more information about The Greater Boston Food Bank, visit their website at www.gbfb.org or call 617-427-5200.

TICKETS: Tickets are available in May through the Seaport website, http://www.seaportboston.com/Event/Chefs-in-Shorts.aspx.