apples & americanos

Written: November 28th, 2009 | Author: Sylvia Zygalo | Category: Design, Food, Wine | Tags: Brooklyn, Dumbo, Love, New York City | No Comments »

Photo courtesy of Tracy Collins

All the words ever written about New York weigh heavy in humility against the ones written here, but the way that I saw the city was exclusive to the emotions that evolved within it. They are my own.

It was my first visit by way of an invitation that became intimate through a mind free from expectation & in liberation to explore. I arrived at 6am & driven directly to Brooklyn, to a short & sweet love affair with a loft at 66 Water Street in DUMBO. I had made only one request in that my introduction to the city was genuine in discovery of its hidden gems.

Our first destination was The Standard Grill in the Meatpacking District, where we sat at the raw bar & had a buoyant lunch consisting of beefy oysters & crisp, gin cocktails with lime. I left my seat in search of a bathroom, where I discovered several crates of apples stacked against a cornered wall & took two for our walk over to the Highline. The sun was then beginning to sulk & its reflection against the buildings made for an illuminating transition of metallic colors. As the evening evolved, we agreed on The Vinegar Hill House for dinner, which ignited my curiosity after reading Frank Bruni’s review on it in the New York Times. I was sold – both aesthetically through its online presence & by the agrarian foods of which it promised. The wine list inflicted a slight sense of temptation also. & so we went, but departed without dinner or drinks as it was too crowded, too loud & too long of a wait for us to linger. One to reserve for a repeat rendez-vous in the city. The end destination of the evening was ideal: a split medium-rare burger of blue cheese & caramelized onions at Maggie Brown’s.

Saturday was a subtle day with a sun as warm & sweet as one seen in the first week of October. I was lucky. We grabbed two americano’s from The Coffee Box & jumped on the subway for another slew of stops to Brown Café. We ordered baked eggs with tomatoes, asparagus & manchego, & a quiche with roasted peppers, caramelized leeks & gruyere. A nostalgically charming restaurant with gracious service & a gratifying meal – I could not have asked for better out of my brunch. We broke away from the Lower East Side & uptown towards the MoMA for the Bauhaus exhibit. I could not cultivate any chemistry from the first phase of the exhibit, which bore a manifestation of medieval structures & framed textiles hanging from walls. I was done in finally once arriving at the influence of Mies van der Rohe at Bauhaus. I adore him & admire the direction in which he diverted architecture to at that time.

The remainder of the afternoon was draped over time, consenting to its stillness while we lounged shamelessly in Sheep’s Meadow. Yes, it was as sickly sweet as it sounds & I loved every moment of it. We walked over to The Boathouse in Central Park, which boasts a Bostonian feel with its wooden structure, predominantly leather décor & a football game gleaming tactfully in a corner overhead. We sat at the bar & ordered two gin martinis & a dessert plate of cheese, fruit & crisp bread. Forget about the diluted disappointments that I often get in Vancouver & welcome well-made & aggressive martinis that are forceful to the senses. One was always enough, although we didn’t always stop there.

I fell in love with Blanc & Rouge in Brooklyn, where immediately upon entering, felt betrayed by British Columbia both in terms of cost & selection. Intimate & nonchalant with chill & knowledgeable service. Throughout the four days, we bought a 2007 Guidobono Nebbiolo, a 2007 Poppy Pinot Noir from Monterey County & a 2007 Petit Sirah from the North Coast. All different, delicious & under $20 USD. The loft is also blessed with Jacques Torres, & so we would occasionally select a variety of chocolates to attend to with the wine. Life, she is hard. You have to bury yourself in these moments when you get the chance & bury beautifully I did.

The minimal maintenance of calories from the chocolate cultivated cravings for sushi & sake, which lead us to the Blue Ribbon in Brooklyn. We ordered a wooden box of cold Junmai with hints of pear & a scattered selection of sashimi & rolls. It was ignorant of me to believe that Vancouver probably does sushi best next to Japan.

Sunday morning started with the Farmer’s Market in Brooklyn, where we bought two apples & a black Russian rye with raisins & walnuts. Placed perfectly next door was the Brooklyn Flea, where I decided that I need never to shop anywhere else but there. I think I may have actually started skipping. Grand Central Station & the train to Garrison came thereafter. An hour traveling through New York & for what felt like skimming across the Hudson River in the sunset, we arrived & made dinner of a Warm Salmon Salad Niçoise for Stefan Boublil, his wife, Gina & their two adorable kids, Leelo & Zoel. We sipped on Dolcetto & Nebbiolo whilst discussing the various dimensions of life.

It was cold & cloudy on my last day there, which felt appropriate for the occasion. Back at the loft, lunch was simple & shared with silky slices of San Daniele over Petit Sirah & a following americano. En route to the airport, we stopped to have dinner at Luze, where we sat at the bar & shared a trio ceviche, an entraña & our final gin martini together.

I was surprised to have had all my stereotypes shattered so swiftly. I thank my gracious boyfriend for averting me towards an angle of New York that is both raw & intrinsic in its being. New York City is a beautiful beast.

la stella & le vieux pin / 2009

Written: November 26th, 2009 | Author: Sylvia Zygalo | Category: Wine | Tags: Enotecca Winery & Resorts, La Stella, Le Vieux Pin, Wine | No Comments »

Photos Courtesy of Degan Beley

La Stella & Le Vieux Pin, the sister wineries to the mother of Enotecca Winery & Resorts, are both situated in the Okanagan region of British Columbia. Through meticulous methods of viticulture, their processes in production have progressed by way of blending both a traditional winemaking style with techniques used in consideration of the region in which their grapes yield to.

Back in August of this year, I had my first taste of La Stella at an open house event held in Yaletown. While sipping away & swaying slightly, I realized suddenly that the weakness in my knees was not the result of intoxication, but rather the culmination of a developing crush for their wines. & with my mood melting in with the music of both the on-site cellist & violinist, it was easy to see how my senses were swayed. In all, my best-loved bottle of the night was the 2006 Maestoso Merlot.

I was invited out to but unfortunately missed the harvest season for both these wineries, but will be staying at La Stella & visiting Le Vieux Pin for New Year’s Eve & until the first few days of January. In the meantime, I received a recap in development details for both La Stella & Le Vieux Pin for 2009 that I wanted to share with you here.

La Stella

increased the use of larger format barrels (400-500 & 1000 litre puncheons) for the aging of the reds (in accordance with Italian & especially, Tuscan winemaking traditions)

increased the use of non-French oak barrels. We now have a healthy number of Eastern European, Hungarian & Slovenian oak barrels for aging our reds (again, in accordance with the Tuscan wines)

first time that we (or anyone in the Okanagan) is doing a Moscato d’Asti style wine from the Moscato Bianco (with small amounts of Ottonel & Orange Muscat). This wine will be slightly frizzante, with a lower alcohol percentage (around 10% or under) & just off-dry

harvested Sangiovesse (both Grosso & Piccolo clone) from two separate vineyards. Fermentation finished & the resulting wine looks promising

made an unoaked Chardonnay excusively from the oldest Chardonnay vines planted in the Okanagan, which were planted by a previous grower & has been in the hands of the Olivier Combret family since 1991. We leased the entire lot of the old vine Chardonnay planted on the complex soils of his vineyard in the upper parts of the Golden Mile. Some schist & shale have been noticed in the soil there (exciting soil component that is rare in our region)

first release of a non-single grape varietal wine from either of our two wineriesto date: 2007 Fortissimo: an Okanagan red blend that is inspired by the super Tuscans. Merlot, Cab, Cab Franc (in future vintages to have Sangiovesse) fermented & aged according to the Tuscan tradition

Le Vieux Pin

made two styles of Chardonnay exclusively from the oldest Chardonnay vines planted in the Okanagan, which were planted by a previous grower & have been in the hands of the Olivier Combret family since 1991. We bought the entire lot off the old vine Chardonnay planted on the complex soils of his vineyard in the upper parts of the Golden Mile. Some schist & shale have been noticed in the soil there (exciting soil component that is rare in our region). One was picked much earlier & fermented ala Chablis, while the other batch was more southern Côte-d’Or inspired with barrel ferment; malolactic & aging in barrel

significant & huge news is that in 2009 we did not make any Pinot Noir & made only very small amounts of Merlot that might not even be released as a single varietal & instead, go into a blend of our second label: Petit Le Vieux Pin. We still did thirty cases amount of Cab Franc, but our focus was & probably in the future will be on one grape: Syrah or Shiraz

we received Syrah from seven different vineyards, fermented & aging separately. This is the first time, we believe, that this has been done in the Okanagan. We have fruit from places like Cawston to various vineyards in Osoyoos, Golden Mile, Black Sage Bench & north of Oliver. We received Syrah from many different clones, soil types, exposures & elevations. All the yields across the line were three tons per acre or less with many of them around or even under one ton an acre. All premium Syrah’s. If all goes well, we’re going to have some high quality wines from this vintage for release

we harvested & fermented small amounts of Mourvedre from two different vineyards

we harvested & fermented a healthy batch of Roussanne all by itself and it’s looking very interesting & promising already. Again, we think that no one in the Okanagan has done Roussanne by itself in the past. We know wines that have had Roussanne as part of the blend, but not on its own

for the first time, we experimented with fermenting in acacia barrels. We find that this wood type gives the wine honey, elder flower & unique, hard to pin point spices. We did two batches in acacia: one Sauvignon Blanc & the other a Viognier

basically, we are now going to focus more on one or two grape varieties but do an outstanding job at them. We believe the Syrah from the South Okanagan has huge potential but only when it’s planted on the right site & harvested at low yields. It can otherwise make for an inferior & boring wine, unlike grapes like Merlot, which seem to fair well regardless of site & yields

fifth town artisan cheese factory

Written: November 8th, 2009 | Author: Sylvia Zygalo | Category: Design, Food | Tags: Architecture, Cheese, Design, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Factory, LEED, Sustainability | No Comments »

Artisan cheese & aesthetic design are not a predictable pairing, but somehow it feels appropriate for a company in practice of classic craftsmanship to blend its standards with that of sustainable architecture.

Located on twenty acres of agricultural land in Ontario, Canada, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Factory has won numerous awards for not only their creation of sheep & goat’s milk cheeses, but also in recognition of its Platinum LEED accreditation under the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design program. They are Canada’s first & only certified LEED dairy factory.

Their cheese collection consists of fresh, washed-rind, soft-ripened, hard & limited edition cheeses. My palate is particularly drawn to their lavender chèvre, maple chèvre, their Isabella & Lemon Fetish, which harnesses a creamy & natural citric zest with a red fife flour on the rind.

A panoptic awareness for not only its product but the environment of which it is made, is a synthesis of principles that will, in my opinion, carry on through time & the changes within it.

Courtesy of Lapointe Architects

Courtesy of Wood Works Ontario

love & architecture

Written: November 2nd, 2009 | Author: Sylvia Zygalo | Category: Design | Tags: Architecture, Design, Mies de ver Rohe, Richard Meier | No Comments »

I recently fell in love with two men. My love for these men developed both on the same day & perhaps even moments away from each other.

The first man shares in my vision of seeing a multitude of colors in white, & the second coined the aphorism of less being more. There is much detail to examine of them both, but surely they would prefer that I retain their simplistic style by discussing only their determination of design through destiny. Okay – so perhaps that’s still a little deep, but the paradox of simplicity is that it’s difficult to make.

I’m not sure when or how it was exactly that I came across the Farnsworth House, but its discovery had caught me in Mies de ver Rohe’s architecture for days thereafter. Somehow through the accidental encounter of his work, I then stumbled upon Richard Meier, who was greatly influenced by Meis & his “skin & bones” structure in design.

It is indeed a complicated love, sliced equally between the work of men that I deeply adore, but they say that good things happen over time, & great things all at once.