Monthly Archives: November 2008
Saved by the Dragon lady at the Sheraton Plaza, Jerusalem
This past weekend found us at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem. As the weekend comes to a close, the phrase that keeps screaming in my head is — how far the mighty have fallen. Ask people in the know about the Sheraton, and they will always start with Chef Shalom Kodesh and his staff of talented practitioners. The story of his rise to fame was metered, but still quite impressive. To push this selling point, his story and dreams are plastered all over the Sheraton hotel brochures. One can only guess, that their hope is to ensure that their jet lagged customers are sure to read about their prized chef. The brochures talk to his desire to stay hands on, and his interest in driving a stake into the heart of the myth, that kosher food cannot also be a culinary treat. He seemed to have been successful at both of these for some time, but after this last weekend, we are left wondering if Kodesh has locked himself into his office or fallen asleep at the wheel.
Friday night my friend and I found ourselves staring at a menu with three options for appetizer and for the entree as well. We thought to ourselves, bummer we will only get to taste two of the three entrees and appetizers. Unfortunately, we quickly realized we were totally overreaching. Appetizers started with salmon, gefilte fish, and roasted vegetable medley. We both chose the salmon option and in hindsight that was the worst option available. The salmon arrived covered in an acidic and acrid tasting tomato sauce. Even after clearing away the sauce (which in and of itself proved complicated) it did not help to improve the flavor. It was really a shame, because the salmon itself was cooked almost perfectly. The flesh was flaky with a slight hint of pink in the center. We did try the other two appetizers at the buffet on Saturday and the gefilte fish was really nice with a slight firmness that gave way to the fork. The flavor was all white fish and seasoned just right. Unfortunately, the vegetable medley was a disaster. It was almost a microcosm of all the dishes served this past weekend. Barely seasoned, plain, without imagination, and drowned in oil. The vegetables were barely roasted, with just a few char marks on some yellow roasted peppers that graced the serving platter, along with eggplants, and some other unrecognizable vegetable. Sadly, there was no imagination or execution, to say the least.
If the appetizers were a pale excuse for a four star hotel, than the entrees were an abomination. I chose the roasted duck (in a belated homage to Thanksgiving), while my friend chose the roulade and Cornish hen. The last option was roast chicken with four spices. Before our entrees appeared, I ordered a bottle of Galil Cabernet 2006. I do not have tasting notes on this wine, but it was a nice wine with strong notes of cassis, raspberry, and spice. My duck arrived shortly and I could tell immediately that this was not going to be my night. The duck seemed to be impersonating a chunk of fibrous shoe leather. The duck was overcooked, while miraculously maintaining a flabby skin, nowhere near a crispy skin. This was a clear case of a poorly managed dinner service, and worse, a duck reheating gone very bad. The roulade was actually edible with a mushroom and squash filling. However, the Cornish hen did not luck into the same treatment. Instead it looked like a smaller version of the bird that I had on my plate. The hen was overcooked and again lacked any flavor. The evening was such a disaster that when the waiter came by to ply us with desert, we just left, which as you will see soon, was yet another mistake to tack onto the evening.
Sleeping on a virtually empty stomach was fine as we looked forward to the legendary Saturday Brunch. However, we are jumping ahead of ourselves. The morning started with a classical Israeli buffet of fresh vegetables, cheese, and small pastries called rougala. The vegetables were nothing special, but the vegetable salads and cheese were enjoyable.
After we went for a walk and a quick siesta, we entered the ballroom with high anticipations of the feast that awaited us. I started with the fish and vegetable medley that I passed on the previous evening. After the partial success, I went to the hot tables to take in some cholent, and roast beef. Well, that is where I realized that there was something wrong in the hotel. The cholent looked like someone took some canned beans, canned potatoes, and overcooked and tasteless chuck meat and threw them into a pot to serve everyone. To add insult to injury, the roast was equally as poor as the cholent meat, really a sad showing for such an acclaimed culinary establishment. The other options were turkey (which was overcooked and tasteless), and a kugel that we passed on from sight alone.
So there we were seated on the side wall, taking in the entire spectacle that is a buffet run, even one as poor as this one. There are people who come to the buffet to see their friends and family. Then there are the folks who come to be seen. But within the din of humanity, there seemed to be a pattern that was repeating. Every so often a male chef dressed in white, would appear and switch some serving dish from the buffet table, with a fresh pan. Their testosterone filled stance and pace could not overcome their infrequent appearance, and so they just got lost within the buffet scene humanity. However, out of nowhere something clicked, there was a pattern that repeated far more often and screamed for attention. After closer analysis, we saw that there was a woman with a chef’s frock that carried food, and an impressive head chef tude. She turned out to be the pastry chef. With the entrees being a total flop, I figured I would try out some desert. Now I am not a huge cake or cookie guy, but with nothing else going well, I gave it a shot.
I approached the pastry chef, and ask her what she would recommend. She pointed to a platter of what seemed like strawberry infused gelatin with strawberry and raspberry sauce artfully placed on the plate. With slight trepidation, I took a slice of the recommended desert, and I took a brownie to cover my bases. I turned to thank her for her advice, and I was rewarded with a scathing and contempt filled reaction; “If that is what you were going to take, why did you bother to ask me for my advice”. Upon returning to the table and detailing the incident to my friend, he aptly named her the Dragon lady. As we continued to watch the proceedings, we noticed that if her contempt was overshadowed by anything, it would be her fastidiousness. She constantly could be seen hovering and fussing over her creations. As the buffet crowd chopped and mangled her beloved pastries with countless cutting implements, she could be seen clearing away broken and mutilated pastry parts. As more and more of the smorgasbord minions cut away at her divinations, she could be seen trailing the destructive forces, making the unsightly beautiful again.
It was a doubly impressive tour de force. First the cakes were quite enjoyable. There was no heavy creamed, over caramelized and over sugared creations. Instead, where the entrees and appetizers were mostly listless, over dramatized, and under seasoned, these pastries were balanced and heady delicacies. They touched on imagination and pulled on heart strings, while keeping you grounded in dessert land. Finally, there was a table with food worthy of the acclaim; sadly it was not from the acclaimed chef. Who knows, maybe Kodesh saw something in this self confident and capable pastry chef, to unleash her into the testosterone filled battleground and to allow her to make a mark on this otherwise dismal weekend. Long live the dragon lady, and with hope that is the winged creation, to turn the hotel from an ugly duckling into a lovely phoenix. So the next time you visit the hotel for dinner, keep your eyes out for the self confident female chef, as she may be last bastion of hope in this once stronghold of culinary accomplishment.
Terravino 2008 winners and losers
Friday found me at a wine tasting of the winners and some losers (in my opinion) of the most recent Terravino (Hebrew and English) wine contest. Terravino is a wine exhibit where wineries are given the opportunity to showcase their wines for a cost, and they get scored blindly by a panel of wine experts. To say that this contest has its doubters or conspiracy freaks is an understatement. What is even more interesting is that Terravino is conveniently held at the same time as another wine event called Sommelier (which is for the wine trade only). To add further spice to this potent intrigue, Terravino is run by Chaim Gan, owner of the Ish Anavim wine shop, in Jaffo. While the Sommelier wine event is run by another famous wine shop owner of equal fame in Israel, called Avi Ben Ami. Ben Ami is also responsible for Eshkol Hazahav, a wine competition that takes place in the spring each year.
I had the chance to talk with Gan for a few minutes after I finished my wine tasting. He is a very proud and self confident man. He is clearly a man who does not suffer the establishment easily. When asking him; what the impetus was to create a wine store like Ish Anavim and the Terravino wine contest? He replied by saying, that he has been in the wine business for some 10 years, and was looking to create an objective wine store and contest. When I asked him further about some of this year’s Terravino winners, he was happy to share his insights in how the industry is biased and skewed to the power players. How the smaller players like Adir Winery and Gvaot Winery (who both received double gold medals wards for their wines) have a legitimate and unbiased competition to show off their wares. How wineries of all shapes and sizes can place any wine they want into a competition that is structured and double blind to remove any questions about its validity.
In the end I want to thank Chaim Gan and the rest of Ish Anavim, for putting on a post Terravino wine tasting, and giving a chance for people like myself to taste wines in an unbiased atmosphere. The wine notes follow below:
Carmel Carignan Appellation 2006 – Score: B
The nose on this garnet colored wine is filled with blackberry, cranberry, eucalyptus, and wood. The mouth on this full bodied wine shows flavors of cassis and blackberry. The mid palate is still tannic in nature with spice. The finish is missing almost cliff like, it has vanilla and spicy wood on the way down.
Carmel Petite Sirah Appellation 2006 – Score: B+
The nose on this electric blue garnet colored wine is filled with blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry. The mouth on this full bodied wine has blueberry and raspberry. The mid palate is nice with spicy wood and pepper. The finish is shorter than I would have liked with leather, cassis, and a hint of wood. The acidity and leather really show in the finish, if only for a longer one.
Carmel Kayoumi Shiraz Appellation 2005 – Score: B
The nose on this bright garnet colored wine is filled with oak, mint, and cranberry. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is filled with currants and raspberry. The mid palate is still tannic in nature with spicy wood. The finish is medium in nature with oak and vanilla.
Carmel wine editorial note – I was really surprised by these wines. Normally, these are my kind of wines, full bodied and expressive. There seemed to be a common theme of a short finish and not much life. I wonder if the tasting had not let them air enough, or maybe they had bad bottles. I cannot say, just a different set of notes than I was expecting.
Ramim Art Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005 – Score: B
The nose on this muted garnet colored wine is filled with blackberry, cranberry, and mint. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is blackberry, and cranberry. The mid palate is still tannic in nature with coffee accents. The finish is medium long with leather, slight acidity, and tannin.
Gush Etzion Nahal Hapirim 2005 – Score: B
The nose on this light garnet colored wine is filled with cranberry, dirt and earthy notes, backed by sweet oak. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is filled with cranberry and raspberry. The mid palate is simple with sweet oak. The finish is medium in nature with oak and vanilla.
Recanati Petite Syrah Zinfandel (PSZ) Reserve 2006 – Score: A-
The nose on this bright garnet purple haloed colored wine, is filled with raspberry, eucalyptus, and asparagus. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is inky in nature almost glycerin like. Blackberry and cassis swish in the mouth and lead to a mid palate of tannin, pepper, and lather. The finish is long with vanilla, and nice red fruit. Another Lewis hit for sure.
Ruth Shiraz Merlot 2006 – Score: B+
The nose on this light garnet colored wine is filled with earthy dirt aromas, cassis, sweet wood, raspberry, and green notes. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is filled with raspberry and more dirt. The mid palate has a nice playful mix of integrated tannins and mint. The finish is medium in nature with oak, eucalyptus, and vanilla.
Teperberg 1870 Meritage 2007 – Score: B+
The nose on this bright ruby to garnet colored wine is filled with raspberry, sweet wood, earth and dirt, and eucalyptus (note: the nose on the Meritage was very close to the Ruth Shiraz Merlot – though the only common fruit is the merlot). The mouth on this medium bodied wine is filled with cranberry, raspberry. The mid palate is soft with anise and earth. The finish is long with pepper and oak.
Zion Erez Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2006 – Score: B
The nose on this ruby colored wine is hot with cranberry and earth. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is filled with earth, eucalyptus, and raspberry. The mid palate is tannic but integrating with spicy flavors. The finish is short and not intriguing.
Adir Plato 2006 – Score: A
The nose on this brooding garnet colored wine is crazy, deep, and hot with sweet wood, eucalyptus, and raspberry. The mouth on this full bodied wine coats your mouth with cassis and cranberry and complex layers. The mid palate has tannins that are integrating, along with nice wood flavors. The finish is long with tannin and vanilla. This was one of the true winners of the tasting and a nice showing for a the upstart winery that seemingly came out of nowhere.
Alexander Sandro Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2006 – Score: B+
The nose on this brooding garnet colored wine is a screaming nose that is hot with raspberry, cranberry, and sweet wood. The mouth on this full bodied wine slightly coats your mouth with cassis and cranberry. Unfortunately, the heat on the nose seems to come from the wine’s overripe fruit and manifests itself on the palate as a cooked fruit flavor. The cooked fruit takes away from the power and joy of this wine. The mid palate has integrated tannins and more cooked fruit. The finish is medium long with tannin and sweet wood. The cooked fruit really takes away from this wonderful wine and is a shame that the fruit was not pulled earlier from the vine or not managed better after that.
Barkan Segal’s Merom Galil Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – Score: B
The nose on this ruby colored wine is hot with blackberry, raspberry, cassis, and eucalyptus. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is filled with cranberry and raspberry. The mid palate is tannic and muddled. The finish is short and not very intriguing. I thought when tasting this that wine was flawed or corked. However, after discussing it with others around me, I think the wine is just not so great.
Binyamina Syrah Hochen Ruby 2006 – Score: A-
Slight commentary to start – I am happy to see Binyamina finally producing wines like they did in the early part of this decade. This one is a real winner – congratulations to the team.
The nose on this garnet to black colored wine is complex with aromas of cassis, mint, anise, and coffee. The mouth on this full bodied, inky, and layered wine coats your mouth with cassis, blackberry, and nice spices. The mid palate has more coating tannins that are lovely with spicy wood accents. The finish is long with tannin, leather, and tar notes.
Tabor Adama Cabernet Sauvignon Terra Rosa 2005 – Score: B++
The nose on this garnet colored wine is hot with earth, cassis, anise, spice, and raspberry. The mouth on this full bodied and inky wine coats your mouth with raspberry, cassis, and blackberry. The mid palate is tannic and spicy. The finish is long and tasty with vanilla.
Tanya Blend Reserve 2005 – Score: A-
The nose on this ruby to garnet colored wine is hot with cassis, mint, allspice, and raspberry. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine has flavors of raspberry, cranberry, and mint that coat your mouth. The mid palate is tannic and spicy. The finish is long with spicy oak and vanilla.
Barkan Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005 – Score: B
The nose on this garnet colored wine is filled with cassis, blackberry, and eucalyptus. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is filled with cassis, blackberry, and cranberry. The mid palate is tannic and acidic in nature. The finish is long with red fruit and tannin.
Gvaot Herodion Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2006 – Score: B
The nose on this garnet colored wine is filled with raspberry, eucalyptus, and anise. The mouth on this soft medium bodied wine is filled with raspberry, and cranberry. The mid palate is rich with integrated tannins. The finish is long with sweet oak and vanilla.
Gvaot Masada 2006 – Score: A-
The nose on this deep garnet colored wine is hot with raspberry, cranberry, eucalyptus, mint, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine has flavors of raspberry, cranberry, and spice that coat your mouth. The mid palate is tannic with sweet wood. The finish is long and meaty with more tannins and oak.
Recanati Special Reserve 2005 – Score: A-
The nose on this garnet to black colored wine is ripe with cassis, anise, coffee, and raspberry. The mouth on this full bodied wine is packed and complex with layered cassis, blackberry, and raspberry. The mid palate coats your mouth with oak, coffee, and spices. The finish is long with leather and more tannin that lingers long on the palate.
Noya Restaurant and Galil Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon
This week I am in Jerusalem and we visited a restaurant called Noya. It is in the area of Jerusalem that is starting to look like downtown Chicago – always under construction. Jerusalem is adding a new light rail system that will run from the City Center to the main bus station. However, it is over budget, still in construction, and it is turning the center of town into a huge mess. Jaffa street, is the main drag in the center of town and it has been turned into a one way street with basically only buses running in that lane. The rest of the road is dug up and waiting for rails to be laid down – but from what I hear on the street, this will be going on for a couple of years still – what a mess. The once proud road of Jaffa that goes through the city and ends at the Jaffa gate – is now in ruins. The once bustling and litter strewn streets are now littered with closed shops and ditches that are untouched. So now the center of town, where the entire buzz exists, is actually a few hundred feet after the construction zone (and more towards the old city) – called Shlomtzion Hamalka. Along with the new mall that starts right after the Shlomtzion Hamalka district, and that runs all the way up to the old Jaffa gate, called Mamilla Mall.
Anyway, Noya is right on the corner of Shlomtzion Hamalka – on what Jaffa turns into right after the construction zone. The restaurant has a nice ambiance and the service is competent and charming. I wish I could say the same for the food. We started off with two appetizers – the lamb platter and the Beef Carpaccio. The lamb platter was OK, but underwhelming in flavor and slightly overcooked. The Carpaccio was more pickling than beef. The vinegar and lemon overpowered the dish, which is a shame, as the meat looked nice. The theme of the restaurant seems to be lamb, as the menu for the entrees is dominated by lamb dishes and a few fowl dishes. There was one beef dish; Entrecote, so we decided on the entrecote and the mixed lamb platter. To pair the meat dishes we had a bottle of Galil Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 blend. The wine was nice, but the lamb again was underwhelming. The Entrecote was nice and cooked perfectly. The salad that accompanied it was pretty to look at and to eat. The lamb platter however, was again overcooked and lacking in punch or flavor. Lamb dishes should allow the lamb to talk for itself. The tangy and gamey flavors should mingle with the dish’s overall direction. Unfortunately, our dishes were more listless than tangy and the overall dish lacked motif or even imagination. Again, the entrecote, was delightful and well put together, I guess it was a bad day for the lamb dishes, and would try the restaurant again.
The wines notes follow below:
Galil Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – Score: B+
The nose of this red and purple haloed wine has a pair of lives. It starts with an inky Shiraz nose of cassis and sweet wood. Later the nose changes to a cabernet nose of pencil shavings, sweet wood, cassis, cranberry, and raspberry. The mouth of this full bodied wine is soft with Cabernet stylings – which make sense as the blend is 51% Shiraz and 49% Cabernet. The mouth has cassis and raspberry. The mid palate has eucalyptus, some acidity, and slight to integrated tannins. The finish is medium long with more wood, nice tannins, and acidity.
Squash Risotto, Red Pepper Roasted Chicken, and Four Gates Chardonnay
We had no crowd this weekend so we went with a comfort food combination. The Risotto was simple to prepare, but only after having failed many times prior. I started making Risotto a couple of years back, but only the basic recipe – no extras. Since then, I have tried to add in squash, mushrooms, etc. Also, I never finish it with cheese, mostly because I dislike cooked cheese, but also because we normally eat the Risotto for Friday night dinner with some meat. So I started adding in extras like raw squash and the problems started cropping up. First the vegetables were more than just andante, or the final product was too watery. I finally figured out that if I add in squash I should do it on the third round and keep stirring it, and NOT adding in any extra hot liquid, until the added ingredient is cooked to my liking. First of all the ingredient – in our case butternut squash, will give off liquid as it sweats in the rice and it will cook as it sweats. So by cooking it to the amount I want, it leeches out liquid and the Risotto does not get mushy at the end.
Now the next complication, how do I reheat the Risotto for Friday Night dinner? The answer do not fully cook through the Risotto prior to Friday Night and then finish it with a cup or hot broth and throw it in the oven to heat up for Friday Night Dinner.
This week my wife made a killer Roasted Chicken, as usual, and the pair was great. They hit the spot for comfort food and tasted great to boot. To pair the two foods, I went with Four gates Chardonnay 2000. It is now at its peak or just over it and is time to drink up.
The wine notes follow below:
Four Gates Chardonnay 2000 – Score: B+
See notes from a previous blog. Just to add to these notes. The Chardonnay was great in the evening still fruity and light on oak. However, the leftovers transformed quite shockingly into a medium to full bodied chardonnay that was redolent in oak and the mouth was also packed with oak. Crazy, because the wine was not overoaked at all. Anyway, fun either way. The oak was spicy and smoky.
Ramon Cardova Rioja and Roasted Chicken
We had a quiet weekend planned, so I roasted a small chicken by simply placing a rub of; garlic, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, and cumin over the chicken and let it rest over night. The next morning, I sliced onions and red potatoes and placed them under the whole chicken and we roasted it for 1 and a half hours. My wife did her, always appreciated, red pepper flake roasted chicken. The chicken(s) were quite lovely later that evening, and the potatoes and onions went along with them quite nicely, to boot.
To match up with the roasted chicken, I took out a Rioja to match the rub on the chicken.
The wine notes follow below:
Ramon Cardova Rioja 2004 – Score: B+
The nose on this bright-colored ruby red wine is filled with cranberry, cloves, coffee. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is soft and starts with fresh raspberry and cherry. The middle is spicy, with integrated tannins. The finish is long with leather, coffee, and vanilla accompaniment.
