More recently, something interesting began to happen. The line of questioning that starts with ‘why do you do it?’ began to be followed by inquiries about whether I consume any protein shakes/powders/milks. Not my daily caloric intake. Not how much or which type of carbs I tend to eat. Not if all this is possible if I were vegan or vegetarian. Not if I do intermittent fasting. It is increasingly, ‘do you use any protein shakes/powders/milks?’. In this piece, I will explain how my rejection of the protein powders/shakes/milks is an attempt to retain food clearly and squarely within the realm of pleasures.

How can one justify talking about these two seemingly very different restaurants in the same article? Uliassi is a Michelin three-star seafood restaurant on the Adriatic coast of Italy and Casa Marcial hails from the countryside of Asturias in Northern Spain. It is very likely that chef Mauro of Uliassi and Nacho Manzano of Casa Marcial have never dined in each other’s restaurant, and they may have never met. So imitation is out of question, and inspiration is highly unlikely. But they are united in a deeper sense.

Before La Belle Époque was ushered in during the late 19th century, Istanbul was one of the most alluring “metropolitan” cities of the world. Situated at the western end of the Silk Road and buzzing with energy thanks to its diversified complexion, harboring a variety of cultures ranging from the Eurasian to the Mediterranean, being a port city bringing together two continents further added to Istanbul’s charm. Such dynamic splendor was bolstered, among other things, by a drinking culture that was built upon notions of camaradarie and jouissance. Drinking at the taverns lining up the streets of Galata, sailors, wanderers, men of letters, vagrants, singers, and all other sorts of Istanbulites recreated this city’s colorful harmony day after day… And, as brilliantly shown by the doyen Reșad Ekrem Koçu, the only way to unearth the real Istanbul is by attending to their stories…   

After a combined seven recent meals at D’Berto in O Grove, Vedat Milor and Brandon Granier feel confident in their assertion that the restaurant is a temple for those who seek the western world’s best seafood. In addition to sourcing some of the finest shellfish and crustaceans from the geographical fount that is O Grove, sister-brother duo Marisol Berto’s a la plancha grilling and frying and Alberto’s warm hospitality make this a destination restaurant for the cigalas, zamburinas negras, spider crab with innard sauce and fried lobster, among others.

A recent reading of Alexis Papazoglou’s article “The Sociality of Wine” in Gastromondiale left me with a warm feeling. It recalled many convivial dinners I have shared with oenophilic friends, who are not always as easily accessible depending on my whereabouts. While I found the tone warming, not unlike a good Amarone, I had the nagging feeling that his panegyric towards the sociality of wine endowed his “solipsistic” wine drinker with a flimsy coat. The concepts of sociality and “the social” were also conflated, so that I was not certain when one was invoked to buttress the case for the other.

Greek wine might be experiencing global recognition in the past 30 years or so, increasingly finding its way into wine menus of revered restaurants and on the shelves of prestigious wine retailers, but wine in Greece has been made for thousands of years, leaving behind a legacy of numerous grape varieties indigenous to the area. Greek wine modernism therefore could not simply be excellent Viogniers and Cabernet blends. It would have to be something within which this long tradition is detectable, but also transformed into something new.

Nothing has shaped my thinking and preferences in ambitious restaurant dining more than Restaurant Alain Chapel. It was thus an "isn’t it a small world" moment when dining at Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare I encountered the sommelier David Chapel, the first son of Alain Chapel, who told me about his wife Michele Smith who worked at this restaurant and Per Se, as well as their new wine-making venture that is unfolding in the Beaujolais region. I am joined in the interview of Michele by Vedat Milor and Alexis Papazoglou.