A recent sun splashed Sunday afternoon at Birkdale presented a perfect opportunity to indulge in one of the best cigars available on the planet right now: the Padrón Family Reserve No. 45.  Released in two versions (natural and maduro) with one size (six inches with a 52 ring gauge), this exulted cigar celebrates the 45th anniversary of Padrón Cigars.

After staking out an outdoor table at a local Starbucks next to a gas patio warmer, I carefully surveyed the scene for cigar disafficiondos before slowly torching up my pricey No. 45.  The cigar features a decadently dark hued wrapper, encompassing fine reserva Nicaraguan tobacco, reportedly aged for at least 10 years.

Receiving nods of encouragement from a vicarious onlooker  toting a freshly brewed Venti, I slowly began to enjoy the cigar and couldn’t believe the rich, intense notes of cocoa and espresso, followed by a slightly spicy finish; but all well rounded and incredibly smooth.  The firmly pressed tobacco burned very evenly and at a luxuriantly slow pace allowing nice coils of smoke to waft by soccer moms and yuppies buried in their Sunday Observers.

Similar to a fine Pauillac or a nuanced Miles Davis or Steely Dan album, I didn’t want this experience to end.  The cigar put my old smoke of choice, the Montecristo Habana Number 10 to shame.  And this is definitely not an experience that should be rushed, you should plan on having at least 45 minutes to set aside while smoking this cigar.  It simply deserves your undivided attention.

This is a cigar that is definitely worth finding and they are not plentiful by any means, the shop where I purchased mine actually limits purchases to only 2 per customer and doesn’t offer box sales at this time.

In a word, sublime. . .

You call yourself a music lover, music consumer or better yet, a true aficionado? Are you in London or planning a trip there sometime soon? Jaded Londoners need not continue reading but those who have not been to Abbey Road and the famous “zebra crossing” should add it to their itinerary.

You see, the famed Abbey Road studios are reportedly up for sale by it’s cash-strapped and over-leveraged owner, EMI records. This old Georgian house in north London ranks up there with Graceland, The Whisky A Go Go, Motown’s old HQ and Memphis’ Sun Studios as ‘hallowed ground’.

The Beatles recorded 95% of their recorded output here, including the classic Abbey Road album which features the band casually crossing the road in front of the studio during a mid afternoon tea break.

Legend has it that the album was set to be titled Everest but the lads couldn’t be bothered to travel to the Himalayas for a photo shoot. The iconic album cover was the first not to feature the name of the album or the name of the band. In hindsight, those 7 or 8 photos taken that day seem quaint given today’s PR machine world of choreographed photo opps and behind the scenes DVD extras.

Let’s not forget that Pink Floyd laid down Dark Side of the Moon here also, which begs the question, why is this place not already a protected heritage site in the UK?

Walking across that street is a surreal experience and is something that every music lover should do. Steps away is Abbey Road Studios and the graffiti festooned walls surrounding the garden out front.

Make your plans now.  Take the tube to St. John’s Wood and walk north about 10 minutes, you’ll be glad you did.

And remember, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey soldier on with help from a brother, the son of a Beatle and others sharing the common cause of continuing to breathe life into a band called The Who.  This  Super Bowl performance proved there is still life and vitality in the now age-less songs that Townshend originally penned decades ago.    Hard to believe it but these guys were also at Woodstock over 40 years ago.

Have they aged?  Yes, certainly;  Townshend no longer bounces up and down and smashes his guitar and Daltrey’s voice now shows distress on higher registers but these guys can still manage to bring it and deliver a quality performance.

Cynics may say this isn’t really The Who anymore now that Moon and Entwistle are no longer on the stage and with us.  Others say no, Townshend and Daltrey have every right to  perpetuate the legacy of the band and can still deliver in a young man’s game.  One couldn’t help the irony last night though as Townshend, all of 64 years old, belted out Teen Age Wasteland on cue during BabaO’Riley .

Townshend can do what he likes these days; being the genius that lived and breathed virtually every iconic song in their canon and set them to flight through his windmilling right arm.    Daltrey, the golden voice no longer what it was still manages to deliver justice to Townshend’s songs like no one else could.

And they do seem intent on staying the course, Daltrey is currently on a solo tour to keep the rust away from his wind pipes while Townshend has reportedly hit another creative spark that could possibly result in a new Who album later this year.

I’m sure there may have been some casual observers in the crowd and at home who recognized two of the set’s songs as current themes to two different CSI crime shows on CBS and probably had no idea who these blokes were.

Looking to dig deeper into The Who? Check out the following:

1. The Kids Are Alright (Special Edition)

2. Who’s Next (Deluxe Edition)

3. Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who 3-DVD Exclusive Edition

Yes, it’s true that Taylor Swift was off key and out of tune during  the Grammys Rhiannon duet with Stevie Nicks.  What’s surprising is the  growing backlash against Miss Swift.  Barbs are being thrown in the main stream press citing Swift’s weak voice and poor choice of material during last week’s performance.  Some are now questioning if  she deserves all of the praise and awards over the past 12 months.  Many are missing the real story behind this flap and fail to recognize a true talent when they see one.

Her management have weighed in and are calling Swift the voice of her generation, stressing the unfortunate fact that her live performance at the Grammys was indeed flawed but shouldn’t really matter.  Basically, shit happens, especially during live events like the Grammys despite best intentions and many rehearsal hours.

The official story from Swift’s camp is that the volume levels in her in ear monitors were off which caused her to not hear Nicks and the band,  causing her to harmonize off key and off pitch.  Sounds logical to me.   The funny thing though is that everyone seems to be ignoring other performances from the same night from other artists which appeared to include pre-recorded vocals – Gasp!  This is nothing new, artists, especially those involved in big dance numbers or elaborate productions often rely on partly pre-recorded vocals for live performances.   Give credit to Swift for being game and true to the audience at least.

This brings to mind another minor controversy & cries of heresy towards Bob Dylan when he closed out the 1985 Live Aid concert in Philadelphia.  Famously, Dylan had perhaps made a misjudgement and decided to include Keith Richards and Ron Wood as his accompanists during his closing slot.  This is now all documented (finally) on the Live Aid DVD Box Set.

Dylan was introduced by Jack Nicholson (as the transcendent voice of his generation) and appeared uncharacteristically nervous as he came out to great applause.  Slowly strumming his acoustic guitar, he mentioned that he had brought a couple of friends along and proceeded to introduce Richards and Woods.  After some delay, both of the Stone’s guitar slingers sheepishly appeared on stage, fumbling with their own acoustic guitars and generally appearing to be somewhat worse for wear and likely drunk.

Dylan broke into Blowin’ in the Wind and struggled to keep his two sidemen in tune and in time.  Dylan appeared perplexed and began to sweat profusely.  It got worse later when Dylan broke a string on his guitar and Wood gave him his guitar mid song.

It turned out to be an unsteady and  shambolic performance and probably not what Dylan had in mind or Bill Graham and the Live Aid organizers.  They had wanted Dylan to appear with Peter, Paul and Mary but Dylan had rejected that idea.   Dylan made the best of the situation and also managed to cause more controversy by suggesting some of the money being raised for African famine  should be redirected towards America’s struggling farmers.  His off the cuff remark struck home with many people and led to the creation of Farm Aid later that year.

Dylan later explained that his monitors were not turned up or functioning and that he couldn’t hear Wood or Richards due to the loud stage clearing that was taking place just behind the curtain as the stage was being prepared for the closing group rendition of We are the world.

Live music should be just that.  It’s not always perfect and shouldn’t be artificially enhanced by stealth pre-recorded vocals or hidden back stage back up singers.

Taylor Swift should be applauded for keeping it real.  Just as we applaud Kris Kristofferson, Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty and many more whose voices aren’t always  embellished, pre-packaged and safe for consumption by the masses.

Blowin’ in the Wind (Dylan at Live Aid)

After an earlier failed attempt over 1 year ago, I set off again this weekend to tackle this seemingly easy crowd pleaser.  Pernil is very popular in Latin America and is typically the centerpiece of a holiday or celebratory gathering.  The prep is relatively straight forward and easy to follow.

The most important ingredient is a nice pork shoulder (Paleta) or if you’d like to downsize the recipe, find a nice half pork shoulder — a Boston butt or a fresh picnic roast are usually easy to find here in the USA.  My particular cut was approx 4.5 lbs including bone.  Make sure you find a cut with a good amount of fat/skin on one side of the roast.

After scanning several recipes and cookbooks I improvised and came up with the following marinate which you need to rub into the roast and then refrigerate over night.

Easy Pernil

The Marinade

-2 Tablespoons peanut oil or other oil
-2 Tablespoons sherry or red wine vinegar
-2 Tablespoons honey
-Juice of half an orange or lemon
-Small handful of crushed chili flakes (Chili Quebrado)
-Fresh rosemary or flat leaf parsley roughly chopped
-4 cloves of chopped and diced garlic
-1 Tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
-2 Tablespoons Sea or Kosher Salt

Mix the ingredients well and then rub into the roast and put in the refrigerator to marinate overnight

Cooking the Pernil

-Pre-heat your oven to 425 Fahrenheit
-Place the roast fat side up in the middle rack uncovered with the remaining marinate in the bottom of your roasting pan
-Turn the oven down to 350 Fahrenheit
-Cook for approximately 2 hours or until your roast is reading 150 degrees with an instant read thermometer
-After the 1st hour of cooking, you should put approx 1 cup of water (or chicken/veg stock) into the pan.

The stock will help to create a rich sauce and also contribute to finishing the cooking of the roast while keeping it moist
-Remove roast, place on your butcher block or platter, cover with aluminum foil or a kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes.  The roast will continue to cook while covered and should be incredibly moist and just cooked through when finished resting.

Slice/Carve and serve!  Spoon the sauce over your portions and enjoy!

Great sides are sweet potatoes or black beans and white rice.

Those are the three primary reasons why you need to rent It Might Get Loud featuring the interwoven stories of all three and how they came to be uniquely linked forever to the electric guitar and rock and roll.

And, there are more reasons which I’ll outline below.

4. Headley Grange – This is a mythical place in Led Zeppelin lore and history.  It was here that the band recorded much of Led Zeppelin IV and parts of posthumous albums.

Set in the East Hampshire countryside, the film features several scenes in which Jimmy Page returns to the stately home and points to the exact location at the bottom of the entrance stairwell where Bonzo’s drum kit was set up for maximum sonic effect.   Page, his white hair in a stylish pony tail,  also strolls the gardens of the estate; the very place where Robert Plant famously remarked that he wrote most of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven there in one afternoon.

5. Mount Temple Comprehensive School – This is the Dublin high school where Larry Mullin Jr. posted an item on the school bulletin board, seeking band mates to start a rock band.  Hopefully, you know the rest of the story and what happened next.

In the film, we follow The Edge as he revisits the school and points out the location of the bulletin board as well as a music room in which U2 first rehearsed and slowly began to learn their instruments after school had finished for the day and only after they had cleared the desks to one side of the room.

Listening to The Edge recount the early days of U2 and watching him effortlessly add layer upon layer of ringing effects on his vintage Explorer was a rare pleasure.  Often overshadowed and out talked by Mr. Hewson, this film allows The Edge space to tell U2’s story and one gradually comes to the realization that this band will likely never again reach the creative heights they enjoyed with Achtung Baby, Zooropa & Passengers.

6. A farm in Franklin, Tennessee – This is Jack White’s current residence after retreating from Detroit.

The film opens with White fastidiously crafting a rudimentary electric guitar out of a block of wood, some wire strung over a coke bottle and live electricity.  The results are good and LOUD.

Another scene shows White inside the main house of the farm banging on an upright piano; causing the camera to shake as his right foot hits the floor in rhythm to the primal tune he pounds out of the piano.

7.  A Burbank, California sound stage – White, Page and The Edge have gathered here to tell their stories, share some secrets and chord structures and riff on each others various songs.  There are smiles and nervous side glances all around as each listen to the other demonstrate their unique styles and signature riffs.   The Edge and White stand slack jawed as Page launches into the the legendary monster riffs of Whole Lotta Love.  Page also explains how the double necked Gibson came to being and why it was necessary on tour.

It didn’t get too loud in the end – but it did get really really good.

Trailer

On the northern outskirts of the City of London lies the historic Smithfield meat market.  Given it’s propensity for supplying everything and anything carnivorous from all over the world, the area is home to a number of notable eateries taking advantage of the proximity of such excellent produce.  One of the most inspiring restaurants has been there for about 15 years now and has become a modern day pilgrimage site for chefs seeking to pay homage at the feet of Fergus Henderson, the undisputed king of offal and a hearty style of long lost traditional British cooking.

One of the most notable pilgrims from the US is Anthony Bourdain who says of Fergus’s signature dish of Roast Marrow Bones and Parsley salad “If I was on death row and I had to choose what would be the last thing I put in my mouth, this would be it”. I can think of no endorsement that comes better than that to sum up the sort of fanaticism that Fergus and his St. John restaurant engenders.

Apart from the theme of The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating eating at St. John there are a lot of very simple dishes that stand out because of the care and almost resurrected cooking technique that goes into them.  One of my favourites at the moment is his Cheese on Toast or Welsh rarebit which is brilliant because you can cut the rarebit into portions, layer it between grease proof paper and stick it in the freezer for whenever you need something steadying between mealtimes.  Here’s what you do;

Welsh Rarebit

Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan and gently fry 1 tablespoon of plain flour for a few minutes until it smells ‘biscuity’, don’t brown.  A balloon whisk is good for stirring this around.

Stir in 200ml of Guinness or some other dark beer in two goes.  The first go is to give the flour a bit of a stretch as it thickens (preventing your ‘roux’ from having a powdery texture) and the second will give you the right consistency for adding the cheese.

A teaspoon of English mustard (Coleman’s) is good added here but definitely not a mustard with vinegar in it.  Add a healthy dash of Worcester Sauce.

Now melt in 450g of mature grated cheddar cheese by the handful until it becomes a nice consistency.  Pour the mixture onto a non stick baking sheet and spread it around to form roughly a square shape about one centimetre thick. As it cools it will set and then you can cut it into squares to fit your toast or layer for the freezer as described above.

All that remains is to toast some nice bread, pop your square of rarebit on top and flash under a hot grill until it bubbles and browns a bit.

In days gone by it used to be very fashionable to end your dinner with a ‘savoury’ like this, particularly good with a glass of Port I find (whatever the time is).

The Chestnut Street Grill (dearly departed) is my gold standard whenever considering and reviewing a restaurant that purports to be a genuine fresh seafood and fish establishment.  It was one of the first Chicago restaurants to feature grilled seafood, offering the public a welcomed alternative to deep-fried or sautéed fish.  The old Chestnut in Chicago was in the Water Tower Place where you can now find Mity Nice Grill; part of the Food Life monstrosity on the Mezzanine level.

Styled as an authentic San Francisco seafood house, Chestnut Street Grill became one of America’s foremost seafood restaurants and enjoyed a long, successful run with it’s heyday being between the years of 1985-1990 or so.  The restaurant defied the odds as it was tucked deep away within an 8 story Shopping Mall with no on street presence.

The centerpiece of Chestnut and the thing that set the restaurant apart from other seafood impostor restaurants was their glassed in display kitchen which extended out into the heart of the dining room featuring a vast, wood fired charcoal grill in which almost all entrees were grilled to order.  The smartly dressed wait staff were all attired in white jackets with black trousers and were expected to be incredibly knowledgeable on each and every fish species or shellfish that the restaurant happened to have flown in that week or even day.   Was an Opah really just a Moonfish?

Monthly tests were administered to all staff (Bar Tenders included!) on fish and seafood provenance as well as specific flavors, textures and little known asides & fables about each fish; all the better to help sell the fish table side or answer any and all questions thrown their way by their customers.

The restaurant counted as regular guests a who’s who of Chicago’s business and cultural elite including Christie Hefner, the Daley brothers and countless visiting celebrities who were likely ensconced in the Ritz Carlton, a short 7 minute walk away via a connecting entrance from Water Tower Place.

One of the restaurants signature dishes was their Cioppino, a fine take on the Italian/San Francisco classic brimming with chunks of swordfish, monk fish, jumbo shrimp and various clams and mussels in a rich tomato white wine broth ultimately savored with a wedge of the fresh baked sourdough served alongside.  Other menu stalwarts included jumbo sea scallops simply grilled and a wide variety of daily east coast and west coast oysters.

Daily specials usually featured no less than eight fresh grilled fish flown in from the west coast and the east coast; all simply grilled over hardwood and charcoal and served with a drizzle of drawn butter and a superb house made tartar sauce which included mashed potatoes as a secret ingedient.  Occasionally, a champagne beurre blanc may have been available as well.  Accompaniments typically included boiled redskins, fresh steamed asparagus or broccoli or crunchy fries.

I have never tasted fried Calamari anywhere else that rivaled Chestnut’s squid. Their secret was soaking the squid for at least 24 hours in whole milk before dredging in seasoned flour and quickly deep frying to order. The garlic infused tartar sauce and traditional cocktail sauces always presented a quandary as to which condiment better accompanied the steaming hot and tender calamari. I couldn’t hazard a guess as to how many pounds of squid the restaurant served on a weekly basis.

Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find a seafood restaurant anywhere that equals the quality and abundance of seafood available on a given day or evening; seafood and fish cooked with simple restraint and not hopped up with overblown sauces or oils.    Levy Restaurants closed Chestnut back in 1992; deciding not to renew the lease for that and two other adjacent restaurants.

They continue to own and operate the wildly popular (and fantastic) Bistro 110 and Spiaggia, both a few minutes walk from the Water Tower Place.

Steve Jobs introduces the new iPad

iBooks on the iPad

Email on the iPad

Web surfing on the iPad

Full features & Specs here.

A French country kitchen par excellence.  This famous restaurant, a stone’s throw from one of  Bordeaux city’s old city gates, Porte de la Monnaie, has been serving southwestern France regional specialties since 1968.  It was on my hit list for my September 2007 Bordeaux wine country visit and it should be a must stop for anyone visiting the Bordeaux region.

As you enter the restaurant you’ll immediately see a country kitchen with wood burning fireplace straight ahead of you.  Laid upon a red checked wood display table are baskets of fresh cherry tomatoes, radishes and generous slabs of beautifully marbled cote de boeuf.  You’ll also likely see one or more whole ducks or chickens being spit roasted over the fire with a large iron kettle of duck fat also bubbling away; they fry their signature chunky fries in this kettle.  It’s a perfect Bordeaux tableaux and sets the scene for a fabulous experience.

Specialties of the house include duck and foie gras, grilled cote de boeuf, the herb spit-roasted chicken, duck rillettes, the crispy & insanely flavorful duck fat fried potatoe chunks and for good measure, heritage black pigs and farm fresh lamb from the region.

After being seated I was presented with a basket of the aforementioned cherry tomatoes, radishes and a generous portion of crispy fried pork tripe strips.   I followed that up with some gently sauteed fois gras, roasted bistro chicken with the duck fat chips and an oh so petite molten chocolate cake.   In a word……incroyable!  Service was friendly and efficient.

With today’s exchange rate and battered dollar you can expect to spend at least $50 per person for lunch and likely closer to $80 per person for dinner. The wine list includes countless local wines, some quite reasonable as well as an extended selection of Armagnac.

Don’t miss this restaurant; you’ll experience a life affirming tribute to the southwestern France country kitchen.  Also recommended, take a long walk north along the Garonne immediately after dinner.

La Tupina
6 Rue de la Porte de la Monnaie
33800 Bordeaux, France
+33 (0) 5 56 91 56 37
www.laptupina.com