Food & Wine March 2024

2020 E. GUIGAL CROZES-HERMITAGE ROUGE ($35) When I tasted with winemaker Philippe Guigal in the F&W Wine Room recently, I was struck again by what a great introduction to the character of northern Rhône Syrah this wine is: inky, peppery, and full of red and black fruit. Guigal remarked, “It highlights the freshness we find in Syrah here,” and I completely agree. KAMOSHIBITO KUHEIJI EAU DU DÉSIR JUNMAI DAIGINJO SAKE ($42) At the Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare in NYC, head sommelier Peter Juong pours this strikingly crisp but umami-rich sake with a silky chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard) topped with caviar. But uni from your local sushi place would make a similarly amazing pairing. 2020 LOUIS JADOT BEAUNE PREMIER CRU CÉLÉBRATION ($85) I had Jadot’s 2002 Beaune premier cru…

Those Kitchen Reno Blues WE’RE IN THE KITCHEN RENOVATION homestretch over here at Chez Lewis. The cabinets are in. The fridge, range, and dishwasher are scheduled for delivery once the marble guy installs the backsplash and countertops on Thursday. Then, praise be (hopefully, finally, please?), we’ll be cooking with gas. This means that we’ll soon shut down the Basement Bistro, formerly known as the kids’ rec room, where we’ve been cooking for five or so nights a week since August. And good riddance. I’d like to think that I’m a flexible cook: Throw me in a stranger’s janky kitchen anywhere, and I’ll figure out dinner. But I’d be lying if I said that going without the creative hub of our home, not to mention doing dish duty in a…

SWEDEN IS ONE of the happiest countries in the world, according to the World Happiness Report, and I am convinced that it’s largely due to their custom of lördagsgodis, which translates to “Saturday candy.” Every weekend, children and adults alike spend part of their Saturday cozy at home, eating through an assortment of their favorite candies. The ideas behind this tradition are moderation and celebration. Reserving candy consumption for one day a week means not giving in to your sweet tooth daily while also building up excitement and anticipation for Saturday, making the treats even more special. When the Swedes are enjoying lördagsgodis, the candies they consume are not large bars of chocolate or king-size bags of Skittles. Instead, they prefer a fun mix of small chocolates, gummies, caramels, licorice,…

SALAD SPINNERS are modern culinary workhorses. First patented by a French kitchenware designer in the early 1970s, these handy devices revolutionized cleaning greens and expedited dinner prep by rapidly removing excess moisture from freshly washed produce using centrifugal force. Today, salad spinners remain indispensable tools for cooks who want to ensure produce is clean after its journey to the kitchen, whether from the store or the vegetable garden. We tested the best models on the market to arrive at these top performers. BEST OVERALL OXO GOOD GRIPS GLASS SALAD SPINNER We’ve tried many salad spinners from OXO, but the Good Grips Glass Salad Spinner surpasses its stainless and plastic counterparts in both performance and looks. Thanks to a clever design feature—a small plastic disk that elevates the glass bowl—greens dry…

WORKING AS A HOST at a busy Manhattan restaurant for four years, I experienced a lot of wild guest interactions. But what’s completely singed into my brain are the FAQs, the questions that were asked dozens of times a shift—and that you’ve probably asked on a night out. Each has a clear answer; seating tables involves strategy and complex problem-solving, though your host may not have the time to explain it to you on a busy night of service. So here they are: the answers to guests’ most frequently asked questions. 1 IS THE WAIT TIME REALLY THAT LONG? Short answer: yes. Long answer: There’s no way to know. Look, if your host had a time machine to accurately predict the exact number of minutes it would take for…

PANDAN IS SOUTHEAST ASIA’S AROMATIC, enigmatic green muse. The flowering tropical plant thrives in the region and is so abundant that if not for its culinary significance, it might be considered a weed. There are hundreds of species of pandan, but only the leaves of Pandanus amaryllifolius exude a tantalizing fragrance. The scent of its elongated, spearlike, glossy deep-green blades is elusive, but envision the melding of toasted rice, freshly mown grass, and sweet blooming jasmine, and you’ll begin to get the idea. In savory dishes, pandan amplifies sweetness, bringing a unique depth of flavor. In Singapore and Malaysia, pandan leaves are simmered in coconut milk to produce the rich, fragrant coconut rice pivotal to nasi lemak (coconut rice topped with fried anchovies and peanuts). In Indonesia, pandan joins forces…