April 2009

Features

• Northern California Wine Country Recipes & Value Wines

  The recipes here are from chef Cindy Pawlcyn of Napa Valley’s Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and Go Fish. She often researches dishes using her 2,000+ cookbooks.

• Rocking the Wine World: City Winery

  Manhattan’s new City Winery lets amateurs make wine like pros. Plus, it’s a world-class music venue with great food. Writer Gerri Hirshey hangs out with singer Suzanne Vega and Spanish wine superstar Alvaro Palacios.

• Should Fine Dining Die?

  Now that chefs are busy opening burger joints and dumpling houses, the days seem numbered for fancy dining rooms. Writer Anya von Bremzen makes a case for why we need haute places more than ever.

• Coastal Chile’s Wine Country Recipes & Value Wines

  Chef Alex Aguilera’s menu at Santiago’s Liguria wine bar offers outstanding versions of Chilean classics, including the recipes here.

• Editor’s Letter

• A Chef’s Relaxed Dinners

  As the Take Home Chef on TLC, Curtis Stone makes cooking easy and breezy. He does the same with his terrific new book. Here, a preview.

• Ales Kristancic: Wine Genius of Slovenia

  F&W’s Ray Isle is fascinated by Slovenia’s Movia Winery and its visionary owner, Ales Kristancic. The two spend a wild 48 hours exploring Eastern Europe’s wine frontier.

• Best Recipes from Wine Pairing Masters

  Credit the DIY trend: now America’s top sommeliers are making their own wines and creating fabulous recipes to match

• Wine Auctions Today: Bid Low, Win Big

  Wine auctions were once mainly for the rich. But, as Mike Steinberger reports, bargain hunters are now going home with stunning bottles.

• Wine Country Recipes from Around the World

  A tour of the world with incredible recipes and dozens of bottles to match.

• South Australia’s Wine Country Recipes & Value Wines

  Chef David Swain of Fino, located just outside McLaren Vale in Willunga, created the seafood recipes here. All reflect the strong Mediterranean influence on Australia’s cooking.

• Southern France Wine Country Recipes and Value Wines

  Alain Ducasse disciple Armand Arnal of La Chassagnette, outside Arles, created the lovely, simple Provençal recipes here. They’re terrific with both rarefied and affordable French wines.

• Top Home Bartending Tips

• Mediterranean Spain’s Wine Country Recipes & Value Wines

  Chef Raul Molina Fernandez creates classic regional tapas, like the tuna dish below, in Valencia, at Emiliano García’s legendary Casa Montaña (in operation since 1836).

• Napa Cabernet Now: A State-of-the-Grape Lunch at Beringer

  At a roundtable cohosted by Beringer winemaker Laurie Hook, seven top Napa talents discuss the valley’s vaunted Cabernet and have a phenomenal lunch prepared by chef Gerard Craft of St. Louis’s Niche.