Fiore Olive Oils

As soon as you walk into Fiore Artisan Olive Oil & Vinegars on Rockland’s Main Street, you get the feeling that this tiny shop has been a fixture in town for quite a while. In fact, Fiore’s is a newbie when compared to other in-town attractions like Windjammer tours, lobster festivals, and the Farnsworth Art Museum. This tiny shop opened here in 2010 occupying its space well by lining several dozen stainless steel Fustis along two walls which dispense a wide variety of unfiltered Extra Virgin olive oils and aged balsamic vinegars.

As you may know, olive oil labeling isn’t exactly the most transparent or truthful method of advertising. Since there are no globally enforceable regulations stipulating what in fact constitutes extra virgin olive oil, it’s safe to assume that there’s a ton of deception out there on the part of importers and distributors. It is for this reason that Fiore owners Pat and Nancy O’Brian personally “chase the crush” across the world for first cold pressed oil and bring it back to their tasting room for you to sample.

Each olive growing season is different due to weather and temperature fluctuations making it important to annually visit key growing regions in person. The IOC (International Olive Council) standards set the baseline criteria for the lab analysis of each selected oil. Once harvested, these oils are ready for customers within weeks.

Inside Fiore's Tasting Room

When it comes to balsamics, Fiore just as carefully sources a full array of “aceto balsamico condiment” hailing from Modena, Italy. They are made using the traditional Solera method, a process of transferring the cooked grape through a series of larger to smaller wooden barrels over 12-18 years. After tasting flavors like blood orange, chocolate, and passion fruit, you definitely start getting ideas of possibly using over ice cream or drizzled over berries and melon rather than restricting them to plain Jane salads.

The last part of your visit is to of course have a few of your favorites individually bottled and capped right in front of you. And if you happen to be lucky enough to be staying at any of the Historic Inns Rockland, sample bottles of both oil and vinegar are given to you as a parting gift.

Photos courtesy of Fiore Olive Oils & Steve Mirsky

My Favorite Spike Seasoning Lineup

I recently had the privilege of trying out the full lineup of Spike Seasonings. Spike’s big selling point and huge taste advantage is that each flavor including their Original Magic relies on a delicious blend of 39 herbs, vegetables, and spices with just the right amount of sea and earth salt…meaning  just enough for a kick but not nearly enough to “spike” your blood pressure. Sprinkling these seasonings on your favorite dishes tastes so good because everything is all-natural made without preservatives or additives. They add 0 calories per serving so you can shake away without an ounce of guilt or inhibitions.

I took a picture of my favorites and used the 5 Herb in a plain soup broth I made the other day. My soups are usually notorious for coming out extra bland. I’ve tried both the traditional route of using soup bones to create a stock and grabbing a pre-prepared carton or mix off the shelf and simply adding to boiling water. Neither has produced satisfactory results. And I won’t even venture into canned soup territory since I know I’ll be thirsty for hours after eating. But with a couple healthy shakes of Spike 5 Herb in my soup pot before bringing to a boil, I got a wonderfully hearty broth! I’ve tried the others like the Hot n’ Spicy and Vegit on eggs, fish, and baked potatoes so far giving these normally hum-drum dishes some new flavor dimensions.

These Spike seasonings are smart additions to anybody’s culinary repertoire but are certainly a must for man caves or bachelor pad kitchens where smart shortcuts to great tasting and healthy food are a must!

Photo Courtesy of Steve Mirsky

2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

This delightfully golden wine has fresh peach nectar on the nose which carries right through to the palate. Sweet at the first sip and then a citrusy kick all the way to the finish. A simple minerality frames bracing traces of lemon and lime which make it perfect with lightly seasoned seafood as well as lighter cheeses like Gouda and goat.

North Coast Pinot Grigio

This easy sipping varietal has hints of peachy nectar with a light even clean melon on the palate. You’ll also detect delicate aromas of almond, citrus blossom, and pear that follow through to a balanced palate with a long finish. These even flavors from sip to swallow make it excellent with salads lightly dressed in extra virgin olive oils along with fruity balsamic infusions.

Photos courtesy of Black Stallion Winery

Grand Tasting Room Entrance

I arrived early at the Mohegan Sun WineFest, right at the front door leading to the Grand Tasting Room before the first glass was even touched. I was on a mission.  This year, with event program in hand, I committed myself to roughing out a game plan for the day ahead. With approximately 50 tasting tables & pavilions each with multiple vintages to pick from, 10 chef demonstrations on the main stage, additional special events like the Elite Grand Cru Tasting along with food booths, various liquor & cocktail samples, and a wide array of beers upstairs, it’s easy to get distracted and overwhelmed. And did I mention the crowds vying for samples close behind and to either side of you?

It’s tempting to take the spontaneous route and not have a plan. Just let the experience unfold, wander to tables that seem appealing, and taste anything you can get your hands on. The only problem with this approach is you’ll quickly get frazzled navigating the crowds, and miss your favorite top chefs on stage. Your palate will also get mighty confused in a short time, unable to accurately discern each wine’s distinctive flavors. So there is a reason that the Sun WineFest spans 2 days…take your time…follow the less-is-more

Toasting Good Cheer at Sun WineFest

adage and develop your own daily itinerary. Here’s what worked for me:

Wine Tasting Strategy

Decide before you arrive in the Grand Tasting Ballroom what types of wines you simply can’t miss. Go ahead and give in to some comfortable old favorites but also be sure to pick some unfamiliar vintages that pique your interest as well. After all, this place is like speed dating for wines so play the field…with a purpose. Which leads to the next major rule of thumb…try to stick with whites first, then hit the reds. Upon reaching your limit, feel free to give into several full flight tastings which include both…you earned it!

Main Stage Chef Presentations

Here’s an unavoidable fact…there will be slightly lighter tasting table crowds during presentations. Unless you’re a Food Network junkie or in the food/hospitality business, it’s hard to determine which chefs out of the lineup will most effectively intrigue you. This is where a little pre-event research goes a long way. Sure the program

Bobby Flay at Sun Wine Fest

has a brief bio for each chef but it helps to become a bit more acquainted by watching an episode on youtube to get an idea of focus and presentation style. Some sound interesting on the surface but perhaps Jacque Torres‘ finer techniques in making the perfect chocolate bon bon isn’t really going to captivate you for over an hour after all. While others are basking in the star power of Bobby Flay or deciding if they really want to stick it out, you stand a better chance getting up to the table of your choice and receiving a personal wine flight narration.

Beers and Liquors

Even though you’ll only get a modest swallow per glass, if you plan on tasting as many beers and specialty liquors as possible, it helps to keep in mind the old rule of thumb, “Liquor and beer, you’re in the clear…beer and liquor, couldn’t be sicker.” Most importantly, save these libations for after your wine tasting since they totally alter your palate’s sensitivity. It also helps to keep in mind that heading upstairs to the beer tables involves transitioning into a different environment…more of a party scene rather than a focused celebration of gastronomic delights.

Take Breaks

I know it feels like you’re missing out on valuable tasting time but walking out of the ballroom onto the casino floor for about a half hour a couple times each day makes all the difference. You get a chance to clear your head, grab a seat along the way, and recharge your sensory perceptions. It may come as no surprise that being on your feet for hours sandwiched amongst fellow wine enthusiasts takes its toll. Excitement can only sustain you so long. Take a break…your body will thank you for it and you’ll enjoy your tasting time much more.  See you next year!

Photos courtesy of Steve Mirsky and Mohegan Sun

Pies on Parade

I blame it on my “sphere of activity”, a convenient phrase I use to describe routine daily movement whether it be back and forth to work, hitting the grocery store, or even taking day trips. We fall into a pattern of convenience and familiarity…which makes perfect sense for doing everyday tasks. But for travel and vacations, this can be very limiting indeed. Living here in New England most of my life, I can count on 3 fingers how many times I’ve visited the strikingly large state of Maine…large for New England that is. But this changed last week when I visited mid-coast Maine’s Rockland.

I’m betting that if you’re not a foodie, travel writer, or local tourism board staffer, you had no idea that Rockland Maine is also known as Pie Town USA. About an hour drive from I-295 winding down mostly rural Route 1, you quite suddenly arrive in an historic village overlooking the rocky shores of Penobscot Bay. My January visit, coinciding with the 8^th Annual Pies on Parade was a much different experience than visiting during summer when Windjammer tours continually set sail just offshore, fresh caught lobster is celebrated with another more widely known Lobster Festival, and the ocean’s beauty attracts droves of sea

Lime Rock Inn for the Holidays

kayakers, fishing enthusiasts, and all-around fun-in-the-sun junkies.

For a town with a main street that can be driven through in 5 minutes, Rockland boasts an impressive array of eclectic restaurants and cultural attractions that put other typical mid-size towns to shame. The secret is historic preservation which enables the Farnsworth Art Museum‘s extensive collections to be showcased alongside local shops like Rock City Coffee Roasters and the Grasshopper

Keylime Tartlets

Shop. These solid multi-story brick blocks are punctuated by side streets leading to residential streets studded with stately Victorian homes, some of which are now magnificent B&Bs. I was lucky to be a guest at the Limerock Inn which was a Pies on Parade participant serving their signature key lime pie tartlets. The other 20 “parade” stops were all within walking distance of each other offering both a sweet and savory pie.

As I made my way from Amalfi on the Water all the way up to the Berry Manor Inn armed with an officially stamped recycled metal fork, I discovered that this was not only a great way to sample a ton of delicious pies ranging from classic Maine blueberry to seafood and German onion pie, but the perfect opportunity to taste a restaurant or inn’s cuisine and meet the owners behind the inspiration. It would be impossible to accomplish this under normal circumstances.

Cafe Miranda's Chef Kerry Sharing Pizza Pie Samples

Sometimes the pie theme was skewed a bit to accommodate eateries who didn’t have anything resembling pie on the menu like the deconstructed chicken tamale with red mole at Park Street Grille and the turkey & sweet potato empanadas at Rheal Day Spa.

My absolute favorite pie was Café Miranda’s Apple and Mascarpone Pizza on Cocoa Dough. This small bistro with a gigantically diverse menu helmed by Chef Kerry has an open kitchen behind the bar and a wood-fired brick oven that really gives life and substance to pizza crust…not to mention the huge chunks of Focaccia bread served in baskets at each table during regular restaurant hours. I highly recommend that you table your usual ski vacation next winter and book a weekend Pies on Parade package with one of the Historic Inns of Rockland.

Photos courtesy of  Steve Mirsky and Lime Rock Inn.  Coverage made possible courtesy of a partially sponsored trip.

Mohegan Sun Wine Fest

If you’ve ever attended the Mohegan Sun Wine Fest, you already know that it’s one gigantic bonanza of not only wine tastings but a stellar line-up of celebrity chef cooking demonstrations, food samplings of top regional cuisine (extra charge), and plenty of beer and liquor tasting opportunities as well. The cover charge for this main event is $70 per day…certainly enough to keep hopeless barflies and the $1 gin & tonic crowd at bay. But still, you’ll notice roughly two types of attendees in the crowd. The first is serious trade…restaurant owners & bar tenders looking to keep up on the latest imbibing trends and making informed purchases. And of course all the merchants marketing these lovely libations. The second group range from dedicated oenophiles to refined lushes. You can either sniff, swirl, taste, and spit or make your way around the maze of tables fully enjoying each wine being offered. There are arguments for and against each approach but it’s the escalator leading up to the second floor packed with beer and other various alcoholic beverage booth that transports you to a louder talking partyish scene. Last year I sampled among many others Jeremiah Weed Ice Tea, Narragansett Ale, and Hawaii’s own Kona Brewing Company’s full lineup.  On your way back down the escalator, you’re bound to hear a tipsy utterance or alcohol infused conversations.

Back in the Grand Ball Room, you’ll immediately be immersed in main stage chef presentations which this year promise to be exceptional with an impressive lineup including Todd English, Bobby Flay, and Donatella Arpaia.  Culminating each day of the festival is the hilarious Grape Stomp and highly competitive Oyster Open shucking competition.  I can’t wait to see what this year brings and hope to see you there!

Video and photo courtesy of Steve Mirsky & Mohegan Sun Casino

Vintage Narragansett Beer Ad

If you’ve ever explored coastal New England, particularly a beach bar or bait & tackle shop, you have no doubt noticed Gansett on tap or an old timey white & red poster on the wall next to a walk-in cooler. Narragansett Lager’s roots run deep but often you’ll get checkered opinions about its taste and quality. This may have something to do with the fact that this beer was essentially on hiatus from 1981 to 2005.

It all started in 1888 and quickly grew into New England’s largest brewery. Narragansett Brewing Company took pride in using only the purest ingredients and highly skilled brewmasters. Prohibition temporarily set them back but at least they were granted special permission under the Volstead Act to bottle and sell beer for “medicinal purposes”. I imagine this was “near beer” or pretty darn close to it.

Fortunately, in Prohibition’s aftermath, local financier Rudolph Haffenreffer came to the rescue turning over the operation to his sons Rudolf, Jr. and Theodore. Rudolf, Jr., a savvy marketer, hired Theodore Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) to design the goofy Chief Gansett logo. Brands like Haffenreffer Lager Beer, Pickwick Ale and Pickwick Bock Beer were successfully marketed into the 1950s with the legendary “Hi Neighbor. Have a Gansett” line. Starting in 1944, Narragansett had a long standing marketing

Theodore Geisel's Narragansett Beer Labeling

partnership with the Boston Braves and later the Boston Red Sox.

By 1955, Gansett was the number one selling beer in New England. The company celebrated its 1 million barrel mark by rewarding each employee with a gold-plated bottle of lager. Operations continued chugging along into the 1970s with a stunning array of lagers like Hanley, Kreuger, Haffenreffer, Boh, Ballantine, Bohack, Munich and Falstaff. Ales included Croft, Pickwick, Bavarian, Boston Light, BB Stock and India Pale. Special brews like Kreuger Pilsner, Haffenreffer Malt Liquor, Dresden, Bavarian, Bock, and a Porter also made their appearance. By the mid-70s, things started going downhill due to intense competition from mainstream national breweries highly marketing inferior suds.

In 1981, the Narragansett Brewing Company closed its doors in Rhode Island effectively curtailing quality beer production. Operations continued in a Fort Wayne Indiana plant but among other factors, Fort Wayne’s water source was no match for Scituate Reservoir, considered the finest in the country.

It wasn’t until 2005 that lifelong Rhode Islander Mark Hellendrung, along with a group of New England investors, purchased back the rights to Narragansett Beer and brought back former Brewmaster Bill Anderson to recreate the high quality original. Today, authentic Narragansett Beer is back in bottles and on bar taps for you to taste and decide for yourself whether it’s still truly craft made.

Photos courtesy of Narragansett Brewing Company and carolynkellogg.tumblr.com

Here’s No Chewing Allowed‘s official advice for complete enjoyment: “Please take either a
 whole Truffle or just bite a piece of it and squeeze it gently between your tongue and 
upper palate. It will start to melt immediately. Move it around your mouth and 
feel the rich flavor comes alive.
Enjoy the creamy feel of smoothness…..Mmm.”

These truffles ship direct to you so start browsing and order some up! If you’re going to indulge in dessert, do it right…forget prepackaged cookies or candy bars out of a vending machine. Your soul will thank you!

Photo courtesy of No Chewing Allowed

Fever Tree Ginger Beer

This here ginger beer is not just a bottle filled with sweeteners and ginger flavorings. Fever-Tree’s Ginger Beer took over a year to develop and perfect. It uses a proprietary blend of three gingers, and these can vary depending on the season. What you will taste is made from fresh green ginger from the Ivory Coast, which is hand picked and a hot Nigerian ginger (something no other producers use) and a third ginger whose special source the company declines to disclose.

You’ll notice a cloudiness due to the fresh grated ginger root which is steeped in hot water for 48 hours. The ginger juice is then drawn off and added to spring water and pure cane sugar.

Fever-Tree’s ginger beer has a distinct, bracing ginger kick with smooth earthy undertones and a spicy finish making it a perfect pairing with vodka or dark rum. Simple classic cocktails like The Moscow Mule (ginger beer and vodka) and Dark ‘n Stormy (ginger beer, dark rum and lime) take on a whole new dimension when made with Fever-Tree Ginger Beer.

But best of all, these small individual glass bottles are a perfectly refreshing drink all on their own shipped directly to you. Especially when packed with your lunch during winter….ginger is the best known home remedy defense against the common cold. And this is certainly one tasty way to ward off those nasty rhino viruses.

 Photo courtesy of Fever-Tree

North Fork Potato Chips

Believe it or not, it wasn’t too long ago that wineries on Long Island’s North Fork were few and far between. Instead, vast potato farms sprawled across the land planting roots in the fertile yet sandy soils enhanced by a marine-moderated climate. There are still a few potato farms left…one of them is the 40 acre Sidor Farm in Cutchogue. A multi-generational family operation dating back to 1910, their prized crops of Andover, Marcy and Norwiss potatoes are now the source of North Fork Potato Chips, a local favorite now stocked in food shops like Murray’s Cheese Shop. Luckily for you, no matter where you live, these tasty chips can be sent directly to your door.

What makes North Fork Potato Chips unique is that it truly is a field to bag production right on the same site. At the height of potato farming in the 1950s, there were about 70,000 acres being grown on Long Island. Now it’s down to about 3,000 acres. As with the rest of agriculture, potato farms across the globe are larger than ever making it so only the big boys are able to survive the tight profit margins. Potatoes from Canada and beyond continue to flood the market. The Sidor’s weathered this situation by moving away from selling bulk potatoes to raising them for chip making.

Potato Fields at Sidor Farm

North Fork Potato Chips’ thick-cut, hearty kettle-cooked morsels are the result of home experiments taste-testing chips of varying thicknesses cooked in different types of oil. They found the thicker cut cooked in sunflower oil consistently yielded a superior flavor.

The chip-making process from start to finish takes about 25 minutes in the Sidor family’s 2,000-square-foot chip-making facility. After the potatos are harvested and run through a de-stoning machine that washes the potatoes and removes stray stones and roots that get mixed in with the spuds, raw 40-pound batches of potatoes are washed, machine-peeled and dropped into the slicer, which cuts the potatoes at lightning speed into just the right thickness, and then swept into the kettle fryer, a large steel tub filled with four 50-gallon drums of sunflower oil heated to 305 degrees. Large spinning pinwheels sweep the chips back and forth for 15 minutes until they are golden and crispy and are then swept up onto another conveyor belt and deposited in a spinner, which, much like a clothes dryer, rapidly centrifuges off the excess liquid and air-dries the chips in preparation for hand salting. The chips are then dumped, spread out and eye-balled for quality and salted by hand from common household salt shakers. On a typical day, the Sidor crew will fry up about 3,500 bags of two- and six-ounce chips.

North Fork Potato Chips has several flavors to choose from but my favorite is their plain unadulterated version. But know knows, paired with Chapel Country Creamery’s grilled cheese sandwich recipe along with a crisp apple, perhaps their Rosemary Garlic would be heavenly as well!

Photos and story courtesy of North Fork Potato Chips