A brief discussion with Bordeaux heavyweight, Alain Raynaud

There was a time when I would pick up a bottle of French wine and try to discern its quality by staring blankly at the label, then choosing based on price and artful script. Enter the experts: there’s a new collective of 149 Chateaux aimed at highlighting high quality Bordeaux wines at affordable prices—and like organic food and wine that is labeled as such, they come with seals of approval, visible on the bottles.

So, with an internet full of content about Bordeaux, I hope for your alternative dining pleasures you take pause to get acquainted with Alain Raynaud’s website for the Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux, which quite loosely translated means “The Great Circle of Bordeaux.”

This carefully curated collective includes wineries within the Cercle Rive Droite, (droite means “right” in French) and the Cercle Rive Gauche (gauche means “left” in French), hence Right Bank and Left Bank producers. One or two NYC events per year host a fairly small crowd—a kind of insider’s club—so getting on board now is your challenge. On the social front, get acquainted with the wineries through the organization’s website, and follow ones that appeal to you on Facebook and Instagram for updates and event announcements. Finally, when shopping, look for the organization’s seal/logo on bottles, as each will have been panel tested and approved.

Now to the interview: Raynaud is a Bordeaux heavyweight champion—the former President of the Union des Grands Cru, he left in 2000 to focus on promoting the wines of his beloved region.

1. While those in the wine industry certainly know who you are, give us a rundown of your career in wine.

I was Born in Pomerol into a family involved in the wine business (château la Fleur de Gay). I graduated as a physician and assumed this position for 28 years. Even as a physician, since about 1964, I have always been in charge of our family winemaking practices under the advice of my father.  And eventually I wanted to run my own château.  My love for wine has been contagious enough to convince my wife Françoise to join me in his journey.

2. What inspired you to start the Cercle des Grands Vins de Bordeaux — what is the goal of these organizations? 

In 1994 I became the President of the Union des Grands Crus up to year 2000, but this very well-known association was missing an important part of the Right Bank in Bordeaux. This is why in 2002 I created the Cercle Rive Droite. As a matter of fact we were missing the participation of the Left Bank. This is why this year we decided to create the Cercle Rive Gauche that is now participating to a new Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux. The main idea in this creation is to give the young wine connoisseur a large rank of wine expressing both high quality and reasonable prices.

3. You just had a big tasting of the 2013 en primeur wines – what are some of the initial thoughts of the vintage?

The wines we tasted are from the 2012 vintage and the growing season was especially wonderful throughout the month of August, with consistent temperatures, though there was unexpected difficult weather in September and these young wines are very interesting — it’s too early to tell what will become of them, however they are unique and hold great potential.

4. 2010 Bordeaux vintages that have just been released, what are some of the best value bottles for consumers here in the US and why?

Looking at the prices that have just been released, try to pick the wines of 2010 that have been released at approximately the 2008 prices—those will be great value and superb quality wines. The Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux truly believes that to keep the Bordeaux tradition alive they must reach young people and thus the lower price points are the best way to do this and foster interest in this demographic. Then as they grow they will hopefully be able to experience a wider range of Bordeaux.

5. The famed Chateau Latour has decided to break away from the traditional French system of selling wine through a broker. They plan, essentially to sell direct to consumers. What does this mean for Bordeaux? 

The future of Bordeaux doesn’t mean everybody will be able to follow Latour’s path. Each year the wine community in France (and worldwide) gets excited for the newest batch of Bordeaux and the en primeur is the spark, so we don’t see this tradition going away.

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Here’s a few picks from the Grands Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux website, which are a great value wines and an excellent place to start. So scroll through by alphabetical order and check out these gems:

Right Bank: Château du Parc 2010 ($26) – Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Right Bank: Château de Laussac 2009 ($16) – Castillon / Côtes de Bordeaux

Left Bank: Chateau de Sartre ($22) – Pessac Léognan

What are you driving?
A custom ’69 El Camino (with a V8 engine!).

Describe the car in 4 words.
Soul. Style. Swag. Purple.

Favorite part about driving the GoogaMooga El CaVino?
Definitely seeing peoples’ reactions as I drive by.  My friend knew I was driving around his area because he heard the car from like four blocks away.  Between the music and the mufflers, its hard to miss!

Where can people find you driving?
I’ll be driving to ALL the GoogaMooga restaurants, as well as music and food events throughout the city up until the festival!

Band you’re most excited for at Googa?
THE FLAMING LIPS!  One of my favorite bands and this will be my first time seeing them live.  Also, as a Fleet Foxes fan, I’m super pumped for Father John Misty.

Which GoogaMooga restaurants do you find yourself so excited about that you dream of them at night?
Luke’s Lobster.  Great music and sunshine always makes me hungry for seafood.  I love me some Porchetta, too.

What songs have you been blasting as you cruise around?
Lots of Marvin Gaye, Zeppelin, George Clinton, or any song with the word “car” or “drive” in the title.

Person you would most love to take with you in the car?
I feel like Isaac Hayes would really appreciate it.  Either him or Anthony Bourdain.  Can they both come? We can squeeze.

What does one have to do to get a ride?
Why does everyone keep asking me that?

Give the masses two great reasons why they should make their way over to the festival next month.
The best food and the best music all right here in the best city? Sensory overload at its finest.

For tickets, a list of vendors, and band line up, check out the Great GoogaMooga website. Follow them on Twitter for updates and info.

For a closer look at the car, check out our vine.

 Birk O’Hallaran and Karl Ante

Interrogated by Jonny Cigar

I’ve always wanted to have my own talk show—grew up watching Letterman and am still convinced I could do a better job than Carson on the Tonight Show (if only they’d let me host along with Don Rickles). For now, we begin my interviewing career here on The Bloggery at Underground Eats. Vinos and Diners, meet Birk and Karl of Iconic Wines:

Karl Ante (left) and Birk O'Hallaran of Iconic Wines

Birk O’Halloran grew up in Colorado a few miles from Odell’s and New Belgium Brewing. Drinking craft beer early on in life gave him a “snobby palate.” Karl Ante, his partner in Iconic Wines, met Birk in college at Cornell. Both travel between NYC and Napa and work with Dan Petroski (Larkmead and Massican) who is their consulting winemaker. Yee, who are keyed into the alternative dining culture of Underground Eats, would do well to know these gents, for they are on the roster and their wine is fu#$ing delicious.

Jonny: What was your path to Iconic Wine? Give me the jazz.

Birk: I didn’t start paying attention to wine until I took 18 months off of hotel school to live in Portland and later New Zealand. After hotel school, I enrolled in the International Wine Guild under MW Claude Robbins and equipped with my Ivy League education began interviewing at wine shops just to get my foot in the door.

Eventually I met David Weitzenhoffer and Laura Supper the owners of A.I. Selections. I really wanted to work for them. During my interview I fed both he and Laura drinks until they were drunk enough and said I could join. Been with ‘em four years now.

Iconic came out of a trip Karl and I took to Sonoma in 2010. At a wedding I met Steve Matthiasson and told him I wanted to make wine (He’s the 2012 Food & Wine Winemaker of the Year)—unexpectedly Steve offered some fruit from Michael Mara vineyard, a four acre plot where the likes of Arnot Roberts, Broc and Abe Schoener source grapes. Flattered, I told him I would just ruin it—but Dan Petroski (Larkmead and Massican) stepped in and offered to consult gratis to get Karl and I started. We couldn’t resist.

In 2010 we made 104 cases of Heroine Chardonnay, we sold out in about 4 months.  For the 2011 vintage we got Dan on payroll and made 450 cases under the full label Iconic Wines.

Jonny: You’re clearly a comic book fan – what’s up with the labels?

Birk: I love comics, I still read them and admittedly this project was a great excuse to call up an artist I love and commission a label. We work with Tom Feister to do the character design and the current vintages are done by Ming Doyle (Heorine and MM) and Cliff Chiang (Secret Ingredient and Secret identity). I probably spent as much of life dreaming about being a winemaker as a super hero so it just somehow seemed a perfect fit.

Jonny: I’m nervous about comic book fans because I don’t understand anything that doesn’t include the words “Frank Sinatra” in that order. Well…Talk about the grapes, the experience in the glass…

Birk: We didn’t start with a goal other than to make the kind of wine Karl, Dan and I like to drink–less oak, less filtration, more acid. Heroine for us was all about the feminine part of Chardonnay. It’s finally cool to like chardonnay again, but for me it was the perfect grape to start with. I love wines that have a steely focus that open up as you drink the bottle, and I hope that our wines exhibit this for our fans. 

Jonny: I want to point out the Heroine is a woman of super human qualities and not a funny white powder, like some of our friends reading here might misunderstand. A world without spelling champions is a world without spelling bees—get me? Anyway, how do diners respond to your wines at alternative dining events? 

Birk: Hard to say—I always get great feedback at events I do, but that’s me being there, being charming and kissing babies. What means the most to me is the feedback I get when I’m not around, like when my girlfriend, who worked at Recette in the West Village, would tell me a four-top bought two bottles—that is one of the best feelings in the world, because it means they liked it so much they ordered more rather than changing to a red or a different wine.

Jonny: People who like your wine generally take their coffee BLANK and often drink beers that are BLANK and listen to BLANK music? Fill it in, friend.

Birk: I have no clue, but Karl and I are very similar so I will answer for both: Coffee—Black. Beer—Porter, Stout, IPA, Amber. Music—Blur, The Clash, Drop Kick Murphys, Hank III. 

Jonny: I don’t know who Hank III is. Sorry. What did you do before getting into wine?

Birk: Worked in a stone quarry doing mining for custom cut sandstone (also college).

Jonny: I’ve been stoned before, good going. So what’s your favorite food pairing with your Trousseau Gris or tell me about the best time and place to drink your white.

Birk: Our Trousseau Gris is much more orange wine than rosé and holds up great to lighter Thai food or even a Rueben.

Heroine is best out of a Govino wine glass snuck into any of the latest nerd movies with a date! (I have personally brought bottles to Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and last week to a Archer Live performance here in NYC.)

Jonny: last movie I saw starred Bogart—and he was alive at the time. Anything we leave out?

Birk: I’m also writing a book called Eat Ink.  http://eat-ink.com/  It is a photojournalism/cookbook about tattooed chefs and the stories behind their tattoos.  It will feature 65 chefs nationwide and will be out this fall.

Iconic Wine's comic book-inspired label for their Secret Ingredient Trousseau Gris

THE WINES:

2011 Heroine Chardonnay ($36). 198 cases.

Jonny’s tasting notes: Everything I love about Chardonnay – high acid, lemony and with a minerality that could put a mineral mine to shame. I’d bring home a gorgeous girl from a bar and feed her this until the Chardonnay sun came up, though that would be unsavory because I’m married. So, I’d bring home my gorgeous wife and do the same thing and so should you – go find a girl to get married to and do it over this wine. Re-reading the last sentence I’m imaging some of you will take the whole “do it” thing the wrong way. Sip, sip.

2011 Heroine MM (Michael Mara) Chardonnay ($45). 48 cases.

Jonny’s tasting notes: Different levels of Malolactic Fermentation and being fermented in barrel has created within me a needy complex for this very complex and austere wine. The only person who wouldn’t like this wine is my grandmother because she refuses to drink wine. Everyone else will applaud after each sip. Wine critics alike, will agree and will try to explain with descriptive words how this wine should appeal to Millenials but I say you only need to know this: if your two favorite things were chocolate milk shakes and pepperoni pizza and you blended them together into a delicious shake, think how happy you would be to be sipping on that shake. So it goes.

2011 Secret Identity Trousseau Gris ($26). 154 cases. SOLD OUT

2011 Secret Ingredient Trousseau Gris ($29) 48 cases. SOLD OUT

Go: http://www.iconicwine.com/

This is the second dinner you’ve done where you are recreating a specific time in history.  Would you call yourself a history geek? Or do you just like the challenge recreating classics with modern twists?

For me, looking back in history through food tells such an amazing story. People forget the history of America, and how food was always there throughout. I love the research aspect of it. Looking through old menus and looking at what the chefs did back then, It’s like looking through the windows of time. This may sound corny, but as I get deep into a project I almost project my mind to the time period, and for me that’s the amazing part. History has always amazed me, history and food make it even more enjoyable. Once I compile all my notes and all my research, I get a huge piece of paper and weave together all the dishes from that era. I then spin it with a modern twist, keeping in mind not to leave any ingredient off from that is important to the time period. In doing research I’ve looked at menus from the 21 club, Delmonico’s, The Cotton Club, etc. for the Prohibition NYC event. These were the best of the best at the time and I have to show respect to the era. I think what me and Adam came up with is going to blow people away!

What kind of dishes can we expect to see at the Prohibition NYC event?

Ok, I guess it’s time for a teaser! And this is only for the Underground Eats community! Foods during the 1920’s were salty and fatty, and that was by design- it made people buy more drinks. Easy concept. Well, we played off that balance of salty and fatty and came up with a unique station that revelers on April 20^th will get to experience. We call it “The Free Lunch Stand.” Before prohibition began, bars would entice the public and local town drunks to come in for a drink and receive a “Free Lunch.” The un-witty patron was fed saltine crackers and salty dry cured sausages,  prompting them to drink more.  We are going to play off that and have our own unique “Free Lunch Stand.” Keep in mind we have some really cool and unique twists for the 21^st century prohibition reveler. This is just one of many takes we will offer our guests on April 2oth. 

People of course tend to focus more on the cocktail when they think of the prohibition era speakeasies, what made you decide to do a prohibition culinary event?  Were there any specific inspirations for this idea?

Most people think of prohibition times as very cocktail driven- underground speakeasies, Al Capone, and Illegal bootleggers, and not really food driven.  And that is true to a certain extent. What most people don’t realize is some of the best restaurants, some of which sill exist today, were coming into play, and FINE DINING had already arrived including places like the Waldorf Astoria, Delmonico’s, 21 Club, Cotton Club. And These restaurants catered to your every need. When Adam and I decided to do this event, we went back to the menus of that time. Foods were heavy and simple, but they were interesting and really piqued our interest. We were like, “WOW Tomato Juice is an appetizer!” I thought, that is so boring! And then it hit me, “Wouldn’t it be cool if I reversed spherified the tomato juice, worked some smoked crab into it, and finished it with pickled celery?” The best part about that is we just wrote tomato juice on the menu. That’s how we change things up, that dish is going to blow people away. Now think of six items, all with a really unique twist. That’s what motivates me to take on these old nostalgic menus. Making them relevant again. To me, that’s cool.

What historical dinner would you love to recreate next? 

We are always looking through history to find an interesting time period. Once we feel like there might be a story to tell through food, and we believe in the project, we begin our planning phase. I have always wanted to do a dinner that takes us back to the impoverished area in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888- kind of a “Jack the Ripper gastro pub pop-up.” I love the 1880’s in London and I dream of opening a REAL GASTRO PUB in Manhattan. So many restaurants call themselves a gastro pub, but they’re the furthest thing from it.

We were also recently talking about doing some underground foie gras dinners in San Francisco!

You seem to enjoy doing dinners and events where creativity and theatrics are key components (i.e. Dine Titanic, Prohibition, Argentine Experience, Feast of the Senses, etc…) do you think you would ever be happy being a chef at a restaurant everyday, cooking the same menu night after night? 

NOOOOOO! That’s why I don’t work in a restaurant. I have much respect for those talented chefs that rock the ranges every night, but for me, I need to stimulate my creative juices in other ways. That’s why I love doing events like Prohibition NYC. It allows me to tell a story through food and bring people back to a lost time. Each event is always different, that’s what keeps things fresh and on the cutting edge of what we do.

How long have you and Adam been a team? Do you compliment each other well?

Wow, I met Adam 4 Years ago, ironically we were both chef-testing for the same position. We were both impressed with each other, and we ended up cooking together ever since. Yeah, I would say Adam and I side by side are like complete opposites! We are completely different chefs and have completely different personalities. Adam is more the calm cool collective chef and I’m more of the voicetress hotheaded chef.  When Adam and Myself take on these dinners we usually have varied roles. I handle the theme and theatrics and Adam concentrates on refining my crazy-hair-brained menu ideas. He kind of brings me back down to earth. That’s why we work so well together. It’s all about the food in the end. We both care so much about the finished product, and that we are topping ourselves each time we put on one of these events. Plus he has a lovely beard, and I don’t look good in facial hair, there I said it!

If you could throw any dinner party you wanted- what would be the theme and what might be some examples on the menu?

I’m going to throw a Game of Thrones dinner, to coincide with the finale on HBO. The setting is going to be an old gothic Church in Manhattan. We are going to have huge pigs on the table filled with decadent fruits. It ties into a dinner of medieval times that I’m infatuated with. Stay tuned for this dinner; it’s going to be an amazing experience.

If you are intrigued and interested in attending April 20th’s speakeasy party we suggest you move with haste and purchase your tickets on www.undergroundeats.com as there is limited space and spots are filling up quickly!

What makes someone a “rebel”?

There are a lot of things.  But really it’s just doing what you want to do regardless of what other people do, say, or think.  As long as you’re not harming anybody else, you might as well go for whatever makes you happy.  A lot of people don’t live their lives like that. A rebel is the kind of person who is like, “Hey this is what I want to do, it’s my life, and this is how I want to live it.”

Tell us a bit about the process of competing on The Next Food Network Star. Were you surprised by the outcome?

Yes, I was surprised.  When I signed up I had no real confidence that I would win.  There were so many more people with more experience than me, and they were formally trained.  As it went on, Alton Brown, my mentor, said one day, “You know what? Let me just get out of your way.”  For him to say that is such a ringing endorsement, that it was  easy to kind of toughen up, be confident and take it home.  About three-quarters of the way through taping I thought, “Ya know what? I have a chance of winning this.”  I’m still surprised to this day.  When I came home with the victory, about eight months ago, it just really opened up a whole new world.  You know when the Millenium Falcon jumps into hyperspeed and all the stars turn into bright white lines?  That’s what it felt like.

Kubbeh, the dish from which the pop-up borrows its name, are round semolina dumplings that are stuffed with seasoned meat or vegetables, and served in a variety of flavorful broths. Typically a dish made by home cooks having learned from the generation previous to them, it is a very rare occasion to find Kubbeh served in a restaurant. The dish requires immense amounts of time (and a hefty amount of TLC) to prepare and is therefore a bit of a dying art.

Naama Shefi, a culinary curator and one of the founders of the pop-up, says her inspiration to create the event is best described in a quote by the food historian, Claudia Roden:

“When the last generation who makes Kubbeh has disappeared (I expect these dishes will not be carried on, because they take too long), I hope Jerusalem keeps up her reputation as the capital, and that some food producer will decide to make them commercially, so that a whole little world of our culinary culture does not disappear.”

The Kubbeh Project is attempting to do exactly that – preserve the traditions of Jewish-Iraqi food and make them available to the public in the most delicious way possible. There will be two selections of Kubbeh stews cooked by chef Itamar Levinson, and served with a myriad of sides including challah bread, tahini, and pickled vegetables. A selection of desserts from Zucker Bakery will be available for purchase as well.

Check out the extensive menu below, and be sure to stop by for a very rare dining opportunity. Find more information on the Kubbeh Project here.

The Kubbeh Project

(Jewish comfort food, inspired by Iraqi culinary traditions)

Kubbeh Stews $14

 Served with pickled torshi, fresh vegetables, tahini, challah bread & rice

Beet Kubbeh: sweet and sour broth, tomato, floating slivered beets
& semolina-dumpling pockets stuffed with baharat spiced beef

Pumpkin Kubbeh: root vegetable consommé, dry apricots, pumpkin, sage
& semolina-dumpling pockets stuffed with baharat spiced beef

Hamusta Kubbeh (for advanced Kubbeh lovers): lemony broth, zucchini, herbs, swiss chard & semolina-dumpling pockets stuffed with baharat spiced beef

* Veggie kubbeh available: semolina-dumpling pockets stuffed with baharat spiced winter vegetables

Guilty Pleasures

Sabich Deconstructed: Zucker’s sumak focaccia, roasted eggplant, haminados egg, tahini, amba drizzles and fresh parsley     $9

Sambusak: savory turnover pastry stuffed with swiss chard and Feta     $6

Sweets

 Zucker’s pistachio rugelach $2

Chocolate sausage $3

Drinks

Almond Juice

  Mint & sage tea

* Chef: Itamar Levinson * Culinary Curator: Naama Shefi * Photographs by Katherine Needles*

First of all, where are you now?

Right now we’re at the San Jose Hotel Lobby in Austin, but headed way out west to Marfa, TX in a few hours. Cannot wait!

How many dinners have you done so far on this trip?  How many do you plan to do?

We’ve done two dinners and one brunch. With several on the horizon. We hope to do some impromptu ones as well. Some of the best moments in life are unplanned.

What is the goal or purpose of doing a traveling dinner series like this?  Are you looking for inspiration?

We’re going back to our roots. Tamy and Felipe were big believers of the dinner party, loved meeting new people and maintaining pre-existing friendships. Both Mac and I just recently were able to join the Comodo team full-time, but before doing so we needed to clear our heads and make room for the creative force. So what better way to do that than to go on a trip.

In addition, I used to live in Mexico City, in fact that’s where I met Felipe 15 years ago, and I have yet to return.  So I’m excited to return with fresh eyes, and an open perspective.

Mac went to college in Texas and started his restaurant career while in school, so returning here was important to him.

Do you miss the supper club life now that you’ve been running a real restaurant?

Well, it’s funny. Every night Comodo’s atmosphere is truly that of a dinner party. Whether or not we know the guests each night, we welcome them as new friends. We want to get to know them. We want to know their stories. Especially the last few tables, those tables usually have the best stories, or obscure talents, like balancing chairs on your chin. In retrospect we didn’t open up as a dinner party themed restaurant, it seemed to follow us, and you won’t see us complain.

How did you pick your locations for the series?  Did you already have connections in each place?

Mac and I knew we wanted to visit Bogota and Mexico City, and we wanted to throw dinners in these cities for inspiration. Needing to connect in Dallas for flights, Mac wanted to visit college friends. Dallas, turned into Austin and we figured we had to get out to Marfa while we were there. One city became 10 very quickly with the help of social media. Since we announced the trip we have gotten amazing requests, to visit places from Aspen to Berlin. We have to go home at some point though.

How are you developing menus for each location?  Are you basing them off any themes? Local ingredients?

It depends on the location, what’s in season, whether or not the city has a great farmers market etc. The idea is to bring a piece of Comodo to each city.  So for example, last night we did a dinner in Austin. We have a lamb slider on the menu that’s a big hit, so when we came across a local Venison butcher we knew we had to change it up. So just like Comodo is New York local food with a Latin accent, #comodoroots respects its current city but also adds a Latin flare.

Who have been attending your dinners and how are people hearing about them?  How many people are attending each one?

We’ve kept our dinners anywhere from 6 to 15 people. Usually our hosts have enough plates, glasses etc for 12 or so and then we get creative.  Miami and Nashville will draw a bigger crowd as our hosts will be in local restaurants. As for attendees, the response has been awesome. Alot of friends of friends that we’ve never met. Or someone’s brother. One of Tamy’s friends from her old job connected us with our hosts in Austin. Just super cool. We have a pretty transparent business, which has really helped us when it comes to cooking in a strangers house.

What do you hope to bring back to the restaurant from this experience?

Stories, menu ideas, concepts. We’ve been checking out local restaurants and I’ve been tagging anything that I’m personally inspired by #menuinspiration. It’s awesome to see what other chefs are doing out there. When it comes to being creative in the kitchen, the sky really is the limit. The only thing that gets in the way is fear.

Here is a sample menu from Comodo’s Austin dinner (just whet your appetites):

Austin, Texas January 17th

Esquite Deviled Egg

Aji-Coconut Scallop Ceviche topped with Roasted Almonds, Corn Nuts and Garlic chips

Warm Kale & Quinoa Salad with Pan Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms, Dried Blueberries, Crumbled Feta Cheese and a Reduced Aged Balsamic Dressing

Smokey Hudson Meat Venison Meatballs over Roasted Brocolliflower, and Avocado Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

Peanut Butter and Guava Jelly Ice Cream Sundae

Get the latest details about Comodo’s travels via twitter by searching hashtag #ComodoRoots and following @ComodoNYC

Alexa Perrin, the founder of the Experimental Food Society, explains in an interview that she founded the society in 2009 because she wanted to give a platform to the incredible talent that is largely untapped in Britain. Perrin is also the founder and owner of APR Consultancy, a PR firm. She “grew up in a family of foodies,” and spent a lot of time in restaurants growing up. She would help her mother bake cakes for local businesses, and her love of food grew from there.

Being a member of the society gets you access to a yearly festival, the Spectacular Exhibition, where the best gourmet artists put their work on display. This includes butter architects, cake artists, bread sculptors, and watermelon carvers, to name a few.

The line between the culinary arts and the fine arts is indeed a fine one. The aesthetic intricacies of the culinary arts are endless. Perhaps Ms. Perrin will create an outpost of The Experimental Food Society in New York one of these days; the talent and artistic creativity certainly exists here.

Let’s talk whiskey. Whiskey expert Heather Greene has become a key player in the Whiskey world, being the first female whiskey sommelier at the Flatiron Room in Manhattan. She is also the first American woman to serve on the Scotch Malt Whisky Society Tasting Panel in Scotland, and the first woman to win Whisky Magazine‘s American Young Ambassador of the Year award. In an interview with Bon Appetite, she admits that she can still feel intimidated by the male dominated culture that surrounds whiskey. However, after scoring in the highest percentile on a tasting and smelling test, and landing a spot on the tasting panel, she has made a name for herself in the world of whiskey.

Female distillers are few and far between, but we know one that rocks. Owney’s Rum is spearheaded by Bridget Firtle, a New York native. Her project is called The Noble Experiment, and features urban distilling by hand in New York City. A smart business woman and a lover of fine spirits, Bridget is taking the lead in an industry in which she is a minority.  Having tasted her rum first hand, we guarantee that it is delicious, and that she is going to go far in the distilling world.

Who says ladies don’t love beer? Home breweries and microbreweries are increasingly led by women. From farm to consumption, women are fighting their way into the craft beer world. A new documentary, The Love of Beer, explores this trend by highlighting the lives of several women brewers. Read an interview with Tonya Cornett, award-winning brewer here. Also check out The Beer Babe, an awesome blog for beer lovers everywhere.

Studies show that women have more discerning palates, meaning that they are better at detecting flavor subtleties than their male counter parts. The making and marketing of whiskey, rum, craft beer, and other spirits, not to mention the drinking of them, has increasingly become a women’s game, and we think that rules.

What else to call your supper club-turned-restaurant than Cómodo, Spanish for comfortable? Opening on July 18th (it’s already fully booked for the first two days), the restaurant is just as you’d expect. Warm, rustic, a handful of tables. Felipe will be cooking, with the delightful Evita, a videographer-turned-friend, as manager.

But good news for fans of Worth Kitchen: the supper club will live on. You now just have somewhere else to get your fix of Felipe and Tamy’s special recipe of good food and great ambiance.

Why open a restaurant?
When we started the supper club, we had no idea what we were doing. We had no idea the term supper club even existed! It just felt like a dinner party, something totally different. For me, it was a natural progression to open a restaurant. I’ve always wanted to go into the restaurant business, and so the last two years we were taking baby steps to get to this point.

Mike Lee (of Studiofeast) once said to me, “don’t do the restaurant thing!” and I laughed because his events are so amazingly conceptual and high energy, and he’s always thinking of the next big, crazy concept. But I love the environment of bringing people together, like dinner parties, so opening a restaurant really resonates with me.

And our supper club will not end. We want to continue doing Worth Kitchen here too.

How do you go from cooking on a small scale to running a restaurant with a full staff?
It’s very different going from a prix-fixe menu to cooking on demand. But we have a great team, which is key. Everyone who works with us has become a friend (Evita, the manager, met Felipe and Tamy after shooting a video at Worth Kitchen).

Tamy is still working full-time in advertising but will be coming in as much as possible, and will lead our marketing.

One of your Worth Kitchen guests said it’s not just about the amazing food but the atmosphere you create. How do you translate that sense of community into a restaurant?
We wanted the restaurant to feel like you’re in someone’s home. It’s the most ideal setting, with exposed brick, candles, you can see into the kitchen.

The bar area will be open to walk-ins and solo diners, so we want to make everyone welcome, just like with our dinner parties.

The neighbors are stopping by and thanking us for being part of the community. This whole area has a sense of Old New York. Around the corner on Sullivan St you have the wonderful old school cheese store and butcher. It’s like a village, very charming.

You started a Kickstarter campaign on Monday, and it’s been a phenomenal success. What’s the story?
We had the idea to do a Kickstarter campaign from day one to help with all these small details that it takes to open a restaurant. And after only 24 hours we’ve raised over $7,000, half the amount we’re asking for. It’s completely crazy.

It’s not even just friends, but friends of friends that are supporting us on Kickstarter, and people are coming into the restaurant saying they saw the video and wanted to stop by.

The menu is heavily focused on Latin American cuisine, from Spain to Colombia, Brazil to Mexico. What can we expect?
You know, New York doesn’t know much about Latin American food. And that’s a huge shame for me. It’s all grouped in together, and most of that comes from the street food, the taco trucks. With Cómodo I want to show New Yorkers what real Latin American food is, with some modern techniques.

Plus we’re doing sake cocktails, which are huge in Brazil. You’ll get great sakerinhas here!

What are your favorite dishes on the menu?
I love the lamb sliders. They were the most popular dish at Worth Kitchen, so we had to have them here. Everyone loves sliders in New York and these are really quite different, with lots of Spanish flavors, and instead of mini burger buns we’re serving them in pão de queijo (addictive Brazilian cheese bread), which is completely underrated.

I really love the seared duck with Classico sauce, and the lamb chops with mint goat cheese pesto. There’s nothing better.

Cómodo, 58 MacDougall St, NY, opening July 18th.