Go Light with Torrontes
Argentinean white goes perfect with warm winter
By Josh Perilo
I left the house on Tuesday to move my car and I wasn’t wearing a coat.
Yes, this is the wine column, but I felt that sentence needed to be said. It’s both thrillingly amazing (considering the snow spanking we got last year) and very, very scary. By the way, thanks, Al Gore! I still have trouble sleeping whenever it’s unseasonably warm. Read more
Impress the Sommelier
Ignore the barolos and go for a Valpolicella
By Josh Perilo
I had been sorely missing my good, angry friend Jesse since he and his wife moved to Los Angeles. I knew that I could always rely on him for a good fight or two about everything from the meaningless to the epic. Now, my sparring partner was gone. Read more
Food and Family
Recipes from my grandmother’s kitchen to yours
By Josh Perilo
No disrespect to my wonderful, sweet mother, but my passion for cooking did not come from her. No, I would describe my mother’s relationship with cooking more like a daily wrestling match in which she choke-slammed it into submission. With five kids (four of them boys), there was little room for creativity or improvisation—it was all about what would fill us up as quickly as possible while still trying to stay somewhat healthy (although I’ll never forgive her for the canned green beans). Read more
Penniless Picks
The best wines of 2011
By Josh Perilo
From the moment I smell turkey in the oven to the seconds before the ball drops in Times Square, I rejoice in the same holiday gift every year: a bevy of “best of” lists. Top TV shows, top movies, top albums…it is my No. 1 annual guilty pleasure. Read more
Lights, Camera, Fermentation
Taking a sip of celebrities’ newest hobby, winemaking
By: Josh Perilo
My wife and I had just finished watching the Orson Welles classic The Third Man. The credits were rolling and my head was swimming—not only from the brilliant piece of cinema I had just seen but from the man, Welles himself, and what would eventually become of him. Read more
The Martha Stewart of Greece
Maria Loi takes Compass in a new direction
One recent weekday afternoon, hours before dinner service started, a young blonde woman and her boyfriend wandered into Restaurant Loi. They took in the scenery and, as they passed the door to the private room in which Maria Loi and her colleagues sat, Loi asked, “Can I help you?” The woman stalled, and then asked, tentatively, “Maria?” followed by a phrase in Greek. And that was it. Loi unleashed a torrent of Greek, leaped from her chair and embraced her. In two minutes Loi had her life story, her family background and offered the boyfriend a job—the couple’s intent. He stood sheepishly by as the women chatted animatedly, wearing the look of a man around whom many conversations are carried out in a language he doesn’t speak. Loi switched to English, called for her dining room manager to interview the boyfriend and they were off. Read more
No Title Required
Museum dining artfully done at Untitled
Hit the gift shop, skip the restaurant.
Unless you’re part of a tour group, hypoglycemic or having a day out with your nana, this has always been the accepted wisdom for museum visits. If you happen to be an unlucky member of one of these groups, you can look forward to a selection of dry sandwiches, a steam-table entrée and a sweaty, pre-cut cheese plate. The best to be hoped for is a tolerable wine to drown your sorrows and some art to remind you of the reason you’re there.
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The Ins and Outs of Decanting Wine
By: Josh Perilo
I always tell people that Brad and I were friends long before he was rich and successful. However, that certainly doesn’t stop me from taking advantage of his generosity as far as fine wine and food are concerned. This time of year, he tends to pull out several incredibly expensive bottles of wine from his small stash. And he always makes a huge spectacle of bringing them out, presenting them to the crowd and then handing them over to me.
The Many Tastes of Spain
Northern regions are rich with red variety
By Josh Perilo
There is a common understanding now among foodies that there is no such thing as “Italian food” as such. Thanks in large part to Mario Batali, the understanding of Italian food is of a cuisine that digs into what is local and available and makes the absolute best possible food from those resources. The idea of a homogenous Italian identity has become passé and quaint.
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Tracing the Roots of Home Brewed Soda
How I learned to embrace my root beer obsession
By Josh Perilo
So, I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I am completely, 100 percent obsessive. When I discover a new object of interest it swallows me whole and consumes me for months, sometimes years at a time.
In junior high school it was musical theater. In high school, I was lost to the world of miniatures for two years. A decade ago, I discovered the world of wine.
