Food 11
Thanksgiving Wine That Actually Shows Up: Skip Cab, Skip Chard, Go Starfield Rhone
Darin Szilagyi
Wine X Magazine
Online Edition
Every Thanksgiving table has that one relative who refuses to evolve.
For wine, that relative is Cabernet and Chardonnay.
Year after year, they show up like legacy software nobody has had the guts to uninstall. Big oaky Chard, heavy Cabernet, same labels, same flavors, same food crimes against turkey breast.
If you are tired of playing in that sandbox, this year is the perfect time to reboot your Thanksgiving wine program and install 
pa new operating system.
Think Rhone varieties.
Think high-altitude California.
Think Starfield Vineyards in El Dorado.
This is your Thanksgiving wine upgrade guide, Wine X style.
SEO heads, here is the payload: Thanksgiving wine, Rhone varieties, Starfield Vineyards, El Dorado AVA, Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Counoise, Mourvedre.
Why Cabernet and Chardonnay Do Not Belong On Your Thanksgiving Plate
Look, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay can be brilliant. On Thanksgiving they usually are not.
Cabernet Sauvignon: Great With Ribeye, Terrible With Turkey
Cabernet is tannin, oak, alcohol and attitude. On a Thursday in November it does things like:
* Turn white turkey meat into sawdust in your mouth
* Clash with cranberry sauce, herbs and green vegetables
* Shove all the subtle flavors off the table so it can flex its new barrique workout
Cabernet on Thanksgiving is that one CPU-hogging app that eats all your RAM then makes everything crash. Impressive on its own, unhelpful in a crowded system.
Chardonnay: Butter On Butter On Butter
The average Thanksgiving Chardonnay is a buttered toast bomb.
* Loads of oak and creamy texture
* Vanilla, caramel, toast on toast
* And yes, everyone brings it
When your plate is already running stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy and sweet potatoes, adding oaky Chardonnay is like pouring more cheese on a grilled cheese. At some point you want contrast, not redundancy.
So if the goal is to stand out and not show up with Bottle Number Seven Of The Same Exact Thing, you need a different build.
Rhone Varietals: The Open-Source Answer To Thanksgiving Wine
Rhone grapes are the flexible, open-source tools of the wine world. They play nicely with others. They scale. They do not crash the system.
White Rhone Grapes
* Viognier – peach, apricot, honeysuckle, often with real texture and very little oak heaviness
* Marsanne – citrus, almond, stony minerality
* Roussanne – pear, tropical hints, beeswax and weight
Thanksgiving translation: aromatic, flavorful whites with enough body for stuffing and gravy, plus enough acidity to keep your palate awake.
Red Rhone Grapes
* Grenache – red berries, baking spice, gentle tannins
* Syrah – darker fruit, pepper, smoke
* Mourvedre – plums, earth, savory herbs
* Counoise, Cinsaut – light to medium body, bright red fruit, spice
These are reds that taste like wine with food, not wine against food. They highlight turkey, ham and all the side chaos rather than smother it.
Now, meet a California winery that lives in that Rhone space and has an actual story worth dragging to your Thanksgiving table.
Meet Starfield Vineyards: High Altitude Rhone In The Sierra Foothills
Starfield Vineyards sits in the El Dorado AVA above Placerville, California, at roughly 2,300 to 2,400 feet. Think Sierra Foothills, not Napa strip mall.
Tom and Rob Sinton founded Starfield in 2012 and planted 31 acres of hillside vineyards broken into about 24 micro-blocks. Seventeen grape varieties grow there. About two thirds are Rhone grapes, with Italian and Spanish outliers keeping things interesting.
From day one they have farmed sustainably and Fish-Friendly, leaving swaths of native forest inside and around the vineyard and installing buffer strips of deer grass and wild roses. They even put up more than 90 bluebird boxes so the bird brigades can handle some of the insect pressure.
In 2016 they started leaning into regenerative agriculture. No tilling. Natural cover crops. Insects as allies instead of targets. They are now transitioning the whole place to organic farming and plan to use drones on their steepest slopes to spray sulfur and release beneficial insects instead of beating up the hillside with heavy equipment.
The 2026 vintage will be organically farmed. The 2028 vintage is expected to carry full organic certification. That is not marketing fluff. That is a roadmap.
The Sierra Spice Effect
Walk Starfield and you are not just in vines. You are wrapped in conifers. Ponderosa pine, incense cedar, Douglas fir.
Over time the Sintons noticed something strange and cool: a shared aroma that popped up across their wines. Bright, woodsy, slightly minty, a little basil and floral. They nicknamed it Sierra Spice.
Those trees are packed with aromatic terpenes. The idea is that the oils make their way into the air and onto grape skins, then into fermenters, then quietly into the finished wines. It is their signature note. Not a gimmick. More like a regional accent.
If you have ever smelled a forest after rain and thought “I wish my wine smelled like this,” that is the Sierra Spice lane.
Star Fields And Solargraph Labels
The name Starfield comes from the belief that great wine is grown in star fields, places where fruit finds a sweet balance of aroma, flavor and texture.
Winemaker Rob Sinton is also a photo geek and an astronomy nerd, so he built pinhole cameras and made long-exposure Solargraph photos on the estate. The cameras sat for five days at 2,400 feet, capturing the arc of the sun as it moved over the vineyards and forest.
Those Solargraphs became the new labels. Twenty-four different designs, each with its own color field keyed to a specific wine. The 2024 Viognier glows in one palette, Hope Rising another, the 2023 Counoise a third. It is art plus data, a visual record of actual light over actual vines.
This is the opposite of slapping a castle clip-art on a bottle and calling it Reserve.
Under The Surface: Volcanic Mariposa Loam And Those Soil Tubes
If you really want to geek out at Thanksgiving, bring the little Starfield soil tubes.
The estate sits on volcanic Mariposa loam. It drains well, holds enough water to keep vines alive, and tends to be mod
erately acidic. The vineyard team literally packed samples into glass vials labeled by block.
The Mourvedre block sample is a deep rusty red, pulled from a 1 to 4 foot depth, with a pH around 5.2 and a gentle 5 percent slope. It is like the slow cooker partition of the vineyard: warms up steadily, holds heat, builds depth.
The Viognier block sample is lighter, more golden, with pH around 5.6 and a steeper 25 percent slope. That slope stresses the vines just enough to keep yields in check and acidity bright.
Same soil type, same estate, different slope, different pH, different grape, different wine. If you are the person at Thanksgiving who likes to talk about single origin coffee or the difference between SSD and spinning disk, this is your terroir talk track.
Three Starfield Rhone Wines That Crush Thanksgiving
Let us get to the bottles you actually need.
- 2024 Hope Rising – White Rhone Blend For Side-Dish Chaos
Grapes: 45 percent Marsanne, 45 percent Roussanne, 10 percent Viognier
Where it grows: East facing slopes that see cool morning sun and a 100 foot elevation range
Tech:
* Each variety fermented separately
* Marsanne and Roussanne in stainless steel to keep it crisp
* Viognier fermented in barrel for richness
* No malolactic fermentation, so acidity stays bright
* Final blend aged 8 months in mostly neutral French oak
How it tastes
Hope Rising is like the clean, efficient desktop you get after deleting 37 unused apps.
Marsanne brings citrus peel and that stony, mineral edge. Roussanne gives you texture, pear and a bit of exotic fruit. Viognier plugs in floral lift and stone fruit aromatics. A touch of oak adds polish without screaming, “Look at my toast notes.”
Thanksgiving pairings
* Herb stuffing, especially with fennel or sausage
* Mashed potatoes with obscene amounts of butter
* Butternut or delicata squash
* Roast turkey with citrus and herb rub
* Any creamy casserole that does not want to be steamrolled by Chardonnay
If you are only bringing one white and you want it to work from appetizers through turkey, Hope Rising is your multi-tool.
- 2024 Viognier – The Chardonnay Alternative With Actual Personality
Grapes: 93 percent Viognier, 5 percent Roussanne, 2 percent Marsanne
Where it grows: Estate east-facing slopes that span 100 feet of elevation at around 2,300 feet
Tech:
* Barrel fermented using selected yeasts
* Eight months in French oak, about a third new, the rest neutral
* Malolactic fermentation blocked to preserve acidity
How it tastes
This is not a blowsy peach smoothie. Starfield Viognier leans into:
* Bold tropical and stone fruit
* White flowers and citrus zest
* A creamy, spice laced mid palate
* A clean, mineral driven finish with that Sierra Highlands snap
The oak shows up as a frame, not a mask. You get texture, not syrup.
Thanksgiving pairings
* Roast turkey, especially the breast meat, where you need moisture and aromatics
* Honey glazed carrots or parsnips
* Cornbread stuffing
* Mac and cheese
* Triple cream cheeses before dinner
If someone in the family insists they only drink Chardonnay, pour this blind and watch them convert.
- 2023 Counoise – The Red That Makes Turkey Make Sense
Grapes: 95 percent Counoise, 5 percent Grenache
Where it grows: One of the highest elevations on the estate, taking advantage of warmer night temperatures that help this slow developer ripen
Tech:
* Whole cluster sandwich fermentation with a 48 hour cold soak for color stability
* About 14 days of primary fermentation
* Full malolactic
* Aged 18 months in a mix of new and neutral French oak
How it tastes
Counoise is the indie band of Rhone reds. Light on its feet, heavy on charm.
Starfield version delivers:
* Bright red fruit, think cranberry, raspberry and red cherry
* Spice and herbal lift, the Sierra Spice dial clicked into focus
* Low to medium tannins, just enough to shape the wine without drying you out
* A graceful finish that keeps you coming back for another sip
It is the kind of red you can drink while cooking, through dinner and into leftover turkey sandwiches.
Thanksgiving pairings
* Turkey, white or dark, especially with cranberry sauce
* Herb stuffing, especially if you sneak mushrooms in there
* Charcuterie and soft cheeses
* Roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans, roasted root vegetables
If you are a Pinot Noir person, Counoise sits in that same weight class but brings a different set of spices to the fight.
How To Build A Starfield Rhone Thanksgiving Lineup
Here is your simple Thanksgiving wine config file.
For whites
* 1 bottle 2024 Hope Rising
* 1 to 2 bottles 2024 Viognier
If you want a pre-game bottle, grabbing a Starfield sparkling or low-alcohol option for early afternoon football is not wrong.
For reds
* 2 bottles 2023 Counoise
* 1 bottle of another Starfield Rhone red, like Grenache or Mourvedre, if you can snag them
Serve the whites just chilled, not ice cold. Serve the reds slightly cool, around cellar temperature. Your wines will thank you.
FAQ For The Wine Nerd At The End Of The Table
Is Starfield good for Thanksgiving if I am cooking ham instead of turkey?
Yes. Hope Rising and Viognier handle honey glazed ham like pros. Counoise is perfect with anything smoky or sweet savory.
What if I cannot find Starfield where I live?
Search for Rhone style El Dorado or Sierra Foothills Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Counoise. Look for labels that list those grapes specifically. The concept still works even if the label is not Starfield.
Do these wines age?
Yes, but they are built with food friendliness and freshness in mind. Right now, they are in the sweet spot for Thanksgiving drinking. Open and enjoy.
Final Reboot: Do Not Be The Cabernet Relative This Year
Thanksgiving is predictable enough.
Football.
Arguments about the proper way to make stuffing.
Someone falling asleep upright in a recliner by 4:30.
Your wine does not have to be part of the same old script.
Show up with Starfield Rhone wines and a couple of stories tucked in your back pocket. Talk about volcanic Mariposa loam and 25 percent slopes. Talk about bluebird boxes, forest terpenes and Solargraph labels that capture the sun light path over the vines.
Pour Hope Rising instead of Chardonnay. Pour Counoise instead of Cabernet.
You will not blend into the lineup this year.
You will be the person who finally gave Thanksgiving wine a proper upgrade.
Pairing Food and Wine: Demystifying the Bull
Wine X Staff
Wine X magazine Online Edition
If you haven’t read our first article on food and wine pairing, read it here to get a nice idea of how to start pairing your wines with food. However, if you’re a little more advanced, then continue on to read my take on why wine and food pairing can be simultaneously incredibly frustrating and also very invigorating and delicious.
Here’s the key takeaway if you’re not feeling like reading the whole article: wine and food pairing is awesome, TO AN EXTENT. It will not change your life. I have read so, so many articles where some wine industry pundit, writer, or personality has *that moment* where they tried this-wine and that-food and how it completely changed their mindset, or maybe even convinced them to get into wine in the first place. And I’m convinced that they are feeding us all a big ol’ spoonful of bullshit.
I have been to many, many highly rated restaurants (read: Michelin 3-star) and paid top dollar for wine-and-food pairings with beverage directors who are on point when it comes to serving customers delicious wines with their dishes. And you know what? I can’t remember a single truly sublime pairing. I’ve had amazing experiences, perfectly aged wines that tasted delicious, and foods that are beyond incredible. But I can’t tell you one single time where a wine and food pairing blew me away. And I think that’s because people put far too much stock, time, and effort into trying to create the perfect food and wine pairings.
Often, the argument that people have for why you should pair your food with wine is because that is what they do in the old world. Go to a bistro in France or a trattoria in Italy and wine has to be on the table, it’s just a part of life there. But what we (in high-end restaurants and wine publications anyway) fail to consider is that the wine they serve with your dinner in a trattoria in Tuscany is the same damn wine year-round, no matter what’s in season or what goes into the dish. The same regional red and/or white is on the table every time, whether you order Bolognese or artichokes on your pasta. Just because truffles aren’t in season doesn’t mean they switch from Barolo to Barbera, or heaven forbid start importing some Chianti.
With that in mind, here’s my advice on wine pairings. Like many things in life, KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Ever heard that you should pair red meat with red wine and fish with white wine? Just stick to that. How about “what goes together 
grows together”? Do that too. Will you get that sublime pairing? No. Does it exist? Not if you buy into the premise of this article. Most of the “rules” when pairing food and wine exist because someone got burned at a dinner party trying to break the norms by pairing a Pinot with a Salmon Dish, and everyone thought it was weird and/or gross. Do you really want to be that person? I don’t.
That being said, am I saying Pinot can never pair with Salmon or that you shouldn’t experiment? Of course not, you can do whatever you want. But therein lies my next point. I pair just about every meal I drink wine with, and that means I pair a hell of a lot of wine and food. I also do it for a living when I work as a Sommelier for events. I don’t pick Sauvignon Blanc to have on Friday nights with my steak frites. I don’t lean towards pouring Amarone with a client’s salad Niçoise. I don’t tend to 
stray too far from what has always worked well, and you know what? I’m never disappointed, and neither are my clients.
And I never feel like I’m missing anything because I’ve paid $300 for a wine pairing and been disappointed by how boring it was. So as much as it pains me to say this, rules exist for a reason, and that is not always for them to be broken.
Sometimes, the rules exist because they are good rules, that should be followed.
XXX Nashville Hot Chicken
Wine X Staff
Online Edition
Not everyone has the luxury of living in Nashville and having access to all the Nashville Hot Chicken (NHC) you 
can eat. There’s a few more of you (y’all..lol) that might live in the South and can at least get your hands on a reasonable facsimile. The rest of us, well, we gotta make do.
Making do usually means something like crossing your fingers and hoping that one of a handful of hot chicken restaurant chains will find its way to your area and then become rooted. Neither seems to be that easy. We don’t live in the most deep-fried-friendly American era, so there’s that. And there there’s the hit-or-miss nature of spicey foods. Wine X happens to deeply believe that All That Burns The Lips, Frees the Soul…… so we say to all those spice-o-holic, cheers!
We checked out several of the best Hot Chicken hot spots in N-ville, and you can find our recommendations here. So go…. You should. A chicken pilgrimage should be in your future. Hattie B’s, Adele’s, Biscuit Love, and Josephine all helped us fall in love.
It’s not out of the question that you have no idea what NHC is. My last drive through Napa netted no NHC look-a-likes on the menu. What it is is something like this….. the garden variety NHC is just fried chicken with an ample amount of cayenne and other southern spices, served on white beard with pickles. Lots of variations are out there, but they all center around the hero, the chicken.
Most recipes follow a similar pattern. First, you do a marinade with a fair amount of cajun-style hot sauce, cayenne, and such, plus a penetrating liquid like a pickle juice. If you have the luxury of a full day or even a half-day to let the chicken marinade, you’ll be happy that you made the time to prep. When it’s go time, you’ll have a dry mixture flour dredge and a buttermilk binder that you’ll want to do at least twice. Fry up what you’ve got, and after it’s out, you’ll brush on a hot glaze that blends cayenne, red pepper, paprika, and brown sugar with a little oil. Serve it hot. As if that isn’t possible, but you know what I mean.
Wine Pairing
There’s a lot you can do right here and a little you can do wrong. In part, you can follow the strength-on-strength formula, and that will get you part of the way. But I struggled with dry wines that were heavily oaked, whether white or red. And there is the matter of time of day that comes into play as well. Hot chicken is as much a brunch staple as it is a lunch/dinner dish. Bunch hot chicken with a little spicey honey on the side, paired with a dry or off-dry prosecco is simply heavenly.
As I tasted my way through N-Ville, I found these wines to be really friendly with NHC:
Whites:
- Proseco – you can go dry or off-dry. The florals of prosecco do just a little better with NHC than other bubbles. By all means, do a sparkler with any brunch NHC
- Unoaked Chardonnay: Just my obs, but the buttery notes of an oaked chard simly get their ass kicked by the fat from the fry. Live to play another day by not pretending that you have a strength on strength there, unless you think you can find an American or Hungarian oaked chard.
- Chennin Blanc: A go to with spicey foods.
- Viognier: D-I-T-T-O
- Sauvignon Blanc: This one is reeeeeeal dicey and honestly can go bad. New world SB only… others should not apply… LOL…. go for more lemon and run from the grapefruit-dominated versions. Serve really F cold. No promises here. This is an option you’ll only want to attempt at home.
Reds
- Zin: The hotter, sweeter, and the spicier, the better. I don’t typically dig hot zins, but there’s a time and place for everything. This is the time
- Malbec: If you gotta do a red and arent a zin fan, this is my only other recc…. And just being honest, it’s a lukewarm rec. If you’re reading this and you’re struggling, my friend, this is the day you need to find or rekindle your love of bubbles. Just sayin’.
XR DIY NHC FTW
X Rated Do it yourself, Nashville Hot Chicken, for the win…..
If you’re not in the Middle Tennessee area and you don’t have access to a reasonable facsimile, we’ve got you covered. Do what we say…. Let us alpha you through this dish the first time and then you can take the training wheels off on your second attempt
Ingredients
For roughly seven or eight servings (you’ll want leftovers)
- 3½–4-lb. chicken, cut, and patted dry. You’ll want about 10-12 total pieces. I cut the chicken breast into three if t they’re large pieces. Two otherwise.
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tablespoons kosher salt
- Four eggs – the most local and fresh you can find
- 2 cups of buttermilk. Don’t cheat here. If it’s not buttermilk, it’s not NHC.
- 4-6 tablespoons of either Crystal hot sauce or Lousiana brand hot sauce. Tabasco will do if you can’t find the others.
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 cups vegetable oil for frying
- 6 tablespoons cayenne pepper. If all you have is older cayenne that’s turned brown, you’ll need to replenish
- 2 tablespoons of molasses or dark brown sugar. See if you can find Imperial
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika. You can use hot paprika, but smoked is best. And sweet paprika is a distant third
- 6 tablespoons pickle juice.
Untoasted White bread and sliced pickles (for serving)
Prep (the night before)
- Combine the chicken pieces with the black pepper, 2 Tbsp hot sauce, 2 Tbsp. salt, and the pickle juice in a large bowl. Cover and chill at least 3 hours, but overnight is better
Go Time!:
- Mix eggs, buttermilk, and 2 Tbsp. hot sauce in a large bowl. This will be your coating step
- Whisk flour, 1 tbs smoked paprika, and remaining salt in a separate large bowl. This is your dredge
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat until you get to a temp of 325°.
- Pat chicken dry.
- Dredge each piece of chicken in flour mixture, shaking off excess, then dip in your buttermilk mix. Then come back to your flour dredge again, liberally, and place on a baking sheet.
- You’ll want to fry in a few batches, with enough space in your dutch oven to prevent the chicken from touching consistently. It’s time to fry your chicken, turning first when you see the bottom is turning a nice medium brown. Continue until skin is deep golden brown and crisp. I typically use an instant-read thermometer to make sure that the chicken has reached 165°. When you get there, move the piece to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet to collect the residual oil
- Very thoroughly mix together the remaining cayenne, smoked paprika, brown sugar, chili powder, and garlic powder, adding about 1 cup of your frying oil after the first ingredients have fully mixed together. The heat of the frying oil will make a syrup. Brush your fried chicken with the syrup mixture
- Serve with bread and pickles…. Or however, you prefer! CHEERS!
Repurposed BBQ + Vino
Wine X Staff
Wine X Online
If you watch or read enough of the bohemian foodporn stuff out there, you know that Texas-style brisket is a thing. And because it’s a thing, basically all BBQ is a thing. Ribs, Pork butt, whatever you can smoke is a bridge drug to taking a ride on the brisket train. Wooo Wooooo
So, here’s the thing, I’m not going to pretend to tell you how to smoke anything. If you want to learn, go find Aaron Franklin’s or Meat Church’s YouTube videos as a start. No, what I wanna do is bring it all back to what we love…. Vino….. And a little practical help dealing with all of your leftovers
Pairing Vino & Texas Brisket
Let’s get right to it. The wine part. Pairing wine with BBQ requires a little check sheet o’ questions first before we can boogie on down to business…… when we say Texas brisket or Texas BBQ, what you’re really talking about is meat smoked low-n-slow, seasoned primarily with coarse salt and black pepper, and NOT SAUCED….. Like, you can get sauced later, and I don’t mind helping with that, but the non-sauce thing on Texas BBQ is a big dog deal. It also really impacts what you drink with it.
Most BBQ sauces are some sort of molasses & ketchup mixture with someone’s secret additions. If your meat is slathered in some sort of sauce, then you really need to go google “What wine goes with super sweet candy” or something like that. If you’re still on board, keep reading.
What distinguishes Texas BBQ to me is its high-fat, and high spice combo….. plus the impact of the wood that turns to smoke. Most people, off-the-cuff, are gonna go STRONG-versus- STRONG on this little conundrum…… and pick a Zin or a Viognier….. but I’m not so sure either is really a good pick. Here’s the thing, fighting the strong-vs-strong battle on the spice and oak is a losing battle. You cant….. It won’t be awful, but I think you’ll find that your glass simply & honestly doesn’t stand up well to the protein.
Take a lil’ think on this….. What if, when making your wine pick, you try to attack the fat and salt? That kinda opens up a whole world of bottles you might have immediately passed over.
Think about it. You know I’m right.
So here’s what I’m suggesting…… punch the high fat in the mouth with a medium to high acid wine….. And kick the salt in the jewels with something super crisp and fruity. That takes you in a whole different direction than Zin.
Reds:
Pinot (shocked?)
Grenache
Syrah/Shiraz
Petite Sirah
Whites:
Sauvignon Blanc
Dry Reisling
Some Chenin Blancs
So….. now that we knocked out the BIG stuff, let’s talk about the almost as big…. Which is of course the leftover brisket…. Unless you invited ALL of your friends, chances are that you have a few pounds of brisket leftover. And chances are you that you ate so much that you need to do something else other than just a reheat.
Two quick up-cycles…. Both are purdy darned good.
Brisket Tacos
Quick descrip’: you’re gonna cook up a slurry of beef and green chillis, and serve on warm corn tortillas. This one is so easy, my cat could do it
INGREDIENTS
One small sweet yellow onion
Two cups beef broth
One cup of roasted green chilis (fresh if you can get ‘em, canned if you cant)
2 Tbls corn oil
3 Tbls flour
1-2 lbs leftover brisket, trimmed
Tortillas – I prefer white corn
Cilantro
A mild cheese
The path to Nirvana starts here……
- Coursely cut the yellow onion and sautee in a medium pan in the corn oil over medium heat
- Add the green chilis to the onions when the onions become translucent
- Add the flour and stir everything together into what will look like a roux.
- Add the brisket and broth, reduce heat to simmer, and cover. Cook until the mixture thickens
- Serve on warmed corn tortillas with a white mozzarella or monterey jack & pico de gallo & sour cream. All are optional.
Faux Brisket Pozole
So, it’s not really pozole, and I don’t know that I can really claim it’s close, but it’s a decent attempt. If I get hate mail, I am just gonna cut and paste the prior sentence as my reply
INGREDIENTS
3 lb. of whatever ‘Que you’ve got… brisket, ribs, pork, etc.
Kosher salt – to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large sweet yellow onion, course cut
1 tsp. cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tsp. whole clove
1/2 bag o slices carrots
4 sc. low-sodium chicken broth
2 dried ancho chiles, de-stemmed
2 dried guajillo chiles, de-stemmed
2 dried chiles de arbol, de-stemmed
3 (13-16-oz.) cans hominy, drained
Thinly sliced radishes, for garnish
Thinly sliced green cabbage, for garnish
Freshly chopped cilantro, for garnish
Now… here’s where it gets real
- Put the Que into a huge pot & turn heat up to medium…. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, cloves, cumin seeds, and all of the broth.
- Take a look at what you have and then add enough water to cover the whole thing by at least 2 inches.
- Bring yo’ stuff to a boil, then cover it (this is where you get mad at me for just now telling you that your big pot needed a cover…. Cheers to finding the cover now…. sorry) and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Let simmer 1 ½ hours, skimming foam off the top as necessary. ( I skim a lot….. Just FYI)
- Put the dried chiles into a medium bowl and pour 2 cups totally boiling water on top & then let the stuff soak for 15-20 minutes.
- Place soaked chiles and about 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid into a blender. Blend until smooth.. You may need to add more of the liquid so don’t throw it away before you blend.
- Add the chile puree and hominy to the pot.
- Continue to simmer, covered, for about an hour. Because your proteins are pre-cooked, you don’t need to go longer than when your mixture comes together to the taste you want.
- Salt and pepper liberally….. You just gotta close yo’ eyes and do as I say.
- Serve pozole with radishes, cabbage, and cilantro……On top of each individual bowl
Going OG in NYC
Darin Szilagyi
Wine X Magazine Online Edition
Life in Manhattan ain’t cheap. Those of you who live there, man, I don’t know how you do it. 
I’m not sure what’s worse: the prices or the fact there are so many delicious and interesting things to spend your money on. Walk down just about any street and you’ll find storefront after storefront that beckons your senses.
It has been told to me more than once that it takes two or three visits to NYC to get your bearings. Think: Sensory overload meets expansiveness – in a way that no travel pub can possibly prepare you for. My first visit was about survival, Naked & Afraid style. It was on my follow up visits that simple strolls in one direction or another revealed one familiar piece of pop culture after another. A little more confidence allowed me to take more in. When you do that, what you’ll see that the modern American narrative was written with Manhattan as its backdrop.
If you dig going old school, let me tell you about date night, OG style.
What is “touristy date night” in Manhattan? Come on, let’s all say this together. 1…2….3: Dinner & the Theater. Duh. You don’t even have to like the live arts to enjoy Broadway. No matter the year, there are always a series of shows that appeal to EVERYONE. I’m Serious…… Not sure where to start? Just go watch Phantom or Chicago. You won’t be disappointed. And of course, plan a bite before.
Yeah, that second part isn’t super hard, but a little advance planning helps. Most shows on and off-Broadway start 8p sharp with no late entry. It’s also worth noting that life smiles on those that dine within walking distance because traffic slows to a near crawl as showtime starts. While there are a number of famous restaurants that cater to theaters goers, a reservation really helps. REALLY helps. Just for giggles, go to Open Table now and search for reso’s at Carmine’s tonight. You’ll see stuff before 5p and after 7p….. But the magical 6p-6:30p window that will get you to your seats in time is POOF. Do not… I repeat, DO NOT test the gods of time by sitting down at 7p or after…. Unless you’re doing pizza by the slice, and even then, that might be standing up….or outside on the sidewalk.
Life rewards the flexible and so it’s not out of the question that you can go prospect for an open table. Be willing to walk past a lot of booked places, though. It’s all good, though.
So speaking of OpenTable, I patted myself on the back for three straight days after scoring seats at one of Manhattan’s most famous restaurants: 21 Club. The OG-yist of the OG. More 
about 21 in a moment. But first: Did you know that there is a 21 in England? Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, to be specific. Go search OpenTable for 21 & Manhattan and you’ll find it. It comes up first. Thanks, OpenTable…yeah, you guessed it, my precious reso’s were NOT around the corner at my bucket list restaurant but instead exactly 3.329 miles away,
I know machine learning and robots are going to rule the world one day, but it ain’t happening yet. Know what I mean?
Sooooo 5:45 in Time Square, 8p Jersey Boys tickets in my hands, and now checking out the street vendor hot dogs as my dinner fall back. We walked a block or two just to see if there was anything that looked both good and open. Notsomuch……but sometimes you get lucky….I did the wholly un-male thing…..I called 21… And after apologizing upfront for the stupid question, I was A-MAZE-ED to find out they could get us in….. I’m not normally this lucky, not sure what to say other than….ILL TAKE IT!
21 Club has been a Manhattan mainstay for nearly 90 years. First as a speakeasy, and then 
later as a restaurant and legit bar. Over the years, the restaurant has become the favorite haunt of U.S. Presidents, CEO’s, movie stars, and sports celebs. When you go, ask your host whose table you’re at. Our table was jointly owned” by John McEnroe and an airline CEO. Often, above each table are toys once owned by a VIP, but today hovering over a favored table as if it is animistically marking space.
21 plays its theater role marvelously, offering a well-time-managed experience and dinner option that include a prix fixe menu that is guaranteed to get you fed, smiling, and out-the-door on time. Paired with a well-curated by-the-glass wine list and a larger marvelous roster of bottles. We got in & out in under $200, including gratuity. That’s not cheap, but it’s surprisingly reasonable for the experience.
As an aside, Jersey Boys, it strikes me, is like the story of Bon Jovi but set some thirty years earlier. I can see it now, “Livin on a Prayer” opening on Broadway in 2032. J/K. I had not previously seen the Jersey Boys movie or the traveling production, and so it was all new to me. Loved it. Go. Do not delay!
OG Broadway night out gets a XXX rating. No doubt. Add it to your bucket list, and thank us later.
Lesson learned – Don’t be bashful. Make the call. Sometimes you strike gold.
Unlimited Mimosa Brunch
America’s Sunday Binge Drinking Mess Evolves
By The Wine Bae
Online Edition
I’m told that brunch and beautiful people have always been a thing in Manhattan. I had a chance to add my signature to the infamous history of the Ladies Who Brunch a few years ago when living in New York City. Sunday brunch was always a thing, and always accompanied by large sunglasses and multiple beverages. Usually in this order: a coffee, a blood mary, a mimosa, then more mimosa(s), and then finally the biggest glass of water possible.
I remember these brunches being long waits at cozy cafes, or bustling brasseries. The Gen X crowd that joined us often spoke of a different scene, and talked with covered mouths and whispered voices about “The Unlimiteds.” These were THOSE places that had this wild thing called “unlimited mimosa brunch” and walking past those infamous locales required dodging no-shame, blacked out early twenty-somethings, sprawled out on the sidewalk waiting for a cab at 1pm. Imagine this scene set to the soundtrack of loud club music thumping from behind a blackout curtain door. No one ever admitted to actually going to those brunches, although all who listened did so with some skepticism. It sounded it like being at the bar after the lights came on at 4am, not a cute scene. Audrey Hepburn would scowl disapprovingly.
Ok, none of the Millennials at the table ever had the heart to say that the unlimited mimosa lunch is still alive and kicking. Sure, it has moved well down the exclusivity scale, mostly reserved for new or struggling cafes, but the #winedrunk crowd can sniff them out like bloodhounds. Some things have changed though. Insta and tagging has uped the ante quite a bit and I’d submit that today’s brunchers are better off for it.
When our X’ers were unlimiting, restauranteurs were just looking for volume. You know… butts in seats. There was no incentive to appeal to a sense of foodie goodness. Just serve the cheapest sparkling schwag mixed with colorful sugary fruit juice, on demand like a broken fire hydrant. The goal was to savor some Italian bubbly while providing a bit of hair of the dog. Or maybe it was to get completely smashed as fast a possible while simultaneously harassing a server to “keep em’ coming” until they pass out in the bathroom. Who cares, no one is looking.
Today, with millions of foodie influencers roaming the dining rooms and patios tables of restaurants everywhere, everything has to be picture perfect. Plastic flutes and trash-can-punch-with-bubbles has been replaced with a decent cava served in style. #SundayFunday anyone? I’m not complaining. Snap. Flash. Hash.
Celebrity Interviews
