A GREAT FOOD & WINE DINNER FEATURING KRUG CHAMPAGNE

At the invitation of K&L Wine Merchants and Gray Westby, the Champagne buyer for K&L, I recently attended a dinner and tasting of Krug Champagnes. It featured the new Krug releases and was held at the Quattro restaurant located in the Palo Alto Four Seasons Hotel.   This was a memorable evening in all respects. […]

A Mediterranean Cruise For Wine Lovers

Sipping–not shuffleboard–is the game on this boat The thought of being held captive on a ship in the middle of the Ocean sounds like a sentence of confinement for many. But things have changed on the high seas, from luxurious amenities to exotic ports of call. Cruise lines are making customized itineraries for the likes […]

There Was A Legacy

By Joel M. Fisher If asked who The Wine Spectator anointed Dean of Wine Writers, who would be your guess? Robert Parker, perhaps? The answer is a name not heard enough these days: Robert Lawrence Balzer. The onetime actor, aviator, media personage and Buddhist monk cut quite a figure in his day. Born in 1912, […]

The Fontainebleau Hotel’s Hakkasan Restaurant in Miami Beach & The World’s Most Unusual Wine List?

On a recent visit to Miami Beach with my wife, Laurie and I visited the newly refurbished Fontainebleau Hotel for the first time in many years. It was nice to see the beautiful hotel and it is definitely worth a visit. The Fontainebleau, a revered Miami Beach landmark for over half a century, widely recognized for its distinctive curvilinear design, completed a $1 billion expansion and renovation the end of 2008. The 1950s era resort has been transformed into one of the country’s most sought-after beachfront resort properties, a blend of Miami’s glamorous golden era and stylish, ultramodern luxury.

For dinner, we chose Hakkasan, one of three, world-class signature dining experiences at the hotel. Opened in early 2009, Hakkasan also has locations in London and Istanbul. The award-winning restaurant was rated by Zagat as Top Newcomer in South Florida in their 2010 survey. Heading up the Miami kitchen is Chef Wen Sian Tan, formerly of My Humble House restaurant in Beijing. Chef Tan offers diners a diverse menu of modern Cantonese cuisine and house specialties reinterpreted for a contemporary palate, with a wide array of wines, sake and cocktails.