"Our guests this morning are Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg,
authors of WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, which has won
several book awards [including the 2007 IACP "Cookbook of the Year" Award and the Georges Duboeuf "Wine Book of the Year" Award...It's a beautiful book."
—Kim Fernandez & Betsy Karetnick, hosts, "Morning Living"
on Martha Stewart Living Radio (March 12, 2008)

The World's Greatest Wine Expert: YOU

Dear Friends,

In our weekly wine column in today's Washington Post, we provide our readers with the same challenge that The Inn at Little Washington's renowned chef-proprietor Patrick O'Connell gave his staff after the the inn opened three decades ago: to become the world's greatest expert on a particular wine.

Yes, at first they were startled and intimidated by the challenge, too. But just imagine what you'll be able to learn....

Master Pinot Noir Like a Pro

At the Inn at Little Washington, the renowned Virginia country inn celebrating its 30th anniversary this month, wine has always played an important role. But in its early days, chef-owner Patrick O'Connell wasn't in a position to afford a full-time sommelier. So O'Connell got creative: He commanded each member of his dining room staff to become "the world's greatest expert" on a particular wine. After overcoming their initial intimidation, staffers would write or call the winery to consult with the winemaker about how "their" wine was made, and would taste "their" wine with different foods to determine its unique affinities.

Then, whenever a guest asked about "their" wine, that staff member would fly to the table to discuss it with pride. "And of course, each sounded like a genius," O'Connell recalled, "because they could talk about the grapes, the climate, the pebbles . . . whatever you wanted to know."

Now the inn boasts a 14,000-bottle cellar, and wine director Tyler Packwood estimates that fully half of the red wine served to guests is pinot noir. So we want to encourage readers to rise to O'Connell's challenge, starting with the most revered and food-friendly red grape around.

Your journey to become the world's greatest expert on pinot noir might resemble this path . . . [click here to read the rest of our column on The Washington Post's Web site].

P.S. Our deepest-pocketed readers won't want to miss the Inn at Little Washington's black-tie gala being held on April 9th at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. As reported in today's Washington Post, the "event includes a champagne reception with living tableaux by members of the Washington Ballet, a seven-course dinner, and a screening of an inn-produced documentary about the emergence of American cuisine." Ticket prices start at $575; for details, visit www.theinnatlittlewashington.com.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit Five & Alive, a non-profit organization that helps prevent and treat illnesses in children age five and under. Thirty pioneers will be honored for their instrumental role in the evolution of regional cuisine, from Thomas Jefferson to Julia Child and Craig Claiborne to Alice Waters and long-time Washington Post restaurant critic Phyllis Richman.

"Top-Selling Wine Books:
1) WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT
2) Windows on the World Complete Wine Course
3) The World Atlas of Wine
4) From Vines to Wines
5) The Wine Bible."

—Amazon.com (March 26, 2008)

Our Upcoming Schedule

Thursday, April 3, 2008 at 11 am ET

Join us as we discuss WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT with "Food Talk" host Mike Colameco on WOR Radio in New York City. Web: www.wor710.com.

Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 6:30 pm

We look forward to the 10th Annual Purdue University Black Tie Dinner in West Lafayette, Indiana, a fundraiser for Purdue University's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. We've been invited to deliver the evening's keynote address, and Purdue has graciously offered to give copies of WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT to attendees. www.purdueblacktie.com

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 — Karen (WCAS '83) will lead a conversation with uber-restaurateur Danny Meyer, CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Tabla, Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, The Modern, et al) and author of the New York Times bestseller SETTING THE TABLE: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business, at a private event hosted by Northwestern University in New York City.

July 4-6, 2008 — We have been invited to moderate a panel discussion on "The Future of Flavor" at the historic Gastronomy by the Seine festival being held in Paris, as the first-ever celebration of New American cuisine in the world's historic capital of gastronomy. Web: www.gastronomyfestivals.com

With the upcoming publication of our exciting new book THE FLAVOR BIBLE (Little, Brown; September 2008), we're especially happy to field requests for media interviews and speaking engagements. Please feel free to inquire with Little, Brown publicist Luisa Frontino or, of course, with us directly at DornenburgPage@aol.com.

Blogs: Ours and Others'

While we've still got highlights of several restaurant visits to add (including the Montauk Calamari a la Plancha at Ed Brown's new eighty one), we hope you'll check out our Blog for more on our recent visits to Janos Wilder's J-Bar and Janos in Tucson as well as Karen's behind-the-scenes shots of Chanterelle's chef-proprietor David Waltuck and his team preparing her Women's Campaign Forum gala dinner plus glimpses of our afternoon in the East Village checking out Ethiopian restaurants Awash and Meskel. (And the grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and the sliders are still not-t0-be-missed guilty gourmet pleasures at Gilt in Manhattan's New York Palace Hotel....)

What are your biggest restaurant peeves? New York magazine's long-time "Insatiable Critic" Gael Greene recently asked this of her readers, netting a slew of responses (including a few of our own) on her Web site www.insatiable-critic.com -- which was then referenced by New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni on his blog. Smart restaurateurs, take heed!

And the New York Post's Steve Cuozzo today suggests a possible cause behind the recent explosion in fine dining (e.g. from the new Dovetail and eighty one to the soon-to-open Fatty Crab, Salumeria, and Shake Shack) on Manhattan's Upper West Side: its influential residents. He notes that they include Frank Bruni, Gael Greene, and Nina and Tim Zagat, along with the top editors at all three leading national food magazines: Bon Appetit's Barbara Fairchild, Gourmet's Ruth Reichl, and Food & Wine's Dana Cowin.

"CULINARY ARTISTRY is an essential guide for any professional chef,
and a wealth of knowledge for any aspiring chef or home gourmet.
Of all the cookbooks I own, this is the one that I reference most."  
—Jenny McCoy, pastry chef, Emeril's Delmonico in New Orleans

"My Culinary Bibles: BECOMING A CHEF, CULINARY ARTISTRY, DINING OUT, Lessons in Excellence from Charlie Trotter, The Chef's Companion, Garlic and Sapphires."  
—Eric Low, award-winning chef in Singapore (March 23, 2008)

Our Readers Write

"I see you are continuing to be prolific and prosper..."
—Stephen Baum, author, What Made Jack Welch Jack Welch: How Ordinary People Become Extraordinary Leaders (which received a rave from Forbes.com here)

"I use two of your books (CULINARY ARTISTRY and WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT) as textbooks for an Advanced Culinary Arts class I teach at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California  (near Santa Cruz, just South of San Francisco).  I just started requiring both this semester, and it's going very well.  They are well received by the students. If you are ever in the SF Bay Area and have some free time I would love to have you come to the class and speak with the students...Love your books."
—Eric Carter, Director of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management at Cabrillo College in Aptos, California

"Just wanted to pass on congratulations on such a nice newsletter and  media tour — bravo!"
—Marcy Goldman, chef-author, www.betterbaking.com

"We met many years ago at Tabla when I was the Chef de Cuisine, and I have always been a huge fan of your books.  I am currently the chef of [CORE,] a private membership club here in NYC.  I have your book WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT and have really enjoyed it."
—Dan Kluger, executive chef, CORE in New York City

"Please keep 'Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer' [Andrew and Karen note: It's our #1 favorite show in Canada!] on your list if you are ever headed up to the West Coast of Canada! We have lots of new amazing places to graze…"
—Leslie Payne, senior producer, "Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer" in Vancouver

"It is good to hear from y'all. I have copied our dear friend Sarah Weddington [the history-making lawyer who argued and won Roe v. Wade] about your announcement [in our March 2008 eNEWS] about the event at Christie's [where Karen was a featured guest at a gala benefitting the Women's Campaign Fund]. We just spoke last week about doing a dinner party...We are looking forward to the many, many Texas stories that I know will be told. Be sure to meet her and give her our regards!"
—Bud Royer, proprietor, Royers Round Top Cafe in Round Top, Texas (which makes the best pecan pie on earth)

"Nobody rocks the house harder than you two!"
—Joshua Wesson, author of the forthcoming book Williams-Sonoma Wine with Food and Senior Director - Wine, Beer and Spirits, The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company

THE LAST WORD: Hope to have the pleasure of connecting with you soon!

Delicious wishes,
Andrew & Karen

Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page
527 Third Ave.  Suite 130
New York, NY  10016
Phone:  (212) 642-5870   
Email: DornenburgPage@aol.com
Web: www.becomingachef.com
Blog: www.becomingachef.com/blog.dwt.php