Foodie Lifestyle

Bacio Divino Pazzo 2005, Napa Red Wine

Imtiaz Patel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:46:09 +0000

Here is another wine I purchased based on an email from The Wine Library. The review sounded great, rating was 91 from Robert Parker and the price seemed right so I purchased a case. I opened a couple of bottles at my election night party. The wine had a great bouquet and full flavored fruity taste. [...]

Astrale E Terra Arcturus, 2002, Meritage

Imtiaz Patel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:38:03 +0000

I recently purchased 6 bottles of this wine from a daily email I get from The Wine Library. It scored 93 points from Wine Enthusiast. I am always on the look out highly rated good value wines. A few days after buying the wine I was making a beef stew with port and wine and [...]

J L Ivy, Princeton

Imtiaz Patel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 00:01:17 +0000

JL Ivy is a pretty new restaurant in Princeton. The restaurant has a 3 1/2 star rating from The Star Ledger so things looked pretty promising. After finding my way to the restaurant, which wasn’t so easy due to confusion over a detour due to road works, I was looking forward to dinner because the [...]

Degustation, NYC

Imtiaz Patel — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 13:15:03 +0000

Before I discuss my experience at Degustation, I have to make a confession - Grace Lamb who owns this place has been a friend of mine for over 10 years, well before her restaurant days started with the amazing Jewel Bako. Having said that, my review would probably be the same regardless of who owned [...]

Lobster and Pea Shoots with BUtter Fried Garlic & Ginger

Imtiaz Patel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:59:20 +0000

I made this recently for our White Burgundy wine tasting. It turned out to be quite a hit with everyone. I had never made lobster before so I was particularly proud of how it turned out. The recipe itself is pretty easy and really quite tasty. The recipe is from Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Total Time: 35 Mins Ingredients: Two [...]

Oktoberfest, with a Difference

Imtiaz Patel — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:21:15 +0000

Last night we got together for our wine club again, though this time we decided on Oktoberfest as our theme and went with beers. Since we’re not sticklers for “rules” we stretched the concept and went with beers, not necessarily German and the German food was not exactly German either. Our core group includes the Pandya’s [...]

Ganges, Princeton Junction, NJ

Imtiaz Patel — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:51:30 +0000

I recently joined a number of my work colleagues for lunch at nearby Ganges. Generally, I have a pretty poor opinion of Indian restaurants in the area. The food usually is pretty underwhelming, bland and appears to be put together by non chefs - cooks who know the ingredients but really can’t cook well, they [...]

11 Madison, New York

Imtiaz Patel — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:55:19 +0000

I recently went back to 11 Madison for lunch after an absence of 3 years. I had been a number of times previously since I worked just around the corner but now that I work in New Jersey I just don’t get into the city as much, though I hope to rectify that. From the [...]

Celler De L`encastell Marge 2006

Imtiaz Patel — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:28:00 +0000

If you have kept up with my blogs on wine, you will know that I absolutely love Spanish Priorats. I discovered Priorats about a year ago and just fell in love. I now have a decent collection of Priorat’s. It really is my favorite right now. The problem has been that these wines are typically [...]

White Burgundy Tasting

Imtiaz Patel — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:51:18 +0000

We had another wine club get together last night at Leen & Johan’s place. As is customary, your place, your choice of wine and food. After deliberations that seemed to have gone on for an eternity, Leen finally decided on White Burgundy. I am not really into white wine, more of a red wine snob, [...]