TaylorEason.com: Foodies unite

Tampa restaurant preview: Love’s Artifacts Bar and Grille

Taylor Eason — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:22:05 +0000

Lynn Love has crossed a threshold — a move that landed him in one of the least successful businesses in our country: Restaurants. A risky decision, at best, since the majority of new food establishments fail within the first five years. But I think he’s being watched over by someone… a guardian angel, the universe, Buddha, whatever.

Lynn spent the last

Former Kim Crawford winemaker, Jules Taylor, expands her own winery offerings

Taylor Eason — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:07:51 +0000

Strong women role models are not particularly myriad in the US wine business. More female winemakers have emerged in the past 20 years but they have a long way to go before they dominate. It happens more across the oceans than where the Women's Sufferage Movement began. Meet Jules Taylor, former winemaker from multiple award-winning New Zealand winery Kim Crawford Wines. And on her own label, Jules Taylor.

Wine review: Kim Crawford 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough

Taylor Eason — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:03:39 +0000

Overwhelming flavors, reminiscent of sucking on a key lime. Grapefruit and green herbs rush up the nose and onto the tongue. The acidity is almost too present -- the wine isn't as balanced or as smooth as other vintages.

Cheese and wine pairing: Idiazabal and Palarea 2005 Tinto

Raymond Hook — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:15:37 +0000

I am always cautious of wines with lots of oak, and more so of smoked cheeses. Smoked cheeses often taste fake, like liquid smoke, and all you can taste is the smoke. But there are always exceptions to the rules, like Idiazabal, a firm Spanish raw sheep’s milk cheese (like Manchego) from the Basque region.

Brew review of the Merlot of beers: Murphy’s Irish Red Ale

Robb Larsen — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:25:36 +0000

Irish Red Ales always remind me of Merlots, if the film “Sideways” had been about beer and not wine, Paul Giamatti would be snobbishly declaring “I am not drinking any Irish Red Ale” while Thomas Haden Church would be blissfully belching, “Tastes good to me“. The beer snobs may turn their nose up at this style, but the masses enjoy it. And rightfully so.

Wine review: Palarea 2005 Tinto Tierra del Castillo w/winemaker interview

Taylor Eason — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:14:11 +0000

Paul Clear is a brave, passionate man. He's been in the wine business since he was 18 and it only took him ten years to realize he wanted to make his own wine. But it wasn't like he jumped a plane to Cali, pumped some juice into a bottle and slapped his name on it. He's a hands-on, particular kind of guy.

eProvenance tracks a wine’s temperature from the winery to the cellar

Taylor Eason — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:33:32 +0000

The bane of most winemakers is not knowing what their creation will taste like in your glass. These creative beings spend countless hours babying a wine, only to have the distribution system muck it up somehow. Despite every earnest effort along the way from winery to table, high temperatures (especially in summer) can, and often do, ruin a perfectly good bottle of wine.

Tampa Bay restaurant news, discounts and deals: Ceviche, Cigar City Brewing, Mise en Place

Taylor Eason — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:39:11 +0000

The restaurant gossip, the news and the best ideas to save some cash at Tampa Bay area restaurants.

Italy’s vino reinvention: How wine has changed in the old country

Taylor Eason — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:00:29 +0000

The Italians love their traditions. Multi-course, carb-laden lunches scattered with wine bottles give way to the traditional mid-afternoon nap. It’s an enviable way to live and they’ve done so for millennia. But things are changing.

Interview with rising star Chef Hugh Atcheson from Empire State South

Raymond Hook — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:04:03 +0000

Rising star Chef Hugh Acheson talks about his new cookbook, his background and his love affair with wine and cheese.

The best websites for free groceries, restaurant meals and travel discounts

Matt Rutledge — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:00:58 +0000

Matt Rutledge tells us the best websites for grocery coupons, free restaurant meals and travel

Wine review: Los Alamos 2009 Malbec Mendoza

Taylor Eason — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:49:44 +0000

A darling of the critics for a few years now, this Los Alamos Malbec from Argentina's Mendoza region has one great thing going for it: It costs under $12, sometimes even under $10.

Coupon: Total Wine and More $5 off

Taylor Eason — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:35:03 +0000

Although it’s a category killer, Total Wine and More has some really good prices. Just go with some wines brands in mind and you’ll be fine. This coupon is good for $5 off a $50 purchase (excludes items ending in -7). Coupon good in New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, California and Nevada. Expires July 25, 2010.

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Brew review: Sierra Nevada’s Kellerweis Hefeweizen

Robb Larsen — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 14:11:53 +0000

The thought of Sierra Nevada brewing up an authentic Hefeweizen is met with skepticism and slight snickering amongst many beer geeks. Sierra Nevada brews some fantastic hoppy American Pale Ales and IPAs, particularly their award winning Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but they’re just not known for their wheat or German offerings. But the Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen really impresses.

Local Florida wine: Should Keel and Curley Winery be the road less traveled?

Taylor Eason — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:04:16 +0000

I will begrudgingly admit skepticism before I visited Tampa's local Plant City winery, Keel and Curley. It took me three years to accept the invite. Some colleagues in the wine business, who shall remain unnamed, scoffed and giggled, asking, "Blueberry wine...Really?" Despite their wine snobbish snubs, I reserved judgment and embarked on the long overdue trek to this charming Little Winery That Could. I didn't regret it.

Buying four great cheeses at Whole Foods for under $20

Raymond Hook — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:50:18 +0000

I was in Lower Manhattan heading to a small party, just 3 other people and me, and I hadn't made it back home to Brooklyn and my cheese stash. I am "Cheeseguy" and obviously expected to bring cheese. So I popped in to Whole Foods Tribeca and threw down my lofty request: I need four cheeses for a party and have a $20 dollar bill.

How to pick fresh and seasonal produce: Fruit

Taylor Eason — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:18:51 +0000

I'm embarrassingly excited by all things food (and drink, obviously). Like a corner bakery wafting its wares down the street, ripe, fresh fruit beckons with its heady, fragrant scent; it basically jumps into the cart. But how do you know if it's ripe for the eating, or stale and flavorless like styrofoam? My chef's compilation of poking, prodding and sniffing for the best fruit.

Tampa restaurant news: Chez Bryce closes its doors

Taylor Eason — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:20:21 +0000

Just got word this morning that Chez Bryce, the French-infused restaurant on Davis Islands, will close its doors on July 17th. Chef Bryce will continue on with a hopefully more recession-proof catering business, but I'm hoping his grilled romaine salad remains on that menu. The email sent this morning from Bryce Whittlesey, chef and

Drink what you like: Etiquette tips when bringing your own wine to restaurants

Taylor Eason — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:00:00 +0000

When dining out at a nice restaurant, those of us wine drinkers who don’t roll in the dough often have a painful decision to make: Buy a woefully inadequate bottle of $8 retail wine outrageously hiked up to $30, or splurge and suck up the $50 cost of a decent bottle.

Though not all restaurants add 300-400 percent to a wine’s

Wine review: Luchador 2007 Shiraz South Australia

Taylor Eason — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:37:01 +0000

I'd heard rumors about this wine before encountering it in my glass. Shazam, this is a BIG wine. Concentrated and inky (almost opaque) like a cup of espresso, except made with grapes. I think.