Daily Loaf

This week, life threw a massive curve ball at Creative Loafing Media. Taken over by the NYC-based hedge fund to whom we owed a ton of money, each employee processed the news in a different way: sadness, optimism, relief. Me? I got shit-faced. On great wine. I figured if my family’s legacy is going down [my parents founded Creative Loafing and my brother was CEO until last Tuesday], I should consume voluminous amounts of quality juice. Fast. However, the questioned remained … which ones? So many choices, so little time to race and get to the promised land.

Obviously, I needed something high in alcohol. These sorts of wines emerge from hot areas, where the grapes grow fat with sugar and the resulting wine has more punch (sugar converts to alcohol in fermentation). Napa, Sonoma, Barossa Valley (Australia), Washington State (yes, there are areas where it isn’t miserably rainy), and a host of other delicious choices for the perfect Zen state of non-thought. Read the rest of this entry »

Summer is the traditional time to travel, and what could be more fun than traveling with your entire family? OK, I heard that! Traveling with kids can be: exhilarating, anxiety-producing, joyous, excruciating, eye-opening, fearful and downright fun! Recently, my family and I spent a marvelous day in Venice. The other one. The one in Italy.

My family had a mission on this trip: to eat and then go to the great square of Piazza San Marco and play. Venice is overwhelmingly rich in museums, churches and history. Just taking the vaporetto, the city waterbus, down the Grand Canal allows one to see the great Gothic palazzi that fill so many postcards.

Getting lost in Venice is a fabulous experience: Every turn exposes new treasures, from beautiful door handles and exquisite glass chandeliers that often hang from the decorative ceilings on the noble (second) floor, to the beautiful and intricately carved water wells that are the focal point of even the smallest square. Venice is magnificent and, if you can, plan to spend at least four days reveling in its beauty.

We only had one day for this trip. Read the rest of this entry »

I have adorable twin nieces. As they’ve gotten older, I can tell them apart by personality (and each helpfully favors either purple or pink), but when they were tiny tots, it wasn’t as easy. One birthmark differentiated them and served as my twin detector for many years.

If only Italian wines were as easy. They have this fascinatingly confusing twin situation – two wines labeled Montepulciano [MON teh pool CHAH no]. From two different regions. Made from two different grapes. It’s about as mystifying as how identical DNA can produce different personalities. But, like the time when I finally called the twins by the right names, it’s satisfying when you learn to appreciate the differences. Read the rest of this entry »