Food & Wine March 2020

PINHOOK RYE HUMOR, 2018 EDITION ($37) Sean Josephs’ New York restaurants Maysville and Char No. 4 were acclaimed for their outstanding whiskey programs. Now, as Pinhook’s master taster, he’s bottling this excellent rye, which is full of toasty spice notes. 2016 ARCHERY SUMMIT VIRETON PINOT GRIS ($24) I loved the bountiful nectarine and golden apple fruit in this Oregon white, all laced up with zippy acidity and a flinty note on the finish—it went spectacularly well with fresh Long Island swordfish. 2016 VINCENT GIRARDIN SANTENAY TERRE D’ENFANCE ($39) I tasted this tea-leafy red Burgundy in the F&W wine room in New York City right before press time and was impressed by both its deep core of black-cherry flavor and its impeccable balance.…

New Roots IN THE SUMMER OF 1990, MY MOM moved my brother, sister, and me from Atlanta to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As we acclimated to our new home, my 12-year-old brain was preoccupied with little more than playing basketball and Tom Petty’s album Full Moon Fever. Restaurateur Vansana (Van) Nolintha also moved to North Carolina when he was 12—to Greensboro, about 50 minutes down the road from Chapel Hill. But his move, and his preoccupations, were worlds away from mine, taking him 8,000 miles from Luang Prabang, Laos, where he was born—and where his mother, father, and sister stayed behind. While I fretted, post-relocation, about passing seventh-grade Latin, Nolintha set to learning English, attending school while working a few days a week at his host family’s Japanese and Chinese restaurants. A…

THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE about Pardis Stitt is how her eyes read the room. As she glides through Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega, and Chez Fonfon in Birmingham, Alabama, her eyes drink in every detail, assimilating data, informing her most crucial next moves. Ambassador, choreographer, coach, counselor—Pardis plays many roles in the restaurants she co-owns with her husband, James Beard Award–winning chef Frank Stitt. But while Frank focuses his attention on what’s on the plate, Pardis nurtures and protects something every bit as nuanced and intentional: the welcoming ambience that is the beating heart of their small-but-mighty restaurant dynasty. Here, she shares how she creates a team of A-level hosts. WHAT DOES HOSPITALITY MEAN TO YOU? Hospitality isn’t something I spend a lot of time strategizing about; it’s more of a…

I THOUGHT MY F&W COLLEAGUE Melanie Hansche was crazy for ordering oyster sauce by the case—until she gave me a bottle of Megachef Premium Oyster Sauce to try at home. As soon I popped the cap off the bottle, I began to understand. Whether or not you’ve cooked with it, you’ve probably had oyster sauce. It’s a key ingredient in Cantonese food, used for velveting proteins. (And yes, it contains oysters.) Most versions I’d tried were along the lines of the heavy brown sauce in Chinese takeout; Megachef had a salty, satisfying flavor that was unexpectedly vivid and clean-tasting. I started using it to finish all kinds of dishes, especially vegetables. Chinese culinary expert Grace Young, another fan of Megachef, associates its rich, satisfying flavor with Cantonese foods from her childhood: “My…

TUCKED AWAY The latest look for 2020? Appliances that disappear into your kitchen. Kitchen necessities are increasingly embedded into nooks and crannies for a more spacious, streamlined effect. Miele’s stainless steel 43-inch Ceiling Extractor ($2,600, mieleusa.com) has a vent that’s flush with the ceiling, making it largely unnoticeable. The Wolf Vacuum Seal Drawer ($2,965, subzero-wolf.com)—used to prepare food for sous vide or for preserving leftovers—comes in the standard sizes of 24 or 30 inches. The handleless, push-to-open drawer, which is available in stainless steel, black glass, or a custom-panel finish, installs discreetly with the adjacent cabinetry. Then there are the kitchen systems that generate a single, cohesive look. Shape, a new design from Poliform (poliform.com), uses the same inset handles across all of its cabinetry, allowing integrated appliances to be hidden behind…

MAEGAN BLAU SPENT HER CHILDHOOD constantly rearranging her bedroom and repainting her bathroom, a harbinger of her future as an interior designer. In 2009, she became a wheelchair user when a spinal cord injury left her as a person with quadriplegia. After renovating and adapting her first home to meet her accessibility needs, she founded Blue Copper Design, a studio that specializes in adaptive interior design. Blau creates a sense of belonging and welcome, as well as agency and access, especially for people who love to cook and entertain. Here’s how that works. JT: Where did the name Blue Copper come from? MB: My last name, Blau, means blue in German. I was going through a hardcore copper and rose gold phase. Also, I love Arizona and Southwestern design, and copper to…