LYRA MAG.

La Sirena /Maritime Hotel ( yes on the list)  Perfect weather, combined with a spacious outdoor setting (the Cabanas) -Rhone Valley wines (new releases, white, reds, rosés), Italian fare -and hosts Wine Enthusiast's celebratory best 100 restaurants issues= a pretty perfect Monday evening. Terroirs Press/professionals in the biz gathered for an interesting pre-tasting panel on trends in restaurants -and their wine lists-food, customer wants, and we would say updated attitudes about all of the aforementioned. WE Food Editor Nils Bernstein on far right hosted the round table...(l-r)  Four Horsemen (Brooklyn) and Executive Chef. Nick Curtola (from that borough's popular Franny's),  Victoria James, Chef Sommelier at Piora -a certified sommelier at 20 years old and winner of Ruinart Sommelier Competition  and  Best Sommelier of Languedoc-Roussillon - and an author-of a book celebrating Rosé (now 26!!!), and far left- Michaël Engelmann, MS, Wine Dir...

via GIPHY Oui, Oui...French Fries gone gourmet...by The Smith Restaurant...Fries with brandied mushroom aioli, white truffle, melange peppercorns Competition of sorts...but honestly---french fries cooked professionally are always  really good to great...especially when paired with selections of wines from southwest France.

#VINOFRIES The First Annual Southwest Wines of France Gourmet French Fries Competition Presented by WINE ENTHUSIAST cork it--- or finish it ... showed off the versatility of the wines...and the variety... the setting... West 36th Street/NYC SURE----the thought of fried foods...conjures up visions of the body's arteries, shutting down-one at a time---but when the SOPEXA email invite for the first annual, Wine Enthusiast hosted, SOUTHWEST WINES of FRANCE-Gourmet French Fries Competition arrived- oui, oui we thought----as cutting down the chances of a heart attack-like the French do- with good French red wine=very appealing!!!! Southwest France-which we know from Toulouse jaunts-Mid-Pyréneés region-incorporates  wide variety soils and sites-hence quite the diversity in wine styles+flavors-from the sea-temperate maritime + Mediterranean influences , sunny gently rolling hills, plains, and the high elevation Massic Central-mixes of micro-climates, temps, win...