Is it just me, or does the intensity to eat and drink well intensify during the summer? I chalk it up to the fact that people are generally feeling more social and convivial during the warmer months. After all, with all of the hanging out pool side; summer holidays; picnics; celebrations; and gatherings, food and drink are often a natural focus to kick up the fun levels a notch or three.
Either that, or I’m an ardently passionate, self-confessed food, wine, and cocktail fiend.
Hey, whichever explanation works for you will work for me.
In any case, I’ve been coming across a ton of awesome recipes and champagne & food news lately, so for this week’s round-up I’m sharing a few of the most exciting tidbits with you, so that you this weekend you can make your own champagne mojito; get resos for a decadently divine champagne brunch at a renown restaurant hot spot; get things cooking in the kitchen; or plan a vacay jaunt down to Florida to eat with a Top Chefs star.
1.) Nobu’s is Good Booze
Nobu is a renown just as much for it’s decadent food as it is for it A-list celebrity clientele. So it should come as no surprise that when Nobu at the {soon to open in Fall 2016} luxurious Eden Roc Hotel in Miami decided to launch a Sunday brunch it pulled out all the indulgent stops, including “A-list” champagne {they are serving one of my favorites–Krug!} to go along with the food.
Along with the A-list celebs, food, and bubbly, of course, is an A-list price to match. As Bryan Toshi Shinohara of Nobu states “I think it’s as luxurious as you can get for brunch.”
I think I might need to try to figure out a way to attend this fabulous feast and judge Mr. Shinohara’s assessment for myself {wink}.
2.) A Top Chef + Bubbly + Bivalves
Josie Smith-Malave of Bravo’s Top Chef fame is opening her 1st restaurant in Wilton Manors {Palm Beach}, Florida, as she says that the menu will be a “celebration of all things decadent and delicious.”
Now how can you possibly resist a description like that?
The name of the new concept is “Bubbles & Pearls” and it will specialize in exactly what the name implies–bubbly and bivalves, including {reason #1 why I’m excited about this} $1 oysters. If you’re an oyster lover like me, you know paying $3+ per oyster is par for the course, so knowing I can get some fab ones for a buck is a real coup.
Wondering what reason #2 is why I’m excited about Bubbles and Pearls? Because they will serve all kinds of bubbly, including “lesser-known sparkling wines such as espumante and sekt.”
Culinary Nirvana in my book.
3.) Drinking Watermelon…and Champagne
Beyonce may or may not have something to do with it’s rise popularity, but whatever the case may be watermelon is definitely having a shining moment this summer, especially when it comes to combining it with champagne.
I’ve run across quite a few articles touting watermelon and champagne as the drink of the summer {like here, here, here}, including this article on Yahoo Style that states “Watermelon champagne dethroned rosé as the ultimate summer drink.” Hmmm, not quite sure if cosign on that, but in any case it’s an ideal, fun sip for the blazing summer days.
In case you need more convincing, whenever a large champagne house like Moet decides to throw its hat into the ring on a trend {inspired by this post from the blog Diane, A Broad perhaps?}, you’ve got to know there must be something to it!
Oh, and revisiting that Beyonce angle for a moment, if you want your watermelon sans champagne {*audible gasp*} the business mogul still has got you covered: WTRMLN WTR is a cold-pressed beverage made of watermelon that touts a slew of health benefits. The singer seems to truly be drunk in love with the product {you see what I did there?} as she owns a percentage of the company founded by entrepreneurs Jody Levy and Harlan Berger.
4.) Let’s Get Things Cooking
The popularity of sparkling wine and champagne has been skyrocketing in popularity over the last couple of years–especially in England and the US– and it seems that our intrigue with drinking it has crossed over to interest in cooking with it.
Glass of Bubbly Magazine has list of recipes made with bubbly, including this luscious Salmon with Prosecco Sauce, a recipe by famed Italian Chef Lidia Bastianich found on the website Foodschmooze.org.
And we all know that champagne pairs well with shellfish, but how about champagne cooked with your shellfish? Here is a recipe for Champagne Poached Oysters, King Crab topped with Osetra Caviar.
So there you have it–this week’s Fizzy Friday Fab Four Links should be more than enough to keep you happily occupied, yes? Yes! Happy Weekend!