S. Irene Virbila
S. Irene Virbila is a former restaurant critic and wine columnist for the Los Angeles Times. She left in 2015.
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After a week in the Beaujolais countryside drinking only cru Beaujolais, Paris and its free-spirited and eclectic wine bars beckoned.
Thomas Keller’s recipe for blini made from Yukon Gold potatoes. Blinis can be topped with crème fraîche and caviar.
According to Alice Waters in the “Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook,” whenever legendary chef Jeremiah Tower made blini at Chez Panisse, he’d recount how his Russian uncle felt about butter.
In Bologna where Steve Samson’s mother, Anna, grew up, tortellini is the dish of celebration, part of the meal at every special occasion — birthdays, weddings, even New Year’s Eve.
There are many things you could drink with your New Year’s Eve supper, but if you’re making an Italian feast, you would do well to ring out the last day of the year with Lambrusco.
If you’ve ever tried to buy wine through a smartphone app, you’ll know how sluggish and frustrating the experience can be.