Happy (belated) birthday Byron
Author: admin
Three day escape to Italian wine country
At the start of the year, I bought a QoQa experience, consisting of 3 days, 2 nights in Castiglione Faletto at Il Torre, a really nice hotel, and also including a gourmet 4 course meal and a wine tasting at a local vineyard. Getting there (and back) was a 5h journey each way, with lots of beautiful scenery and… roadworks everywhere. The highway toll system in Italy takes some getting used to, but we managed.
Once we got there, we parked the car and started on the serious business of eating and drinking. The Cantina Communale was nice, but overpriced (seriously!). Dinner that evening was gorgeous, but they killed us with food. After the pasta course, we were already both full, and there were still mains and dessert to come. We struggled through the mains but conceded defeat to pudding. Katy is now officially obsessed with braised veal cheeks in wine. Then… grappa. Oooooh, grappa. It’s a good thing that the restaurant was literally next door to the hotel, otherwise we wouldn’t have made it.
The next day, after breakfast, we walked down into Barolo. We took the goat pass that the hotel had kindly told us to avoid by car, as a shortcut. The scenery was gorgeous. The flies though…. FUEGO!! (didn’t want to keep swearing, so I’d just yell fuego randomly). We stopped at Vite Colte on the way into Barolo and had a tasting of some very nice wines, then carried on towards the old town.
Katy was not impressed with the incline getting into Barolo. Expletives were heard. We were happy to see that the corkscrew museum was open – according to their website, it shouldn’t have been. We then visited the WiMu wine museum, which was really interesting, then had coffee and ice cream before trying to locate the cab we’d pre-booked to get back up the hill to Castiglione for our wine tasting at Monchiero. The wines were nice, but the highlight of that visit was the handmade salame!!
We went back to the hotel, had a nap, and then got ready for dinner at Convino. They again killed us with food, but more gently as we shared the plate of the pasta course. But still so.much.food!!! Katy fell in love with our waitress. She must think we’re completely bonkers.
On Friday morning, we had breakfast, checked out, went to pick up a few cartons of wine from Vite Conte and headed for a quick visit to Marolo – a grappa distillery – for a quick purchase, then Alba before heading home. Sadly, we just missed the opening of the Alba white truffle festival by a day, but it is what it is. We left at 12:30 and made it back to Family Dog in time to pick up a very happy (and very tired) Byron then finally made it back home.
Lausanne Art Fair 2023
We went to the Lausanne Art Fair in Lausanne last weekend. As usual, there’s always a ton of stuff I’d love to be able to put up on our walls, but we lack the wall space (and the funds) to make it happen. Some pieces are really good value for being large originals. Some…less so, but still beautiful to look at. Here are some of the standouts.
Top left to bottom right: Harold Hermann (photographer), Malo (photographer), Stephane Gautier (mixed media), Antoine Josse (painter), Joel Moens de Hase (digital art), Eka Peradze (acrylic), Bernard Saint-Maxens (mixed media), Leo Manelli (digital pop art), Vincent Duchene (sculpture), Rudi Morandini (sculpture), S.Kristol (sculpture,digital art)
[Gallery] Malo
Malo is a French photograph artist, who puts his work at the service of a story… Through his photo series, he questions life, family, society, in a way that moves people, and don’t leave them unconcerned. His work, that he calls himself as participative, questions the audience, whom, from spectator, becomes the actor of an exchange between himself and the artist; even an introspection. If the form and content are intimately linked, graphic and technics choices are made to serve the story that he tells us, as a translation of the questions that he brings and asks us.
[gallery] Antoine Josse
Antoine Josse is a French artist, born in 1970. His paintings and sculptures express an irrepressible desire for lightness, escapism and to be able to dream the impossible. The use of captivating and revealing motifs, along with the presence of human beings immersed in a dream-like landscape, convey a unique charm to his work. His paintings are alluring for their atmosphere, evocative colours, and tumultuous skies. The minuscule beings are settled in a desolated and dangerous world where the vegetation rapidly spreads, bringing to life dramatic reds, blues, and greens, creating spectacular yet enigmatic feelings.
He comments, “I imagine my paintings and sculptures as the moments of a story and it’s up to you to create the whole story. There are several different scenarios, and that’s what I appreciate: the diversity of your looks. You are an actor of this exhibition: Look! Imagine! Speak! Exchange your opinions! A work exists only by the spectator’s gaze, my paintings exist only thanks to your imagination.”
For almost 20 years, Antoine Josse has exhibited his works all over the world, from his native Brittany (in France) to Normandy, Paris, London, Switzerland, Chile, Stockholm, Luxembourg, and New York.
[gallery] Eka Peradze
My pictures are in the whole world, in the private collections of some well-known people. I have exposed my work in many countries of the world. All my expositions had one purpose: love, friendship, charity. Each exposition in my country is dedicated to help the poor and I think to continue doing the same in future.
I am mother of 5 children and live in Berlin with my family.
It makes me happy that my art reaches so many people in the world! Art is what connects us all.
[gallery] Bernard Saint-Maxens
Bernard Saint-Maxent is self-taught, which allowed him to follow his own ideas in the choice of materials and to integrate all new kinds of elements into his creations. His current work revolves around the pranks of an omnipresent slender character with a joie de vivre. He gives movement and life to his sculptures. His inspiration comes from the burlesque scenes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, from current events to advertising, from the contradictions of modern life and from his own delusions. Even if the subjects he addresses do not always make you smile, they are nevertheless treated with humor and joie de vivre.
He strives to attract attention and then reflection. Each sculpture is different and “unique” because there is no casting. They are created with a metal structure around which he models with resin and then applies a varnish. After a day he applies two coats of bronze paint and after another day he finishes with a patina that looks like bronze. Bernard believes that art should be light and should bring pleasure.
Bernard Saint Maxent has exhibited extensively in Europe. His work has been exhibited in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto and New York with Linda Blackstone, with whom he has been associated since 2008. His work appears to appeal to an international quirky sense of humor, and Bernard enjoyed selling out shows during this time.
[gallery] Leo Manelli
Leo Manelli is an artist who merges classical paintings with anachronistic elements of art and luxury to create lively artworks that mingle times and cultures. Ace of realistic painting, the talented artist reproduces meticulously masterful paintings, often from the greatest museum collections, and takes them over to create a bridge between centuries. Manelli’s art meets a growing success with the art lovers anywhere in the world. Leo Manelli lives and works in the province of Firenze, Italy.
[recipe] Fettucini with lemon scallop cream sauce
450g scallops
50g salted butter
Zest of 1 lemon
1 red onion, chopped finely
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
100ml cream
1 handful baby spinach
¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
Fresh ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese, for the garnish (optional)
Cook the pasta: Start a pot of well salted water to a boil. Boil the pasta until it is just al dente. Start tasting a few minutes before the package recommends: you want it to be tender but still a little firm on the inside; usually around 7 to 8 minutes. Drain the pasta. (If it finishes before the sauce, add it back to the pot with a drizzle of olive oil so it doesn’t stick.)
Brine the scallops (10 minutes): Meanwhile, in a shallow dish, mix together 4 cups room temperature water and 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Place the scallops in the water and wait for 10 minutes.
Sear the scallops: Remove the scallops and dry thoroughly. Lightly season with a several pinches kosher salt. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. If using a medium skillet, cook the scallops in two batches. Once the oil is hot, add the scallops and cook without turning for 2 to 3 minutes, until an even brown crust clearly forms on bottom.
Flip scallops with tongs. Cook additional 2 to 3 minutes on the other side, until a crust just forms on bottom and the center of the scallop is almost opaque. Remove the scallops from the skillet to a plate and turn off the heat.
Make the sauce: Turn on the heat to low. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Add the lemon zest, minced onion, ginger and chopped tarragon. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release flavor from any browned bits stuck to the pan.
Add the cream, pasta, kosher salt, and spinach and return the heat to medium; cook until greens are wilted. Return the scallops to the pan and cook for a few seconds until just warm. Add lots of fresh ground black pepper. Taste and add additional salt if necessary. Serve with drizzle of olive oil and if desired, grated Parmesan cheese.
19 years ago…
