City getting tough for Beacon Pub Crawl

BEACON, NY -- Formal pub crawls sometimes can get a bit messy. With that in mind, Mayor Steve Gold has formed an advisory committee to make recommendations about the annual Beacon Pub Crawl.

Gold told local media that the Dutchess County city will do other things to make sure the event goes without incident. All Beacon police officers will be on duty for the day, and the State Liquor Authority will have representatives on hand for the Saturday, 13, event.

The Pub Crawl, usually held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, March 17, allows participants to tour participating restaurants and bars for special offers. Money raised from the admission bracelets is given to a Beacon family in need.

The average crowd is about 1,000. However,m] last year's event drew an estimated 5,000, and complaints of rowdiness were filed with city officials. Several hundred people were involved in fights, and 16 people ranging in age from 16 to 29 were arrested.

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Upstate restaurant's wine list goes NY-only

LeROY, NY -- A common complaint about the vast majority of restaurants in the state is the rarity, or total absence, of New York wines on their menus.

That's what makes the decision by restaurateur Sean Valdes so newsworthy.

He has just begun offering nothing but New York wines in his D&R Depot Restaurant.

Valdes says he believes his establishment may be the only one outside the Finger Lakes to make such a move.

"We figured out that we could do year-around reds and year-around whites from New York," Valdes told The Batavian newspaper. "New York wines are seasonal, so we choose larger vineyards and different choices that we could get all year around, but ones that wouldn't be so different -- not the peaches and the apricots -- not my crowd. Pretty much the standards."

Why the switch?

"I think it's a neat thing. It's a niche market. It's always good to be local and it's what we strive for anyway, so this is a neat thing to fit in with that. And they're different. Even the Riesling that you get from New York has a little bit different flavor than you would get from California or France or Australia," he explained.

The Genesee County restaurant is located in a onetime railroad depot building at 63 Lake Street (Route 19). Phone: (585) 768-6270.

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St. Patrick's meadfest at Montezuma

SENECA FALLS, NY -- Montezuma Winery & Hidden Marsh Distillery is planning a St. Patrick’s Day mead wine weekend, March 13-14.

Mead, an ancient drink made from water, yeast and honey, can be produced in a variety of styles ranging from sweet to dry.

Montezuma’s meads include sparkling honey, traditional semi-sweet honey, traditional sweet honey, cherry melomel and raspberry melomel.

Visitors will be able to see how mead is made and sample all Montezuma mead wines, paired with a variety of Irish food.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Admissions is $3 per person, or free for Case Club members and one guest each.

The winery is located at 2981 Auburn Road (corners of Routes 89 and 5/20). Phone: (315) 568-8190.

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'30 Most Important Restaurants' rated

Interested in eating at the best -- or at least top-rated -- places in town, depending on which town you plan to visit?

The annual "30 Most Important Restaurants in the United States," compiled by the online guide Opinionated About Dining, lists Thomas Keller's French Laundry in the Napa Valley, CA, and Per Se in New York as the tops this year.

An even dozen of the top 30 are in New York State.

The annual survey was conducted between September 1, 2009, and January 8 of this year. It is based on more than 29,000 rankings from about 1,900 respondents.

The list is composed of restaurants that earn a rating of at least 95 points in the Opinionated About Dining guide.

This was the second straight top finish for the French Laundry with a perfect score of 100. Per Se scored 99.73 to rank second.

The full survey, which examines 1,000 restaurants throughout the United States, will be released March 1. Here, however, is the Top 30 list:

1. The French Laundry, Yountville, CA, 100
2. Per Se, New York, 99.73
3. Masa, New York, 99.00
4. Manresa, Los Gatos, Calif., 98.53
5. Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Pocantico Hills, NY, 98.50
6. Mini-Bar, Washington, DC, 98.48
7. Urasawa, Beverly Hills, CA, 98.43
8. Jean Georges, New York, 98.30
9. Alinea, Chicago, 97.78
10. Corton, New York, 97.53
11. McCrady's, Charleston, SC, 97.50
12. Le Bernardin, New York, 97.17
13. Sushi Yasuda, New York, 97.08
14. Guy Savoy, Las Vegas, 97.00
15. Schwa, Chicago, 96.71
16. Kuruma Sushi, New York, 96.43
17. Eleven Madison Park, New York, 96.27
18. Momofuku Ko, New York, 96.26
19. Komi, Washington, DC, 96.11
20. (tie) Cyrus, Healdsburg, CA, 95.93
20 (tie) Providence, Los Angeles, 95.93
22. Marinus, Carmel, CA, 95.81
23. Town House, Chilhowie, VA, 95.73
24. Coi, San Francisco, 95.72
25. Hugo's, Portland, ME, 95.66
26. Bouley, New York, 95.45
27. Aubergine, Carmel-By-the-Sea, CA, 95.39
28. L' Atelier de Joel Robuchon, New York, 95.28
29. O Ya, Boston, 95.16
30. Elements, Princeton, NJ, 95.04.

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Heron Hill pushing the arts

[Photo by Dixon Schwabl]
HAMMOMDSPORT, NY -- Heron Hill Winery is getting artsy. Not just with its wines, but with its sponsorship of the arts.

The company will be a sponsor of "Benches On Parade," a summer-long community arts project that will showcase local talent while raising funds for local not-for-profit programs presented by Nazareth College and produced by Dixon Schwabl.

Heron Hill's bench will be the largest in the program that will dot the region with custom-painted benches, and will be painted by artist Philip Burke (above). His subject: locally-raised musician Chuck Mangione.

Burke is best known for his caricatures on the covers of Rolling Stone magazine.

The benches will be displayed around the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes region from May through summer's end, then auctioned off. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Nazareth College Arts Center, Rochester City Ballet, New York Wine & Culinary Center and an additional non-profit designated by the high bidders.

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Natural wine conference set for NYC

NEW YORK -- The 6th annual Natural Wine Event is set for Saturday, March 6, at the Astor Center in New York City.

In addition to tastings of more than 20 such wines, a series of short seminars will be held throughout the afternoon.

The scheduled speakers are natural winemakers Tony Coturri of Sonoma, CA, and Alain Rochard of Minervois, France, and Andy Fisher, president of Astor Wines & Spirits and Astor Center.

Wineries to be featured include:

• Chemins de Bassac from Languedoc-Roussillon
• Colombaia from Tuscany, Italy
• Olivier Cousin from the Loire (Anjou/Saumur)
• Domaine des Deux Anes from Languedoc-Roussillon (Corbières)
• Le Loup Blanc from Languedoc-Roussillon (Minervois)
• Ch. Tire Pé from Bordeaux
• Coturri from Sonoma, CA

The Astor Center, dedicated to food and wine education and events, is located at 399 Lafayette Street at East 4th Street in Manhattan. Phone: (212) 674-7501. Tickets are $15 each, and can be purchased online.

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