TheWino.net

German Bakery - Pune, India

In the Koregan Park area of Pune is the Osho meditation resort, beautiful green patches of trees surrounding some of the most ostentatious homes I've seen in Pune. One of the unique culinary stops in this area is the hippy haunt of vegetarian, German styled, health food. I wasn't at Osho for more than five minutes before I had multiple people mention this place.

While the chocolate cake type of dessert was amazing, the rest of my meal was only average, and I would say it's only worth the trip if you're looking for bakery items, need a break from Indian food and/or want to people watch the eclectic clientele.

Spring Vegetable Garden

It doesn't look like much but give it a couple of months and we will have more tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and eggplant than we personally can consume. The real beauty of it, beyond the health and natural order benefits, is it marks the beginning of a new season and the dawn of summer just around the corner. It's the rhythm of things like this that give one joy, and j certainly am no different.

On the Wagon

For the couple dozen of you who check TheWino regularly, I apologize for the lack of new posts.  It's not for a lack of new adventures or interest in the site but rather its for a dearth of interesting wine experiences to write about.  See, I'm on the wagon right now, attempting to cleanse my body of alcohol so I can experience it in a more pure manner in a couple of weeks.  Or at least that's the rationalization I tell myself to plug away.  At any rate, I will be back on a regular basis come July.  In the meantime enjoy the coming of Summer and remember that '06 was a terrible year for Northern California wines (too much rain concentrated in the early growing phase) so avoid that at all cost.

Organic Food & a '99 Tempranillo

I finished off a bottle of 1999 Campo viejo Tempranillo Reserva with a vegetarian dinner. I had a wonderful fallafel for lunch at Yumma's in San Francisco too, so it was a vegetarian day all around.

A Prune Brunch in New York City

I had a wonderful brunch this past Saturday in New York City at an 'in' brunch spot in the East Village called Prune.  The location was chosen by my cousin and his significant other, who had been interested in trying it out.

Ominvores Dilemma & In Defense of Food

I read a life changing book last year from author Michael Pollan called Ominvores Dilemma and am now reading his follow up In Defense of Food. Ominvores Dilemma is a look at the history of our food chain, following a standard four meals and how the industrialization of our food supply has changed our diet.  It also breaks down what Organic means and chronicles how 'sustainable' is the key to the long-term.  In Defense of Food breaks down how nutritionism has changed what it means to eat healthily, and that we've objectified food into nutrients, forgetting that an important diet is one with real foods, not processed ones.

Food poisoning at Taylor's Refresher at the Ferry Building?

Ok normally I wouldn't write about this but I'm still recovering from it and need to vent.  Yesterday a group of coworkers and I went to lunch at Taylor's Refresher at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.  I've eaten there dozens of times, and recently had fallen in love with their seared rare ahi burger.  It's topped with a wasabi style dressing and combined with a black & white shake and sweet potato fries makes for an outstanding lunch.  Yesterday I ordered precisely that and paid the price.  By 5 PM I had a severe upset stomach, and by 7 I was bedridden in agony much of the day.  While I normally wouldn't complain or place blame, I know Taylor's did something wrong b/c two of my colleagues experienced the same after eating Ahi Burgers.    

Red Wine Increases Endurance!

According to research that recently concluded that red wine reduces obesity in mice has also shown that it increases their endurance as well.  This was reported in the International Herald Tribune.  The specific natural drug is called Reservatrol.

Red Wine Increases Human Longevity?

In a study by researches at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging released yesterday, there is growing evidence that the natural compound of resveratrol may slow aging and block diseases associated with rich diets. 

"The significance of the study on a scale of 10 is 11 in the aging and longevity field," said Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., who didn't take part in it.  But he cautioned that the study didn't prove that resveratrol slows aging. That's because blocking the diseases associated with rich diets isn't the same as retarding general aging, which isn't considered a disease.

Wine Drinkers Healthier?

In an article from this month's Wine Spectator, a study that came out from the BMC Public Health, says that light or moderate drinking of wine was not associated with being overweight or obese.  According to the report, nondrinkers (those who consumed one or two drinks a day) were 54 percent and 41 percent, respectively, less likely to be obese. Furthermore the study showed that people who purchased wine often purchased less harmful foods, whereas beer drinkers purchased quick meals, highly processed foods.

Again though its studies like these that are often self selecting.  Meaning wine drinkers are already health conscious relative to the general population.  That said its good to see further confirmation that drinking wine, in moderation, can be (and should be) part of a healthy diet.