"le bernardin" news and stories

In Greenport, N.Y., about 100 miles outside of New York on Long Island, Mike Osinski farms oysters on the upper reaches of the Peconic Bay. His bivalves, called Widow's Holes after the pond outside of his house, end up on the menus at some of the city's best restaurants. One of these, the Mermaid Inn, organized a trip to Widow's Hole earlier this week to shed some light on "Everything Oysters": how they're farmed, harvested, shucked and, most importantly, eaten.

Osinski, a former computer programmer who started his Widow's Hole Oyster Company in August 2004, proved an amiable and knowledgeable guide, regaling his students with oyster history while his three Labrador retrievers lolled about near empty oyster cages and the Shelter Island ferry cut a lazy swath through the Greenport Bay waters once home to no less than 30 oyster companies.

In just two years as the sommelier and wine director at New York's world-renowned Le Bernardin restaurant, 37-year-old Aldo Sohm has become a wine world heavyweight, having been recognized as "Best Sommelier in the World" in 2008 and earlier this month for "Best Wine Service" at the James Beard Awards. Trained in his native Austria, Sohm came to the United States to improve on his then "dumpy" English so he could better compete at wine competitions. We caught up with Sohm this morning to chat about the unwritten rule of pairing fish with white wine, which vino goes well with grilled salmon and that other reason why he now lives in America.

How did you become a sommelier?

Ever since I was little I had a thing of smelling food and wines. At first I didn't really like wine when I entered the industry. This was [when I was ] 16 or 17. People in the restaurant would ask me what you could recommend and I didn't know and thought this was embarrassing. [Then] I went on a wine trip with my father -- he invited me. I was 20 and I saw it, and it was kind of interesting and just went from there.

You said you moved to the United States to improve your English, but I get the sense there was another reason?

Austrians love to complain. I hate to complain so I figured it is easier to change a country than to change myself.

More about pairing rules -- and how to break them -- after the jump.

Is it bad that I haven't visited any of the top 50 restaurants in the world? Not even once?

I guess it's not surprising, considering only 8 of the top 50 are here in the United States and none are near me. Thomas Keller's The French Laundry in Yountville, CA is the top U.S. restaurant at #4. Other U.S. spots include Per Se, Jean Georges, Le Bernardin, Charie Trotter's, Daniel, Alinea, and Chez Panisse. The top restaurant is El Bulli in Spain (the site also lists restaurants 51 to 100).

I really have to get out more.

[via Gastronomic Fight Club]

Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in mid-town Manhattan will be opening two new restaurants in the Caribbean. The two, to be called Blue and Periwinkle at the new Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, will be seafood restaurants, like Le Bernardin. Blue will be fine-dining and Periwinkle will be a casual restaurant.

The new $440 million Ritz-Carlton will be a 144-acre luxury resort that is scheduled to open in late fall. Ripert has asked Le Bernardin's sous chef, Richard Brower to serve as chef de cuisine for both restaurants. In order to ensure quality standards, Ripert also plans to fly to the restaurants in the Caribbean with a whole team every month. From Manhattan to the Caribbean once a month? What a life!