For tonight’s concert of incidental music from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Mendelssohn and Orff’s Carmina Burana, I decided to bring along a couple of 2004 wines: a Late Disgorged Brut from Domaine Carneros and a Ridge Lytton Springs. Both are drinking damn well. No matter how many times I drink “older” Lytton Springs, I … Continue reading
For last Thursday’s all Tchaikovsky concert at the Hollywood Bowl, I had the pleasure of sitting next to Hadley and Tatiana of Grub Street Los Angeles. They’re wonderful people — I say this for a great variety of reasons, only one of which is their willingness to share with me some of their wine: a … Continue reading
Happy Friday. More importantly, Happy National Scotch Day. No, seriously, it’s National Scotch Day — for real. If you didn’t know that, you’ve admittedly lost a good chunk of your opportunity to celebrate on the actual day of honour (see what I did there by putting a “u” in, just like the Scots do?). Good … Continue reading
I don’t remember the first time I had foie gras, but I definitely know when and where I fell in love with it: it was at Water Grill in Downtown LA, right before the turn of the New Millenium. Michael Cimarusti had taken over the kitchen from Allyson Thurber a year or two before. On this … Continue reading
Exactly one year ago today, All is Yar was born. Many heartfelt thanks to the musicians, writers, composers, music fans, wine drinkers, mixology enthusiasts, and all of you who have read and continue to read my reviews and musings. In the past year, this blog has grown bigger and faster than I would have imagined. It’s … Continue reading
I’m killing time before this evening’s Los Angeles Philharmonic concert by drinking an old fashioned — a really good one, BTW, care of the bartender at the Omni Hotel near Walt Disney Concert Hall. Anyways, I started thinking about tonight’s world premiere of The Gospel According to the Other Mary, a modern bit of social … Continue reading
Back in 2007, long before All is Yar was a mere Fig Newton of my imagination, Victoria Bitter (VB) beer company teamed with the Melbourne Symphony and Orchestra Victoria — playing together as the “Victoria Bitter Orchestra” — to create a unique commercial: it featured the combined orchestras playing VB’s jingle using variations on a theme … Continue reading
