My favorite chef for savory, full-flavored, creative, soulful food is Chef Olivier Müller, a young, 30 something fellow who apprenticed under Daniel Boulud, and runs Daniel’s modern bistro in NYC. This fabulous cuisine is loaded with flavor, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. His extraordinary lamb ragout with homemade orecchiette pasta, the Nantucket Bay scallops, and the escargot & chicken oyster fricassee were to die for. Moreover, the DB Burger Royale stuffed with black truffles in season as well as foie gras and short ribs is the greatest hamburger in the world. It is an American classic with a French inspiration.

As for the wines, the dense purple-colored 2003 Chapoutier Ermitage l’Ermite was totally closed. It tasted like liquid stones and blackberries, but it was so backward and tannic that it was unapproachable. It was stupid of me to bring a bottle and try and coax something out of it. More developed, rich, full-bodied, and Provençal was the 2003 Mon Aieul Châteauneuf du Pape. This sensational wine is consistently great, no matter when I have it.