Category: A Quick Bite With

Food means something different for everyone. For “A Quick Bite With” we sit down with people from different backgrounds and occupations as we try to understand what food, and eating, means to them.

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A Quick Bite with Toni DeLuca

Toni DeLuca, wine director at Julio’s Liquors, is here to humanize wine and debunk the snob-like perception of wine.

With the introduction of “Somm,” on Netflix and “A Year in Burgundy,” on Amazon Prime, the recent obsession of the esoteric world of sommeliers is opening a discussion about the bourgeois life associated with wine enthusiasts. From shedding light on a journey that borders insanity to even qualify to take the Master Sommelier exam, given by the Court of Master Sommeliers in “Somm” to following the deep traditions, viticulture, and history behind the families living in the Burgundy region of France, the depiction of this cult-like phenomenon is fascinating some viewers while scaring others from ever attempting to enjoy a glass of Pino Noir outside of their homes. Wine has always been guilty by association as it is meant to be perceived as a drink for the sophisticated, the elite and the well-informed, but Toni DeLuca, wine director at Julio’s Liquors is here to humanize wine and debunk the snob-like perception of wine.

“Wine has a reputation,” said DeLuca. “It is perceived to be something that only expert wine lovers can truly enjoy, and I am here to debunk that. Wine is for everyone and my job is to educate both novice and advanced wine drinkers into exploring new flavors, regions and, grapes.”

DeLuca is fighting against the pretentious feel that depictions like “Somm” offer to viewers and wants her consumers to understand that wine is simply the perfect complement to food. It is important to understand the courtship between food and wine and its ever-lasting affection for one another. Its complementary relationship in which wine truly serves a higher purpose is the most intriguing element of dining. “I am a wine enthusiast, some may say expert, and it is extremely clear to me that wine and food are deeply connected.  Of course, I would say that wine is the optimal beverage for food pairings, others may dispute this – but they are wrong. There is no refuting the fact that wine has natural acidity which acts in harmony with “acid” forward foods, not to mention this same acidity helps mellow and neutralize the salty “base” flavors in other dishes,” said DeLuca.

“At home, wine is the single most important aspect of my dining experience as I have full control over the selection,” she said. “Now, I am not a wine snob, but I definitely am a wine nerd. I have an ‘explorers’ palate meaning that I love to try funky, unique, and ‘off the beaten path’ wines.” Just as DeLuca, a recent survey from wine app Vivino suggests American’s favorite place to drink wine is in the comfort of their own homes. Forty-seven percent of millennial and sixty-one percent of Gen X and Boomer respondents would rather drink wine at home than at social gatherings, restaurants, or wineries according to the survey of 1,526 consumers.

Between the cost of wine at bars and restaurants and the lack of knowledge on both sides – the waitstaff and the consumer – there is a barrier that is hard to break through in the average restaurant. “The more funky and unique wines are hard to find on restaurant lists, unfortunately,” said DeLuca. “I think right now craft beer and craft cocktails are dominating the hip aspects of most beverage programs, while the wine options are pretty boring.  It seems the same few name brands monopolize most restaurant lists these days and that is a shame. If I were in the restaurant business and offered a wine list, the list would be the predominant segment on the menu, the waitstaff would be knowledgeable about making recommendations and easing the consumer into exploring wines and ultimately, I would reduce the cost of an individual glass of wine. I mean, who wants to buy an $11 glass of wine when they can buy a $13 bottle of wine at their local liquor shop?” And DeLuca is right. Millennials are budget-conscious and according to the same Vinio survey, fifty-nine percent say that the cost of a glass of wine outweighs all other influences when deciding what to drink at a bar or restaurant. This is a trend dating back to the recession as Time Magazine highlighted this shift in 2010.

While nothing compares to a pairing of Riesling and Duck a L’Orange – it is the pairing itself that scares novice wine drinkers from truly opening their palates to the endless experience that wine offers. On a mission to create a personalized experience for consumers, DeLuca hopes to “de-snob” the industry and show the side of wine that documentaries like “Somm” fail to.

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A Quick Bite with Heather Mangione

Heather Mangione sits down with Mass Foodies

While you can spend your whole life trying to eat your way through New York City, it would take you just as long to navigate the food scene of Brooklyn as old-world New York collides with haute hipster taste. The food culture of New York has always been one to admire, and in the epicenter of its soul are the diverse dishes of Brooklyn. The stereotypical views of pizzerias and one-of-a-kind bagel shops are fleeting, but that doesn’t stop the Brooklynites from puffing out their chest when claiming the best Sicilian in all of New York. I mean, who cares about those other boroughs when you’re from Brooklyn, right?

Heather Mangione, a community relationship manager for United Way of Central Massachusetts by day and founder of Airspray – an LGBTQ community organization that brings people together through dance parties and social events – by night, is a Brooklynite trying to live out her foodie dreams in Worcester. While Brooklyn and Worcester can be a tale of two cities when we get down to the nitty-gritty of food culture, it seems that there may be a small – teeny tiny – resemblance in some corners of Worcester to Brooklyn itself. Places like deadhorse hill, Armsby Abbey, and Birchtree Bread Company – some of Mangione’s favorites – hold their ground with that haute hipster experience we all seem to drool over.

“I’m from Brooklyn, New York,” said Mangione. “And I’m a hundred percent Italian – specifically Southern Italian as my family is from Sicily and Naples – and the food is a huge part of my nationality and my background. Food is the main focus around any and all family gatherings.”

Growing up with a Southern Italian family means eating some of the most diverse Italian-styled foods to date. Southern Italy is a melting pot of food influencers inspired by the Greek colony of Siracusa back in 734 B.C. with their introduction of sweet wine, figs, pomegranates, and walnuts, and the Arabic penchant for stuffed foods and the use of pistachio nuts. “On my Sicilian side, foods are heavily derived from African, Greek and Mediterranean backgrounds and on my Neapolitan side, seafood is big influencer – and I love seafood,” said Mangione. “I truly wish I had more time in my life to cook. I love being able to find the time to spend most of the day cooking – whether that’s preparing dinner or prepping for the week. I think cooking is a very important form of self-care and my favorite cooking gadgets are my crock-pot and my giant cast-iron pot for cooking stews, sauces, and soups.”

“I think the concept of home has dramatically changed with the societal shift towards convenience and dining out,” said Mangione. “Don’t get me wrong. I love going out to eat but I know so many people, especially young people, who don’t know how to cook and prefer to go out to eat. It’s shocking to me. I always dream of a few dishes from my Brooklyn past: my Aunt Mildred’s eggplant caponata, my mom’s chicken marsala and my dad’s shrimp scampi and there’s nothing I would cut out.”

Mangione literally translates from Italian to “the biggest eater of them all” and she found this out from a middle school Italian teacher at the peak of her sensitive self-image phase. “I was mortified!” said Mangione. “But I have totally grown to love my last name and what it means and I really celebrate that I come from a long line of seriously big eaters!” (Take that, middle school Italian teacher!)

Dining with Mangione is all about the diversity. From hosting a potluck – one of her favorite things in the world to do – to dining out at some of the city’s most eclectic places like Hacienda Don Juan, Fatima’s and Da Lat – there is a great interest in learning about the stories behind the foods. “I love the creativity people bring to the table when they’re prompted to bring their favorite dish or something seasonally appropriate to a potluck,” she said. “Food brings people together in ways that nothing else can.” Maybe it’s Mangione’s Southern Italian upbringing or maybe it’s just that spreading love is the Brooklyn way – but either way, Mangione is right: ”food nourishes the soul, the heart, and the mind.”