Sommelier John Mahoney

A Touch of Class, By the Glass

- Teaching the Fine Art of Putting Food and Wine Together

[Published The SandPaper, Friday, May 31, 1996 ]

By William Kelly

The first question usually asked before a serious dinner is, "Red, white or sparkling?"

At dinner with John Mahoney however, it's usually all three, especially when he hosts a dinner party that puts the taste of the food and wine back on the pallet together.

While a sit-down dinner where the wine is as much the featured attraction as the food is nothing new for the cultured classes, the most of us, a five-course meal with four glasses of wine and some champagne is a big night.

For Mahoney, it's becoming a matter of professional routine. Mahoney is what the French call a sommelier - a professional wine connoisseur. Learning to enjoy the world's wine is an experience that he enjoys sharing with others. In one week he tasted 386 different varieties of wine.

"My wife doesn't believe me," he said, "but it's work." Mahoney, a former Atlantic County freeholder from Milmay, is a professoinal wine consultant, a national instructor affiliated with the Society of Wine Educators who teaches courses in the art, science and history of wine making and tasting. He also serves as a wine consultant to some of the Jersey Shore's oldest and finest restaurants, including the Washington Inn in Cape May and Gregory's in Somers Point.

While the Washington Inn has Cape May's largest and most varied wine cellar, Gregory's has a limited, yet quite satisfactory selection, available from a wine list that Mahoney helped assemble. He also conducts periodic dinner parties at which different types of wines are tasted.

For Mahoney, the food and wine go together. He works with the chef in preparing different courses of the meal to go with the different varieties of wine.

"Each course is designed to go with each wine," Mahoney explained at a recent function he hosted at Gregory's dining room, where he greeted each person at the door with a freshly poured glass of sparkling white wine.

As a technical point, if it's not from the Champagne region of France, it's sparkling or bubbling wine, and served in a fluted, rather than a wide-brimmed, glass.

"I always start out with sparkling wine, or Champagne, because it cleanses the pallet," he explained. The pallet experiences a variety of tastes as the evening wears on.

Each place at every table is set with four wine glasses and a Champagne flute. The wine is opened early - to breathe - and it's laid out in the order in which the meal is served. Usually, each wine-tasting diner party has a theme, with the food recipes prepared around the wine that will be presented. While on this night the sparkling wine was of a domestic variety, the still wines were from Australia.

For Wine 101 students, the first lesson is "Sip, don't gulp. The more you sip it, the more you can taste and get out of it," advises Mahoney.

And don't just drink it.

"Splash it around the glass. Let it breathe. Smell its aroma. Sip it, then swash it around your mouth so you can enjoy it to its fullest."

Then you can even spit it out if you don't want to get too tipsy, although that's one of the more pleasant side-effects. According to Mahoney, wine is fermented in large casks, which are either made of oak or aluminum, and you should be able to taste the difference between the wood and the metal.

But you can really taste the difference with the food. Each course of the meal is designed to bring out the best of each wine. "Sipping the wine lets you learn how the food and wine combination works," says the sommelier.

At Gregory's, chefs Joseph and Paul Gregory take pride in their culinary skills, learned in the family's restaurant kitchen, and at the Culinary Arts Institute (CAI) at Atlantic Community College, where both matriculated.

Another tidbit for beginners is, to answer the first question; try both red and white wines over dinner, starting with white.

The Australian-flavored recipes developed by Joe and Paul included a "Crocodile Tear Soup" of consomme with quenelles (dumplings), served with Queen Adelaide Chardonnay Classic, Australia's number one selling wine.

Now, you may think that wine wit dinner may be an expensive proposition, but it doesn't have to be. This Queen Adelaide Chardonnay retails for a reasonable $4.67.

Between courses, Mahoney gets everyone's attention by tapping a spoon on a glass and commencing with a brief description of the wine about to be consumed, and how it fits in with the item on the menu. Another classic Aussie Chardonnay, Seppelt Semillon, is sipped along with a noodle (fusulli) with cinnamon and apple appetizer. A Seppelt Cabernet/Shiraz Classic goes well with the flower salad with raspberry vigaigrette dressing and grilled prawns (shrimp), a nice Australian touch.

After a "Freemantle Frozen ZBanana Sorbet," the main course, fresch spring lamb chop, served with a Evan and Tate Gnangara spiced shiraz, a more expensive red wine. With desert, Seppelt's Gold Medal Old Tafford Tawney Port goes well with the vanilla custard and caramel sauce, bringing out the best of the port. The reservation-only affair, normally limited to less than 40 people, is usually advertised in advance. Cost is about $45 per person, and includes food, wine, tax and tip.



WHICH REMINDS ME. I HAVE TO TELL THE STORY OF MY VISIT BY HELICOPTER TO THE MARGRET RIVER WINERY NEAR FREEMANTLE.

Atlantic City Jazz Festival Trivia Question

ATLANTIC CITY JAZZ FESTIVAL TRIVIA QUESTION

What year was this jazz festival?

I have the poster, but it doesn't say what year.

What decade was this jazz festival?

I'm thinking late 70s early 80s?

An Elsie Street Production?

If you know the answer, if you were there, if you have pictures,
let me know.

Billkelly3@gmail.com


Third Annual
Atlantic City Jazz Festival

The Biggest Jazz Festival in the History of New Jersey
Historic Gardner's Basin
Atlantic City

Friday
August 7

8:00 PM

Melba Moore
Art Blakey
Maynard Ferguson's Big Band
Ramsey Lewis Trio
Herbie Mann

Saturday
August 8

8:00 PM

Ray Charles
Nancy Wilson
Pieces of a Dream
Special Guest Artist
Grover Washington, Jr.
Buddy Rich's Big Band

Sunday
August 9

3:00 PM

Super Jazz Fusion All-Stars

Roy Ayers
Stanley Turrentine
Lonnie Liston Smith
Jean Carn
Bobbi Humphreys
Bobby "Blue" Bland
"Saces" - Damita Jo

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall

 

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall (formerlly Convention Hall. Built 1929

Buffet at the Beach Bar, Freemantle, WA

 

Irene's Gift Shop AC & OC Boardwalks

Irene's Gift Shop was an Atlantic City boardwalk institution for decades, as was the off-shoot, Eddie Devlin's Irene's on the Ocean City, N.J. boardwalk.

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall

 

Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall

RFK, Jr. in Atalantic City - December 10, 2008

RFK, Jr. Visit to Atlantic City

It’s been 44 years since his father gave an inspiring speech to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City in 1964, and 28 years since he first made a campaign appearance on behalf of his uncle Ted’s presidential bid in 1980, so there is some anticipation for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s keynote speech before the realtor’s convention in Atlantic City.

1964 was the worst. The Democratic National Convention was supposed to be a happy occasion to re-nominate JFK for his second term as President.

How Atlantic City, woefully unprepared, even got the Convention hasn’t been adequately documented, but the local Democrats, including those from Philadelphia and Camden, as well as Atlantic City, helped JFK get the nomination and win the 1960 election.

Skinny D’Amato among them, owned the 500 Club in Atlantic City, and helped deliver West Virginia to JFK in the critical primary against Hubert Humphrey, allegedly delivering cash and influence through the West Virginia Sheriff’s association, who held their annual convention in Atlantic City.

Skinny’s main man, Frank Sinatra, was also good pals with the President, and was scheduled to sing at the Five during the Convention, which would have rivaled the Presidential inaugural ball parties, and put Atlantic City on the map once again.

Then everything went wrong.

Skinny also worked as manager of Sinatra’s Cal-Neva Lodge, where his partner was Sam Giancana, the Chicago mobster who was targeted for prosecution by Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice Department, while at the same time, was being used by the CIA to kill Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Frank and Jack had a falling out, but Atlantic City still had the Convention, and Frank was still booked at the Five.

Then JFK was killed, and it was LBJ who was re-nominated at the Atlantic City Democratic National Convention, and RFK who gave the keynote eulogy to his slain brother, a speech often recognized as one of the best ever delivered.

One of RFK’s most distinguished moments was also Atlantic City’s worst and most embarrassing, as all of the reporters and media in town not only reported on the Convention, but also complained about the leaky plumbing, moldy rooms and decaying resort.

Even the Democrats millions of dollars in Urban Renewal money couldn’t save Atlantic City, and it wasn’t until gambling was approved in 1976 and the first casinos opened when the town began to reemerge as an important economically influential city.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who recently said he was not interested in being appointed to the Senate seat occupied by Hillary Clinton, and once held by his father, instead suggested his cousin Caroline Kennedy. He has also been mentioned as a possible member of the Obama cabinet, and he is certainly qualified to be Secretary of the Interior.

RFK, Jr. is expected to deliver his address on Wednesday on the environment, but he could touch on a number of interesting subjects, and his speech is well anticipated by more than just those attending the real estate convention.

Today we sit on a precipice similar to where the city was in 1964, except this time it is not to recreate a new city, but to recreate an economic climate that can be successful, yet balance the economic necessities with a fragile ecological environment where we live, work and play.

Bill Kelly – November 9, 2008

Tribute to John F. Kennedy at the Democratic National Convention
Robert F. Kennedy
Atlantic City, New Jersey
August 27, 1964

http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/RFK/RFK+Address+to+the+Democratic+National+Convention.htm

Mr. Chairman, I wish to speak just for a few moments.

I first want to thank all of you delegates to the Democratic National Convention and the supporters of the Democratic Party for all that you did for President John F. Kennedy.

I want to express my appreciation to you for the efforts that you made on his behalf at the convention four years ago, the efforts that you made on his behalf for his election in November of 1960, and perhaps most importantly, the encouragement and the strength that you gave him after he was elected President of the United States.

I know that it was a source of the greatest strength to him to know that there were thousands of people all over the United States who were together with him, dedicated to certain principles and to certain ideals.

No matter what talent an individual possesses, what energy he might have, no matter how much integrity and how much honesty he might have, if he is by himself, and particularly a political figure, he can accomplish very little. But if he is sustained, as President Kennedy was, by the Democratic Party all over the United States, dedicated to the same things that he was attempting to accomplish, he can accomplish a great deal.

No one knew that more than President John F. Kennedy. He used to take great pride in telling of the trip that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison made up the Hudson River in 1800 on a botanical expedition searching for butterflies; that they ended up down in New York City and that they formed the Democratic Party.

He took great pride in the fact that the Democratic Party was the oldest political Party in the world, and he knew that this linkage of Madison and Jefferson with the leaders in New York combined the North and South, and combined the industrial areas of the country with the rural farms and that this combination was always dedicated to progress and all of our Presidents have been dedicated to progress.

He thought of Thomas Jefferson in the Louisiana Purchase, and also when Jefferson realized that the United States could not remain on the Eastern Seaboard and sent Lewis and Clark to the West Coast; of Andrew Jackson; of Woodrow Wilson; of Franklin Roosevelt who saved our citizens who were in great despair because of the financial crisis; of Harry Truman who not only spoke but acted for freedom.

So, when he became President he not only had his own principles and his own ideals but he had the strength of the Democratic Party. As President he wanted to do something for the mentally ill and the mentally retarded; for those who were not covered by Social Security; for those who were not receiving an adequate minimum wage; for those who did not have adequate housing; for our elderly people who had difficulty paying their medical bills; for our fellow citizens who are not white and who had difficulty living in this society. To all this he dedicated himself.

But he realized also that in order for us to make progress here at home, that we had to be strong overseas, that our military strength had to be strong. He said one time, "Only when our arms are sufficient, without doubt, can we be certain, without doubt, that they will never have to be employed." So when we had the crisis with the Soviet Union and the Communist Bloc in October of 1962, the Soviet Union withdrew their missiles and bombers from Cuba.

Even beyond that, his idea really was that this country, that this world, should be a better place when we turned it over to the next generation than when we inherited it from the last generation. That is why--with all of the other efforts that he made--the Test Ban Treaty, which was done with Averell Harriman, was so important to him.

And that's why he made such an effort and was committed to the young people not only of the United States but to the young people of the world. And in all of these efforts you were there all of you.

When there were difficulties, you sustained him.

When there were periods of crisis, you stood beside him. When there were periods of happiness, you laughed with him. And when there were periods of sorrow, you comforted him. I realize that as individuals we can't just look back, that we must look forward. When I think of President Kennedy, I think of what Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet:

"When he shall die take him and cut him out into stars and he shall make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun."

I realize that as individuals, and even more important, as a political party and as a country, we can't just look to the past, we must look to the future.

So I join with you in realizing that what started four years ago--what everyone here started four years ago--that is to be sustained; that is to be continued.

The same effort and the same energy and the same dedication that was given to President John F. Kennedy must be given to President Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey.

If we make that evident, it will not only be for the benefit of the Democratic Party, but, far more important, it will be for the benefit of this whole country.
When we look at this film we must think that President Kennedy once said:
"We have the capacity to make this the best generation in the history of mankind, or make it the last."

If we do our duty, if we meet our responsibilities and our obligations, not just as Democrats, but as American citizens in our local cities and towns and farms and our states and in the country as a whole, then this generation of Americans is going to be the best generation in the history of mankind.

He often quoted from Robert Frost--and said it applied to himself--but we could apply it to the Democratic Party and to all of us as individuals:

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep."

Mrs. Kennedy has asked that this film be dedicated to all of you and to all the others throughout the country who helped make John F. Kennedy President of the United States.

I thank you.


Reflections from someone who was there:

http://www.politickernj.com/max/22436/week-dems-convention-looking-back-ac-and-chi