Fine Living

I don't know if every cable company carries the Fine Living channell, but they should. While 98% of the shows on Fine Living are crap, there is three excellent shows that I've been watching for awhile now that everyone should know about.

NapaStyle - Host Michael Chiarello is a pretty cool guy, he's real laid back. The premise of the show is that Napa Valley is better than anywhere else in the world. It's friggin California dude, It's not that great. Thats what I originally thought! But after watching this show, i'm now convinced that Napa is a different planet. Everything is weird about it....he cooks weird, he acts weird, he broke apart an old barrell and used a piece of wood as an orderve tray??? He does this 60 second rant thing, and he gets all worked up over stuff like Parmesian Cheese. I'm glad Michael recently got a show on Food Network, it's called Entertaining Easy (?) and I like it, he goes to peoples homes and helps them throw parties.....um...yeah. The next episode of NapaStyle is titled "Olive Oil Harvest Party".....man thats gay.

Ming's Quest - I'm a big fan of Ming Tsai. He's a great chef and a likeable dude. I really miss his Food Network show "East Meets West", his style is pretty cool - he takes dishes from anywhere in the world and gooks-it-up. His resteraunt Blue Ginger is in Wellesley Massachusetts in case you are wondering... On Ming's Quest Mr. Tsai travels around to different places and takes a local ingrediant and well....cooks with it. He also gets down with the locals, which is the best part. Like when he rode an ostrich...hahaha...or have you ever seen a chinaman ice fish! Or when the Italian guy gave him rotten grapes and then laughed when Ming almost puked....i'm actually not sure if this was a dream or if I really saw this. Good stuff.

Thirsty Traveler - Kevin Brauch is the Thirsty Traveler. This show rules, Kevin travels the globe seeking small towns where brewing up alcohol is a staple (such Sake in Japan, Mestizo in Mexico, Rum in Jamaica, Ouzo in Greece, Vodka in Russia). He latches on to a local family and learns about cuisines, customs and of course the making of the alcohol. The best part is when he gets hammered. He can never keep up with the locals who drink this stuff daily. At the end of the show he usually gives a little wrap up speech, he's always so lit, it's funny. My favorite episode was when some Mexican gave him a big glass of liquor to drink and he chugs it and says "Wow...what is this?" and the Mexican says "It's 98% proof...thats what it is" ..... gross....this may have also been a dream. An added bonus is that every local family seems to have a hot daughter in it....i always assume Kevin bangs her. This guy is now a commentator on Iron Chef America....which is just as bad as the Jap one.

Everyone loves NapaStyle here at Mugato Bar, I put it on the big screen. Gorn can't wait for the "Olive Oil Harvest Party"...