【ワシントン＝黒見周平】ロイター通信は３０日、日本と韓国が日本政府による輸出管理厳格化や徴用工問題で対立を激化させていることを巡り、米政府が日韓双方に対し、仲介案として、現状を維持したうえで、交渉を継続する協定への署名を求めたと報じた。
事態の悪化を避け、打開策を探る交渉を促す狙いがあるとみられる。
A new multi-restaurant venue in Tribeca will bring food from chef JJ Johnson, an Insta-famous sushi chef, and a renowned London mixologist under one roof — all fueled by money from Mastercard in the New York dining scene’s ongoing #sponcon restaurant trend.
This Thursday, the financial services company is opening Priceless, named for one of Mastercard’s tag lines and hosting chefs and mixologists from around the world on a rotating basis. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Lexus, the luxury car brand, also recently opened a restaurant here that similarly hosts chefs from all over, a venture operated by none other than Danny Meyer.
As for Mastercard, Priceless was created in partnership with ad agency Spring Studios; the venue, including a rooftop, will be housed within the Spring offices at 6 St Johns Lane.
Priceless opens August 1, with chef Johnson in charge of small plates on a rooftop terrace dubbed Global Market. Prices are fixed for now; at the rooftop, diners can get three dishes and one drink for $60. Only cash or Mastercards will be accepted as payment, and reservations can only be made by Mastercard holders.
Inside, three internationally popular and quirky restaurants and bars will have their own space. See the menus in full below.
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There will be a 12-seat sushi counter helmed by chef Takayoshi Watanabe, who in Japan has become known for his theatrical use of a long, 70-centimeter blade and has quite a big social media following. His popular sushi spot Teruzushi closed temporarily in Japan as the chef brought his whole staff to NYC, according to a statement. Here he’ll serve a 15-course tasting with spear squid with uni, striped beakfish, and an unagi burger for $395.
Priceless will also serve a tasting menu inspired by various African cuisines at its own version of the Rock, a Zanzibar dining destination that sits on a small rock in the Indian Ocean. Dishes like Swahili carpaccio and red snapper appear on the six-course menu, which goes for $135.
And finally, replica of the London bar Lyaness, which comes from the team behind 2018’s “World’s Best Bar” Dandelyan, will round out the venue. Drinks will come from famed mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana, and the space itself is supposed to mirror the London bar’s decor. Two cocktails will go for $50, and bar snacks will range from oysters and a wagyu beef hot dog to a fancy caviar option.
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Mastercard really wants diners to know they’re not in a regular restaurant: Each part of the restaurant will have an over-the-top sensory element. Lyaness will have a view of the River Thames projected on the window at Lyaness, while the sound of the ocean will play out loud at the Rock. Photos show a fake beach-like boardwalk surrounded by sand leading up to the Rock’s entrance, and the dining room’s windows will have the ocean projected on them. At the sushi counter, the sound of chef Watanabe’s sword blades will be played.
The company follows a trend started by BMW in 2016, which opened a co-working space that included space for chef-driven restaurants. Meyer’s Lexus restaurant followed, where luxury cars are as much a part of dinner as the food. Now, financial companies are getting in the mix.
Mastercard will swing Priceless open Thursday at 6 p.m. It’ll be open Tuesday to Saturday until midnight.
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Mexican restaurant going into upscale 4 Sisters spot in Verona Madison.comAfter eight months of success with their Waunakee restaurant, El Charro Mexican Grill, the brother-sister team of Ruben and Beatriz Ramirez are opening a new ...
https://madison.com/wsj/entertainment/dining/restaurants/mexican-restaurant-going-into-upscale-sisters-spot-in-verona/article_ed14cc07-4341-5054-9523-606e376f349f.html 2019-07-30 11:30:00Z
──昆虫の大群が気象レーダーでとらえられる
昆虫の大群が気象レーダーでとらえられるという事象が、このところ相次いでいる。アメリカ国立気象局（NWS）ラスベガス気象予報事務所は、2019年7月27日、公式ツイッターアカウントを通じ、米ネバダ州ラスベガス上空で飛翔生物が気象レーダーに反射している様子を公開した。
■ バッタの大群に襲われるラスベガス
これらの多くは、アメリカ大陸の砂漠地帯で広く生息するトノサマバッタ亜科のパリッドウイングドグラスホッパーとみられている。
同時期には、ラスベガスのいたるところで、このバッタの大群が目撃されている。ラスベガスのカジノホテル「フラミンゴ・ラスベガス」の舞台で公演するコメディアンのナンシー・ライアンさんは、ホテルの外の照明に群がる大量のバッタを映した動画をツイッターに投稿している。
ネバダ州農務局の昆虫学者ジェフ・ナイツ氏が米CNNの取材に答えたところによると、このバッタは冬や春に雨が多いと個体数が増える傾向にあるという。ネバダ州では、2019年1月から5月までの降水量が年平均降水量の約2倍にのぼっており、個体群密度を緩和するためにこれらの大群が移動してきたのではないかとみている。
■ ロサンゼルス東郊の砂漠地帯を南下するてんとう虫の大群
2019年6月5日には、アメリカ国立気象局（NWS）サンディエゴ気象予報事務所の気象レーダーが、ロサンゼルス東郊の砂漠地帯サンバーナーディーノ上空を南下するてんとう虫の大群をとらえた。
サンディエゴ気象予報事務所の気象学者ケイシー・オズワント氏は、米公共ラジオ局（NPR）の取材に対し、「その日は概ね晴れで、雨や雷を予想していなかったので、非常に奇妙だった」と振り返る。気象レーダーでは、雨粒大の物体が大量に現れているにもかかわらず、実際、雨は降っていなかった。現地の気象予報士に確認し、その正体がてんとう虫の大群であることがわかったという。
■ イングランド南部を移動する羽アリの大群
英イングランド南部でも、2019年7月17日、雨粒ではない物体がイギリス気象庁の気象レーダーでとらえられた。羽アリの大群とみられている。
英BBCで気象キャスターを務める気象予報士のサイモン・キング氏は、「イングランド南部は晴れていたにもかかわらず、気象レーダーがわずかな降水を示した。通常の降雨に見られるものとは一致しないことから、降雨ではないと考えられる」と分析。「羽アリは雲底に向かって一定の高さで大気中を飛翔することから、その多くを気象レーダーがとらえてしまったのだろう」とみている。
昆虫の大群が気象レーダーに反応することで、天気予報に大きな影響が出ないことを望みたい。
日本の措置は「否定的な影響をもたらす」と警告しました。 韓国の康京和外相はきょう、日本政府が輸出管理の面で優遇措置を取るいわゆる「ホワイト国」から韓国を除外する方針を示していることについて、中止するよう求めるとともに「両国にもたらす否定的な影響を厳重に警告していく」と強調しました。 康外相はさらに「国際社会に対しても日本の措置の不当性を継続的に説明することで韓国に有利な世論をつくっていく」と韓国政府の方針を説明しました。
From the street, the new Kirby Collection mixed-use complex rises sleek and glassy and inscrutable. It’s hard to tell what’s inside the office tower and swoopy atrium that curves off toward retail and restaurant space. But down toward the northern end fronting Kirby, behind greenery and too-discreet signage, lies Verandah — the new restaurant home of the very talented chef Sunil Srivastava.
The posh Inner Loop location is something of a dream for Srivastava and his wife and front-of-the-house partner, Anupama. At Great W’Kana Cafe and then W’Kana Express, they labored in the wilderness of Stafford Meadows and the Energy Corridor without ever quite garnering the high profile the chef’s deep, resonant flavors and finely etched textures deserved.
Now, they’re ensconced in a handsome, high-ceilinged glass box near row restaurant crossroads of Kirby at Richmond. Pale settees and sculptural armchairs beckon. Ranks of bottles and glassware glint behind a pretty little bar. Colorful paintings by Anu’s mother — the green thumb who grows chiles, herbs and subtropical fruits and vegetables for the restaurant — lead back toward a display kitchen with its tandoor, the Indian clay oven, front and center.
Like the restaurant’s name, which alludes to the covered porches that are hospitality hubs in classic Indian homes, the paintings draw on the Subcontinent’s rich visual motifs. And Srivastava’s menu, always rife with surprise, now delves even further into dishes outside the well-worn canon of Indian food abroad.
Three stars
3300 Kirby, Suite 7A; 281-501-0258
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays; dinner 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 5-11 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, 5-9 p.m. Sundays
Credit cards: All major
Prices: starters $9-$21; entrees $16-$41 (3-course lunch $21.99); flatbreads $3.50-$5.50
Must-orders: beetroot ki galouti; Peshawari chicken tikka; kalonji baigan (baby eggplant with wild onion seeds); nargisi kofta curry (lotus-root dumplings); Kolhapuri chicken in fiery coconut gravy; jackfruit or goat biryani; assorted bread basket; Panchporan Hiran Ki Champey (grilled venison chops); khargosh ki saounth (rabbit korma); manga bhindi (okra with fennel and mango powder); Imli Martini cocktail
Reservations: taken via exploretock.com; walk-ins welcome; some bar seating
Noise level: quiet
Parking: 2-hour validation in Kirby Collection garage; valet; some street parking
Website: verandahrestaurant.com
STAR RATINGS
Four stars: superlative; can hold its own on a national stage. Three stars: excellent; one of the best restaurants in the city. Two stars: very good; one of the best restaurants of its kind. One star: a good restaurant that we recommend. No stars: restaurant cannot be recommended.
MORE FROM ALISON COOK: Houston restaurant reviews updated weekly
Not only does he serve a biryani in which young jackfruit assumes the role usually assigned to meat in the aromatic rice dish, he sends forth platters of Baddal Jam, in which triangles of tandoor-roasted jackfruit meet slices of eggplant encased in the laciest, deep-brown batter, all brought to attention by squiggly shreds of fresh coconut and a vibrant tomato chutney spiced with wild onion seeds. There is nothing like it in Houston.
Maybe you’d like a nice glass of Barbera to go along — yeah, seriously — and Verandah’s charming manager, Naveen Kumar, has just the thing for you, chosen from a still-sketchy wine list that he is beefing up. He and chef Srivastava have collaborated on a cocktail list that walks on the wild side, from an Imli “Martini” that jumps tequila up with tamarind and lime, to a brunchy Shirabi lassi in which white rum, yogurt and rose syrup add up to an otherworldly species of milk punch. (I’m working my way up to the betelnut-infused gin, and to the rye punch with mango, black pepper and mint.)
That Barbera suits a brace of venison chops grilled with panchporan, the “Indian 5 spice” blend of whole cumin, mustard, fenugreek, nigella and fennel seeds. Sometimes meats arrive a little too cooked for my (admittedly) Western palate, but the deer chops on a recent evening were perfect, with a rose tint down the middle and a lively crust. The rogan-josh-type sauce on the side matched well with its warm spices, and the folded ceramic plate that cradled venison and precisely turned vegetables made it all look like a special event.
Srivastava is a native of Rajasthan, that hilly northwestern desert province where hunting everything from deer and rabbits to small game birds is ingrained. Thus the deer, the quail and the rabbit korma on Verandah’s menu — this last a lush swoon of tender, smoky meat and yogurt-smoothed gravy. It’s as gentle as the chef’s Kohlapuri chicken is fierce. (That menu description of “fiery coconut gravy” is not kidding. Even my two “nothing is ever hot enough for me” friends were impressed.)
I confess that some of the prices made me gulp. My old favorite vegetable dishes now hover just below the $20 mark, which means I feel less prone to order three of them at a swoop. But the real estate, the china, the posh furnishings cost, and for guests who would like to eat ambitious and unusual Indian food in grand surroundings, the economic trade-off will no doubt be worth it. For those on a budget, though, Verandah will be a special occasion — or lunch, when the prices are gentler and there’s a three-course prix fixe for $21. There’s a happy hour coming, too, another point of entry.
Fortunately, the dishes I learned to love in more modest surroundings still deliver thrills at a high level. The lotus-root dumplings called nargisi kofta float like downy clouds in their gingery, hottish, tomato-laced yogurt bath; with impeccably cooked rice, they’re heaven. Melting, glazed hunks of baby eggplant (Kalonji Baigan) come alive in tart, tamarind-spiked tomato-and-onion sauce punctuated with the wild onion seeds called kalonji. I’d come here just to eat this dish.
Same goes for the striking okra, cut into lengthwise shreds and tossed with caramelized fennel strips, with a tart boost from the mango powder known as amchoor. I feel confident that even people who hate okra would fall under its spell.
Srivastava’s finely wrought flatbreads are present in all their glory. My favorites are the thin, crisp naan scattered with kalonji seeds; the surprisingly light-footed potato kulcha layered with sparks of dried red chile; and the pesto naan, of all things. This last is one of the modern touches that lend Verandah its portentous subtitle: “Progressive Indian Cuisine.”
I worried initially that meant there would be lots of dishes such as the Ajwaini paneer tikkas, the farmer’s-style cheese puréed to disconcerting smoothness (what can I say? I crave the rustic texture of the original) and layered with thin ribbons of chutney. At W’Kana Express, they came with clear ampoules of green chutney-water, like the molecular-style party tricks popular five or six years ago. I was relieved to see the ampoules are missing in action now and that the “progressive” part of the equation mostly means a gentle creativity and some refined presentation touches.
I’ve seen enough extraneous orchid blossoms on plates to last a lifetime, but I enjoyed the dramatic skewer stand from which dangles the assorted tandoori platter. Off the stack, the charcoaled items come immaculately cooked garlic-and-lemon shrimp; herbal mini-sausages of lamb seekh kebab; delicious lamb chops I wished were a shade or two less well-done; and chunks of Peshawari chicken tikka so succulent they actually wobbled as they were coaxed off the blade. When the menu says Peshawari chicken — seasoned with “frontier spices” from the Pakistani borderlands —is the chef’s specialty, it isn’t kidding. I can’t remember the last time chicken actually blew my mind.
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A strip of clear acrylic bubbles holds six exciting fruit-based chutneys, including clove-touched plum and green apple dotted with fennel seed. The chutney parade is a feature of that modern fine-dining wrinkle, the tasting menu. You must call ahead to reserve a tasting — offered only on the less busy weekdays — and decide on a theme by conferring with the chef (!). It’s a nice way to get a sense of Srivastava’s range — and to encounter such surprises as a molded green-pea chaat laced with crisp puffed rice and brittle shreds of fried noodle, with an exhilarating mango chutney to kick up the flavors.
The dining-room vibe feels peaceful and relaxing even in its formality. Service is notably gracious, although not yet as polished as the room and the menu. On weekends, the Srivastavas’ two handsome young sons help out, making it a proud family affair. Having admired Sunil and Anu for years, I find it a joy to see them in this setting.
In the end, I’ll return both for the modern quirks, such as a beetroot tikka appetizer so richly seasoned it reminded me of a multidimensional mole; and for the Indian classics in which Srivastava excels. When the biryani studded with tender morsels of goat appears, and the pastry lid (the “dum”) under which it is steamed is peeled back, the aromas flying forth make it feel like I’ve just opened some wonderful birthday gift.
And that is exactly how it tastes.
Alison Cook is the Chronicle's James Beard Award-winning restaurant critic. Follow her on Twitter, and keep up with Houston's latest dining and drinking news and reviews by subscribing to our free Flavor newsletter.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/restaurants-bars/reviews/article/Restaurant-review-Verandah-in-Upper-Kirby-14202120.php 2019-07-30 09:00:00Z
＜中国国務院の香港担当機関が香港返還後初めての記者会見で香港のデモを厳しく非難、「決して許さない」とまで言ったのは、中国の危機感の表れだ＞
香港で逃亡犯引き渡し条例の改正案に反対する抗議デモが続くなか、中国政府はついに7月29日、「暴力的なデモは容認しない」と直接的な警告を発した。香港で続いている抗議デモの激化に、中国政府が態度を硬化させつつあることを示している。
中国国務院の香港マカオ事務弁公室は29日、1997年の設立後初めて記者会見を開き、「混乱が続けば、香港社会に悪影響が及ぶだろう」と語った。
＜参考記事＞住宅街でもデモ、白シャツ集団が警察と談笑、香港最後の正念場へ
香港では7月27日と28日の週末にも抗議デモが続き、28日にはデモ隊が香港西部にある中国政府の出先機関「香港連絡弁公室」を包囲。香港警察がゴム弾や催涙弾でデモ隊に応戦する事態となった。
中国本土への容疑者引き渡しを可能にする「逃亡犯条例」改正案に反対する抗議デモは、これで８週目に入った。デモ隊は、問題の改正案が成立すれば、中国当局がでっち上げた容疑で誰でも本土に送れるようになると主張。改正案の正式な撤回に加えて、警察と香港政府の複数の幹部の辞任と、警察によるデモ隊への「過剰な実力行使」についての調査を要求している。
香港マカオ事務弁公室の徐露穎報道官は29日の記者会見で「暴力は暴力、違法行為は違法行為」だと語り、市民的不服従を容認しない考えを示した。
同報道官は、「香港で最近起きたことは、平和的な行進とデモの範疇を大きく超えており、香港の繁栄と安定を損ねた。『１国2制度』という原則の根幹に触れるものだ」と主張。さらに「法の秩序の下にある文明社会で、暴力行為は決して許さない」と語った。
＜参考記事＞香港デモの対応迫られる中国政府、人民解放軍の出動も？
会見は、中国政府が1989年の天安門事件の時のように、デモ隊鎮圧のために人民解放軍を出動させるのではないかという憶測が高まるなかで開かれた。
7月28日は、中国政府の出先機関である香港連絡弁公室がある香港西部で、デモ隊がレンガや手製の武器、板ガラスなどを使って、機動隊や「ラプター隊」（特殊訓練を受けた機動隊）の隊員と衝突。報道陣2人と複数のデモ参加者が怪我をした。香港連絡混乱は香港西部にも広がった。香港連絡弁公室は前週末にも、スプレーを吹き付けたり卵を投げつけらたりして、中国当局の危機感を煽ったといわれる。
香港政府は29日に声明を発表。「法と秩序を無視し、治安を乱した過激なデモ隊を強く非難する。警察が、全ての暴力行為を阻止するために法を厳しく施行することを、今後も全面的に支持する」と述べた。
