AXA is a big French insurance company that also owns a number of important wine properties. The wine part of the business is run by Englishman Christian Seely whose blog I peek in on now and then. I don't normally find it the most interesting writing on the web, since it often has a promotional tone to it that's rather off-putting. His most recent post explains why it's worth the occasional look in.

It's a four video tour of AXA's Domaine Disznoko property in Hungary where the miraculously luscious Tokaji Aszu is made. The films are each just a few minutes long, but the quality of the content is very high indeed and as an explainer of how the process works it's like nothing I've ever seen.

The short films show the multi-stage, two-month long harvest of shriveled, botrytized grapes, and the vinification and aging of the wine that was once one of the world's most sought-after luxuries and a fixture at the Tsarist and Austro-Hungarian courts.  

The production values are extremely high, though I suggest you click the link that takes you directly to their Youtube channel where you can view in full-screen HD. 

Breaking my heart now that when I was in Hungary three years ago, Tokaj wasn't on the itinerary. 

Globe Staff File Photo/Mark Wilson

Olives has been unofficially feeding people for a few days now, getting back in gear and using guests as guinea pigs to try out dishes new and old. (The food was free, but they paid for their own drinks.) Thursday, the reopening is official.

"So many people have come up and said, 'We're so happy to have you back,'" says chef Todd English.

But don't expect English and crew to be serving the kind of Big Food pictured above, the way Olives served customers circa 1996.

"I find more people want to eat a little less. My generation, we're all watching our figures," English says. "They want to go to the bar and eat a few snacks, have a couple of cocktails or glasses of wine, and go home. People don't sit down at the table and have a whole three or four courses."

The bar at Olives previously sat 15 people. Now, English says, it seats about 45. The restaurant has been renovated, and the bar is right at the center of things. "You can't get a seat at the bar all night long right now, and we're not even open," he says. "I bought more bar stools than I bought regular chairs." There will be plenty of wines by the glass, including some special-blend keg wines from California.

The menu reflects the shift in the way we eat. It features small plates, three or four kinds of bread one can order a la carte, pasta dishes, plenty of sides and salads, and some larger plates for those who want them. The dessert menu follows suit. There will be classics like souffles and chocolate cake, but also bite-size options.

"We are going to have a section on the menu that just says 'feed me,'" English says. "We'll charge $20 and send out small plates. There will be some classic stuff, like the carpaccio that's been on the menu for 20 years, the tortelli that's been on since Day 1, the tartare." But there will also be plenty of new dishes. A few he's especially excited about:

- Duck with Berber spices that's cooked buried in ginger, with duck leg confit and foie gras. "It's so very aromatic."

- Sweet pea panna cotta with morel Parmesan sauce.

- Ceviche with tamarind and soy.

- Tarts topped with classic roasted tomato, mortadella and Fontina, asparagus and duck egg, and more. "The tarts I'm really excited about," English says. "I've been playing around with the dough. I don't want to do pizzas there because we do them down the street [at Figs]. It's kind of like a mille-feuille meets pizza dough for the tarts. We roll butter into it and bake it in the brick oven. It's coming out pretty delicious."

English brought over many Olives staffers from Mohegan Sun, including executive chef James Klewin, who more recently worked at David Burke Prime at Foxwoods. As for English, "I'll be there a lot," he says. "My schedule in the summer dies down a little, so it's not as crazy, and I'll definitely be there to get the place open and make sure it's on the right path." Also staffing the place this summer, his kids: Isabelle, 19, will be at the door, splitting her time between Olives and cupcake spot Curly Cakes. Simon, 16, has been cooking a lot with his father, and perhaps he'll turn up in the kitchen -- "depending on his acting career," English says. He got called back for a part in an Adam Sandler movie that's filming in Marblehead. (Oldest son Oliver is following in his father's footsteps, too. He graduates from Cornell's hospitality program this year and spent last summer in Paris, working for Alain Ducasse. "Hopefully I'll hand him the keys and he can take over," English says.)

And the rest of English's family? The brick-and-mortar kind?

Well, Kingfish Hall appears to be done. "There's a new landlord, and I'm trying to renegotiate, but it's probably not going to happen," English says. "I'll probably just move on from there and look for something else down the road. Right now I want to focus on Olives anyway. Things have to change. Twelve years in Faneuil Hall, that's a good run for a restaurant." The New York Olives, temporarily closed, has been renovated and is open again. In the future, he says, he would think about opening something on Boston's bustling waterfront. (He had first crack at the Del Frisco's space but didn't have the resources to do it at the time.) And, naturally, the casinos would be an option. "I've already been talking to those guys."

"I'm still ambitious," he says. "I'm not retiring by any stretch of the imagination."

This season on “Food Network Star,” 15 contestants (including North Attleborough pastry chef Linkie Marais) were hand-picked to work in teams of five with one of three mentors, Bobby Flay, Giada De Laurentiis, and new addition Alton Brown. Flay spoke with us yesterday about the show, the new era of television chefs, and where he likes to eat around Boston. “Food Network Star” returns with a two-hour premiere Sunday at 9 p.m. on Food Network. There is also a casting special Saturday at 9 p.m.

Internet search engines have taught us the usefulness of the 'more like this' function. Find one thing that hits the spot, then ask for more results that deliver more or less the same goods.   

When suppertime rolled around last Sunday night and I had an open bottle of a favorite red wine standing by (2008 Closerie des Alisiers Hautes Cotes de Beaune), I decided not to trek down to the cellar for another bottle - even though what was coming out of the oven made the choice a bit incongruous

It was fresh flounder filets, rolled into fat little packages, capped with sliced Tiny Tom tomatoes and baked under a sheaf of parchment paper.  Also on the plate, a slice of potato tart from a photo shoot earlier in the week, and a bundle of the season's first native asparagus bought that morning at Wilson Farms.  

I knew the wine to be light, fresh, and juicy - certainly lighter than any number of whites one might replace it with.  It seemed like a perfect time to revisit the question of whether red wine and fish can routinely make a successful team or whether the old rule that enjoins avoiding the match-up is worth heeding.

The answer: you can happily sip red wine (at least this red wine) with your fish (at least this fish)  . . .  you just can't sip red wine with fish and asparagus! 

Stephen Meuse can be reached at bytheglass@globe.com

Todd English's Olives has miraculously reopened. Michael Schlow's Happy's Bar & Kitchen opens Wednesday, when Boston Speed Dog's new truck debuts. Noma is No. 1 on the list of the world's 50 best restaurants again,and the James Beard awards are coming right up. We'll talk about food and restaurants, local and beyond, on our food chat Wednesday, May 2, at 11 a.m.

My friend whose (now ex) husband went on to greener pastures decided to throw herself a divorce party last weekend. The cake reads:

I do

I did

I'm done

Wife goes on

Notice the little leg sticking out from under the wedding cake! The upside down confection was made by Jen Day, owner of Le Cookie du Jour in Duxbury. Guests raved about the cake -- what it said and how it tasted. 

A friend in Western Mass was out the other day and discovered a field of wild ramps. They are also known as wild leeks. The bulbs are white with purple tinge and though many people put them into all kinds of dishes, they are very strong, almost garlicky.

Here is what Ingrid MacGillis wrote from Western Mass:

"I was just out in the woods behind the house to pick ramps. And voila, 40 minutes later, I have a big bowl of pesto. I make it differently each time, so I can't deliver a fixed recipe, but there are so many online if you want a specific one.

"This time I used pecans (only because I was out of walnuts) and I chopped them separately because I wanted nice chunks, not pecan meal. Then, let's see what cheese I had. There, about 1 cup of Parmesan.

"I tied the big fat bunch of ramps together with a long twisty tie to make the transfer from blanching water to ice water easier, then drained the bunch in a colander, spread the leaves on a kitchen towel, rolled them up, and added them to the cheese in the food processor. Whir, whir, pour in [my daugher] Lucy's olive oil, then transfer the green pulp to the bowl with the chopped nuts, add a bit of salt. Mmmmm.

"All in an hour, including the nice stroll in the woods."

It's easy to forget that at one time the celebrated  vineyards of northern Europe were nothing more than wooded hillsides. The Romans, who generally took the long view of things, planted vines wherever they thought there was a chance they would thrive. The further north they moved, the more challenging viticulture became. In higher northern latitudes the cold can be severe enough to winter-kill vines; sunlight so meager grapes do not ripen sufficiently to make a  stable, palatable wine.  

Come talk about Clio at 15, your feelings regarding sushi, the rise and fall of white bread, the class war on beer, new restaurant openings, and delicious dishes today at 11.

There's a lot of hake in the market lately, at a good price, but when I can't get it, I sometimes splurge on grouper (fished off the coast of Panama). It's a meaty fish, something like monkfish, so dense that you cannot use the 10-minutes-per-inch-in-a-very-hot-oven rule. The thick piece in the photo took more than 20 minutes (granted, I never leave fish on the counter to come to room temperature as some chefs do; it starts to deteriorate too quickly).

The bright greens under the fish are sauteed leeks and escarole mixed with roasted fennel and asparagus, and at the very end, fresh or frozen peas. I've been making the greens for a couple of weeks and they're good fresh the first night and even reheated the second.

Grouper with leeks, escarole, fennel, asparagus, and peas

Serves 6

Give the vegetables a head start, then cook the fish when the fennel is done and it’s time to add the asparagus to the pan. Use the same hot oven for both.

2 pounds boneless grouper

Olive oil (for sprinkling)

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 bulbs fresh fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 bunch asparagus, ends snapped, stalks cut into thirds

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 leeks, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 20 minutes

1/2 head escarole

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed or fresh peas

1 tablespoon chopped fresh regular or lemon thyme

1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges

1. Set the oven at 450 degrees.

2. Cut the fish into 6 even pieces. If the grouper is very thick, halve it lengthwise, then cut each half into 3 pieces. Rub both sides with oil, salt, and pepper. Set in a baking dish and cover; refrigerate.

3. On a large rimmed baking sheet, spread the fennel. Sprinkle with oil. Roast for 25 minutes. Add the asparagus, toss well, and continue roasting for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and when it is hot, add the leeks, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 12 minutes, or until the leeks are beginning to brown. Add the escarole and cook, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 3 minutes more or until they are hot. Stir in the fennel and asparagus.

5. Cover the fish with parchment paper. Roast it for 20 to 25 minutes or until it is tender and flaky.

6. Divide the greens among 6 plates. Add a piece of fish to each one. Sprinkle with thyme and serve with lemon. Sheryl Julian

It's happening again. When elections loom, food-culture wars ramp up. (And my use of the word "ramp" should not indicate that I am a vegetable-eating, possibly foraging Socialist liberal.)

AP File Photo/Mary Altaffer

Pepperoni: the politically smart choice?

On Wednesday, the Herald reports, Massachusetts senator Scott Brown visited Canton's Blue Hills Brewery, where he tasted several beers, then drove on to the next campaign stop in his pickup truck (the car-culture wars simultaneously kick into gear). Phil Johnston, a former chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, called it "appalling" for Brown to drive after drinking.

Brown opponent Elizabeth Warren declined to comment. Brown spokesman Colin Reed, however, had something to say: "This frivolous complaint over a few sips of beer on a local brewery tour makes a mockery of the seriousness of drunken driving, and has more to do with the elitism of Professor Warren and her allies who look down on people who drink beer."

AP File Photo/Alex Brandon

Maybe it's time for Beer Summit 2012.

That's quite a leap in deductive reasoning, but never mind. What's interesting is the spinning of Warren -- a professor, Reed is sure to point out -- as an elitist who doesn't drink beer.

Blue Hills is a microbrewery, part of the craft beer movement. "Microbrew/craft beer consumers skew more male, age 35-49, higher educated and also higher income, $100K plus, than beer consumers, on average, according to The NPD Group's food-service market research," says Kim McLynn of the market research company. In other words -- the elite. And craft beer is growing fast, unlike other sectors of the beer market. According to trade group the Brewers Association, in 2011 sales of US craft beer were up 13 percent by volume, while overall beer sales were down 1.3 percent. Reed could have more accurately pinned an imagined disdain of beer on Warren's being a woman -- men still dominate beer consumption. But perhaps that wouldn't have been a good idea right now.

Where beer is claimed by conservatives, so is red meat. A few days ago, it was announced that former presidential candidate Rick Santorum had dropped out of a three-course steak dinner that was part of conservative radio host Chris Stigall's Red Meat Tour. (Increasing risk of mortality with every stop!)

Photo/Talk Radio 1210 WPHT

"Red Meat Tour events feature fresh and compelling political chat, and an opportunity for anyone in attendance to join in the conversation while enjoying a fine steak dinner," according to the station.

You won't ever see a similar Salad Tour, even as Michelle Obama continues to spread the good word on fruits and vegetables. Soon we'll be talking moose stew vs. arugula again.

For its own health, the country needs to change its eating habits, but the politicization of food reminds us just how difficult that will be. Every four years, red meat, fries and burgers, donuts, diner fare, and beer are held up as the diet of the everyman. Politicians who never eat such stuff are suddenly mad for it, pressing flesh and inhaling pepperoni pizza. (In real life, upscale Italian may be more like it. I've seen Mitt Romney at Il Casale in Belmont, where he seemed to be enjoying himself.) Express an interest in anything vegetable and the other side will mock you for it.

Politicians miss a chance to set a fine example for voters in terms of diet. They are out to win hearts, not minds, via the stomach. If left and right were to declare a culture-war truce where food is concerned (and this will never happen), elections would be a prime opportunity to promote a public-health agenda. A candidate would never smoke openly. Beer drinking is positive in moderation, provided there is no driving afterward. But it is still considered fine to eat a steady stream of the kind of food that promotes obesity, diabetes, and other health problems (expensive ones!) this country faces.

On the other hand, red meat is what manly men have for dinner. Maybe this year's emphasis on women will result in a few campaign-trail stops at stereotypically chick-friendly salad bars and froyo shops.

An email from Hamilton Russell Vineyards this week brought an item of interest. The star South African property has begun putting a small amount of its fine estate chardonnay into small, 160 liter clay amphorae.

The amphorae, seen at left, are lined with clay from the estate, which is located about 70 miles southeast of Cape Town. Vineyards lie close to South Africa's Atlantic coast.

The idea is to ferment and age fruit from the property's oldest chardonnay vineyards in clay with a view to achieving the same amount of air exchange as would be provided by barrels, but without infusing the wine with either wood tannins or the flavors and aromas that come from toasting. 

While the use of stainless steel achieves many of the same objectives, inox doesn't insinuate the minute amounts of oxygen that promote a wine's even, natural evolution.

The press release says that juice from Hamilton Russell's older vineyards ripen to much lower alcohol levels than that from more recently-planted sites, often struggling to reach 12 percent. "These vineyards produce wines that are all too easily overwhelmed by newer wood, or lack vibrant freshness in older wood," it reports.

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According to Boston Business Journal, a new restaurant is slated for the former school on Arlington Street. Back Bay resident Ruta Laukien, previously an investment banker at Bear Stearns, is behind the project, along with chef Jeffrey Fournier of 51 Lincoln.

Boston Business Journal says Laukien "expects to spend as much as $5 million to outfit the space including about $275,000 for a liquor license" and that the menu will feature international fare, including dishes from her native Lithuania. Main dishes will be priced from $20-$30.

In an online video, Laukien shares her vision for the restaurant. "My concept is a place that will combine a restaurant, a lounge, art gallery, all in one, all of equal importance, blended together. It's a place that will be alive, fluid, constantly in motion," she says.

If you haven't at least heard about the natural wine movement, it's likely you haven't been paying  attention.  If you have been paying attention you probably know that it's an amorphous phenomenon with heroes but no real leaders, that it's fueled by a good deal of rhetoric and earnest manifesto-making, that it frequently marches in step with the agricultural theories of Rudolf Steiner (biodynamics), that it's obsessed with the particularities of place and with regional, sometimes hyper-local, vine varieties, that it has a bone to pick with the use of sulfur, and that while some of the people pleased to be associated with it are of the talented and reasonable variety, some appear to be neither - or so it strikes me. 

The whole business has become rather contentious, to the point where to merely suggest that contention exists is now considered a contentious statement.  

I don't plan to say anything contentious here. I merely wish to point out that at its base, the natural wine movement rests on a series of assumptions about the natural world and our place in it that received their classic formulation in the works of poets, painters, dramatists, and musicians whose work we have long used the art history term Romantic to describe and that these assumptions inform every meaningful aspect of this school of winemaking.  

I was thinking about all this yesterday while reading a recent post on Alice Feiring's blog The Feiring Line.  

Globe Staff File Photo/David L. Ryan

Chef Barry Maiden led 2011 Munch Madness champion Hungry Mother to a victory again in 2012.

Hungry Mother sent a lovely sympathy bouquet to Craigie on Main. The card read: “You deserve happiness instead of heartbreak, peace instead of pain. ... May time help to ease your grief and bring you the happiness and peace that you deserve.” The Hungry Mother staff even hand-wrote a message: “Dear Tony [Maws] and staff -- With our deepest sympathy on coming in second place in 2012 Munch Madness. You’re still #1 in our hearts. Love, Hungry Mother.” (In turn, the Craigie staff sent Hungry Mother pizza from Cinderella’s. The flowers came from Central Square Florist. Even in competition, Cambridge businesses support one another.)

All of this sympathy would have been really sweet if Hungry Mother hadn’t sent the flowers in the middle of Craigie’s Saturday-night service. Voting didn’t end until Sunday night. “Don’t let Craigie on Main make a mockery of our arrogance!” they exhorted voters in a mass e-mail.

And voters didn’t.

Hungry Mother garnered 1,614 votes to Craigie’s 1,382 in the final round. (A total of 204,000 votes were cast over the course of the tournament.) The restaurant is the bona fide, Southern-fried champion of Munch Madness 2012. Congratulations to the staff, and to all of the fine restaurants and food trucks in this year’s brackets, which again reminded us what a delicious place the Boston area is to live.

Who won Munch Madness, Craigie on Main or Hungry Mother? British chain Pret a Manger is coming to Boston. Is JM Curley Downtown Crossing's Highland Kitchen? And more food-related fun, on Boston.com's food chat, taking place at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 4. Please join us.

Photo/Terence Ong

If you've spent time in London, it's likely you've eaten a sandwich at Pret a Manger. The chain, which opened in 1986, is omnipresent. Once its convenience sucks you in, you wonder: Why don't we have this in Boston? The stores are clean and pleasant. Food is made with natural and "ethically sourced" ingredients. What's not sold by the end of the day is donated to charitable organizations. And the terribly British sandwiches -- mature cheddar with pickle, king prawn cocktail, coronation chicken and fruit chutney -- are tastier than most fast food options. (Whether they're particularly healthy is up for debate.) Pret a Manger also sells salads, soups, breakfast items, and more.

Pret has established a presence in New York, D.C., and Chicago. (Sadly, the US menu is different from the British one.) The company is growing quickly. This year, it just announced, it has 14 more shops planned for the US. At least one of them will be in Boston. The location has not yet been released. Now if only they'd offer mature cheddar and pickle sandwiches...

The meat case has lots of lamb because that’s what everyone who isn’t serving ham on Easter wants. It’s not the baby lambs, which are roasted on a spit by Greeks and other ethnic cooks. What you see in the markets now is lamb from the U.S. (often Colorado) and New Zealand, and a little from New England. Local lamb (Maine, Vermont) is expensive -- frankly, it’s all high -- and I think the best tasting. American lamb in general has a stronger flavor then New Zealand, which butcher John Dewar once called “grassy.”

Last week I made lamb shanks with carrots and onions, simmered in tomatoes and lots of garlic (above), for a friend who cannot get rid of a cough and feels sluggish. I thought he needed a big injection of meat. The American shanks are huge; this pot of three serves at least four, with a generous spoonful of mashed potatoes, of course.

I spent the weekend testing legs of lamb for a Sunday Supper & More coming out on Wednesday. Lamb is tricky to roast. As I explain in the column, you don’t get any practice year round, so you’ve got this big cut you paid heaven and earth for, and you want it to be nice and pink and moist, not cooked to death.

And on the subject of Sunday Supper, download our new free e-cookbook here. This is the spring edition, heartier dishes for the nights that are chilly, lighter fare for suppers when it’s warmer.

We love working on this project, which was highlighted in the Nieman Journalism Lab in Ken Doctor's column. Here is a video with tips for your nightly meals (it takes a few seconds to load).

Braised lamb shanks with tomatoes

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks

Olive oil (for sprinkling)

Salt and pepper, to taste

3 tablespoons olive oil

6 carrots, cut into thirds

2 large onions, roots intact, each cut into 6 wedges

3 cloves garlic, smashed

1 can (16 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, crushed in a bowl

1 quart water, or more if necessary

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons black olive tapenade

3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (for garnish)

1. Turn on the broiler.

2. In a roasting pan, rub the shanks all over with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slide them under the broiler and cook for 8 minutes or until starting to brown. Turn and cook 8 minutes more.

3. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees.

4. In a large flameproof casserole that will hold all the shanks, heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the carrots, onions, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

5. Set the shanks in the pan. Add the water, bay leaf, and rosemary. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, and cover the pan. Transfer to the oven and cook the shanks for 1 1/2 hours or until they are very tender and the meat has pulled away from the bone.

6. Skim off and discard the fat from the pan. Discard the bay leaf and rosemary. Stir the tapenade into the sauce. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if you like. Sprinkle with parsley. Sheryl Julian

This year's Munch Madness tournament is drawing to a more stately and dignified conclusion than those in previous years.

Craigie on Main last night sent out an e-mail that said, in part:

"I can't say enough about our friends, Gareth, Andrew, and Jackson at Eastern Standard. Indeed, I have enjoyed many fine meals and beverages at their establisment and have loved hosting them at Craigie. You definitely won't see us going mano a mano, trash talking, or casting spells. We do have some food for thought, though, as you consider your vote. As in this election season, it is important to make an informed choice, so it is my responsibililty to present some contrasts. Your choice is....

-Behemoth and mini-conglomerate vs. small, family-run Craigie
-Boston vs. Cambridge Central Square
-Mammoth menu vs. daily changing menu with 100% no exceptions commitment to sustainability
-Traditional menu vs. one high on the funk factor
-Huge great bar vs. small great bar
-Brunch vs award-winning brunch"

And Eastern Standard in turn created this video:

Meanwhile, all is hush-hush on the Hungry Mother vs. Highland Kitchen front. Should we expect an equally civilized finish? We'll find out soon. Voting in this round of Munch Madness ends tonight at 11.