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World Guest Cards (Mirovoj Gost’) may be obtained at any of the Mirovaya Karta restaurants.
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Please contact Julia Badekha by the phone (044) 253 16 24 and repeat your data, in order to find out the error reason.
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Increasing your discount from 10% to 15% and from 15% to 20% depends upon the number of visits to our restaurants using your card. You can inquire about the number of visits registered, by e-mail at info@kartamir.com.ua give your surname, given name and patronymic if used.
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You can inquire the Department on Work with Clients about the state of your bonus account by the phone (044) 531 94 03 or by e-mail info@kartamir.com.ua.
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You can renew a lost card contacting the Department on Work with Clients. Phone: (044) 531 94 03, e-mail: info@kartamir.com.ua
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You can get an application form by fax (044) 537 22 77 or at any our restaurant. Additional information is available by the phone (044) 253 16 24.
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SUMMARY
PUBLISHERS’ FOREWORD
Caught in the pre-Christmas hustle-bustle we took the last look at this year’s sunset. The sun almost sunk below the horizon, implacable northern winds were launching an assault on the city… An obvious decision flashed into our minds: we should head towards the sun to say our farewell before a long winter night.
Miami greeted us with thousands of dazzling suns — oranges, white sandy beaches, celebrities’ Hollywood smiles and breathtaking parties from sunset till the next sunset. This city, fighting fit and surprisingly relaxing, stays awake all night long. On our way back to Europe, we caught gleams of the setting sun in the transparent azure waters of the Italian lake Como. Set on its shores, the Villa d’Este hotel, which could well be the most luxurious hotel of the world, maintains a serene mood of the guests with the music of Ferenz Liszt who once lived there.
While we were heading towards the sun, it shone upon us in different and sometimes unexpected guises: at some moment it warmed us with a glass of vintage port, later it glowed on the crust of an apple Tarte Tatin, then it slightly burned us with the taste of the legendary steak tartare, and speckled lively sparkles on Boucheron jewellery masterpieces...
The heroes of this issue have clever bright eyes as if speckled by the sun. Inspired patissier Pierre Herme works magic with cream, meringues, and sponge-cakes; he then displays his unrivalled desserts at his boutique which looks like a treasure box. «Chef of the century» Joel Robuchon lights up Michelin stars all over the world by opening restaurants in Paris, Tokyo, New York, Monte-Carlo. Ieoh Ming Pei designs architectural masterpieces: the glass pyramid of the Louvre and stunningly beautiful Bank of China in Beijing which attract connoisseurs and keen beauty hunters from around the world. Meanwhile, keen beauty advocate Jaime Tresserra, an interior designer, opposes mechanization and breaks established rules. Every work of Octavio Ocampo is an amazing riddle and the artist himself is famous for his magic «metaphoric style» of painting. Erich Maria Remarque… there is no chance to write about Remarque in one line, so just turn to our issue and read a feature on him.
MIAMI: LOVE OF ORANGES
There is a place on earth where at sunset the relaxed beach feel, like a tender ocean wave, plunges into the excitement of crazy parties. Here, the richest men of the world order bright tropical cocktails for the world’s most gorgeous women. This place is a paradise for sunglasses fans, for the owners of golden credit cards, crazy roller bladers, respectable policemen and Hollywood producers. Besides, this is the gate to Central and South America. Welcome to Miami!
In God We Trust, this phrase known to any US citizen from toddler age is considered to be the official motto of this powerful and unique country. At the same time, it is also the state motto of one of its states, Florida, which many Americans believe to be the embodiment of divine intent. Florida is famous for the world’s best hotels and resorts, regardless of the number of stars, and the port of Miami is a point of departure for huge cruise liners leaving for the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Haiti, Mexico... «This is a blessed land», you will always hear these words when renting a car at the Miami airport to any of the city’s hotels, checking in at a hotel, or ordering a bottle of wine at a restaurant. No longer simply a city, but rather several autonomous administrative areas with their own city administrations, police departments and budgets, Miami came into being thanks to a woman’s intuition.
Born in Cleveland, Julia Tuttle had a reputation of a brave and resilient lady who had her own opinion on any issue. After her husband’s death, Mrs Tuttle, too active to be lost in mournful reflections, moved to the south. This was not an on-the-spot decision: earlier, Julia was told by her dreamer friends about ‘the land of eternal summer’ where the branches of young orange trees were bent down by the weight of sweet fire-bright balls…
LEGEND OF WILD STEPPES
…In the years 1209-1221, Emperor of Emperors Genghis Khan and his Golden Horde conquered two thirds of the then known world. The Tartars who rode small sturdy horses kept raw meat under their saddles to boost the energy of warriors on the go. The inhabitants of conquered Russia who were also willing to try the magic source of energy would secretly chop the beef and refine it with salt and species to improve its taste. It was at that time that the dish became known as «tartar». A little later, Moscow chefs started to add chopped onions and raw eggs to the beef.
Soon, German sailors brought the original recipe of «tartar» to the port of Hamburg where tartare steak gained a new name of Hamburg-steak. By the beginning of the 15th century the minced raw meat was popular all over Europe and became basis for making sausages, but this is a different story. An interesting legend has it that an English king was once so delighted with the invention of Mongol horsemen — the raw meat tenderized under the saddle and refined with species — that he knighted it giving it the name Sir Loin.
In the early 19th century, German emigrants brought tartare steak to America, the land where appeared what we now know as hamburger: a patty of fried meat with lettuce, ketchup, onions and sesame seeds inside a bun. A beef patty used for hamburger used to be called «fricadelle», «fricandelle», or «bulette», originally Italian or French words. It should be noted that the Americans, among them John Mason Smith, a researcher from California, claim the only reason wild nomadic tribes would put raw meat under the saddle was to heal wounds of their poor horses. However, they offer no alternative history of the tartare, therefore this version is not considered credible by the historians.
GREY EARL OF THE DOURO RIVER
This country can give you a bottle of wine which will be growing together with you. It will develop, get covered with dust, and grow even more precious. You will be putting off the moment when you have to let the jinni out of that great bottle, as savouring vintage port is a great experience to be remembered for many years to come.
The family of fortified wines are classic digestives that can be enjoyed as after-dinner drinks on their own, even without dessert. The best ports are upscale drinks that are often consumed like cognacs: sipping slowly and indulging in an exquisite bouquet while talking to a pleasant interlocutor. Any gastronomic accompaniment is excluded. White port can be served chilled and goes well with ice, lemon and orange juices, and berries. In Portugal, a special port glass has been designed which now went into production series. This goblet is made of colourless glass, with a thin stem and a round shaped bowl which slightly narrows to the top. Its usual capacity is 140 to170 ml but can come up to 250 ml. A port glass should be filled no more than halfway full to enjoy the aroma of the drink as well as its taste. Like sherry and Madeira wine, port pairs well with ham, smoked products, salmon, pickles and other spicy appetizers. White port makes a good match with a main fish course. Strong extractive wines also go well with meat dishes. Here, the marriage of port with duck fillet in cherry sauce and rack of lamb will work well. Connoisseurs claim that the perfect classical match is port with a soft cheese or with a variety of nuts. English cheese Stilton, Portuguese Serpa cheese, French camembert, Dutch Edam, Italian Mascarpone and Gorgonzola make a good match with Port.
Pleasant autumn time, yellow-red leaves beyond the window, I am sitting at a fireplace together with my good friends, a glass of excellent port in my hand — this is how I picture November, this is how I would like to spend the last warm days.
HONOURABLE TARTE TATIN
Historically, France has remained the world’s number one producer of delicious bread, fluffy croissants, buns, and sophisticated cakes. The ideal breakfast of anyone who lives in this «mecca of romance» is bound to contain fresh delightful pastry. The secret probably lies in special technologies of mixing the dough that later turns into crispy baguettes or tiny brioche buns. For the French baker, creating pastry is by no means a boring obligation, it is art that brings joy. An exception to the rule are perhaps the inhabitants of Normandy for whom pastry is held as a point of honour, especially if the pastry is Tarte Tatin.
Keeping in mind all the benefits of Normandy, it comes as no surprise that the pie known all over the world was born in no other place but here. The inhabitants of Normandy are indeed favourites of fortune. This land is famous for its plentiful pasture for well-fed dairy cattle. The milk that the cows give is so fat that sometimes the locals jokingly exclaim: «It’s time our cows gave camembert instead of milk!» And it is said that the fragrant salubrious air of Normandy could be bottled (the province bordered in the north by the English Channel is a famous sea resort). The region supplies about a half of the French dairy products. Another specialty of Normandy, apples, is a basis of the famous French apple tart: the local orchards grow over 800 kinds of apples, from sour-sweet to bitter-tart. Also derived from Norman apples are calvados (apple brandy) and cider both lavishly used in numerous local dishes.
Tarte Tatin is the most French dessert. Although French cuisine is conventionally divided into regional cuisine (bouillabaisse soup from Marseille, or meat tripe from Normandy), commonplace dishes (sandwiches, quiche Lorraine, pastries), and haute cuisine that originates from the courts of the monarchs of previous centuries, Tarte Tatin is served both at bistrots and at expensive restaurants.
REMARKS ON MARGINS OF HISTORY
«From the beginning of times, man has not just lied, he has also believed in kindness, beauty and perfection and has seen it even where they never existed or where they are just about to come into being...», says the author of «Three Comrades» in one of his novels. This duality is in the nature of Remarque, a writer admired by the young and romantic.
The son of a bookbinder, nicknamed Smudge by his schoolmates for his love of writing, Remarque became one of the bestselling authors. Full of aphorisms, his novels are effortless reading, the eye glides over the text easily meeting with almost no resistance: «It is not shameful to be born stupid, it is only shameful to die a fool», «Human life is too long for one love», «Money does not make people happy but has a strong sedative effect», «The unhappy alone know what happiness is», these and many other well known sayings belong to Remarque.
Many critics will reproach him with this ease and treat Remarque with suspicion labelling his works as «light reading» balancing on the edge of serious and trivial literature. It is not a mere coincidence that «All Quiet on the Western Front», the first real novel of the author which he seriously worked on, was rejected by the respectable publishing house Fischer, whereas Scherl, the publishing house where Remarque worked at that time, told him the novel was not worth reprinting even in a newspaper. And yet, what a delight it is to plunge into the breathtaking magic that fills every page written by Remarque! Besides, the writer touched a nerve of the time, as in the 1920s, Germany literally overflowed with war fiction.
Ironically enough, it was in a newspaper that «All Quiet» was published for the first time. Soon, the whole of Berlin was discussing the novel, and the newspaper sold about half a million copies. The publication of this novel placed Remarque among the writers (Hemingway, Aldington, Fitzgerald) who objectively conveyed what the war really means: loss of illusions and death of a whole generation. «This book is to be neither an accusation, nor a confession. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war», Remarque wrote in the novel’s epigraph.
THE HOUSE THAT PEI BUILT
Champagne goblets were tinkling cheerfully as Beijing’s high society gathered for a party in late June 2001. They crowded around a huge aquarium skirted by tall bamboo, and an elderly Chinese man, with a radiant proud smile emanating from his face, was cutting the ribbon. A 30,000-square-foot garden and a gorgeous building — this is the Bank of China designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, better known by his initials IM Pei.
The East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, also designed by IM Pei, proved so popular that over a million people visited the building during the first fifty days of its existence.
And a high-tech glass pyramid placed by IM Pei in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum has been attracting increasing numbers of visitors each year. No doubt, success is where he is.
It is hard to believe that this diminutive friendly old man designed structures so huge and impressive. Pei’s works can be found in almost any corner of the world, his favourite method is contrast, his favourite shape pyramid. The master himself likes to repeat his creative credo is to affect human mind through architecture.
Interestingly, Pei’s surname means in Chinese «a bright image», which obviously motivated him to become one of the brightest architects of the 20th century. Thus, the name given to Pei by his parents proved prophetic: he could not help becoming a «bright» professional with such a name.
And he became one… One of the most sought-after architects of the present day, Ieoh Ming Pei was born to the family of a prominent Chinese banker in the notorious 1917. Initially, IM Pei planned to stay in Shanghai, the city where he spent his childhood, however, the war with Japan that started in 1939 forced him to move across the ocean to the USA where he gained international acclaim. Each building designed by Pei is charismatic and seems to have a personality of its own.
JULES VERNE’S PROPHECY
Balloon flights were so vividly described by Jules Verne in his science fiction that actually we could do without writing this article and instead just quote an extract from his book. Interestingly enough, Verne foresaw many of the future achievements which became reality. The hot air balloon is over 220 years old, it had quite a complicated history but managed to live on till the 21st century.
So what is a hot-air balloon and what does it feel like to soar freely in the sky like a careless bird? There is only one way to find it out: go on a hot-air balloon flight and gain a first-hand experience. You slightly pull yourself up and there you are inside the basket. A second later you are floating away. You will not even feel the moment the balloon takes off.
The experience of a person going aloft in a balloon for the first time are absolutely special, you won’t feel the same even when skydiving. Awesome thrill, unity of the world, affinity with all living beings — these almost forgotten feelings make those flying now under a huge round «sail» different from the rest of the world.
As it usually happens, the landmark discovery occurred under most commonplace circumstances. On 15 November 1782, Joseph Montgolfier, who lived in Avignon, was putting on his shirt standing close to the fire place. Filled with hot air, the cloth suddenly formed a bubble and billowed upwards. Montgolfier then made a cube out of cloth, filled it with hot air, and let it go. To his surprise, the cube rose to the ceiling. After several experiments were completed, Joseph’s younger brother, Etienne, reported the discovery to the Parisian Academy of Sciences. Etienne was good at geometry: he proposed to move to the round shape instead of a cube. This is how a hot air balloon was invented.
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In this section:
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 summer 2004
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 december 2003 / january 2004
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 february / march 2004
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 april / may 2004
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 october/november 2003
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