Joe Ray
Food & Travel / Words & Photos
Published Work
ARCHIVE OF THE YEAR 2008
December 2008 - Centurion Magazine
The Centurion Menu - Carme Ruscalleda & Santi Santamaria
The Centurion Menu
Spain’s Santi Santamaria and Carme Ruscalleda both bring their own different cooking style to the traditional fare of their native Catalonia. We combine personal contributions from the Michelin three-starred chefs to form our exclusive Centurion Menu
By Joe Ray For Centurion Magazine | December, 2008
December 2008 - Platinum Magazine
The Perfect Match - Dutch Cheese with Betty Koster at L’Amuse
Not sure what to have with that exquisite Dutch Cheese? How about a coffee?
December 1, 2008 - brandchannel.com
Wines: Is “Made In France” enough?
Talk to enough people at the high end of French food and wine about how to compete with “new-world” wines - how to sell the “French” grand of wines - and it sounds like a broken record: quality, quality, quality, terroir, terroir, terroir (the latter roughly meaning the locality and the expertise of the producer). It gets old fast.
November 3, 2008 - brandchannel.com
Wines: Roederer Champagne - Branding with artists
Michel Janneau and Thierry Consigny. De-vine intervention.
Using an actor or porfessional athlete is a classic way to build a brand. Tiger Woods is the face of precision and perfection for TAG Heuer and Nike. George Clooney contributes classy sophistication to Nespresso with his trademark smirk. But, athletes and actors aside, associating full-blown artists - stereotypically volatile personas - or their work with a brand is a far more daring proposition.
October, 2008 - Centurion Magazine
Siclilan Love Affair - Chef Ciccio Sultano
Not only is Sicily the perfect romantic getaway, but at Il Duomo, chef Ciccio Sultano’s restaurant in the tiny baroque masterpiece of Ragusa Ibla, the whole restaurant and the entire experience are aphrodisiacs
Story and Photos By Joe Ray For American Express Centurion Magazine.
October, 2008 - Platinum Magazine
Silversmiths in Paris - Cutting Edge Tradition
Cutting Edge Tradition
Hammer down with the last hand-forged silverware maker in Paris
Story and Photos By Joe Ray For American Express Platinum Magazine
September 14, 2008 - The Boston Globe - Travel
Sampling The Motherland
An Italian odyssey wends through city, countryside, and kitchen, finding marriages of subtle and surprising ingredients.
By Joe Ray, Globe Correspondent | September 14, 2008
September 1, 2008 - brandchannel.com
Campbell Evans - Hot Shot
Campbell Evans is quick to set the stage in what he calls a “higgledy-piggledy tour” of the state of the Scotch whisky industry.
As the head of government and consumer affairs for the Scotch Whisky Association, Evans reports that the …
August, 2008 - Centurion Magazine
Young Chefs, Causing A Stir
When chef Otis Lebert and I headed over to try a new restaurant with a whiz-kid in the kitchen, I wasn’t anticipating a clash of egos on the street. Like two cagey boxers squaring off for the first time, both chefs immediately flash an unpleasant side right there in front of the restaurant. I make a note to myself: bad idea.
The Boston Globe - Travel - Sunday, July 27, 2008
Heart of the Hills
A port city known for poetry, savory food, worldly influences, ValparaÃso has created itself
July 13, 2008 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gastronomy is king in Lyon
Lyon, France — The design on the door to Jojo’s wine shop says it all: It’s a line drawing of owner Georges “Jojo” Dos Santos locked in a very passionate embrace with a bottle of wine.
With a flipped-up haircut and a spunkiness reminiscent of the cartoon reporter Tintin, Dos Santos, and his shop, Antic Wine, are two of the most recognizable icons in Lyon. Only two minutes after my arrival, he exclaims, “Let’s go!”
Apparently, the “Lyon by Jojo” tour does not begin with wine.
July 11, 2008 - Agence France Presse
Scotch whisky adapts to times but sticks to tradition
CRAIGELLACHIE, Scotland (AFP) - A spring drive through the Scottish Highlands could melt the frost from the crustiest curmudgeon.
This far north, quiet towns such as Lossiemouth, Craigellachie, Dunkeld and Dufftown are connected by lonely roads that pass through an addictive balm of rolling hills, mountains covered in heather, loud shocks of yellow rapeseed flowers, and, more discreetly, tall pergola roofs that poke up from glens like church spires.
June 2, 2008 - brandchannel.com
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta - Grape Expectations
Piero Incisa della Rocchetta is the export manager for the Tuscan wine brand, Tenuta San Guido, known for its Super-Tuscan (Sassicaia) wines that go for hundreds or thousands of dollars a bottle. In our interview, he discusses how he goes …
Platinum Magazine
Argentina’s Ruta 40 - The Road Goes Ever On
Mostly gravel. A rough and beautiful ride to the end of the world
This is not a drive for the faint of heart or the short on time. The spiritual, wild-eyed cousin to Route 66, Patagonian Argentina‘s Ruta 40 is a ‘Mad Max’-style dirt road to nowhere, skirting the Andes, connecting only north and south, with rib-like smaller roads reaching out to the major stopping points along the way. Here, “luxury travel†is a dependable 4X4 with plenty of clearance. Plan on dings in the windshield and the ride of your life.
May 18, 2008 - The Boston Globe - Travel
Tips to help make your dollars stretch in Europe
PARIS - I have lived here for almost seven years. I saw the euro arrive and watched the dollar slowly lose ground. In the beginning, the pinch never felt too bad. Would I pay a couple of extra cents for …