In Case of Earthquake.

Previous to here I lived in a basement apartment, and set into the ground like that there is less quaking to be felt, I would assume because the higher you go the more sway comes your way. I won't lie, I was a bit nervous then and remain so now, having an entire building above me should I be down here during the big one. My only promise to you is this: if I get trapped down here and time is running out, I'm breaking into the lockers. I know who has the good stuff.

Mr. Day and his group of investors bought this building in 1975. In an article from the Glendale News Press, July 24, 1982, Mr. Day talks about the conversion of the hotel basement into a wine storage facility. This is where the original restaurant and ballroom were, and there was initial effort to restore this space into a restaurant, but frustration over city-imposed red-tape thwarted that process. Mr. Day and his partners still have wine lockers down here. I spoke with one of them today to ask about earthquakes.

A story was once available on-line about how The Cave fared in the Whittier Quake, but I am unable to find it now. In it Vern, my predecessor, stated only one or two unsecured bottles broke in that quake. The partner I spoke with today recalls there was no damage down here in the Northridge Quake though there was some damage in the building itself, something Mr. Day, a civil engineer, was well qualified to remedy.

There are a good amount of links on-line to address earthquake proofing your wine including this one, but as usual my resident winos are way ahead of the game: store your wine in their boxes or cases, and rent a multitude of smaller lockers rather than one large one. Keeps it all packed in there and snug, less rattle and roll.

[Edit, 9/04/09: I stumbled onto the aforementioned article about wine storage facilities and earthquakes, fire, etc. Here is the link.]

Food Pairing: (Curried) Pizza and Wine?

I know, you're thinking after the hot dogs and wine how much lower can I sink, but hear me out on this one.

A few times a year and certainly before the weather gets too hot to crank up the oven, I go to Trader Joe's for my pizza ingredients: pizza dough, lemon artichoke pesto, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and shiitake mushrooms. All the ingredients go right onto the pizza crust (which needs a bit of a pre-bake to get the crispness right) in that order except for the mushrooms which first get sauteed in olive oil, garlic, butter and a light curry.

Curry is a generic term and there are many roads to curry, but a basic curry powder is one part cumin, one part coriander, one part turmeric and half a part dried red pepper. Also it's the orange stuff in that neglected small jar in the back of your spice cabinet. Go easy on the curry though, you don't want to kill all that delicate pesto/cheese action, you just want to fold into it another dimension.

Though not by nature a white wino, the prevailing opinion on what might go best with this pizza is a Sauvignon Blanc. This person offers an explanation I appreciate.

Since you're already at Trader Joe's, they offer a few Sauvignon Blancs of New Zealand fame and otherwise, these amongst them:

Hot Wine Tip!

People who lodge here are way smart about their wine, but I'm offering this one up anyway. Like a good stock tip I should probably keep it to myself. I'm pretty certain no one reads this thing, though, so here it is: 2005 Chateau Ste. Michelle Cab. Get it at Vons for ten bucks, throw it in the locker for five years, and heaven will drop.