Biryani, round two, was an absolute success! May and Duane scoffed the aromatic, spicy repast and reaped the leftovers. I declare biryani a crowd-pleasing, fail-safe dish. Hell even the NY Times wrote about it today. I sense a biryani zeitgeist. Jim is toying with the idea of opening a wine bar; I told him he must offer a small plate of biryani cooked by yours truly. I guarantee an instant success.

” alt=”Biryani at May & Duane’s” />

Speaking of wine. May Matta holds a WSET diploma, teaches wine classes at the International Wine Center in New York, is the US brand ambassador for Armagnac and does graphic design for wine shops, wine labels. She is a very talented [married] hottie.  I told her that I was bringing the 2001 Tissot Savagnin to drink with the meal and so she headed to Astor to pick a wine for before din-din. Her choice was pure brilliance and fit in with the Jura theme -  Dom. de Montbourgeau Crémant de Jura ($20.99). Talk about lemony. This is fizz that tastes as if someone squeezed half a fresh lemon into it with, as May said, a touch of chalk. It was salivating, focused and woke my palate the hell up.

As for the Tissot, it was beautifully oxidized – you can see in these photos that it was the color of dehydrated pee and I can confirm that oxidative-style wines are really good with Indian spices.

” alt=”Jura and Biryani” />

On the other hand the Lemasson Poivre et Sel [$18 from Blue Angel Wines] got a bit lost next to the spicy chow but what a gorgeous, cloudy, funky, floral, bloody-iodine, mineral bottle of a wine it is.