Dateline: Bangkok, June 28, 2007
A five-minute read.

In January of 1981, the phone rang at The Point (my home/hotel in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State--don't miss the E-Brochure on the website, it's really neat!). It was the telephone operator of the Lake Placid Hilton in the Olympic winter-resort town, some 45 minute’s drive away. She asked if anyone could speak French…they had a guest who wanted to make a reservation.

I took the call. André (I didn’t get the last name) wanted to know if we had any space available and could he and his wife go cross-country skiing.

Two oui’s and an hour later, their taxi crunched in our snow-packed drive.

Actually, as this was our first winter season, James and I had no other guests. We put the What’s-their-names in the main lodge and readied a simple lunch—hamburgers grilled over a grate I put over the fire in the library, green salad, runny brie, and a lot of Romanian wine…

[Do I have time for a sidebar here? The father of a good friend was the CEO of PepsiCo. To get an inroad to that market, he bartered Pepsi syrup for Romanian wine (to market under PepsiCo’s Monsieur Henri label). While the wine was good enough to have been retailed at $19.00, he wanted to push the brand, and priced it at $1.99! We put a bottle in every room and one in front of every guest at lunch and dinner. Then Andrew Harper (of The Hideaway Report fame that had awarded The Point “Hideaway of the Year” four times running—a record still unbeaten) called to say that someone had complained that we were serving $1.99 wine! (Most guests marveled at the quality, reveled in the secret, and rejoiced in the bargain; but after that, we used crystal decanters.) A couple of years later, we were informed by the embassy that we were to be honored with the Romanian National Medal for purchasing more of their wine than anyone else in the United States. Anyway, that’s why the library lunch wine was Romanian.]

Only planning to stay two days, André and Jocelyn Something-or-other stayed a week. We cross-country skied every day, dined in a different room every meal, and talked mainly about food and travel (naturally avoiding religion, politics, and their occupation).

One day, checking their room, I discovered a glass full of prunes soaking in Armagnac. Hmmm...not something most of our guests did.

The day they were leaving, I asked where they’d like their last meal. “Oh, the library again, please, and the same menu!” was their answer in unison.

While turning the hamburgers, I said, “I’d like to put you on our Christmas card and newsletter list, but I don’t know your surname and address.”

Grinning at me out of the corner of his mouth, André said, “Haven’t you figured that out yet? You already have it, right there behind you.”

Looking over his shoulder, I spied the Guide Michelin for France and winced. As the last few days raced by in my memory, a cold shudder accompanied my blush. We always treated our guests in a rather cavalier manner—more like long lost cousins than “P.G.’s” (paying guests)—but for the past few days, as the rest of the house was empty, we’d been more casual than usual. They’d joined James in the kitchen to watch him cook, and then later joined me to help wash the dishes. Our menus had been simpler than usual, our presentation less styled.

Now, dreading what I would find in the little red book—the bible of world travelers and gourmands the world over—I reluctantly pulled it from the shelf.

“Why don’t you try Auch?” André prompted. The penny dropped. Who else would soak prunes in Armagnac? I looked up with deep respect and humility.

André Daguin is the world’s authority on Armangac and, at that time, owned the two-star Hotel de France in Auch. The highest number of stars (rosettes) the Michelin awards is three. Today there are 56 restaurants in the world with that distinction, with only 4 in the entire United States. Worldwide, there are approximately only 175 with two stars, and André’s restaurant was one of them!

Later, James and I waved the Daguins down the drive, looked at each other, shrugged, and laughed. Tant pis...can’t win them all.

About 11 o’clock that evening, the phone rang.

“This is James Vilas (then, I believe, the food or travel editor of Town & Country whom we had never met). I am calling to thank you on behalf of all the hoteliers and restaurateurs in America. I have just had dinner with André Daguin who is here in America to conduct a series of seminars on Armagnac and the food of Gascony.”

I started to sputter apologies.

He said, “Ted, I’m calling to tell you and James that the Daguins had the best time they’ve ever had in this country; that your style and hospitality were delightfully unique, and that the food was perfect. I repeat, perfect.”

I could have quipped “there’s no accounting some people’s taste” or “how much Armagnac did you have after dinner?” but I simply said thanks, and goodnight.

Now, a few years later...
• James no longer cooks but is a successful screenwriter and lives in Johannesburg.
• Chef Daguin also no longer cooks but is the head of the UMIH Hospitality Federation in France. For more about him, see: D is for Daguin.
• Andre and Jocelyn’s daughter, Ariane, co-founded, with George Faison, the firm D'Artagnan, the number-one USA domestic purveyor of foie gras, prepared confit, and other southwest French products to chefs and consumers alike. Just as her father did in southwest France, D'Artagnan has changed the face of restaurant cooking in the United States.
• I still cook. :-)

All the best,

Uncle Ted

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