South American Wine Dinner at Sebastiani's in Huntington Beach, CA..

This restaurant is owned by a brother and sister from Peru. An Italian Bistro. (Go figure that one). I recently had dinner there with a couple of friends. The wines were from Haras in Chile. This winery is partially owned by the Antonori's. The wines were all moderately priced.

Our first course was a puree of heart of palm soup. Very unusual but very good. This was paired with a Sauvignon Blanc.

Second course was a ceviche made with talpia. The wine was a chardonnay that had just a little bit too much oak for me, but the oak disappeared when paired with the ceviche.

Our next course was something I would not have thought to mix to together. Crab with Mexican chorizo and a white cheese. Baked in the crab shell it was perfect with a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Then came a very unusual dish and plating detail. A lamb and spinach stew. It looked like the had lined the bottom of the bowl with julienned vegetables, then basmatic rice, topped the the lamb and spinach stew, then turned the bowl upside down onto the plate. The gravy from the stew seeped out beneath the rice. This was served with another Cabernet Sauvignon.

Dinner was topped off with a lemon gelato. Very refreshing and a nice finish to the meal.

All of the food was very good and the wines complimented each dish perfectly. The plating was beautiful. It's a shame more restaurants cannot do this.

The next evening I dined with about 20 people at a restaurant that will remain unamed ( I don't want to get sued). Not only did the meal cost more that my great South American dinner, but the quality was so poor. The soup was so salty that no one could eat it and it was sent back and the subsituition was so spicy that it clashed with the wine. The appetizer plate was nothing more than some very mediocre cheeses with crackers, a small piece of smoked salmon and a dab of cream cheese. No imagination at all. A pasta dish that was so bland I had to add salt to pull some flavor out of it and a "filet mignon" that sure looked a lot like a sirloin. Dessert was a very dry chocolate cake.

Needless to say I will not be patronizing that place again.

Life is hectic enough that dining should be a pleasure trip with our senses of taste, smell and vision.