Italian Wine Dinner

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Sebastiani's in Huntington Beach hosted their first wine dinner of the year tonight. They have taken over the space next to them and converted it into a wine bar. It was all festival seating, two very large tables. I would estimate that there was close to 50 people for this dinner. The price was right $45. The acoustics were bad. To much hard surface for sound to bounce off on. It was a party atmosphere.

First Course: Seafood salad in alight lemon & olive oil marinade. Mix of seafood and shellfish. This dish was good and paired well with the 2008 Bindi, Sefardi Oriolus, Bianco di Toscana. It is hard to pair a acid with an acid but this was well done.

Second Course: Caprese Tower - grilled eggplant, roma tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, sweet basil all layered and baked and served with an aged balsamic reduction. Interesting flavors in this dish. The wine was a 2007 Bosco Agostino Dolcetto. I was was not a pleased with this pairing. Something seemed out of sync.

Third Course: Spinach Ravioli served in a delicate roasted pepper and tomato ragu with a splash of red wine and a touch of cream. It was a ravioli. Nothing special, The sauce was alright. Served with a 2007 Bindi, Sergardi Chianti "Colli Senesi". Good pairing the wine went well with the dish.

Fourth Course: Braciola Napolitana - flank steak wrapped with prosciutto and filled with ground veal, gorgonzola cheese, caponata capers and finished with an Arrabiatta sauce. This dish was interesting. The flavor was good. I felt the flank steak was pounded too thin but overall a good dish.This was served with a 2007 Germano Angelo Barbera d'Alba "La Soleggita" A good pairing everything seemed to meld together well.

Dessert was a Triamisu all Limoncello.

All in all it was a good dinner especially for the price. I wish there were a few less people because of the noise factor and they really had you crammed in at the table. I thought is was too tight for comfort. We will see what happens at the next dinner I attend at Sebastiani's.