Aroma & Stags' Leap

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Festival seating tonight at Aroma in LaPalma. Ran late due to accident on the 91 freeway. Took at least 25 minutes longer than normal. But Paul & Margie got caught up in also so they were later than I was.

It has been about a year since we did a wine dinner at Aroma.

Aroma puts out a mixture of tomato sauce & butter for your bread. Strange combination but it does work well.

First Course: Pam Seared Scallops with mixed greens, thinly sliced green apples and shallots with a honey-lime vinaigrette. Scallops were small but nice and the salad was good. Refreshing with the green apples in it.  Paired with a 2010  Carneros, Napa Valley, Chardonnay. Some oak. Paired nicely with the salad.

Second Course: Eggplant Rollatino - Slice of eggplant stuffed and rolled with ground veal, ricotta, mozzarella, grated parmigiano, toasted pine nuts and simmered in  a fresh tomato sauce. To me this was the best dish of the evening. Good flavor, light texture and the sauce was light. Wine was a 2008 Napa Valley Merlot. OK for a Merlot but it did do well with the food dish.

Third Course: Spaghetti all'Amatriciana - Pancetta, onion, garlic, red chili flakes & plum tomatoes tossed with spaghetti.  Cheap dish to make. I doubt that this dish costs more than 50 to 75 cents per serving to make.  Portion was small. The pancetta was minced so small it was hard to realize it was in the dish. The chili flakes gave it a slight bite which I felt did not pair well with wine. Wine served was a 2008 Ne Cede Malis Petit Syrah. To me this was the best wine of the night.

Main Course: Petite Filet Mignon served with sauteed spinach, carmelized mushrooms and a wine reduction. The filet was very tender and had good flavor. The spinach was overcooked and I did not get much taste of carmelization of the mushrooms. Wine paired with this dish was a 2008 Napa Valley Caberent Sauvignon. Wine was ok but I have had much better Cabs than this one.

Dessert was a Strawberry Panna Cotta with Grand Marnier. Light and refreshing also tasted really good.

This dinner was priced at $80 + tx & tip. It was at least $15 too high. This was a $65 dinner considering the selection of food.  Stags' Leap wines are not that high priced. Also the pours were smaller than they should have been for the price of the dinner. Probably about 2-1/2 to 3 ounces and no refills.  So with the dinner you ended up with 2 normal glasses of wine. Even if you paid $10 a glass for the wine that left $60 for the food. For the food were served tonight I would not pay $60 for it. It was a $30 to $35 dinner. But the dinner was sold out and the dining area was packed.