Tercero Wines and Delius Restaurant

Friday, March 28, 2014

Larry Shaeffer of Tercero wines finally made it to Delius tonight. www.deliusrestaurant.com.   Tried to get a dinner together last year but did not quite work out, This dinner was sold out a month ago with no menu decided. Shows what good wines and food will do. I was anxious to compare this dinner with the Tercero wine dinner that I attended a few weeks back at Restaurant Christine in Torrance.

Part way through the dinner the earthquake hit. We only felt one out of three. The chandler swung quite a bit. Soon as it hit people started with their phones. All these lights popped up in the dinning room. Checking to see where it was. Quite interesting how our society has changed over the last 30 years. 

First Course: Seared Wild Scallop, Corn Pudding, Roasted Pine Nuts. Scallop was cooked perfectly Perfectly paired with a 2012 Tercero Grenache Blanc.  I am glad the scallop had a really good sear on it so it contrasted with the corn pudding. Visually it need a touch of color which the sear gave. White scallop, pale pudding and pale pine nuts. Taste wise it was excellent.

Second Course: Rhubarb Apple Stuffed Pork Loin, Watercress, Currants, Celery Root Puree. This was the best dish of the night. Pork was moist and had excellent flavor. The rhubarb really added a little punch to the meat. The celery root puree was creamy and just enough flavor to compliment the pork. Wine served was a 2009 Tercero Larner Vineyard Grenache. Excellent pairing.

Third Course: Rack of Lamb, Creamy Polenta, Baby Brussels Sprouts, Blackberry Coulis, Lamb was very tender, cooked perfectly and had no gamey taste at all. The polenta was creamy (Restaurant Christine was rustic). The blackberry coulis pulled this dish together. Paired with a 2010 Tercero White Hawk Vineyard Syrah. Again a beautiful pairing.

Fourth Course: Grilled Flat Iron Steak, Beluga Lentils, Roasted Baby Carrots, Juniper-Rosemary Demi. I am not a big lentil fan. For lentils they had good flavor. My own personal taste would have been another grain, like farro or quinoa or even potatoes. Steak was tender, had good flavor. The demi added just the perfect touch but I pushed the lentils around on the plate like a kid does when they don't want to eat something. Made it look like I ate some of them. Wine poured was a 2010 Tercero, The Climb, Syrah-Petite Syrah Blend. Great wine. Big but not overly jamy. I was impressed with this wine.

Dessert was a Strawberry Shortcake (the old fashioned kind, not spongy) Meyer Lemon Sorbet and Lemon Curd. The lemon and strawberry really played off each other.

An excellent dinner with good wines. My comparison to the dinner at Restaurant Christine - Delius wins hands down. Christine was good but not on the same level. Price was almost equal but Chrstine was inclusive. But for the difference in food, service and ambiance I will hands down take Delius Several other people that did both dinners said the same thing and they had never been to Delius before. 

If things work out right there will be another Tercero dinner at Delius on April 19. The same menu with some slight adjustments to pair with different wines. Also working on another Clos Pepe dinner at Delius in July.

Now if this small restaurant in Signal Hill can produce food of this caliber and pair wines this well why can't the WOPN, Bacarra Resort, Sea Smoke Wines and Maison Louis Jadot Wines do the same. I paid  a little over $100 for dinner at Delius, had excellent food, good wines etc. The two dinners at WOPN came to $650 and were dismal. Poor quality food, mediocre pairings and rip off on prices. WOPN and the board of same should be ashamed of themselves for the screwing they gave everyone. I will probably rant about this for many months to come