Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Everything Cancelled For April

April turned out to be not the best for scheduled activities.

Our monthy "gathering of the winos" had to be cancelled because of neighborhood conflicts.

Margie's Monthly Wine Activity had to cancelled because of her hospitalization.

May will be much better we hope. I feel the month is not complete unless we get those two activities in. We all start looking forward to them. 

At most of our ages we look forward to everything.

Ferrari-Carano Wines at Phil Trani's

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Good thing Phil Trani's has open seating. Started out with 5 people and it came down to just me. Most of the people at this dinner and not done a wine dinner at Trani's before. On the way out I saw two people that I knew. Total attendance was about 34. Seems the staff has a problem with sending emails out to everyone. After listening to how they do it, I explained how it should be done. Frankly it was down right stupid on how they do their emails. And these girls are younger than me so they should be more computer savvy. I will let CJ know and perhaps he can help the girl set up her email list to be more efficient.

I ended up with a good group of people and one lady sitting next to me, during the evenings conversation, I found out knew two people that I did. A very small world indeed.

Started off with a Sauteed Calamari in a Garlic White Wine Sauce, paired with a Ferrari-Carano "Bella Luce", which was a blend of white grapes. Nice wine, very slightly oaked but paired quite well with the food. The calamari was cooked very nicely and was tender. The sauce was very good. So far off to a good start.

Second course turned out to be Pesto Flatbread with Arugula Salad and Buffalo Mozzarella topped with Phil's fresh herbs. Otherwise it was a bruschetta with a pesto sauce, and finely chopped black olives. The Mozzarella had an olive tapendae on top. Good flavors. Wine was a 2011 Ferrari-Carano Reserve Chardonnay. Too oaky for me. It paired with the dish but it was not that great of a pairing.

Third course was served. Halibut Thermador- Halibut with Asparagus and a Harveys Bristol Cream Hollandaise Sauce. Food was very good. I would order this if it was on the menu. But the wine fell way short - a Ferrari-Carrano Siena, 80% Sangiovese with Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Wine was good, food was good but they were not good with each other.

Last course was Pollo alla Filippo. Feta and Spinach stuffed Chicken Breast with Dill Pickle and Bacon. Again a very tasty dish and something I would order off the menu. Unfortunately the wine was Ferrari-Carrano, Prevail West Face. 60% Cabernet and Syrah. No way did this go together. When they asked about the dish and wine I said that it was not the best pairing. Dish was good, wine was good but the marriage was more like a divorce. A bubbly twit at the end of the table, gushed that she thought it was a perfect pairing. She also was trying to impress everyone with her knowledge and really playing up to the wine rep. She was entertaining.

Dessert was a Sicilian Cannoli with Carmelized Fruit drizzled with Chocolate. Nice dessert, just the right size and good flavor. They poured a Ferrari-Carano Eldorado Noir,  which was not overly sweet. A Black Muscat from 100 year old vines in the Russian River.

After talking with the wine rep, he indicated that they thought that certain tweaks with the food would make good pairings with the wines. It did not work, Again what is penciled in not what ends up in the mouth.

A  good dinner for $59 inclusive. Inrteresting people to talk with and few interesting to observe.

Monday, April 28, 2014

It's Monday So It Must Be Dim Sum

Monday. April 28, 2014

Four of us today for lunch. Sat there for 3 hours eating and drinking and talking about all the "garbage" in the news.

Started off with the baked pork BBQ buns and then onto the Ground Shrimp wrapped in Seaweed and then fried, The shrimp seemed to be especially good today. Then a platter of Salt & Pepper spareribs hit the table and the platter was emptied in record time.

A bowl of Hot Spicy soup was placed in front of us. Good but not as good as last time. Always different chefs making a difference.

Since we had two cabs Henry ordered a Beef and Broccoli dish. This dish seemed a little better than usual also.

Rounded out the meal with fortune cookies and egg tarts

I brought a 2005 Loring, Garys Vineyard Pinot Noir. Drinking nicely but I think it hit its prime a few months back. Still at the top of the curve but starting to slide down.

John brought a 2010 Sterling, Premiere, Calistoga & Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon. bottle 113 of 240. It was emptied by time we left.

A 2009 Frank Family, Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2009 Ken Brown, Santa Maria Valley, Pinot Noir finished the list.

When I retire this will become a weekly thing. Today's tab with tax and tip was $7 - you can't get a hamburger with nothing else for that anymore.

Whiskey Seminar

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

The Wine Country, www,TheWineCountry.Com and  Delius Restaurant, www.deliusrestaurant.com, hosted a whiskey tasting tonight. 10 whiskey' were being poured. Sat with a bunch of younger males. Did not want to upset the married women who were with the spouses. Women always seem to think that if you are single you are after their "man". So insecure.

Started off with two Irish whiskies. I am not familiar with these. Much to my surprise I really liked the second one poured. A Red Breast 12 year old.. Then off to two bourbons. Not my favorite but the James E Pepper 1776 was my pick of the two.

A Canadian and a whiskey that is distilled in Park City, Utah were next. Neither one of them  on my radar.

Two Ryes were poured. I do like Rye but these two didn't make my list. One was POW-Wow Botanical which had too much spice in it. Really heavy on the cloves. Apparently a German tradition.

Two single malt scotches were on the list. I do like single malts but these were a slight disappointment I was not into the Deanston Virgin Oak and the Gordon & McPhail Mortlach 15 year Speysides ok. I have had the Speyside before. But still would not put the money out for it.

We ended up with a anise cake with a whiskey sauce to help fill our stomachs before we left. It was a good tasting because at least I found out what I really don't like without buying a bottle of it.  Had a nice time with the young kids. I was old enough to be their mother or even grandmother but they tolerated me.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Delius Restaurant and The Second Tercero Wine Dinner

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Larry Shaffer from Tercero wines made the 3 hour trek  to Signal Hill to pour his wines at dinner tonight at Delius Restaurant, www.deliusrestaurant.com.  The menu is the same but the wines will be different from the dinner a few weeks ago so it will be an interesting comparison.

Got to the restaurant and saw Larry in the bar. Went over to talk with him and he said that the restaurant said I was not doing the dinner tonight. This was a shock to me since as soon as Dave sent me an email with the date I replied to him to sign me up. Lesson to be learned "do not rely on the owner to take care of things" without a follow up to Fred. So I ended up sitting with Tim & Maria who are great dining companions. Would have been interesting to see the back room shuffle trying to set up a place setting for me before we were seated. Later in the evening the subject of the Whiskey tasting  next Wednesday came up. My name was not down for that also. So Dave said he would make sure they had a place for me (it is sold out).

Again the menu is the same as last dinner , just the difference in the wines. And a whole room full of new people in attendance. I was the only repeat. Dinner again a complete sell out

We started out with Seared Wild Scallop, White Corn Pudding, Roasted Pine Nuts, Micro Basil. Paired with a 2012 Tercero Viognier. Good pairing as last time. The scallop seemed sweeter but the Viognier went well with the dish as did the Grenache Blanc did a few weeks ago. I am not a Viognier fan, in fact I am not a white Rhone wine fan, but this Viognier was not overly floral and quite good.

Second course was the Rhubarb Apple Stuffed Pork Loin, Watercress, Raisins, Celery Root Puree. This pork seemed to me to be a lot more tender than last time and had more flavor. The Watercress was all right. Not a huge fan of that either and unless you cut it when you put a forkful on your mouth you have all these damm stems sticking out. The Celery Root Puree was just the right touch. A 2013 Tercero Mouvedre Rose was poured. This wine was just bottled Friday and still a little in shock. But the potential is great. This one of my favorite wines that Larry makes. I bought six bottles of it. Probably should have bought a case. I may think about it and contact Larry to change my order before it ships. It seems strange to some to have a rose with pork but it was a perfect match. This rose is not sweet and has a lot of body to it.

Third course was set down. Rack of Lamb, Creamy Polenta, Brussels Sprouts, Blackberry Coulis. Delius does such a great job with rack of lamb. Had a rack at Franco's Friday night and it was good but this one tonight is so much better. Not gamey at all,  great flavor. Picked up the bones and cleaned them off as did a lot of other people. The polenta was perfect. Paired with a 2010 Tercero Larner Vineyard Syrah. Beautiful wine. This dish was very consistent to what we had last time.

Fourth course , and I am still eating - Grilled Flat Iron Steak, Beluga Lentils, Roasted Baby Carrots, Juniper-Rosemary Demi and a 2010 Tercero Mouvedre. Great wine. I first tasted Tercero wines a several years ago at a Santa Barbara wine tasting at Wine House in Los Angeles.  Came across the new kid on the block, Larry Shaffer and was blown away by his Mouvedre. Have followed him ever since. Don't buy enough wines from him but I think that may be changing. A lot of the wineries that I buy from are all starting to taste alike and that needs to change. Don't know if it is my palate or the winemakers trying to be like someone else. But a change is coming. This dish was also consistent to what we had last dinner. A perfect pairing.

Dessert was different. A Warm Anise Cake, Strawberry Coulis ad Caramel Ice Cream. Very good.

Sat at the table and talked while Larry went around and filled orders for people that were taking wines home tonight. Dave cam up with clean glasses and a couple bottles of wine. Larry joined us and we sat there until about midnight and talked. Interesting to hear what is going on in the Santa Barbara area wine industry.  So many really good wines showing up and it is getting hard to justify paying higher prices for some of these wines. Many, many really good wineries that have fair pricing are available. Quit looking at the "cult" wines that you would not know what they are if brown bagged and no label was there for you to be influenced by.

 This was a  really late night for me. But a very enjoyable evening

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Friday Night at Franco's

Friday, April 19, 2014

Called my friend Terry to see how he was recovering from hip replacement surgery and he was in a "get out of dodge" mood. We agreed to meet at Franco's Italian Restaurant in Cypress. Easy drive for him and an easy swing by for me coming home from work.

For a Friday night the restaurant was surprisingly empty but within an hour it did filled up some. Because of it being Good Friday and Easter weekend I would imagine that had something to do with it. The waiter said the last 3 Fridays nights had been extremely busy.

Alex has been teaching a new waiter how to recite the specials. He does not quite have Alex's flair but it was close.

Both Terry and I ordered the Rack of Colorado Lamb. It was excellent. I opted for the Spicy Basil Tomato Soup which was very good. We both had a dessert.

 Now that they charge corkage it does bring the bill up. With tax, tip and corkage for 2 bottles the tab was $130 - that is $65 a person. We had exceptional wines so it was worth it but now unless we can negotiate corkage I will have to reconsider some things.   If they continue the corkage policy I will start leaving my own wine glasses at home and use theirs. If I have to pay at least they will have to put something out there for me to pay for. The waiter opened the wines and poured for us. I was not paying any attention and he filled my glass with about 5 ounces of wine. To me that is a big turn off. This is something I will have to keep in the back of my mind so it doesn't happen again . Usually first pour is a taste to see if the wine is good or not. This waiter had not been trained correctly.

I brought a 2005 Stolpman Angeli. Terry brought a 2000 Georges DeLatours, Private Reserve, Cabernet. The Cab had an off taste to it when first opened. We should have decanted it, But it did open up quite well but still remained a  lighter wine. The Angeli was excellent. 2005 was a good year and the wine is showing really well now.

Friday, April 11, 2014

Thursday at The Himalayan

Thursday, April 10, 2014

A quick short notice get together at The Himalayan Grille in Sunset Beach. www.himalayangrille.com,  When I stopped by Wednesday night to inform them that there would be six for dinner the next day I found out Sanjiv was no longer the manager. He left to start his own restaurant on Katella. Will have to find out where and check it out. His brother Dennis still owns the Himalayan but a new floor manager will be handling things. My concern was  "corkage". We have never paid corkage before.. Talked with a couple of waitstaff about it since the manager was not available.

Showed up early Thursday to see if I could speak with the manager. He was not there but the waitstaff informed me as long as we bring our own glasses and take care of our "wine needs" ourselves there would be no corkage. Fair enough.

I think it is real tacky to go into a restaurant that has a no corkage policy and expect them to open your wine, provide glasses and decanters and pour the wine for you. Be self sufficient if you expect favors.

We started off with Samosa's and garlic Naan.  Then off to the Lamb Saag, Lamb Korma, Tandoori Shrimp, Chicken Vindaloos, Fish Marsala and Vegetables Korma. As before all good food dishes.  have not had a dish here at the Himalayan that I did not like. Took home the rice and leftover sauces. The sauces are really good here, they excel in making them.  One of the better Indian restaurants that I have dined at.

Wines were a mixed bag. I brought a 2009 Sea Smoke Botlella which was showing really well. 2010 Gloria Ferrer Chardonnay which was nice and clean. No oak. 2011 Bryon, Santa Maria, Pinot Noir, 2009 Gordon Estate, Columbia Valley, Merlot, NV River Road Brut sparkling and a 2010 Croad, Paso Robles, Zinfandel. Dave & Judy brought a Tobin James Liquid Love dessert wine to finish the evening.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Catal Restaurant at Downtown Disney

Thursday. April 3, 2014

Attended a Brewer-Clifton/Palmina wine dinner this evening. at the Catal restaurant. www.Patinagroup.com. Had never been to Downtown Disney even though I can drive to it in 20 minutes. Unless I would be doing a dinner at one of the restaurants I would not go there again.

Had a difficult time finding where to park. Now that I know it would be a lot easier the second time. After Valet parking you need to walk approximately 7 minutes to reach the Catal restaurant. No accommodations for handicap that we could find.  We managed to get to Catal by 7:00 but even the hosts Steve & Crystal Clifton were late. My advice , give yourself twice as much time as you think you need.

Reception was held outside on the balcony overlooking the Uva bar .Huge round bar on the outside in front of Catal. It was a busy place. We were poured a glass of 2012 Palmina Tocai Friulano, Honea Vineyard. This wine does go very well with artichokes and asparagus.. After about 30 minutes we were seated inside. The area we were at was between the inside bar, kitchen area and another dining area that was open to the public. Downside was that the waitstaff had to walk right by us the get to the other dining area. we were also on and end which made it noisier than it should have been.

An "Amuse Bouche" was served - Chicken Pate Terrine, Apricot Mostardo and Toasted Pistachios. This was served with a 2011 Palmina "Subida" Tocia Friulano. The wine was slightly effervescent, had an orange tinge to it and was very grapefuity in taste. Subida is a a method in winemaking. Whole clusters with skins on for a period of time.  I had both Tocai's with my pate and I personally preferred the 2012. The pate was very good and I really enjoyed the Mostardo. Actually would have liked a bit more of it on the plate.

First Course: Black Cod, Arroz Negro, Sugar Snap Peas, Mango and Coconut-Lemongrass Foam. Cod was cooked perfectly and the rice was a very good addition to the dish. Paired with a 2010 Brewer-Clifton 3-D, Chardonnay. Very good Chardonnay but I did not like the pairing. Others did.

Second Course: Duck Breast, Duck Confit Cigar, Hon-Shimeji Mushrooms, Kale, Dark Cherries and Anise Jus. Again cooked perfectly. Good flavors. Excellent dish  Wine was a 2011 Brewer-Clifton, Sta. Rita Hills, Pinot Noir. A very good pairing.

Third Course: Spiced Pork Belly and Scallop, Parsnip Cream, Beet Beurre Rouge, Root Vegetable Potpourri. . Dishes keep getting better. Both the pork belly and scallop are cooked perfectly and the parsnip cream really added another dimension. You would not think that these two proteins would go well together but they did. Paired with a 2011 Palmina, Santa Barbara County, Barbera. Excellent wine and again it went perfectly with the food.

Fourth Course: Grilled New York Strip, Smoked Short Rib and Onion Marmalade Ravioli, Violet Mustard, Romanesco and Thyme Jus. Steak was tender and had good flavor. The Ravioli was outstanding. They poured a 2008 Palmina, Santa Barbara County, Nebbiolo. This wine and the Barbera were my two favorites of the night.

Dessert was a Ginger-Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Strawberries, Candied Pistachios and Shortbread Cookie Crumble. This was a really fantastic dessert. No flaws at all. Perfect end to a excellent meal

They did ask at the beginning of the meal about any food allergies. Nice touch, most places don't bother. Service was very good. Very attentive staff. The Executive chef, Steven Mary came to the table after every round and asked what we thought. He gave me his his card with his number on it in case I ever had any questions. New clean flatware at every course. Clean glasses with every wine. At the beginning Marc said he though the dish lacked a little salt so a cellar of fleur de sel was given to him. They seemed to really care about your opinions. The manager came and talked with us. We addressed to noise problem with the dining area next to us. He indicated that they may move the wine dinners to another area. They plan on having many more in the future. The presentations were excellent. All the plates took on an artistic look to them. In spite of the parking and walk, I would do dinner here again.  The food and plating was similar to Delius which we all know is my favorite place. All of us were happy last night

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Red Table

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Dinner at the Red Table , www.redtablerestaurants.com, in Huntington Beach tonight. Two of my non-wine drinking friends so I ordered a glass of a Chilean Cabernet off the list. It did the trick.  Corkage here is $10 for the first bottle, $10 for the second bottle and then $25 for each bottle after that. They have a small decent wine list but nothing I am overly excited about. But really nice craft beers.

Large menu and many daily blackboard specials we started out with a plate of Red Table Fries with a spicy catsup. Everything here has a spice or kick to it.

Ordered a Flatbread with garlic and shrimp. Very good. Loads of garlic. I also ordered a bowl of Lobster Bisque. Good flavor but I do prefer the creamier version.

Brenda ordered a plate of Meatball sliders. Three sliders, very large meatballs with sauce. She said they were very good. Did not taste them

Diane order the Beer Brined Porkchops. Two large chops, caramelized red cabbage and mashed potatoes. Had a bite of the pork and it was good. Also the red cabbage was good.

I have been here several times. Food has always been good.

Large portions and lots of doggy bags going home. Maybe next time I will take a bottle of wine.