Big Red Wine Dinner at Delius

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Delius Restaurant hosted their annual holiday dinner tonight.    www.deliusrestaurant.com,           
 Used to be all Champagne and sparkling's but people just could not seem to grasp the idea of food pairings with those wines. I personally though it was a great theme. So Dave switched to the "Big Red" theme.

We started out with a House Cured Pork Belly, winter squash, pecan persillade, black garlic vinaigrette  and mizuna.  Sauce was excellent. The greens could have been left off because to me they are an absolute pain to eat gracefully. You always seem to have stems sticking out of you mouth.  I really would have preferred the pork belly to be thicker so I could get the flavor. It was more like thin jerky. Something was lost in the translation.  No red wine with this dish. They poured a NV, Toresella Prosecco. Paired very well.

Second course was a Stone Fruit Braised Beef Cheeks with charred green onions, radish and pickled pearl onions. Cheeks were extremely tender and flavorful. The add ons really brought out unique flavors. Two wines were served with this dish. A 2014 Amarte Mas Albarino and a 2014 Pio Cesare Barbera D'Alba.  Surprisingly the Albarino was the better pairing with the food. Probably because of the stone fruits in the dish. The Barbera needed a few more years.

A 2014 Faivley Borgogne was paired with the next dish. Crispy Skin Artic Char, celery root puree, Hen of the Wood mushrooms and pea greens. Again those stupid greens. Mushrooms were very earthy, the puree was excellent. The Artic Char was very good, cooked perfectly except for the skin. I did not think it was crispy enough. I could pull the entire skin off in one limp piece. That to me is not crispy. Wine was a perfect match.

Main course was Grilled Rack of Lamb, roasted brussels sprouts, leek and caramelized onion gratin with rosemary-juniper demi. By this time I was very full, Ate one bite of the lamb and had them box it up to take home. After all there is dessert. Delius always does and superb job with lamb chops and duck breast..Two wines were paired. A 2011 Mirafloe Barolo and a 2012 Tangley Oaks, Napa, Merlot. The merlot was good for a merlot. I did prefer the Barolo. Much more going for it.

Dessert was very good. A Chocolate cake with Clementine gelato and a Almond Tuille. Gelato had bits of the rind in it and that really made the dish. 

Good dinner with great dining companions and to top the evening off Warren treated all 8 of us to dinner. That was a huge surprise. Time to give a bottle to him.