Fall Wine Dinner at Arte Cafe

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

I will say this dinner was a lot better than the Spanish dinner last week at the same restaurant. The food was their style of cooking. Chefs should be wary of trying to cook foods that they are unfamiliar with until they practice a lot.  www.artecafecerritos.com.

A lot of Cal di Salice sparkling Rose was poured when first seated. It was a nice touch since it had been a very hot day. 

Appetizer was a duck liver pate crostini and a duck confit crostini. Both quite good.  Paired with a Santa Cristina Pinot Grigio. Not my favorite grape varietal but the "wine nazi"as in a better mood tonight and was pouring  very liberally 

Second course consisted of roasted red and yellow baby beets, heirloom tomatoes (I question how heirloom) with goat cheese, EVO and aged balsamic. Clean flavors, nice presentation. A 50th Anniversary Chateau St. Michelle  Chardonnay was the wine. A good combination and the wine was clean just like I prefer by chard's.

Next was a Erath, " Resplendent", Pinot Noir. Quite good but a little lean.  Paired with a Seared rare Pacific Bluefin Tuna, fennel-orange relish and cauliflower/yukon mash.  I did like this dish a lot. The tuna was seared just perfect, almost raw. Good flavors and a very good pairing.

Last course was Beef Stroganoff with a 50th Anniversary Chateau St. Michelle Cabernet (magnum). Good wine and good food.  Dessert was interesting. A Chef's Aftershift Rootbeer Float made with spiced rum, Jim Beam Honey Infused Ice Cream and "nilla wafer..  We managed to get two of these. They were really tasty and  a nice end to a good dinner.

Compared to last week at Arte Cafe for the same price of $49 this dinner so over shadowed last week. Richard needs to stick with what he knows best.  Arte Cafe's wine dinners are a bargain. Sometimes the food might be a bit off and sometimes you really have to track down the "wine nazi" but perhaps that is what makes things interesting and not boring.  They always give away bottles of wine after dinner.  This dinner had the place packed. Every table was taken. 2 large tables of 12 and a table of 8 in our dining area along with the 2's and 4's. The back dining area was filled also.