Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Another road trip at the Playground. www.playgrounddtsa.com. This time to Italy. Again a sold out dinner. I think I have only been to the Playground once when all 18 seats were not filled. They have the best food around and so innovative. Not for stuffy diners or picky people. It is for laid back diners that will be adventurous. This dinner is 14 courses.
We started out with a cocktail made with gin, pomegranate , lime sparkling water and a French herb liqueur called Genepi. Interesting flavors. Very refreshing
A plate of housemade Focaccia bread with a herb-olive oil blend for dipping was the starter. So addictive.
Argula 2.0 salad with walnuts, cranberry and apple. Beautiful colors and dressed very lightly but just enough.
Ocean trout crudo with a smoked egg aoili, pickled shallots (takes 5 to 7 hours in a extremely low heat olive oil) pine nuts and chives. Fish melted in you mouth and the aoili was to die for. I ended up using the rest of my Focaccia bread to wipe up the sauce.
Grilled a chilled Wagu flank carpaccio, raisin-caper puree and sunchoke chips. What can I say except it was so good.
Braised escarole and white beans. Had a panko style topping. Full of flavors.
Garlic confit risotto. No words can describe. Such a mild but bold garlic infused risotto. Never have I tasted risotto this good. Soft, creamy and garlic. Doesn't get any better than this.
Roasted Ocean Trout, seared, crispy skin with zucchini and vermouth butter. Light and delicate fish with a color very similar to salmon. Cooked to perfection
Baby eggplant, balsamic, caper berry and polenta. This was my least favorite dish. I am not a big eggplant fan so I am prejudiced. But the polenta was great.
Gnocchi with mushrooms. Without a doubt the best gnocchi I have ever had. Light, moist and made with a gentle touch
Fioretto with pear truffle vin, buckwheat and cauliflower puree.The fried greens were a bit stemy but you could scrape off the tiny florets with your teeth. Fioretto is a hybrid of broccoli and cauliflower. Good dish and very interesting flavors
Short rib pasta with ricotta cream. . Braised short rib meat shredded on top of Pappardelle pasta . Classic Italian. Very flavorful and the ricotta cream was a real winner.
Then a palate cleanser before dessert. A wine infused poached pear sorbet. Just a tad sweet and so refreshing.
Two desserts tonight. A Panna Cotta with sweet rhubarb and pistachios and then a Budding, HH cream and hazelnuts. It was a rich, thick dark chocolate pudding with a very heavy cream on top and hazelnuts. A very rich ending to a very rich meal.
Along with the cocktail 6 wines were served with dinner. All Italian.
NV Contra, Extra Brur Prosecco
2015 Manzone, Rossese Bianco
2013 Vigne Del Malina, Pinot Grigio
2010 Cocito, Barbaresco
2011 Lisini, Ugolaia, Brunello di Montalcino
NV Quaglia, Moscato di Asti
Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Stolpman Wine Release Party at L'Opera
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Tom and Peter Stolpman were both present for the release of their wines for this year. Dinner was served at L'Opera in Long Beach. Thankfully there was valet parking. I do not think there is a street in Long Beach that is not going under some sort of repair or construction. What a nightmare.
We had a table of eight and strangely enough two of those people were at the Ken Brown tasting at the Enology Club last night.
We started out with a Le Insalate (salad) Little Gem lettuce, radishes, Kalamanta olives, cherry tomatoes, toasted hazelnuts, shaved Parmigiano and a garlic lemon dressing. Dressing was excellent. Would love to have the recipe for it.
For the main we had a choice of fish, steak or vegetable risotto. My choice was the Pesce Del Giorno. Barramundi, champagne leek sauce, patate al parmigiano and grilled zucchini. Sauce was good and I do like Barramundi. I first tasted this species of fish in Australia.
Desserts were a platter of three different mini delectables. L'Opera is known for their mini pastries and desserts.
Stoplman wine grapes are grown in the Ballard Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara county. Tom and Marilyn have a huge "Villa" on the grounds. Just waiting for them to retire and move there permanently. Peter and his wife live near by. Big family business.
Several of the wines were pulled out of the barrels. No labels on them yet. Ten wines tonight. I am very partial to the LaCroce which was not poured tonight. It is a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah.
2018 Love You Bunches, carbonically fermented, Sangiovese
2018 GDG Gamay - I am not a fan of the gamay grape but this wine was surprisingly good
2018 Sauvignon Blanc
2018 Para Maria Rose, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache & Merlot
2018 Rose of Grenache
2016 L'Avion, 93% Roussanne, 7% Chardonnay
2017 La Cuadrilla, Syrah, Sangiovese, Grenache. (profits shared with crew)
2017 Grenache
2016 Sangiovese
2017 Angeli, 100% syrah (best of the barrels)
Tom and Peter Stolpman were both present for the release of their wines for this year. Dinner was served at L'Opera in Long Beach. Thankfully there was valet parking. I do not think there is a street in Long Beach that is not going under some sort of repair or construction. What a nightmare.
We had a table of eight and strangely enough two of those people were at the Ken Brown tasting at the Enology Club last night.
We started out with a Le Insalate (salad) Little Gem lettuce, radishes, Kalamanta olives, cherry tomatoes, toasted hazelnuts, shaved Parmigiano and a garlic lemon dressing. Dressing was excellent. Would love to have the recipe for it.
For the main we had a choice of fish, steak or vegetable risotto. My choice was the Pesce Del Giorno. Barramundi, champagne leek sauce, patate al parmigiano and grilled zucchini. Sauce was good and I do like Barramundi. I first tasted this species of fish in Australia.
Desserts were a platter of three different mini delectables. L'Opera is known for their mini pastries and desserts.
Stoplman wine grapes are grown in the Ballard Canyon AVA of Santa Barbara county. Tom and Marilyn have a huge "Villa" on the grounds. Just waiting for them to retire and move there permanently. Peter and his wife live near by. Big family business.
Several of the wines were pulled out of the barrels. No labels on them yet. Ten wines tonight. I am very partial to the LaCroce which was not poured tonight. It is a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah.
2018 Love You Bunches, carbonically fermented, Sangiovese
2018 GDG Gamay - I am not a fan of the gamay grape but this wine was surprisingly good
2018 Sauvignon Blanc
2018 Para Maria Rose, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache & Merlot
2018 Rose of Grenache
2016 L'Avion, 93% Roussanne, 7% Chardonnay
2017 La Cuadrilla, Syrah, Sangiovese, Grenache. (profits shared with crew)
2017 Grenache
2016 Sangiovese
2017 Angeli, 100% syrah (best of the barrels)
Ken Brown and his wines at the Enology Club
Friday, February 22, 2019
I was invited by one of the members of the Space Park Enology Club to attend the Ken Brown tasting at their monthly event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach. I know a lot of people who are members but this was the first invite I was offered. Love Ken's wines so I felt this was a good opportunity for me and the man himself was in attendance.
Tables of eight were set up, open seating. There were six of us tonight. I was a bit disappointed in the stemware. Cheap restaurant style glasses. I was very surprised about this. If I had known this I would have brought my own glasses. I did notice that several people did this.
A large platter of cheeses and fruits were set down along with a tray of bread and crackers. A nice assortment.
Ten wines tonight. For my palate I was taken with the La Encantada Pinot Noir. They did take a vote an the most popular wine was the Rita;s Crown Pinot Noir. I found all the chardonnays had just a bit too much of an oaky taste for me but paired with cheeses they were winners. The Syrah's were all jammy and fruity.
Wines were heavily discounted tonight but shipping was ridiculously high. Ken did offer to store the wines for 60 days for pick up. Alas it will be 90 days before I am in the area.
2017 Rose of Grenache
2015 LaRiconada Vineyard, Chardonnay
2016 Santa Rita Hills Blend, Chardonnay
2015 Rita's Crown Vineyard, Chardonnay
2015 Santa Rita Hills Blend, Pinot Noir
2015 LaEncantada Vineyard, Picot Noir
2015 Rita's Crown Vineyard, Pinot Noir
2014 "A" Cuvee, Syrah
2014 Watch Hill Vineyard, Syrah
2014 Thompson Vineyard, Syrah
I was invited by one of the members of the Space Park Enology Club to attend the Ken Brown tasting at their monthly event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach. I know a lot of people who are members but this was the first invite I was offered. Love Ken's wines so I felt this was a good opportunity for me and the man himself was in attendance.
Tables of eight were set up, open seating. There were six of us tonight. I was a bit disappointed in the stemware. Cheap restaurant style glasses. I was very surprised about this. If I had known this I would have brought my own glasses. I did notice that several people did this.
A large platter of cheeses and fruits were set down along with a tray of bread and crackers. A nice assortment.
Ten wines tonight. For my palate I was taken with the La Encantada Pinot Noir. They did take a vote an the most popular wine was the Rita;s Crown Pinot Noir. I found all the chardonnays had just a bit too much of an oaky taste for me but paired with cheeses they were winners. The Syrah's were all jammy and fruity.
Wines were heavily discounted tonight but shipping was ridiculously high. Ken did offer to store the wines for 60 days for pick up. Alas it will be 90 days before I am in the area.
2017 Rose of Grenache
2015 LaRiconada Vineyard, Chardonnay
2016 Santa Rita Hills Blend, Chardonnay
2015 Rita's Crown Vineyard, Chardonnay
2015 Santa Rita Hills Blend, Pinot Noir
2015 LaEncantada Vineyard, Picot Noir
2015 Rita's Crown Vineyard, Pinot Noir
2014 "A" Cuvee, Syrah
2014 Watch Hill Vineyard, Syrah
2014 Thompson Vineyard, Syrah
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Margie's Monthly Dinner at Buon Gusto
Saturday. February 2, 2019
This months dinner was held at Buon Gusto in Huntington Beach. www.buongustohb.com. Weather has been terrible the last week and today was no exception. Heavy rains and driving winds. Since the group was originally supposed to be seated in the enclosed patio with the weather concerns Pete the owner thought we would be comfortable in his other restaurant, Green Street Cafe, which was only a few doors down from Buon Gusto. Green Street is only open for breakfast and lunch. Small place but it did accommodate us nicely. Instead of one long table we had 4 tables for 20 people. This change work out very well for our group for comfort and privacy.
The big issue was that since we were not at the working restaurant we had to have a buffet set up and be able to order individual dinners and could only have pasta dishes . Why I have no idea, Buon Gusto does catering so what would the difference be in pasta dishes or protein dishes. Chicken Cacciatore and Veal Parmesan are dishes you find on buffets. Food came in large aluminum catering trays. Margie picked out Lasagna and Chicken Alfredo. These along with a house salad served buffet style and rolls was the dinner. But after some negotiating on Margie's part we were able to order appetizers. So what would be the difference in having some protein dishes on the buffet unless they were trying to keep the dollar amount low. I personally along with a few others would gladly pay more to have a better selection. Everything was brought to us in aluminum buffet trays.
Since we could now get appetizers I ordered Grilled Artichoke and Deep Fried Calamari. This was my dinner instead of the pasta on the buffet. Out of 20 people 12 ordered appetizers. I was the only one who had them in place of the dinner.
When dinner was ready I looked at peoples plates and although the food is very good at Buon Gusto the plates looked anemic. White sauce for the alfredo and it looked like a white and red on the lasagna. But those two items in one large bowl type plate was not appealing. Minor color contrast. The salad was made from iceberg lettuce and it was very pale green. You eat with your eyes along with your eyes and mouth. Personally this just did not cut it for me. But that is me. Eating to me is an experience not a necessity.
I am not going to list the wines as I usually do. There were 27 wines and 20 people. I tasted about 10 of them. All were decent, a few very good. Most were reds but enough whites, roses and sparklings to have a nice selection.
All in all the change in venue and the buffet type dinner worked out really well for us.
This months dinner was held at Buon Gusto in Huntington Beach. www.buongustohb.com. Weather has been terrible the last week and today was no exception. Heavy rains and driving winds. Since the group was originally supposed to be seated in the enclosed patio with the weather concerns Pete the owner thought we would be comfortable in his other restaurant, Green Street Cafe, which was only a few doors down from Buon Gusto. Green Street is only open for breakfast and lunch. Small place but it did accommodate us nicely. Instead of one long table we had 4 tables for 20 people. This change work out very well for our group for comfort and privacy.
The big issue was that since we were not at the working restaurant we had to have a buffet set up and be able to order individual dinners and could only have pasta dishes . Why I have no idea, Buon Gusto does catering so what would the difference be in pasta dishes or protein dishes. Chicken Cacciatore and Veal Parmesan are dishes you find on buffets. Food came in large aluminum catering trays. Margie picked out Lasagna and Chicken Alfredo. These along with a house salad served buffet style and rolls was the dinner. But after some negotiating on Margie's part we were able to order appetizers. So what would be the difference in having some protein dishes on the buffet unless they were trying to keep the dollar amount low. I personally along with a few others would gladly pay more to have a better selection. Everything was brought to us in aluminum buffet trays.
Since we could now get appetizers I ordered Grilled Artichoke and Deep Fried Calamari. This was my dinner instead of the pasta on the buffet. Out of 20 people 12 ordered appetizers. I was the only one who had them in place of the dinner.
When dinner was ready I looked at peoples plates and although the food is very good at Buon Gusto the plates looked anemic. White sauce for the alfredo and it looked like a white and red on the lasagna. But those two items in one large bowl type plate was not appealing. Minor color contrast. The salad was made from iceberg lettuce and it was very pale green. You eat with your eyes along with your eyes and mouth. Personally this just did not cut it for me. But that is me. Eating to me is an experience not a necessity.
I am not going to list the wines as I usually do. There were 27 wines and 20 people. I tasted about 10 of them. All were decent, a few very good. Most were reds but enough whites, roses and sparklings to have a nice selection.
All in all the change in venue and the buffet type dinner worked out really well for us.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Arte Cafe and Chinese New Year with Stags Leap Winery
Friday, February 1, 2019
A big sold out dinner tonight at Arte Cafe in Cerritos. Over 90 people. Lot of Chinese celebrating the Year of The Pig. Women dressed in red, me included. The Lucky color.
Started out with an appetizer of Vegetable Spring Rolls paired with two sparkling wines. A Gancia Prosecco and a Desiderio, Jeio, Prosecco. Spring rolls were quite good.
First course is a Alaskan King Crab Salad, Asian Pear, Candied Walnuts, Wild Honey, Yuzu Vinaigrette. Nice piece of crab that was deep fried with a very light panko crust. The pear and walnut just added a real nice contrast.. Wine was a 2017 Stags Leap, Napa Valley, Chardonnay. Clean Chardonnay, very minor oak. Paired very well with the crab.
Second course is a Seared Shrimp and Scallop, Crispy Pancetta, Heirloom Tomatoes, Soy and Butter Sauce. Shrimp and scallop are cooked perfectly. Richard does have a touch for seafood. Paired with the same Chardonnay as the Crab.
Our Entree is a Pepper Crusted Prime New York Steak with Herb Fingerling Potatoes. Truffle Butter Mushrooms, Asparagus and Ginger Peppercorn. Everything was good and tasty except the steak. Mine was a bit pink on the inside but to me overcooked. Flavor was OK. Richard does not do steak well. He even came around after dinner asking about the steak and suggested himself that is was overcooked. So he is at least aware of this short coming. Paired with a 2015 Stags Leap, Napa Valley Caberent Sauvignon. Decent wine, not spectacular All the wines seem to be estate and not single vineyard.
Dessert was a big hit. Caramel Sticky Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. Also the best wine of the evening. A 2015 Stags Leap, Napa Valley, Petite Syrah. I enjoyed this wine. deep, dark fruit, well balanced.
Lots of raffle prizes tonight. I am sure because of the New Year Celebration. Price has gone up to $53 for dinner and wine. Still a bargain in today's market. I enjoy these dinners in spite of the steak short comings. The seafood is always top notch and cooked perfectly.
A big sold out dinner tonight at Arte Cafe in Cerritos. Over 90 people. Lot of Chinese celebrating the Year of The Pig. Women dressed in red, me included. The Lucky color.
Started out with an appetizer of Vegetable Spring Rolls paired with two sparkling wines. A Gancia Prosecco and a Desiderio, Jeio, Prosecco. Spring rolls were quite good.
First course is a Alaskan King Crab Salad, Asian Pear, Candied Walnuts, Wild Honey, Yuzu Vinaigrette. Nice piece of crab that was deep fried with a very light panko crust. The pear and walnut just added a real nice contrast.. Wine was a 2017 Stags Leap, Napa Valley, Chardonnay. Clean Chardonnay, very minor oak. Paired very well with the crab.
Second course is a Seared Shrimp and Scallop, Crispy Pancetta, Heirloom Tomatoes, Soy and Butter Sauce. Shrimp and scallop are cooked perfectly. Richard does have a touch for seafood. Paired with the same Chardonnay as the Crab.
Our Entree is a Pepper Crusted Prime New York Steak with Herb Fingerling Potatoes. Truffle Butter Mushrooms, Asparagus and Ginger Peppercorn. Everything was good and tasty except the steak. Mine was a bit pink on the inside but to me overcooked. Flavor was OK. Richard does not do steak well. He even came around after dinner asking about the steak and suggested himself that is was overcooked. So he is at least aware of this short coming. Paired with a 2015 Stags Leap, Napa Valley Caberent Sauvignon. Decent wine, not spectacular All the wines seem to be estate and not single vineyard.
Dessert was a big hit. Caramel Sticky Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream. Also the best wine of the evening. A 2015 Stags Leap, Napa Valley, Petite Syrah. I enjoyed this wine. deep, dark fruit, well balanced.
Lots of raffle prizes tonight. I am sure because of the New Year Celebration. Price has gone up to $53 for dinner and wine. Still a bargain in today's market. I enjoy these dinners in spite of the steak short comings. The seafood is always top notch and cooked perfectly.
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