ZD Wine Dinner at Chianina

Monday, June 3, 2019

I was surprised tonight about how small of a turnout that Chianina,  www.chianina.com. had for this ZD Wine dinner. Wines are good, Restaurant is good so why ?  Perhaps the menu got into the fray. 3 courses aside from the canapes and dessert and two of them were meats that a lot of people are not partial to. Rabbit and Duck.  I grew up on rabbit (easier to get than chicken during WW 2). My take is people want beef and pork. They don't know what they are missing. At a price tag of $130 for dinner people want what is comfy for them.

We started out with a glass of ZD 50th Anniversary Sparkling. 100% Chardonnay. It was on the dry side but had a nice crisp green apple and a pear taste to it.  $75.  Went very well with the "Assorted Canapes". Chicken Liver Mousse, Rabbit Rillette,  Polenta with Caviar, Cucumber wrapped Crab  and Raw Oyster with Caviar. I can make a meal out of "bites". These were all good

First course is a Rabbit Porchetta. Porchetta is deboned meat, rolled and cooked with herbs. A selection of spring vegetables, baby peas in pod, green beans and asparagus . All a bit too "al dente": for me. Almost on the raw side. I think it was a extremely thin slice of radish also along with  a Nasturtium leaf for good measure.   Flavor was good.  Personally I found the meat "soft".  Not my favorite way of eating rabbit. Paired with a 2017 ZD Founders Reserve Pinot Noir. $90. Big,  ripe dark fruits. A bigger style Pinot.

Duck Bolognese is next. A bit salty but better than being bland. Too much pasta compared to sauce and the duck was diced so small that it was hard to tell what kind of meat it was.  A 2016 ZD Cabernet Sauvignon  was the selection. $75, Very dark, fruity, with a hint of spice, vanilla and a slight toast.  I liked the Pinot better with this dish.  I felt the Cab was too big for the Bolognese. 

Main course is a Chianina Grilled Short Rib. Great flavor. Trumpet mushroom, potato puree (grey color, a big turnoff) and Swiss Chard. My meat was moist, tender and full of flavor. Had a nice fat cap to it. Another plate at the table the fat cap was way to big. Why they can't correct that in the kitchen before it is cooked I don't know. Little things mean a lot. Its known as trimming.  This was the best dish of the night besides the canapes. Paired with a 2010 ZD Cabernet Sauvignon $90.  Big wine but much softer on the palate than the 2016. The six years on it makes a difference.

Dessert is a Bourbon Vanilla Gelato with peaches. A light ending to the meal but personally I think it was a cop out. Way to easy. Not even a single cookie or wafer to accompany it. A Rosa Lee Sweet Whim wine was served. A blend of Petite Syrah, Petite Verdot, Zinfandel, Merlot and Chardonnay. Nice cherry / raspberry taste. Slightly sweet but not cloying. 

We were offered at taste of the ZD Abacus. This years release is a blend of 26 vintages from 1992 to 2017. Price $50 for a "taste". Wine sells for $675 a bottle in 3 packs. ($2,025)  Since I would never spend that much on a bottle I wasn't too keen on shelling out $50 just to taste it. Somehow my life will go on without  the taste of that wine on my palate. 

Dinner was good but not great. Nothing I would swoon over.  We asked for some bread and were told it did not come with the "wine" dinner. It used to but guess not anymore. I would have rather had bread or rolls than the fancy presentation of the raw oyster. How much did all that salt, sea weed etc., costs in a large bowl for one oyster ? And the time it took to construct.   Looked great but overkill.  I have noticed a trend in restaurants lately and I am beginning to think all of them are cutting corners where they can. Food costs have soared, labor costs are going up along with almost everything else. 

We had one diner at the table that opted out of the wine. The bill comes and they charged all of us for the wine pairing. which was $40 each. Dinner $90 + $40 equals $130.  We did get it off the bill after a bit of arguing.  But if they are not allowing people to opt out of the wine pairing they should say that at the very beginning when it was told that one person was not having wine.   Not after the fact. Not cool people. Bad tactic and leaves a real bitter taste on customer relations.  Patrons should not try to take undue advantage of restaurants ( I know a few - bad Karma)   but in turn restaurants should not take advantage of their customers. Customers can leave and go down the street.