Mas de Daumas Gassac Tasting

Lori and Ray Schaefer of Phoenix Wine & Food continue to put out a great sampling of food and wine pairings on a regular basis at Wine Country in Winchester, MA. This past Saturday, they featured Mas de Daumas Gassac from the Languedoc region. They had a lineup of 2 whites, 2 reds and a rose, each served with a carefully selected and prepared food preparing. The wineries featured in these tastings are ones Lori and Ray have visited, so the tasty treats are served with good stories about the winemakers.

My favorite of the lineup was the '08 Pont de Gassac, blend of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, and clairette. The combination leads to a well-balanced, full bodied blend with lively citrus fruit taste. This was served along with palmier pastries with pesto and sun dried tomatoes. Yum!

Stay tuned, I usually at least Tweet about these tastings at http://twitter.com/cookingchat, and sometimes post more details here.

"Your dessert is not working out..."

We were having an enjoyable dinner at a nice local restaurant last night--the place will go unnamed as it is a good spot by and large. We ordered a 3 course prix fixe. The first two courses came out at a good pace--enough time to enjoy the lobster wontons and my roasted salmon. Then we started waiting, and waiting, waiting for our chocolate molten cake.

Halfway into our 2nd cup of decaf, the manager came over to our table with a distraught look on his face. "I'm terribly sorry," he apologized. "But the dessert is just not working out. The chef was trying a new presentation, and I just don't find it acceptable. Would you care to order something else?"

At this point, we were quite ready to head home and call it a night, especially Jodi who needed to be up early for work. I explained this, and the manager wound up offering to comp our 1/2 bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse. Not a bad deal, I like wine better than dessert anyway!

This was a new experience for me, having the restaurant basically say they failed to execute a dish properly. I appreciate the commitment to quality and standards, but am awfully curious to have heard the exchange between manager and chef. "Sorry, your cake just isn't working out..."

Wine Tip from Italy

My friend is enjoying his honeymoon in Italy. Was just thinking today about what a great trip they must be having today (we did the same some 15 years ago--well, went to Italy anyway!), and I got a text with this wine tip fresh from the vineyards...Aglianico vigna quattro confini 2007, bottled by Benito Ferrara. Will have to try to track it down!

A month of good food, wine & travel...but no blogging!

It's been about a month since I've been home for a weekend, and not coincidentally, that's how long it's been since my last post here. Settling back into the more regular routine, which means more cooking and sharing about it. But there have been some good eats in my travel, so I thought I'd post some highlights:

New restaurant @ the Cape: Vacation at Cape Cod brings more leisure time plus readily available sitters (we stay with my parents), but more limited choices for good dining than we have in the Boston area. So we were pleased to try Pisces in Chatham, which specializes in seafood and fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The food was top notch, I enjoyed my salmon served with a Greek style risotto. We'll be back here for sure!

Try this place if you need to boost your protein intake. The Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City was where we celebrated a college friend's last weekend as a bachelor. The 18 oz filet mignon was a popular choice; I didn't think such a size filet was possible. Not something one wants to ask too many about! It was tasty though, along with a few glasses of good wine.

Speaking of steak...Our 4 year old is now a full-fledged carnivore. I didn't know if he'd ever move beyond his chicken, but my Dad fixed filet mignon that he devoured at the Cape. Oh, and he'll also eat porterhouse and NY Strip now too. Seeing as I wasn't an early investor in Google or anything like that, I'm hoping I can get him to see the merits of burger too!

Good eats in Scranton Sorry, if you're headed there I can't give restaurant recommendations, as the good eats were provided by the O'Rourke and Haggerty families as part of my friend's wedding. The impressive food at the rehearsal dinner and the impressive raw bar at the wedding reception, not too mention a good selection of wines, went some ways to debunk the notion that we Irish folks don't appreciate good food!

A sampling of wine finds I think Emily Post would have frowned upon taking notes on the wines offered by hosts during my travels, so I only have a sampling of some of the good wines I've tasted of late to share, in no particular order:

'07 Franciscan Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

'06 Mitolo Reiver Shiraz from Barossa Valley

'07 Evodia Spanish Garnacha

La Vielle Verme Cotes due Luberon Blanc (for $8 pretty good!)