a wonderful wine dinner

We attended another spectacular wine dinner from Chef Jamil at Michael's - in the wine cellar.  This time focused on cuisine from South Africa.  Made us want to return there soon! Yes, it is a long flight but we have been talking about it more frequently as of late.  We felt we didn't get enough time in the winelands and also one can never have enough time with the wildlife in their own habitats... I am tempted to go into a whole post about the safari part of our month in southern Africa and our leopard anniversary! but am disciplined enough to hold the focus on the dinner... LOL

dishes shown in order and then descriptions below them - amazing food- Jamil really outdid himself last night!

they were terrifically nice and made an alternative dessert for me (coconut allergy) a luscious creme brulee...

the scanned menu -

We were joined by friends John & Barb and ran into the Greenbergers (Jim & Ellen) who had reserved for the dinner as well... which made for a very quick passed hors d'oeuvres time as we caught up a bit with them.  Today we headed to AMI for burgers at Skinny's - we finally got a chance to eat outside... it IS winter here (despite being a lot warmer than Chicago) and we have had some chilly and very wet weather of late... so sunshine was very welcome today! Tomorrow is the outdoor walk around tasting at the Ringling - the Grand Tasting of Forks N Corks weekend... keep your fingers crossed for good weather- clouds are OK but not rain.... Sunny would be the best!!! CBGB are coming down from Tampa... and we will end the day with a concert at Fogartyville - a group called Runa... so stay tuned for the update....