and - another dinner with friends

Last night friends came up from Venice to see a movie and then come by our neighborhood for dinner.  They are big travelers and so we suggested the (new to us) Peruvian place El Warike.  We brought a Jose Dhont Champagne and a 2005 St Aubin En Frionnes from Lamy both showed well...sorry fell down on the job with the wine photos...

We ordered things to start and paired their Cabernet with the Anticuchos (beef hearts) and our Champagne with the calamari - then we went on to two kinds of ceviche (mixed and shrimp) and then mains followed by one of each dessert on the menu (four of four LOL)

so here we go with photos - this place is small and cute and casual-

Gene and I chose the Corvino with crab sauce- very good! Phil had the paella and MA had the lomo saltado (meat fab but fries just ordinary)

there was one dessert special (which had Lucuma and something else served in a glass) that was my favorite of the four but Phil liked the platanos the best and the crema volteada was flan like without being pedestrian. They brought a Pedro Ximenez for the dessert course which we liked better than they did  LOL-

LOL I know you will be surprised to hear we closed the place down and Chef Jorge was happy to lock the door as he left with us - what a friendly place- really worth a try. We were already making plans to return with Mike when he visits in early January.  We are fast approaching the final 2017 countdown less than 48 hours and it will be 2018- with more fun and games planned for next year! #lifeisgood

closed another one

We always know when acquaintances are destined to become friends - just have dinner with them and see how long it lasts - how easy the conversation flows and never ends and before you know it you are closing down the place...

We used to laugh about this back when Laure and Arno lived in Chicago- we WERE all relative night owls with work at home schedules that gave us the flexibility to talk into the night as the bus boys were mopping up or putting chairs on the table... but we found it takes a combination of elements to create this level of comfort with another couple - along the way we are lucky to have found it more than once... Tonight was one of those nights.

It was only about a year ago now that we met Gene and Mary Ann at an afternoon snack at a bar next to the cinemas where the Sarasota Film Festival is held... we hit it off immediately on so many levels (all lawyers/all winos/all travel addicts) Our subsequent meetings have been dictated by travel schedules in the intervening months and we even found out after nearly a year that we have both traveled with the same company a number of times....

We joined a wine group that they put together for collectors they knew and we have had a couple of blind tastings which were interesting but really we like seeing them- the time goes by so quickly and we find ourselves laughing at how can finish sentences the other starts....that kind of stuff.

They live in Venice (roughly an hour away) and so we frequently have met in neutral territory of Sarasota... so tonight they came 35 minutes north and we went 40 minutes south and we had dinner at Mattison's 41... now I don't have a ton of photos because it was too distracting catching up on the latest travel (they just returned from Antarctica- where they sailed on the very same ship we took last August around the Baltic Sea - even had the very same handsome captain- not a scintillating conversationalist but certainly worth looking at LOL- not that I am objectifying him LOL)

We brought Champagne a favorite and ChateauY'quem for dessert and they brought two 2007 Cabs from vineyards in California (where they lived for many years until relocating to Florida) L'aventure and Navarro- all wines showed well and we spent a good deal of time discussing various tastes in wine and how collections of the wine group varied greatly...

We had a terrific waiter named Bill and a fab meal - the winners were the Beef Tartare starter and the wedge salad (split) and the rack of lamb (Phil's entree) but everything we each ordered was well prepared and we had fun tasting and talking to Bill (who was able to join in the tasting a bit)

so as we left the place (no one else but the two last waiters and the bar tender- hanging out at the bar) we said our farewells and planned for the next time - during the Film Fest - to get together - since I am traveling from this coming Wednesday through the end of the month basically...

so how about a few pictures -

I had the Skate with some yummy asparagus and a squash based "latke"

so we have the Jewish Film Festival coming up and I have to finish packing - meanwhile we are juggling the appliance repair guy for the ice maker and getting our SFF tickets lined up so all is ready upon my return which will be the night before a wine dinner at Michael's Wine Cellar and then later in the week The Wine Walk to Ca d'Zan with CBGB and John and Barb!

And OMG then it's April and time for this year's DART (Disappearing America Road Trip) #timeflies #lifeisgood... stay tuned!

20 hours to lunch

OK so on Friday night we had a superb dinner at goosefoot with my travel bud TB (of DART trips for many years) and then at 8 AM on Saturday I began my journey south- with Lucy and wine LOL- oh and a laptops - but that was pretty much it- 20 hours of driving later (12 and 8 on a day by day basis) I arrived!

why am I telling you this - because I went from eating at Michelin starred restaurant in a city of over 8 million people (SMSA) to a dockside restaurant in a real fishing village of Cortez... less than 5,000 people live in Cortez.  It is home to our favorite fish place- Star Fish Company (market and dockside picnic tables for food in cardboard boxes- fresh fresh fresh seafood)

Cortez, a census-designated place in Manatee County, Florida, United States, is a small Gulf coast commercial fishing village that was founded by settlers from North Carolina in the 1880s. The population was 4,491 at the 2000 census.

so here I was less 72 hours later - enjoying sunshine and 88* under blue skies - with my blackened grouper and some hush puppies...YUM YUM YUM....

#goodfoodatalllevels

crowded as always- even before season officially begins - a wait for made to order food-  but always worth it!

and I have to contrast it with the terrific and amazingly beautiful and artistic meal we had Friday night at goosefoot... courses presented in order!

inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night- the first small bites to begin-

an outstanding soup- surpassed all prior outstanding soups- this one was Thanksgiving in a bowl- squash and cranberries - #Illhaveanotherplease

we had a 2004 St Aubin En Remilly white from Lamy and a 1996 Gevrey Chambertin red from Jadot

salmon prep - new and really good!

pasta course with black truffles-

then a new staging for the later courses- centered around the Central Park visit Chris and Nina had to the Strawberry Fields memorial for John Lennon- accompanied by a full set of Beatles music ---

the "cheese course" with lots of fall fruits including very flavorful conord grapes

palate cleanser of juice in a sculpture of Chris' creation!

the double dessert course of "Central Park in the Fall"

the dessert course had a fully spooky effect with the ghostly fog coming from the centerpiece! It was Halloween weekend after all!

presentation of the take home chocolate lab confection of amazing chocolate bars-

another lovey meal with lots of flavors and inspirations from Chris and Nina Nugent at goosefoot... and even with my early morning wake up to get out of town and on the road- I enjoyed the evening to the last goodbye-

now - lots of things to do here - we start with Symphony  on Friday and then a Saturday wine dinner (Bobby Kacher) and then a concert on Sunday at our favorite little club - so stay tuned - we will be fully in the swing of things before the week ends!

#gonow!!!

dinner with Judy

So we hadn't seen our friend Judy this summer until the recent dinner at Emilio's and since we weren't seated anywhere near each other we didn't get much time to catch up.  To make up for that we scheduled a dinner at Restaurant Michael in Winnetka.  This is a place we really like the food and we generally like the service but there is always a drama with them about the wine. It used to be you could go on any night and pay corkage (no problem) and then on Tuesdays it was "corkage free" like Oceanique has on Mondays.  Then with NO NOTICE whatsoever they changed it to Sundays only for the "corkage free" day and took away completely the corkage on other nights - just plain no BYO no matter what you are willing to pay. So we are pretty aggravated about the no notice thing and the Sunday only thing but here is their latest undisclosed rule- only one bottle of wine per couple.  It isn't that we are going to DRINK more than one bottle but for a high end meal like they serve there you may actually want both white and red wine with certain courses and this makes it impossible with only two people.... so each time they spring some NEW twist on you and that is just plain not cool. The food here is good but there are plenty of places between our home in the city and this place on the north shore in Winnetka... so maybe the north shore folks don't have as many choices as we do here but I can't imagine that wine collectors up there are any happier with this unpredictable policy changes than we are....

but on to the evening- we had a great meal and a great time and were so caught up in our conversation that we spent four hours there...LOL...

the white burg showed well -

we put this one back in the bag since Judy brought a red (also shown below) and we could only open ONE BOTTLE A COUPLE!!!!!

Judy's wine was an interesting blend called Machete- and apparently there are many different labels in a case of their wines- in the rather subdued light we thought it was a tiger on the car - perhaps an homage to the tiger in your tank commercials of yesteryear--- but no- upon closer view that is not exactly what it was LOL

hmmm well on to the food- Phil started with the wagyu carpaccio, Judy the mushroom terrine and I with the tuna tatare

quail - that Phil and Judy both ordered and Halibut for me-

Phil's chocolate dacquoise and Judy and I had the peach souffles

a leisurely dinner followed by a lengthy post dinner conversation at the table until there was only one other table remaining occupied... and we headed into the night - looking forward to reports on Judy's China trip and various dinners and plays we all had planned to attend.  I may have neglected to mention that we met Judy originally in the Chicago Gourmets group years ago and that she is a long time Chaine de Rotissuers member as well. However over time we found mutual interests in not just food and wine but in travel and tonight in antique silver as well LOL-  a prior hobby for Phil (and his ex)...

tomorrow a new restaurant to try with friends John & Barb before they leave for their Florida winter... so we will report back- meanwhile you know the drill- "stay tuned" LOL