a week later

So on my actual birthday we had to cancel our dinner reservation because Phil was in St Louis for his father's funeral... but never fear- we just booked it for the following week- and had a lovely dinner with two kick butt wines from our cellar...

the above white was spectacular! we first had the La Romanee in Paris years ago at a dinner at La Truffiere... and started buying it for the cellar any time we ran across it since that time-  I think the earliest vintage we had was mid 90s-

and the below red was famous in its own right as well- it was the first Oregon pinot that retailed for triple digits a bottle... you see it is signed by the wine maker/partner, Steve Doerner and the owner/partner, Paul Gerrie and someone I don't know (I have met Steve and Paul a number of times)

This wine was showing wonderfully as well- a smooth elegance that was both full of fruit and had plenty of acidity at the same time- really worthy - a great showing for the well regarded vintage!

the food was also worth the extra week's wait- Phil ordered the epicurean French menu and started with the frog legs and I started with an excellent oyster salad- but ooops - forgot the photos- LOL

Then I had the scallops and Phil had the veal breast (similar to the pork belly only less fatty becuase of course - it is veal)

and then to end I had the sticky toffee pudding (a fail - completely NOT a sticky toffee pudding it was a gooey mess in a bowl- they need to go to England and see what Sticky Toffee Pudding really is- the two decades that I was in London on business with regularity made me a devoted fan of STP- and this was SOOOO NOT it!)

Phil however liked his dessert of the opera cake with hazelnut-

not being a hazelnut fan I did not taste it - but take his word for its deliciousness---

so a lovely evening overall- we got to spend some time talking to Jamil (the exec chef) and enjoyed and shared our two fab wines so the only reason this is a note worthy exception to our usual MoE review is because we have never had a FAIL before...

they need to get that STP back to the kitchen for re-engineering! ASAP! 

coming up the reunion of Phil's 1970 Salzburg study abroad group... you can only be 15 once in reality, but if you keep seeing your friends from then, over the decades - you can go back in time at least for a few hours or days ... this group came from all across the U.S. to study for six weeks in Salzburg in 1970 and although they lost touch after a few years, the Internet gave them a way to get back together again - thirty-seven years later and now, every few years they find a way to get some or all of the group together.  A TPA Bay reunion is planned for Sunday with a picnic and dinner later... more after the event!

driven to distraction

So the evening after Thanksgiving we headed off for dinner to Michael's on East, hereinafter MoE,  (LOL- I know I know - thirty plus years of law die hard LOL.) We had intended to bring wine as we usually do but since we had company and were chatting away as we left the house, we left the wine behind! OH NO!  We were distracted, and as we checked in at MoE I said to Phil "Aaaacccck! we forgot the wine!" and laughed because when Phil and his brother are talking (as they were as we left the house) it isn't the least bit surprising that it was left behind... oh well...

Let me say that I don't believe they could have chosen a better place in the Sarasota Bradenton area to have to "resort" to the wine list because MoE has an extensive and carefully curated wine list with many excellent choices.  However, they do not have wines from much older vintages (LOL our specialty LOL) Here is what we left at home... they both turned out to be Jadot wines but of course from very different vintages and our backup red (when you drink old you have to have back up wines- LOL) was a 1996 Corton Renardes from Arlaud (which has been drinking really really well the last few times we had it.)

and here is what we ended up with from the wine list - a Gru-Ve - and an 09 red burgundy...

and then we went on to have a fabulous meal... and I can only say that this is "per usual" as the chef at MoE is excellent and every dish we had last night was up to the highest standard...

we started with -  tempura shrimp for Phil and Lobster Bisque for Larry and I had the seasonal salad-

then our mains were - pompano for Larry and veal chop for Phil and I had the scallops (which came with chunks of lobster and the most amazingly tasty gnocchi  in brown butter lobster broth- seriously YUM!)

the scallops were perfectly prepared, medium rare, and the flavor of this dish was so excellent that Phil vowed to order it himself the next time.... he often has "order envy" LOL.

we had an excellent discussion of wine choices with our wonderful server Justin- so if you get over to MoE ask for him, because he is very knowledgeable about wine in general as well as being an excellent and attentive (but not too much so) server.  Larry said that he liked this place better than a number of others where we have taken him when he visits. A winning evening in every way! (except of course for leaving the wine at home- LOL)