food & wine - part X

who knows what blog post this is the series of posts about food and wine -LOL I know there are so many I have lost count but last night we had a wonderful meal with Mike & Leslie at Cafe Marbella. This inconspicuous and unassuming place on Milwaukee just south of Bryn Mawr has a terrific chef and a lovely front of the house in the couple who own and run the place.  We have been here several times before and really liked it so we had no qualms about going back on Friday night.  We had some terrific wines as well (it is BYO with corkage fees)

We started with two special salads - avocado and bacon with goat cheese and a scallop salad- which we paired a Corton Charlemange for trying (to see if we wanted to buy- answer- NO) and a terrific Chablis Montée de Tonnerre that Mike brought from Maison Montille.  We switched off tasting the wine to try with various foods and enjoying the amazing Chablis with each as well...

The Chablis was definitely showing much better than the Corton Charlie last night...

Here is the specials menu for last night (we eventually had 5, 6, and 7 below) and then there were a few unlisted specials as well-

Then we had the grilled calamari - (photo MIA) - then we had the shrimp and garlic- tender shrimp perfectly cooked and seasoned with a zippy garlic and pepper sauce (bring us more bread for dipping please!)

we had a wonderful Dover Sole after the shrimp but somehow that photo too went MIA-

Switching over to the reds- with the garlicky shrimp and then mushrooms - the Bordeaux was the wine of the evening - a "Pichon Baron" from 1989 - drinking perfectly....

We then went for the Cerdo with the sherry cream sauce and followed it with the steak and the sausage of duck and foie gras (yum yum yum)

the Chateauneuf du Pape was also showing well -

a tidbit from the chef- duck sausage with white truffles - top die for (not on the menu - just a taste to tease us with LOL)

so here is the info from the menu cover -

and to top it off they make their own fabulous desserts! a fruit tart (for the guys and the chocolate and espresso for the gals- LOL)

here were notes on how to put in the food orders to go with the wines LOL and then finally a shot of the table underneath the plates - all the spots looked like this - nearly ever dish came with a sauce to dip into!

and thanks Mike for the full wine shot below!

schedule is packed for June so lots to look forward to.... stay tuned-

a favorite for lunch

one of our favorite places to have lunch these days is mfk.  Named for mfk fisher the food writer, this hole-in-the-wall joint with seating for no more than twenty-six has terrific tapas.  The only drawback to dining there is the absolutely impossible parking.  You used to be able to park around the corner at the hospital parking lot but they built a new building there so alas no more parking...

to bring you up to speed - here are prior posts about lunch there- with some excellent recommendations via photos of the food!

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2015/08/hot-lunch.html

http://blog.semifreelife.com/2015/06/two-terrific.html

so today the meal was just a good as always! Can't wait to return (we have reserved for when Steve & Suzanne visit the end of next month when we get back from our grand voyage! LOL)

so off we go-

so first we ate! and then we ate and then we ate some more- we love the food here!

so from the "little bites" section of the menu- we had seven dishes- then two from the "from the soil" and finally one from the "plancha" section of the menu where the dishes are larger....

ceviche!

prawn heads

three kinds of anchovies (in the order shown on the menu)

and the winner in the anchovy taste test - the salt cured ones with lemon zest - wow terrific preparation (gonna make these at home some time!)

then the smoked chicken croquettes and the snails to round out the first bites - LOL - we only missed a couple of the choices - (the brandade and the bread)

then we had two fabulous veg "sides" (haricots verts and the cauliflower) and the finally the meatballs (albondigas!) with polenta and tomato jam

we were totally stuffed but since dinner isn't until post 9 PM we have plenty of time to get over it- LOL....

one of two four-tops in the place - it's tiny but mighty! (out list for check out) -

so on we go... tonight to Oriole (a new place run by two favorite food folks Noah & Cara Sandoval) - we are so excited because we LOVED their last place Senza...  then to round out the week we are finally catching up with friends Brian & Tina and then later in the week Zack & Becky - here's how long it is since we have seen these folks - Brian & Tina have gotten married and Zack & Becky have had another baby...LOL   Seriously - matching schedules with anyone these days is an art form LOL and we are maybe worse than most to catch up with given our travel schedule and lock & leave lifestyle... Oh and good news- our couches are scheduled to arrive on Saturday!!!!! Lucy will be soooo happy and so will I - finally a place to sit down where we can have some kitty lovin time!

so stay tuned for the review of Oriole and photos of the new couches.....

here is a photo of the couch material next to the rug it will be "on" - we chose the lighter on over the navy - change of pace for us but the room in east facing and after about 11 AM doesn't get a lot of light so we thought this would work for this room.... (I got that tray in Tunisia when I was there with my "danger zone" travel buddy Jennifer Bater! )

back later with the Oriole report.... tomorrow we stay home to watch the first woman candidate for the President of the United States of America accept the nomination of her party.

at the last minute, an excellent decision

we were bummed about having to stay indoors and talking about where to go for dinner to escape the cabin fever of a smallish condo on a "winter" day... we came up with a brilliant idea! let's go to Spain... of course only figuratively but still - a spirit lifter for sure...

we love the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City - and we are lucky enough to have one less than a half hour from us in St. Armand's Circle... so off we went and as expected we were happier even as we entered--- and requested Damian our favorite waiter at Columbia.

As you can see - this is an old old old tradition- in Ybor City where it was founded...

tonight we started with the

then we shared three tapas-

mains were-

and we ended with the Churros with three sauces - chocolate, caramel and guava-

so I just wanted to be sure to pass along our review while I remembered to do it- because we have been here on a number of occasions - and dined in Ybor City, St Augustine, Celebration as well as at the St Armand's location- all of them have been worth a return trip when in the area.... so check it out if you are headed to central Florida any time soon!