We recently had the opportunity to have dinner with The Caller and his wife at Gravity Bar & Grill in Milford, Michigan.  The Caller is one of my beloved cast of characters that I rely on for an occasional article or two.  If we thought trying to arrange a dinner with them was tough when they were working, it is twice as tough now that they both retired.   When I grow up, I want to be like him, just joking, but they are still as busy as they have always been.  We chose Milford as the best location as it is located rather centrally for both of us, and we have met there on several occasions.  We have met often at Gravity, both for the food and for the bar, yes, we do like to amuse ourselves with adult beverages from time to time.  We left almost an hour and a half early to get there, because of rush hour traffic and we ended up taking the back road in, that I didn’t think anyone used, because the freeway looked like a parking lot.  They kept themselves amused while we were late, by enjoying some appetizers before we got there.

We needed a cocktail when we got there, to try to catch up with our guests, who were enjoying a Gin and cucumber drink.  My Bride had a Dirty Martini and I went with my simple Vermouth Cocktail, which always requires my reciting the recipe; I guess that I am just high maintenance.  Since they had already had appetizers waiting for us, we went directly for ordering our dinners.  They and my Bride all ordered Caesar Salads, while I went with the House Salad.  The Caller and his wife had a special version of the Filet Mignon for the evening.  My Bride had the Jumbo Lump Crab and Shrimp Cakes, which were pan-seared and served with a Creamy Lime Risotto, Tomato Cilantro Relish and Beurre Blanc.  I went with the special Grilled Sea Bass with Red Pepper Coulis and Pesto Gnocchi.  I might add that we were all members of the “Clean Plate Club” after dinner, as every dish was perfect.  Crème Brulee and coffee finished off the meal.

It was quite a decision trying to select a wine with the dishes.  The Caller said that he would have a white wine with his dinner, but I felt that a red wine would have been better for the filets, and I selected a red wine, even though it was a bit bold for our dinners, but it wasn’t the first or the last time that I would enjoy a big red with a lighter meal.  We went with a wonderful bottle from Trivento Bodegas y Vinedos, their Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec 2015 from the Lujan de Cuyo which is a well-respected sub-region of Mendoza in Argentina.  Malbec is the King of Mendoza and especially in the Lujan de Cuyo.  This wine started with cold maceration in Stainless Steel and then spent twelve months aging in French Oak, and since it was their Reserve, the wine spent an additional twelve months in the bottle prior to being released.  It was a big wine with beautiful color and really chewy, it may have overpowered our dishes, but it was worth it, as the structure was firm and with a couple of years in the cellar this wine would really shine, which is high praise, as it was quite affordable even in a restaurant setting.  We are looking forward to seeing them again, as they settle into retirement.