The last time that we were in Las Vegas, my Bride promised one of the grandsons that we would take them to P.F. Chang’s.  I was totally surprised that none of the family in Vegas had ever eaten there.  I wasn’t sure if the kids were more excited climbing on the statues outside or to have the Asian cuisine.  The restaurant was identical in layout, décor and design to the one near our house; and since this is only the second one in the chain that I have been to, I will have to presume that it is their standard.

In the 1960’s Cecilia Chiang had two restaurants, and the second one was in Beverly Hills, California and it was successful.  Her son Philip took over the administration of the business and continued with success.  The first one in Los Angeles was called Mandarette and the newer one was called Mandarin.  Mandarette was a special treat for an Arizona restauranteur named Paul Fleming and he and Philip Chiang created a new restaurant called P.F. Chang’s in 1993 and today there is over three-hundred restaurants across the United States and in twenty-five countries around the globe.  The wok is the star in the kitchen, but the food is all fresh and their credo is “Farm to Wok.” I cannot even begin to tell you about all of the dishes, because every dish was being circulated among the ten of us for dinner and I have no idea, what half of the dishes were, though I did have some cream-cheese filled dumplings and then I had some prawns with chili peppers and black beans.  My Bride had shrimp with Lobster sauce with Asian mushrooms, black beans, peas, egg and green onions.  I just kind of get lost when I am away from the comfort food of the Mediterranean and America, a creature of my era, I guess.

The P.F. part of the association assured that there would be some interesting popular priced wines.  We started with Bodegas Fillaboa Albarino 2015 from Rias Baixas DO in the Galicia region of Spain.  Rias Baixas is a relatively new DO in Spain as it was granted in 1988 and it focuses on Albarino.  Bodegas Fillaboa is one of the oldest estates in Galicia and they have seventy-four hectares devoted to Albarino in twelve separate plots.  Bodegas Fillaboa also produces liquors based on their Albarino that has been converted and distilled into three different brandies.    The wine had a pretty golden color with a good nose and complimented the assorted foods on the table.  The other wine that we had was Villa Sandi Il Fresco Spumante Prosecco NV from the Veneto in Italy.  Villa Sandi was established in 1622 and the main building is stilled used as their administration headquarters.  This was a semi-sparkling wine from the Treviso DO district and I am not that fluent on the rules and regulations for Prosecco.  The wine label reads Prosecco, and the website lists the wine as pure Glera, which is the old original name for the grape, but Prosecco is now a protected label, just like Cava and Champagne.  This wine is made using the Charmat Method which is the traditional way for this region, though they have been tweaking and improving it and the bubbles are getting finer and the better brands are getting a fuller taste.  This wine had a nice pale straw color and a decent finish, and bubbles always work with any dish.  All in all, it was a great family dinner and they all enjoyed the experience.