My Favorite Daughter returned for another visit back to her ancestral home in the Detroit area.  She was coming in a couple of days early before two of her three boys would join her.  My oldest grandson had to stay home, because the football training season had already begun and believe it or not Las Vegas takes their sports quite seriously, even when there is not betting involved.  I mean every student athlete and his family hopes that one will get a collegiate scholarship for athletics, but what ever happens, happens.   I am just amazed that all the sports are played in a dessert setting, and I discount what everyone says about it being a dry heat.  I would never want to be standing in my oven, and that is a dry heat too, and I have been in Vegas when it is 120° and it is hot.  My Favorite Daughter had a place to stay and had rented a car for this trip, so that she didn’t have to mooch off of her “old man.”

We had settled on a restaurant that she had never been to, and we gave her the address and we were going to meet there.  We actually arrived there before her, though we had a much longer drive (go figure) and due to storms a day earlier, the restaurant and the traffic signals were all out, so we had to call her, find another restaurant and we had to promise to be out by a certain time, which was fine for all of us.  We had gone to Mint 29 before with her, and just recently when her brother was in town, we took him there as well.  Somehow, even though I don’t fit into a “millennial locale” I was there again and survived.  I guess my mustache gets me an entre into these locations, because most of the men either look like they are foresters in the Yukon, or they have not discovered that one can own their own personal razor.  Mint 29 is an eclectic restaurant that has the modern feel and vibe to it, even though the structure was originally a bank and for as long as I could remember it was a music store where one bought vinyl albums to play first on phonographs and later on “sound systems.”  I call it eclectic, because it is a restaurant where one can get organic Kobe beef, fresh seafood and sushi, and for me two out of three is safe.  We just ordered a bunch of plates and shared.  They offered a French Potato Pancake Blini topped with Smoke Salmon, Crème Fraiche and Black Caviar.  A Seafood Ceviche of Salmon, Black Cod, Onion, Jalapeno and Avocado cooked in a Cilantro Citrus Marinade with house-made Tortilla Chips.  Tuxedo Seared Yellow-Fin Tuna that is Black and White Sesame Crusted then chilled and cut into thin slices served with a Green Seaweed Salad, Pickled Ginger, Cusabi and Eel Sauce.  Pan Seared Bronzini (Mediterranean Sea Bass) with shaved Fennel and fresh Grapefruit in a Lemon Beurre Blanc.  A Filet Mignon that my Favorite Daughter ordered which some point in time, she may lose that status, because she orders the meat butterflied and well-done, something she acquired from her Grandfather as he was from the Great Depression and I think that all meat was cooked well done to make sure that it was fully cooked, and it was also an option if one wore a hole in the sole of their shoes. 

We started off with Beckon Chardonnay Central Coast 2016.  Beckon at the moment makes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines and is using fruit from the Central Coast and they are owned by Fetzer Vineyards of Mendocino County, California.  This wine is pure Chardonnay with ninety-six percent coming from Monterey and four percent coming from San Luis Obispo.  The fruit was pressed whole cluster and then aged for seven months in a mix of French and American Oak.   The wine offered green apples, lemon and a trace of chalk terroir with a creamy moderate finish.  The second wine was Belle Glos Pinot Noir Clark & Telephone Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Santa Barbara County 2017.  Belle Glos is known for their single-vineyard Pinot Noir wines and named after Lorna Belle Glos Wagner, the co-founder of Caymus Vineyards and the Grandmother of Joe Wagner.  The Clark & Telephone Vineyard is named after the intersecting roads in the Santa Maria Valley which is in the larger Santa Barbara County and is all planted with the Martini clone.  I have found this wine to always deliver a safe and dependable Pinot Noir from a well-respected wine-growing family.  We were looking forward to seeing two of the grandchildren when they arrived and more to come.