With Ms. Yoga in attendance, my Bride and I celebrated our wedding anniversary.  It was rather convoluted as we were trying to figure out where to dine.  Ms. Yoga was also going to meet one of her brothers where ever we decided on.  My Bride was going for a very casual venue, and I was leaning towards something more elegant, I guess with the able assistance of Ms. Yoga, we went fancier. She made arrangements to meet her brother and was trying to figure out, how to get him to sit down and eat, Big Sisters sometimes take on the roll of Mother Hen.

We hadn’t been to Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse, since the lockdown began and now, we were there with them still not a full capacity, but they survived and that is great.  Unfortunately, it was very difficult for us to get carryout meals from most of the restaurants, because by the time that we would get home, we would have to reheat them like leftovers and that was not exciting, especially at top dollar. Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse is based out of Ohio, and it is a nice comfortable restaurant that fits in between the macho old-school Morton’s and the loud feminine Capital Grille (at least the one in Detroit is, which is in a shopping mall). My Bride and I both had a bowl of Lobster Bisque with Sherry Poached Lobster.  My Bride had a Salmon Filet with Sauteed Spinach, Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes and a Lemon Crystal Citrus Sauce, while I had Twin Filet Mignon Medallions, with Roasted Garlic Whipped Potatoes, Crispy Onion Straws and Bearnaise Sauce. Ms. Yoga had the kitchen create a version of Sirloin Tips in a Zip Sauce with a side of Sauteed Brussels Sprouts to make sure that her brother would actually sit down with us and have more than a cocktail.  To honor us for our anniversary, there was a card signed by the entire staff, which was a nice touch. 

For dinner, the three of us shared a bottle of Alexander Valley Vineyards Merlot, Alexander Valley, Sonoma County Wetzel Family Estate 2018.  The winery was originally called the Wetzel Family Estate and was established in 1962, when the Wetzel’s purchased the original homestead of Cyrus Alexander and their first vintage was a Cabernet Sauvignon in 1968.  In 1993, an outbreak of phylloxera, had the estate refocus and they had to plant vines better suited for the region, so they went with Chardonnay, Merlot and Zinfandel.  In 2016, we had a bottle of their 1997 vintage and it was excellent. This wine spent fourteen months in a mix of French and American Oak.  A beautiful deep color, with a nose promising black fruit and spice, and a balanced wine even being so young with mellow tannins and black cherry, ending with a nice medium length finish.  It was an excellent wine and an excellent meal and we were all sated and happy.