This is one of those train of consciousness articles, that I write periodically, because I feel like I have to write down my thoughts.  For my generation, Burt Bacharach wrote music that we grew up with, and all with music that is greatly appreciated by musicians, because the keys would change and it could go from major to minor, and with wonderful beats and melodies.  I have to tell you, that I was a fan of his father, as a little kid.  Once, I learned how to read, I read anything that came my way, from cereal boxes in the morning to the evening newspaper.  In grade school, I not only read the funnies, but I used to enjoy the columnists of the day, from the local writers, to the syndicated writers, this was back in the day when there were writers and you didn’t get your news from wire services, like today.  I found the columnists were interesting to an eight-year-old, because they were short little paragraph stories and covered a broad range of topics; Manhattan, Broadways, celebrity sightings and one also wrote besides those topics about food and drinks and little “how-to advice” and that was from Bert Bacharach. 

In 1965 my parents had taken me to see an “adult comedy” called “What’s New Pussycat?” and I was eleven years old, and back then we dressed up to see a movie. Then in 1966, the film Alfie came out starring Michael Caine with the great song “What’s it All About, Alfie?” I was twelve at the time, and it was another “adult comedy.” What these two films had in common were hit songs by Burt Bacharach, the son, who became much more famous than his father, but I guess show business does that. And then I think about the other famous songs that he penned since I was eleven, that became part of my life. 

Years later, with my Bride, we dined at the South Beach Brasserie, which was owned by Michael Caine, hence my opening line.  It is in an Art Deco building, as they all seem to be on Lincoln Road about six blocks from the famed Collins Avenue.  The décor had a lot of mirrors, more in keeping with the area, as opposed to what I would consider a proper Englishman’s haunt.  The menu was what I would refer to as “fusion” as there was a mix of European dishes with an Oriental dash of flavor.  There were a couple of classic English dishes, which we passed on.  I had a pan seared Red Snapper that was served with Asian sides, and my Bride had a Seafood stew with Jasmine Rice (that caught her attention).  We had a bottle of Benziger Family Winery Chardonnay Carneros 2003.  The winery began in 1980, when the Benzigers purchased the Wegener Ranch on Sonoma Mountain in Glen Ellen.  The estate property is thirty-five-acres and they have long-term leases in other AVA sites.  They began transitioning to biodynamic farming and released their first certified wine in 2001.  The family owned the winery until 2015, when it was sold to The Wine Group.  A pretty golden wine with notes stone fruits, spices and oak.  On the palate tones of peaches, vanilla, herbs, well balanced with a nice buttery finish, perfect with the fish.  And that is how my brain meanders from one subject to another and finally to wine.