The English Grill at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky

Posted on April 28, 2013 by thewineraconteur

As I am remembering another great meal in Louisville, it was at another grand hotel of that city, the Brown Hotel which opened up in 1923 and it is another beautiful hotel.  The hotel is beautiful from the exterior façade as well as the opulent two story main floor with the hand painted ceilings.  It is truly worth the visit, as I recall it, from another visit with our relatives in Louisville, when we went there for dinner.

 Ch Margaux 1976

That evening we dined at the English Grill which is a very prominent restaurant in the downtown setting of the hotel.  The restaurant has been selected as the best in Louisville at least eighty times in its history and they are very pleased to tell you that fact, in a matter of fact style, as opposed to being pompous about it.  Everything about the restaurant is under stated, yet very regal in a classic sense.  The food was delicious and a joy to remember.  My Bride had Seared Scallops with Cumin infused Braised Pork Belly with a Carrot, Apple and Ginger reduction sauce, while I had a Duck Confit with Frisee Lettuce and Bourbon Marinated Dried Cherries and that was just for starters.  My Bride enjoyed Seared Florida Grouper with a Saffron-Lobster Bordelaise while I went for my comfort food with Braised Short Ribs with a Red Wine and Veal reduction sauce.  There are certain dishes that when I see them, take my first choice even at the expense sometimes of trying something novel and exciting.  The same can be said of my Bride, as even though she knows that we will be drinking Claret, she will still order a meaty fish dinner for her entrée, tradition be damned for her, and she is happy.

That evening my Brother-in-Law brought a bottle of wine from his cellar, which he wanted to try, and since the restaurant did not have the particular wine on their list they obliged.  We had another Chateau Margaux from the Commune of Margaux, this time Chateau Margaux 1976.  As I have stated this is one of his favorite wines, and it has been one of ours as well.  There are so many superlatives for this great wine that I feel that it is not necessary to dwell on them.  One of my favorite stories that I like to relate about Chateau Margaux, and I cannot vouch for it, but it is a legend that is oft repeated, is about the model and actress Margaux Hemmingway.  It is said that she received her name, after her parents enjoyed a magnum of Chateau Margaux and she was conceived that evening.  Whether it is true or not, it makes a great story to relate when drinking this fine wine.

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The Oakroom at the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky

Posted on April 27, 2013 by thewineraconteur

While I am still thinking of the forthcoming hallowed race that will soon occur in Louisville, I am remembering a time that we had dinner with our relatives at the Seelbach Hotel.  It is a grand hotel that first opened their doors in 1891 and it has seen the likes of presidents of the United States, infamous gangsters and a very famous incident with F. Scott Fitzgerald, who recalled the incident in The Great Gatsby.  The Oakroom, the main dining room at the hotel, is just a famous as the hotel itself.

 Ch Margaux 1994

I remember the dinner my Bride and I had there very vividly.  We started off with appetizers of Hudson Valley Foie Gras as well as an order of Shrimp and Grits, and we shared the dishes as well as with our relatives.  My Bride then ordered Chicken and Dumplings that was served with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Butternut Squash, while I enjoyed a Filet Mignon with Béarnaise Sauce.  We then shared a “Trio of Chocolates” for dessert which consisted of a Molten Chocolate Cake, Pot de Crème and Chocolate Bread Pudding.  The dessert after the other dishes was more than ample for both of us.

Our wine that evening was one of the fabled wines of the Medoc, one of the Premiers Crus, Chateau Margaux from the Commune of Margaux.  It is one of my Brother-in-Law’s favorite wines, as well as most of the world.  That particular evening we had Chateau Margaux 1994 and it was just wonderful with all four meals.  I would be hard pressed to suggest a finer wine, though there are some that are equally hallowed.

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Lilly’s – A Kentucky Bistro

Posted on April 26, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Out in one of the boroughs of Greater Louisville went to a very fine restaurant called Lilly’s.  It is on Bardstown Road, and there are a number of fine dining establishments and taverns in this area.

 Opus One 1992

Lilly’s calls themselves a bistro and the food bears out that description.  My Bride started out with Mag’s Ravioli, which was shrimp fried wontons, a poached lobster tail with a brandy lobster cream sauce, while I opted for a classic Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras in a classic presentation.  My Bride then had Seared Sea Scallops with English Peas and a Country Risotto, crispy Prosciutto and a Shellfish reduction sauce, while I enjoyed a Berkshire Pork Tenderloin with Bacon Sweet Potato Hash and Pork Belly Kale.  We finished this dinner off by sharing a bread pudding with a Hot Toddy Sauce.

KY Lilly's MB

Lilly’s has a wonderful wine list and we went with a Meritage wine that evening by Opus One 1992 of Napa Valley.  We had been to the winery and have enjoyed this wine on many other occasions.  This is a consistently fine blend in the classic Bordeaux concept.  How can you not splurge once in awhile, especially with a fine meal?

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Vincenzo’s in Louisville, Kentucky

Posted on April 25, 2013 by thewineraconteur

This is a great restaurant that we have eaten at, a couple of times, while we are down visiting.  The owner is very civic minded and is a big supporter of community efforts.  Vincenzo’s is a very elegant restaurant in the old school manner of appearance and great service, not to mention great food.

 Ch Mouton-Rothschild 1985

On one of our dinners there, we enjoyed the following menu, and the other times have been just as fine.  My Bride started out with Smoked Salmon with capers and shallots, while I had the Crepe Agostino which is a crepe filled with beef, veal and chicken with a Béchamel Glazed Marinara Sauce.  Then we both had Insalata di Cesare.  My Bride enjoyed Sea Bass with King Crab meat and I had a wonderful Veal Chop that was prepared perfectly.  For dessert we enjoyed a Soufflé.  We were out to dinner with my Sister-in-Law and her husband, who are very good friends with the owner of Vincenzo’s.

 KY Vincenzos MB

That evening we enjoyed a great bottle of wine from Pauillac, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1985.  After 1973, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild had been elevated to Premiers Grands Crus of the 1855 Classification of the Medoc and rightfully so.  Suffice it to say, that this was a wonderful wine and all four of us enjoyed every drop, after it had been decanted.  It truly represents the best of what a First Growth wine should epitomize.

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Martini Italian Bistro in Louisville, Kentucky

Posted on April 24, 2013 by thewineraconteur

It is getting time to think of Mint Juleps, so my mind is wandering off to Louisville, as I think of some of the venues that we have ventured into when visiting the Greater Louisville area.  My Bride has a sister that lives down there with her family and we have made many a trip, and my Bride has gone there even more than I have.

 KY Martini Italian Bistro MB

On one of our trips out to dine, it was with the whole clan, so we went to Martini Italian Bistro, which at the time was a Cameron Mitchell Restaurant.  At one time there was Mitchell’s Seafood and Cameron for Steaks, but all of these restaurants have been sold, as he is venturing into new directions.   Knowing the type of restaurants that the chain was doing at the time, it made sense that we were going there with some children as well.  We knew the food would be very good, but not stellar, but then it was priced to be a good restaurant and one that you could take children to and still enjoy your meal.

It was quite the evening and the children were well behaved, as they are used to going out dining, which makes for a better time.  My Bride and I shared an appetizer of Shrimp Scampi, which surprisingly had an ample amount of garlic in the dish.  My Bride had a Blackened Tilapia dish that was done with a Mediterranean influence, while I had a large pork chop that had a Balsamic glace with peppers and garlic.  I cannot remember what all of the others had that evening, but most of the dishes had a zest of Italian spices or sides.   All in all, it was a very nice evening out, and the food was very good.

Pieluni Reserve MdA Illuminati 2000

Our wine that evening was a delightful Montepulciano D’Abruzzo from the Illuminati Group of wines.  This was Pieluni Reserve 2000, which is an even more velvety and rich wine than my normal Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riparosso, also from Illuminati.  The Pieluni Reserve is aged for about two years in the barrels and then aged in bottle for about fourteen months before it is ready to be sold.  As much as we enjoy the Riparosso, the Pieluni was clearly the much more respected older brother of the family, with more maturity and personality.

 

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Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan

Posted on April 23, 2013 by thewineraconteur

In 1976 Dearborn heralded a new image for the city; developers on Ford Motor Company land built a Hyatt Regency Hotel which changed the landscape of the city.  On this same property was a new major shopping center called Fairlane and it also changed the landscape of the city.  When all of this opened up, there was even a monorail that joined the hotel to the mall, but I think it only lasted a year or two before the monorail was torn down and removed.

When it first opened up, there was a restaurant on the top of the hotel that slowly rotated and allowed diners a magnificent aerial view of the area.  They also had live entertainment with celebrities that performed shows, and it was a lively venue when it first opened up.  I also remember going there for conferences and seminars, as well as charity events and balls.

I also used it once to celebrate my daughter’s first communion.  We had a separate area in the restaurant Giulio & Sons.  We took advantage of a major Sunday brunch that they had at the time.  It was one of the first restaurants in the area that I recall that had separate areas set up for different food offerings.  It was not just one long buffet line, and I do remember that all of the children were just having a wonderful time at all of the different stations.  As I look back, they may have had more fun, than I remember having at the fancy restaurant up on the top floor.  Though I do remember taking my son with us for dinner when he was about two, and all the wait staff marveling at how well behaved he was in that environment.  I may not remember much about that meal, other than the fact that my son had a “Bird’s Nest Salad” where it was presented looking like a nest, and it included quail eggs, and he was enraptured by it.

 Hyatt Hotels Champagne NV

Through the years we enjoyed many different drinks and wines, but for my daughter’s brunch we celebrated with Hyatt Hotels California Extra Dry Champagne, which was produced and bottled by Almaden Vineyards in Los Gatos, California.  This was the perfect choice of wine for a party of some thirty guests and it really made a very nice Mimosa for those that wanted to temper their drinking that early in the day.

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Great Western Seyval Blanc 1980

Posted on April 22, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I was wandering around an exhibit, talking to some friends, when I felt my cellular phone vibrate in my sport coat pocket.  I looked at the message blurb, as to whether I should open up the message and saw that it was from a friend and there was a photo of a wine label.  The message said “what can you tell me about this wine.”

 Great Western Seyval Blanc NY 1980

I excused myself from my friends and the exhibit for a minute to study the label better, with out any outside interference.  I responded to my friend “A very esoteric grape variety for cold climates, not usually seen.”  I then got a message “Any value.  This bottle belongs to a friend of mine.  Obviously very old.  Its been kept laid on its side.  The label came off” (sic).  I responded “I do not think it is drinkable.  I will do some research.”  I then received this reply “Fair enough.  I will let him know.”  To which I replied “Good for an article perhaps.”

Most phone messages that I get concerning wines, usually are concerned with which wine would go best with this meal, at a restaurant, and they will give me several choices in (what I presume to be) in a comfortable price range.  This message did intrigue me, and I did decide to see, if my quick response was proper.

Seyval Blanc or Seyve-Villard hybrid number 5276 is a grape varietal that was developed for the vines to ripen early, for fairly cool climates.  It is found in England, the East Coast of the United States, specifically the Finger Lakes of New York, also to a lesser degree in Virginia and parts of Canada.  It contains some non-viniferous genes, so it has been outlawed by the European Union, which has caused conflict in England, where the marketers have started calling it “Save All Blanc.”

 GW Seyval Blanc Ad

I did do some more reading, and discovered that the wine is crisp, though thin, and better suited for early consumption, as opposed to laying it away in a cellar for later use.  I also found that some other states are also attempting to grow this wine, as well, and that some are using it to blend with other varietals.  While I was doing some research, just because it is fun, and informative, I found an advertisement from the Great Western Winery from 1979 for Seyval Blanc.  I went to the winery’s web page, but I could not deduce for certain if this varietal is still be grown by them.  I have to admit, I enjoyed this bit of research, and I was glad that my initial thoughts were right, or perhaps I should call them educated guesses.

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Volare Ristorante in Wixom, Michigan

Posted on April 21, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I was recently talking to some people and they reminded me of a restaurant that we once ate at.  The restaurant was kind of, off the beaten track and not on a major intersection.  We dined at Volare Ristorante, and to give you an idea of how long ago it was, they allowed cigar smoking in the bar area, of course that was a different time and concepts were also different.  This was a very upscale Italian restaurant, and I do believe that at the time they were catering to the large industrial businesses that were in the area.

At the time we were there, the restaurant was very heavily into steaks, which is fine, but we did not have steaks that evening.  We started off by sharing a Diver Sea Scallops, wild mushroom and Black Truffle Vinaigrette appetizer.  I also check the color of scallops when the plate is brought to us, because I expect them to be a soft gray/cream color instead of the pure white, because then I know that the scallops have been “bleached” and the scallops were the proper color, which made me feel better about the caliber of the dining experience.  This was followed by a house salad with a nice Italian flavor to it, as I dislike just chopped lettuce with a dressing.  My Bride ordered a smoked duck breast with thyme braised butternut squash ravioli and I had veal stuffed ravioli with white asparagus and shaved Porcini mushrooms.  Both dishes were very well prepared, as we did sample each other’s plates.  We finished of the dinner with some decaffeinated cappuccino and split a slice of tiramisu.

 Poggio al Tufo Rompicollo Maremma 2006

For our wine that evening we tried Poggio al Tufo Rompicollo 2006.  This had the Maremma Toscana designation, which from what I understand is a slightly different area than the Toscana designation, so it was not a “Super Tuscany.”  This wine was a blend of 60% Sangiovese and 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and it was a very smooth and enjoyable wine. There were no heavy tannins, but was an easy drink from the first glass, and it got even better as the evening wore on.  It may have been a bit heavy for the scallops, but worked very well with the duck and the veal.

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Another Fund Raiser

Posted on April 20, 2013 by thewineraconteur

The other day I went as a guest to another political fundraiser to a restaurant that I used to frequent years ago.  The original restaurant and location did not have a liquor license, but when they opened their new location they had also had a liquor license.

 MI LaPita Logo

La Pita in Dearborn originally opened up, when Arabic cuisine first burst upon the scene and they did a very good business and have continued to this day.  The restaurant had a fine buffet dinner for all of the people at this fund raiser.  There was fresh fruit, salads, hummus, lamb sausage, chicken kebabs, pilaf and assorted pastries.  The spread was appreciated by all that attended, as most of the people there had probably eaten at this restaurant for years.

 La Terre Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot

They also were pouring wines from La Terre wines, and the choices were Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and White Zinfandel.  I had never heard of this wine producer.  They are part of Constellation Brands, which has many different brands of wines.  This line La Terre has targeted the “on-premise segment of business,” so I must presume that they cater to the restaurant trade instead of the wine shop business.  I tried a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon and found it lacking the qualities of what I appreciate from that particular varietal.  Hence I shifted to the Chardonnay, which is something I tend to do when I am offered “generic” wines from catering companies.  The wines suffice for what they are, and they just deliver a tease, as far as I am concerned of what the wine should be.  As I have stated before, wines of this nature, hopefully may get an individual to try another wine later on, and find wines with more nuance and craft.

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Commerce Grill in Commerce, Michigan

Posted on April 19, 2013 by thewineraconteur

The other day I was talking to someone and they mentioned that they live in Commerce, Michigan and it made me smile.  The third member of the conversation was not aware of the community per se and asked where it was.  I jokingly said at the corner of Commerce and Commerce.  It also made me remember a delightful evening we spent at a restaurant called the Commerce Grill.

My Bride and I met another couple for dinner there one night, because I had heard good comments about the food that they served.  So we decided to meet there, as it was kind of in the middle ground for both couples.  I really liked the restaurant’s layout as the dining area, was entirely in the front, and behind a wall was the bar area with a television screen.  I really dislike televisions in dining rooms, as I want to enjoy good food and fine conversations with no diversions.  We all started off enjoying some Escargot done in a classic butter and garlic sauce.  Three of us ordered filet medallions, while my Bride ordered a salmon dish.  We were having a wonderful time of the evening and the hours just passed easily.

 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta La Fuga 2003

We started off with cocktails and then we had a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino 2005 by Tenuta La Fuga.  This wine made south of Florence in the Tuscan region is made entirely of the Sangiovese varietal, originally it was believed that this was a separate wine grape called the Brunello, or Little Brown One, but it was proven later to be Sangiovese.  Tradition being what it is, the wine is still called Brunello di Montalcino, and it is a way to differentiate it from other Tuscan wines.  This is a full bodied wine that pairs very well with steaks, and my Bride will attest that she enjoys it with salmon as well.

What is most memorable about the evening is that, while we were all enjoying a good meal, wine and a great conversation, we were getting ready to order coffee and dessert.  The waiter came by and took our order for Banana’s Foster, which is a favorite for the four of us.  The waiter returned promptly and said that we would have to place an alternative as they were out of bananas.  We just laughed and told him to bring the ladies some coffee as we were going to leave them as hostages, and we left the restaurant, got into our car and drove a block or two to a super market and bought a large bunch of bananas and returned to the restaurant and our stranded spouses.  We gave the waiter the bunch of bananas and informed him that we could now have Banana’s Foster.  The dessert came and we were enjoying it, during that time, the owner of the restaurant appeared and heard of what happened.  She came over to our table in tears to apologize for the lack of business sense among her staff, claiming that they should have done what we did.  We informed her, that it was no big deal and only took a few minutes, because we wanted to continue enjoying the evening.  She then offered us a round of vintage port to finish off our experience, told us that she could not charge us for the dessert, and then she handed both us two gift certificates to come back at another time, to enjoy another dinner with out any hassle.  We were very impressed with her largesse and requested for her to take back the gift certificates as we thought she was too generous for such a small snafu, that was easily remedied, but she insisted.  We did have dinner there again, and with out the above problem, but it was not as memorable as the first outing, though the food was just as good.

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