Twenty Years

Posted on April 18, 2013 by thewineraconteur

It is hard to believe that my Bride has put up with me for twenty years, but we were celebrating the evening that we met.  We have had a lot of trips, dinners and wines and uncountable memories since that first evening.  She said that she wanted to have some Roasted Garlic Soup, so I knew where she wanted to have dinner.

 Petraio Primitivo 2010

We made another trip to Pizzeria Biga in Royal Oak; it is at this location that the famous “soup” is still offered.  We used to get this soup at Fonte D’Amore in Livonia and when the family closed this great restaurant, we thought that we would never enjoy this dish anymore.  The original Pizzeria Biga does not offer this soup, but the second location is now serving it and it is worth the extra traveling time.  My Bride ordered a Margherita pizza and I had the Rigatoni Bolognese.  As much as I enjoy a pizza on occasion, I felt like having some comfort food and this would be the place to have some.

 LaMaialina Gertrude Toscana 2010

Since we were just having a light meal, we decided to just have a glass of wine with our meal.  My Bride surprised me and ordered a large glass of Petraio Primitivo 2010.  The Primitivo varietal is a similar clone to the Zinfandel and this wine is from Puglia, Italy (if you think of the map of Italy, Puglia is in the heel of the boot).  The wine had a little more of a fruit forward taste, than she normally would order, but it did go very well with her pizza.  I tried a large pour of La Maialina “Gertrude” Toscana 2010.  This was a very nice, what I would call a “poor man’s” Super Tuscany.  It is made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese varietals and it had a very smooth finish and good nose.  I would recommend this wine to anyone, and it is not even expensive in a restaurant.

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Sodaro Estate Winery

Posted on April 17, 2013 by thewineraconteur

We had the good fortune to win one of the silent auction lots at the fund raiser we just attended.  I have to admit, that I was not aware of the winery, and I did not even “Google” them to check it out.  All of the other wine lots that I had bid on, I was not as fortunate, not that we needed more wine at the house, but that was not the point.  What intrigued me was that the fancy wooden presentation case held three bottles, yet only two bottles were in the auction lot.  The immediate questions that struck me were:  “what was the third bottle?” and “did the consigner taste the first bottle and decide that he did not like the wine?”

 Sodaro Estate Winery Box Lid

After winning the lot and taking it home I looked up the winery which is in Napa Valley.  The winery was started in 1998, and the first planting was in 2000.  The first harvest was 2003, with a following harvest in 2004.  The first wines were released in 2006.  The varietals planted were Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.  It appears from the plantings that the winery was going after a Bordeaux style wine, but since they were not calling any of the wines a Meritage, they had not joined the society to use that designation.   Also from studying the postings of the winery, I am surmising that the missing bottle was a Felicity Malbec either 2006 or 2007.

 Sodaro Estate Winery Box Open

The first bottle that I researched was the Sodaro Felicity 2006.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.  From the winery’s timeline this was the first use of the Cabernet Franc harvest.  The wine had received a “91” from the Wine Spectator.  This wine had a total of 1,350 cases in production.

 Sodaro Felicity Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

The other bottle was a Sodaro Estate Blend 2007 which was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot.  I could not find a Wine Spectator rating, though I did find other ratings listed from an “89” to a “94” which made me happy.  This particular wine was only had a much smaller production of 487 cases.

 Sodaro Estate Blend 2007

I must say that so far from my research, I would venture to say, that it sounds like my winning bid is positive.  I can not answer my one question, as to whether the consigner liked the wine or not, time will tell when the bottles are actually opened up and tried.  When that occurs, I will write about these wines again.

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The Detroit Golf Club

Posted on April 16, 2013 by thewineraconteur

The other night we were guests at the Detroit Golf Club for a celebration of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law 100’th Anniversary.  While I did not go to the School of Law, UDM is my alma mater.  It was a lovely affair and the Detroit Golf Course was a wonderful venue for this event.  The Detroit Golf Course is located in the historic district of Palmer Park in the City of Detroit, not far from the campus of the University of Detroit.

 MI The Justice Fellowship Bklt

We were regaled with a good time from the moment we walked into the building.  There was a pianist playing before we even went into a room to register.  There was a “Barbershop Quartet” singing and representing a certain era of the first hundred years.  There were also individuals dressed in different attires of the past hundred years as in The Roaring Twenties, World War II and even the Flower Power Generation.  These individuals not only roamed the rooms, but explained how the School of Law functioned during these periods.

 MI The Justice Fellowship Auction Bklt

The event had a strolling dinner, and certain areas of food had different themes centered upon the City of Detroit.  The appetizer section had one table that celebrated “Mexican Village” area with Fajitas, while the other appetizer table in another room celebrated “Greek Town” with the flaming cheese and stuffed grape leafs.  The “Italians” were celebrated with a fine spread of a Caprese Salad with fresh mozzarella cheese.  Another room was about “Soul Food” with chicken and macaroni and cheese.  There was a beef carving station, but there was no “theme.”  There was also dessert station that celebrated Detroit with Boston Coolers, and hot fudge cream puffs.

UDM Law School Glasses

Beyond the scope of the food, there were silent auction items, as well as a live auction.  My Bride was in heaven as she wrote bid after bid on probably thirty different offerings.  She was bidding on a doll house, gift certificates at about twenty different restaurants, office equipment and gift baskets.  I bid on a couple of different offerings on wines.  We ended up with a few wins, and I must say that my Bride was so caught up in the activities that I could not find her.  She had volunteered to help the staff on a computer collating the winning bid sheets.  She also told me that she good heartedly mentioned to the other winners, if they had out bid her.  When she finally finished her volunteer work, one of the members asked if they could do anything for her and she just smiled and said an “Honorary Law Degree” would be fine, she said that they just didn’t get her joke.

      Sodaro Estate Winery Box Lid    Sodaro Estate Winery Box Open

Finally I must mention that there was a cash bar for the adult beverages with a fine selection of liquors.  They also had a selection of beers, and the wine drinkers also had a selection of five different wines.  All of the wines were in magnum size bottles.  Four of the wines were from Mondavi of California and they were; Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and a White Zinfandel.  The fifth wine was a Johan Klauss Piersporter Michelsberg from the Mosel in Germany.

UDM Wine Selection

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Opus One Restaurant in Detroit, Michigan

Posted on April 15, 2013 by thewineraconteur

You know that a restaurant will be stellar when they name themselves after a great wine, because they know that comparisons will be forthcoming.  Opus One, the restaurant, is a third generation of restaurateurs, so there is plenty of experience of fine dining and quality service.  The building itself was designed by the same man, who designed the Fisher Theater in Detroit, but through the years it had changed hands, and at one time ended up being a garage facility for the City of Detroit.  On one of our trips there I had taken my Father there for dinner, and he argued with me, that there was no restaurant at that particular location.  As he worked for the City of Detroit, he had spent many a time at the location when the City had the property.  I joked with him that he was like a farmer in the city for the first time, as he was trying to make the two buildings coincide in his mind’s eye.

MI Opus One MB

The restaurant over the years had been the recipient of many awards and accolades, and rightfully so.  There was a dish called Shrimp Helene that was one of my favorites either as an appetizer or an entrée.  The dish was always properly prepared with shrimp wrapped in phyllo dough and topped with Sauce Béarnaise.  Another perennial dish that I had to have was the house salad with their house made Creamy Garlic dressing, that was homage to another era, and I would have to buy a jar or two of it, to take home, and I am not a fan of salads.  We have had Dover Sole, Filet Medallions, Lamb dishes and many others over the years, without a bad choice.  The dinner always ended with a three tiered cart that was wheeled over to the table with a presentation of all of the desserts made that day.  One of my favorites was the Banana Bread Pudding, there was a Chocolate Pizza and you always had to have some of the finest cookies ever made. Birthday recipients received a house made Chocolate Bar with the logo of the restaurant on it, and it was a very large bar, that a party of four would have trouble eating it all at one time.  Then there were some great after dinner drinks from the Spanish Coffees to the Classic Hummer and they always asked for your selection of liquors for the drinks.

 Opus One 1996

The wine list was worth a few minutes of careful studying.  The basic list carried all of the basic wines that one would expect from California and Italy, plus there were specials of ours from St. Supery, Hess, Duckhorn and Cosentino.  They also had a nice selection of splits, magnums, ports and dessert wines.  Then there was the Reserve Wine List to tempt the wine lover.  There one could order “Private Reserves” from several top wineries and some of the best Meritage wines from Cain Five, Quintessa, Dominus, Insignia and of course Opus One.  That is the reason for repeated trips to this fine restaurant, as there was too much to appreciate and try in a single trip.

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Bravo Cucina Italiana

Posted on April 14, 2013 by thewineraconteur

I am always leery of going into national chain restaurants, especially Italian restaurants.  I have this fear that it will be a homogenized American version of what an Italian dish should be, and it is usually bland.  I was very surprised and happy when we tried Bravo Cucina Italiana.  I am not saying that the food is four stars and should be Michelin rated, but it is far superior to a lot of “Italian” eateries that I have been to.  The other thing that endeared me is when I asked if something could be replaced with another item, the server did not say “let me go see” and responded with a “yes.”  For an example, I do not tolerate Romano cheese, for some reason I always smell and taste soap (I know that it sounds silly, but it is a peccadillo of mine, and I just refrain from that cheese).

 MI Bravo Cucina Italiana MB

We do not make it a habit of constantly dining at one particular restaurant, but we have dined at this establishment a few times, and if necessary I know that it would be a safe choice when we are out of town and this may be one of the existing choices, though I do prefer trying local talent when it is possible.  Be that as it may, there are a few dishes that we know we enjoy.  They have a Sangiovese Braised Beef Ravioli that is very tasty.  Another dish that we enjoy is a Shrimp Far Diavolo Campanelle which is done in a “Palomino” style tomato cream sauce, the Campanelle refers to the special pasta that is used in the dish.

 Duckhorn Paraduxx Napa 2006

I am also impressed with their wine list.  A couple of times we have ordered a Duckhorn Vineyards wine like the Paraduxx 2006.  I think that it is a play on words for the winery because the common thinking was that a wine that is a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, while all of these varietals grow very well in the Napa Valley it is a paradox of a blend.  Since they are Duckhorn, it is Paraduxx and the labels usually show a different pair of ducks each year, as in 2006 they showed Cinnamon Teal Ducks.  I find that this wine works very well with robust foods, especially with a tomato sauce basis.  I feel that a good Zinfandel can work as well as a Sangiovese based wine.  The funny thing is that I am not a major fan of Zinfandel, but when it is blended I find it very appealing.

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MacKinnon’s Restaurant in Northville, Michigan

Posted on April 13, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Downtown Northville is a quaint five or six blocks of Victorian style buildings and for years there was a wonderful restaurant and bar called MacKinnon’s.  Tom MacKinnon was the chef and he was one of the original stars of the culinary world in the Metro Detroit area.   He was also a character that liked to work the front half of the restaurant as well as the back half, as he walked around in a Hawaiian print shirt and chino pants, as I think about it, I don’t ever recall seeing him in the white coat of a chef, he had his own style.  The bar was probably as busy as the restaurant and people always tried to request the tables up front near the windows to watch the pedestrian traffic carrying their bags from all of the local merchants.

There were some great memories of the food from MacKinnon’s starting off with a great jumbo shrimp cocktail and his cocktail sauce was so good that I used to eat the greens that lined the fancy serving piece just to enjoy as much of the sauce as I could after the shrimps were gone.  One of the dishes that were very popular was the Scotch Grill which had a lamb chop, salmon and duck.  I think our favorites were the Beef Wellington that was done in the classic interpretation and his “Blown-up Duck” which was his own version of a Duck Confit and done in a Raspberry Reduction Sauce.  Of course we would also have to save room to share a Banana Wellington with a Caramel-Walnut Sauce and some great coffee at the end.

Domaines Bar de Rothschild RS B

He would always have a Bordeaux wine or two on his list, and even though they were not ranked wines of the 1855 Classification of the Medoc, they were good and very reasonably priced.  One time we enjoyed a Domaines Baron de Rothschild Reserve Special Bordeaux 1993 which we really enjoyed.  In fact the next time we were there I looked for it again, but it was sold out and we had to try another wine, which is just as good, because it is fun to try new wines.

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The Plymouth Crossing in Plymouth, Michigan

Posted on April 12, 2013 by thewineraconteur

This is a restaurant that my dinner club meets at a couple of times a year.  They have a private room in the back that works for us, and we always have a choice of three different entrée dishes to choose from.  My Bride and I also frequent this restaurant, especially if we are attending one of the many events that are held in downtown Plymouth.  This restaurant is just far enough away from the downtown area, which most people don’t think about it, which is fine for us.  One of the most unique aspects of this restaurant is the building and its history.  It started out as the Markham Manufacturing Company and one of the many items that they made was the Markham Air Rifle.  On the other side of the railroad tracks which run alongside of the restaurant was the Plymouth Iron & Woodmill Company and they created the “Daisy” Air Rifle.  At one time the two companies had a meeting of the minds, and then one bought out the other, and the building became the production facility for the “Daisy” Air Rifle.  In the back room where my club meets there are posters and displays of this history.  In the front of the restaurant are a bar, and a regular dining area, with a patio during the nice weather off of the bar.

MI The Plymouth Crossing BC

 

The Executive Chef had worked at La Bistecca also in Plymouth before settling in to this restaurant.  Not only do they have a great grill, but they also have some very nice Italian dishes on the menu.  My Bride enjoys the Chicken Tuscany and I am a fan of the Veal Marsala.  With the salads and the sides and the fresh bread, there are many a time when we have to skip dessert.

Marcus James Cabernet Sauvignon Vale Aurora 1992

 

One evening we tried a Marcus James Cabernet Sauvignon 1992 from Vale Aurora in Brazil.  This was about the time, when the South American wines were first making inroads in the states.  My palate did not notice any great differences from this wine and most of the domestic wines that we had enjoyed up to that time.  It was a good wine, with good color and good nose, but I would not be able to say that this Cabernet Sauvignon was from Brazil, but I could tell you immediately that it was a well made Cabernet Sauvignon.

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El Barzon in Detroit, Michigan

Posted on April 11, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Just a little Northeast of where I grew up is a very unique restaurant that just packs them in.  I say unique because of the culinary offering; one side of the menu is true Mexican food and the other side of the menu is classic Italian food.  This comes about because the chef and his wife are Mexican, but he spent eight years as a chef at Il Posto Ristorante that I have talked about before.

MI El Barzon BC

While this may sound schizophrenic, I have friends that rave about each side of the menu, and they travel from all over the Metro Detroit area to go this restaurant in Detroit.  In fact, for a year after they had opened my Bride and I had not gone there, and one of my friends kept telling me he was going to get me a gift certificate, if I delayed it any longer.  Since then we have been happy with our choices.  I remember that my Bride ordered a Grilled Sea Bass from the Italian side of the menu, because she knew that was I was going to order from the Mexican side of the menu, when she saw that they had Mole Poblano.  I know that I have stated before that I deem the quality and integrity of a Mexican restaurant by their having or not having a Mole dish on the menu.  Most restaurants do not, because they are catering to the American concept of Mexican food.  I can never get enough of the Mole sauce with its creamy smooth mixture of Mexican chocolate and hot spices; trust me if you have never had Mole sauce it is not sweet.

Tommasi Viticoltori Ripasso Valpolicella 2005

The restaurant has a very nice selection of wines that they have picked to pair with some of the dishes on the menu, and it is not the run of the mill choices that one usually finds.  To compliment the two diverse dishes I selected a Valpolicella wine that is made from the three grape varietals Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara.  It was a Tomassi Viticoltori “Ripasso” Valpolicella 2005.  This wine is known to have a light, but full bodied wine and since the Sea Bass was done in a Mediterranean flavor, I thought it would work there and with the Mole sauce.  Sometimes the wine decision may be the hardest part of selecting the dinner.  Thankfully it worked well with both and we left very happy.

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The Greatest Hamburger – Yes, That One

Posted on April 10, 2013 by thewineraconteur

To call the dish that I had a Hamburger is like calling the Mona Lisa a painting, both are classic works of art.  Daniel Boulud Brasserie has taken this dish to new heights.  Let’s face it I love Lafayette Coney Island for their loose burger with heavy, heavy, and heavy.  I enjoy Miller’s Bar in Dearborn and the Red Coat Tavern in West Bloomfield and Royal Oak for the burgers.  No dish may ever compete with “The Burger” at the Daniel Boulud Brasserie, when we dined there at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.

NV Daniel Boulud Brasserie MB

We had to go there, after eating at Daniel in the Upper Eastside of Manhattan.  The room at the Wynn was great and we had a view of the waterfall and could watch the light show that appeared on the waterfall; it was very unique and so was the room.

NV Wynn Las Vegas MB

My Bride had a meal of a Caesar Salad with avocado which was very different.  She ordered “Skate Americaine” which also had crab and lobster meat topping the Skate and she finished with a plate of three wonderful scoops of exotic ice cream and some wonderful coffee.  I ordered the Pate for starters, the DB Burger and finished it off with a Carmel Sorbet.  We shared each other’s dishes during each course.

Now I must describe the burger, to make you appreciate why I wax poetic about it.  Start with prime ground sirloin made into a burger and then the fun starts.  Take Red Wine Braised Short Ribs and shred the meat and stuff it into the burger, and then just because it needs a little bit more attention add some Foie Gras in it as well.  Then add Black Truffles on top of the burger, as well as fresh Horseradish, a Tomato Compote and an Onion Frisee.  Put this culinary creation between a homemade toasted Parmesan and Poppy Seed bun.  Then as a side for this burger a tower of Pommes Soufflé seasoned perfectly and very reminiscent of Arnaud’s or Galatoire’s in The French Quarter and this is a meal.  The DB Burger in Manhattan is about fifty dollars, and the three course meal at the Wynn was the same price.  It may have been the most expensive burger, but not only did I want it, I guess I desired it, because we booked our reservation right after our flight and hotel room.

Savigny-Les-Beaune Les Narbantons

To compliment this wonderful meal, I selected a Premiers Cru for Burgundy.  We enjoyed a bottle of Les Narbantons from Savigny-Les-Beaune.  This wine made from the Pinot Noir varietal is so lush and velvety that it just was a winner even with the Skate because of the rich sea food that topped the fish.  Some people may question the sanity of it, but my Bride enjoys rich red wines with her fish dishes.

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Just a few Follow-ups to Earlier Stories

Posted on April 9, 2013 by thewineraconteur

Anyone that has read with any continuity my little essays about wine and my memories with restaurants may have noticed that some of my articles have scruffy wine labels attached to the stories.  I purposely put these labels that I have tried to carefully remove from the bottles as keep-sakes and tokens of the great and not so great bottles of wine that my Bride and I have enjoyed.  I do this; not for my sake, but to give more credibility that I have not just searched the web for wine labels to enhance my essays.  I feel that, as horrible as the label may appear in a scan, which it shows that I have actually had that bottle of wine, especially in the years prior to owning a phone that would enable me to digitally photograph a bottle of wine.

 

It is also for this sake, that I try to produce a matchbook for a restaurant, especially for the years, when restaurants gladly offered matchbooks as keepsakes and as an advertising tool for diners that wanted to repeat a fine meal.  As a hoarder or a collector of such items (which I will leave each reader to decide) I think it also shows the proof of dining at an establishment.  There are a few restaurants that somewhere through out the years, I have lost some great match books or match boxes that I wish I still had for the purpose of this blog.  All this is a long segue for my having found a matchbook for a restaurant that we dined at several times before and I have already wrote about.  I will also edit the article to add the matchbook that I have just found into the proper page for future readers.  I found a matchbook for the Beverly Hills Grill in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

MI Beverly Hills Grill MB

 

The other update that I wish to mention is that as I was reading the newspaper, there was an article about the English Inn in Eaton Rapids, Michigan that we had a wonderful dinner once.  The newspaper article gave a very nice history of the Inn and about the family that converted it into a restaurant as well as a Bed and Breakfast venue.  The son of the family is now the General Manager of the Inn and has worked very hard in his chosen field and has enabled the Inn to reap additional accolades.  The have received the Award of Excellence from The Wine Spectator magazine, as well as certified and listed by the Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA).  The article also went on to say, that the General Manager spent five years at another fine restaurant that we have had the pleasure of dining at the Pump Room of Chicago.  One newspaper article has allowed me to draw attention to two different restaurants that I have dined at and wrote about in prior essays.

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