The Rowe Inn – Ellsworth, MI – and a Cab

Posted on September 15, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Like most people from the Detroit area (as well as a good group from Chicago) we make periodic trips to the Traverse City area of the Lower Peninsula.  Some go there every year in the fall for the color of the change of season.  We prefer to go, to check out the wineries and the numbers of them have increased immensely and we also go for the food.

 

One of the hidden treasures, and I do mean hidden is in the town or village of Ellsworth called The Rowe Inn.  It is a restaurant that offers seasonal changes in the menu, and strives to have that European feel of a French country inn.  They have earned many accolades including the DiRona and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.  The dining experience begins with great appetizers from pates to seafood, a choice of fresh salads and entrees that encompass choices for everyone.  Duck, (for me), steaks, chicken, pork, and fish all prepared perfectly to make the trip there worth it.

 

We had a bottle of Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon from the Jack London vineyard in Sonoma Valley in California.  This was a big Cabernet heavy in tannins, deep color and great legs, with a full after taste that kept you wanting another taste.  The restaurant has a nice selection of wines and they now offer the wines at a retail price as well as a restaurant (dining in price).

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Joe Muer –the Original – Detroit – and a Chardonnay

Posted on September 14, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Joe Muer was a landmark in downtown Detroit; it was where one went to get seafood.  I have known people that ate there for years and always enjoyed the same dish for years, never wavering, because they felt it was perfection.  When downtown Detroit was bustling, businessmen used to go straight to Joe Muer for dinner and wait for the rush hour traffic to abate before driving home, and why not, it was a delightful place to be.

 

It had that old time school approach to dinner, and sometimes you just wanted to make a meal of the plates that were brought out, while you were looking at the menu and the wine list and just enjoying your first cocktail of the evening.   There was the white bean relish, the smoked fish spread and the matzo crackers to nibble on.   A simple little thing, that has seemed to be gone from modern restaurants, it was so much more satisfying then the amuse that some of the Nouveau Cuisine eateries now offer.  The Dover Sole and the White Fish were the dinners I remember most, and the ones that my Bride always would waver between the two.

 

I picked a wine to symbolize the wines that we enjoyed.  A Silverado Vineyards Chardonnay from Napa Valley is the wine that I will feature here.   I mean when you think of seafood, white wine is a natural choice, and I do enjoy a good bottle of Chardonnay.   This wine is perfect to pair with fish as it has a buttery finish to the taste and does not overpower the subtleties of white fish or sole.  It also did not fight with the classic creamed spinach that you had to enjoy while you there as well.

 

Alas, Joe Muer finally closed the doors in Detroit and a few years returned in a new format and setting in the suburb of Southfield with the name of Joe’s Bar & Grill.   We went to it for the nostalgia, but it did not feel the same, and it eventually closed as well.   There is a new Joe Muer that opened under the auspice of the Andiamo group of restaurants in downtown Detroit in the Renaissance Center, but so far we have not tried it.  We will, and then I will record a new wine and my thoughts on the new venue.

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Christopher Plummer, Barrymore and a Barolo

Posted on September 13, 2012 by thewineraconteur

One of Canada’s National Treasures is Christopher Plummer, who most people only know as Captain Von Trapp from the Sound of Music.  He did a one man play called “Barrymore” originally at Stratford and then followed it up at the Music Hall in Detroit.  The conceit of the play is that it is the last months of John Barrymore as he would recall his past milestones of his career.  The young people in the audience could barely associate that John Barrymore was the Great-Uncle of Drew Barrymore, but they would never know each other.  We could not make it to see it in Canada, so when it came to Detroit, it was a guaranteed show to see.   From the first moment when he walks onto the stage with a rolling bar reciting a very ribald limerick he had the audience in the palm of his hand.  He went from the risqué to brilliant orations of Shakespeare and back, with perfect diction and a great command of the English language that seems to be lost in today’s theater.  I thank God that Mr. Plummer is such a fine theatrical actor, that he would pause enough for the laughter of the audience to diminish before delivering another great line.  It was one of the fastest shows that I have ever seen, because we were laughing so hard.

 

Prior to seeing the play at the Music Hall we decided to have dinner at Intermezzo, which was a new restaurant in the Harmony Park area of downtown Detroit.  It was a lively restaurant, that was hot, but the flame flickered out too quickly and it is now part of the annals of former restaurants in Detroit.   They served all classic Italian dishes as well as some Nouveau Cuisine dishes as well.   We both had veal dishes after a calamari appetizer.

 

We also had a wonderful Pio Cesare Barolo wine from Italy.   It was a classic interpretation of a Barolo wine with an amazing nose.  A deep color and a taste that had a wow factor with subtle fruit and tannins that really should have been allowed to age for another ten years.  Yes, we drank it too young, but that is the way of the world in restaurants.  The wine overpowered the calamari and the veal, but it was a great wine, and a great segue to all the alcoholic asides that we would see after dinner courtesy of Mr. Plummer.

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The London Chop House -The Original

Posted on September 12, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Years ago when you said the London Chop House, it brought nods of respects.  It was the restaurant of Detroit and known across America.  It was in the basement, and it was dimly lit and it was the place.  The walls were adorned with caricatures of the famous of theater and cinema that had dined there.  All the drawings were by Hy Vogel and I remember that some were autographed.  I think my favorite was Jimmy Durante where the tip of his nose was in the next frame.  The original restaurant alas closed, and it has been recently resurrected, but I have tried the new one as of yet.

It was the home of the journalists who had made it, as well as anyone else who had made it.  The number one table would be empty all night, just in case a real celebrity came in to dine.  Bill Kennedy who hosted a movie on a local station six days a week, who achieved the fame he desired in Detroit that had eluded him in Hollywood once was asked where the best hamburger was; he replied The London Chop House.

As I look back in my memories, the menu was not exotic; perhaps the fanciest entrée was Veal Oscar.  They also had a wonderful salad named after a columnist of the Detroit New “Doc” Greene.  What the London Chop House did was prepared and serves food perfectly.  The entire menu was “ala carte.”  It was comfort food for a different crowd.

They had a trio of musicians with a singer and they performed in the middle of the restaurant.  Lounge musicians without a tongue in cheek attitude that filled the room with classic easy listening music.

The greatest asset as far as I am concerned about the London Chop House was their attitude towards wine.  They had the wine list perhaps in the state of Michigan; in an era of cocktails (and a fine bar they had as well) they had a wine list of the famous and interesting secondary wines.  I do believe the first bottle of Graves that I had was there.  It was a bottle of Chateau La Louviere 1971.  Not a stellar bottle of wine, but I do believe it was on the wine list because it exhibited the classic terroir of a Graves wine.  I so enjoyed this wine, that I started looking and drink more Graves wines for the next couple of years.

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Courthouse Brasserie – Revisited

Posted on September 11, 2012 by thewineraconteur

About six months after our first trip to the Courthouse Brasserie, we went back there for another dinner, this time with a different couple.   They were a bit more taken aback by the area and the appearance of the restaurant and were silently questioning my sanity in this choice of venue.

 

 

After going through the ringing of the bell and being brought into the restaurant we were escorted to our table for the evening.  The waiter brought us our water, the menu and the wine list as before.  My Bride was feeling a bit more adventurous and was going to try a Monkfish preparation, and I was going to order a filet and scampi dish.  When the Chef came from the kitchen to take our orders, he started with the women and after taking my Bride’s choice he looked at me for my order.  All of a sudden he readjusted his glasses, took a second look at me and informed my Bride that he would prefer that she change her order.  He looked at me and said that since we were into food so much, as he recounted from our conversation after dinner from our last time that he would not serve us the Monkfish.  He said that he was getting ready to close for a month to take his family to Europe where his family would do a tour, and he would spend a month at one of his friend’s restaurant learning some new dishes.  As he only bought a few pieces of the Monkfish, because it had become a staple for the brasserie, he was not happy with what he had on hand, and didn’t want to spoil our dinner.  I found that very impressive that he would not serve a dish, because he had decided that it was not up to his requirements.   So she made a different dish selection of a chicken and shrimp dish with a demi-glace.

 

For the wine, I was ready to order another Cotes du Rhone, when I saw that there was a wine from the village of Gigondas (one of the five notable villages from the Rhone Valley).  This bottle was a Domaine Raspail-Ay 1997 and it was a much more satisfying bottle, then just a Cotes du Rhone wine.  If you get a chance to try a bottle from Gigondas, I whole heartedly recommend that you try it; to get more of a taste of the Rhone Valley has to offer.

 

 

After dinner and dessert, the Chef came and sat at our table to regale us with more tales and about his itinerary for his vacation and the vacation for his family.  I am sorry to say, that not long after that dinner I saw an article in the paper that the restaurant had closed.  I would venture to say that the malaise of downtown Detroit was the cause of the closing; it certainly was not the quality of the food or service.  It was an oasis of pleasure that was too difficult for most people to find.

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Courthouse Brasserie

Posted on September 10, 2012 by thewineraconteur

The first time we went to the Courthouse Brasserie was because the couple we had gone out with on the last time picked a disaster of a restaurant and wanted to make it up to us.  He had been to this restaurant once before and had been really impressed by it.  I had to admit that I had never heard of the restaurant and went with hesitation after the last fiasco.  When we arrived in an off the traveled area of downtown Detroit we arrived at the parking lot of the restaurant.  As I looked at the rather disheveled façade of the building, there was a sense of déjà vu as it had been the old Benno’s restaurant, which was named after the chef who was a real character in his own right.  When we got to the door of the restaurant which was not inviting from the outside, the door was locked.  We rang the bell and the over an intercom system we were asked if we had a reservation, and we acknowledged that we had.  The door was opened and we entered a small hallway that led to a very small, but cozy dining room.

 

 

A young waiter came by and brought water, menus and the wine list.  The two lists were both short in their listing, but appeared well thought out.  In a few minutes another man came out of the kitchen to take our order, and this was the chef.   He went over the menu and a couple of specials for the evening, and went into fine detail discussing the preparation of each dish.  You could tell he was very proud of his craft and his brasserie.  The term brasserie was a misnomer for this dining room, as brasserie evokes a place of constant motion and noise, and this restaurant was almost a cathedral dedicated to fine food and service.  There were maybe twenty tables in total and some were only for a couple to dine at.  I also can not show a matchbook from this establishment, as it had a non-smoking policy, prior to the mandated rules, basically because it was such a small room.

 

My Bride was going to order salmon, is as her wont, but she was intrigued by a fish she had never heard of called John Dory from Australia, and she wanted to try something new.  I had ordered a Rack of Lamb Dijonaise and the other couple had ordered beef dishes, so my Bride consented to having red wine with her dinner, because of the rest of us.   I ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Domaine des Moulins wine, because I felt that it would be a lighter red to go with her fish, and still work with the red meat orders.  A Cotes du Rhone wine is always one of my go-to wines as it seems to please most people as it has a softer, mellow nose and taste.  It is usually softer in tannins that can be a put off for people that are not used to a full bodied wine.  The wine I picked was a hit for the diners, as well as the food.  Our host had redeemed himself.

 

The young man that had brought out the menus also brought out the wine and food as it was prepared.   After dinner the Chef returned to our table and introduced himself as Ravi Dhanjal, he was an Indian native who had grown up in London and studied the culinary arts in France and had settled in the Detroit area.  He excused himself to talk to some of the other diners, and since we had ordered a second bottle of wine we were just enjoying our selves.  We ended up being the last patrons in the room and the Chef returned to our table so we invited him to sit down, have a glass of wine, relax and talk awhile.   All in all, it was a grand time for all.

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Al Green’s and “Play It Again, Sam”

Posted on September 9, 2012 by thewineraconteur

I was in high school, and I was going on a date to see the stage production of Woody Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam.”  It was the first legitimate play I had ever seen and I was excited to see it.  The play tells the story of a neurotic insecure man, who is visited by the ghost of Humphrey Bogart who schools him in the art of romance; albeit from the thirties.  The play was being shown in the Fisher Theater in Detroit, which to this day has legitimate theater productions.

 

I had made reservations at the famous (alas now gone) Al Green’s which was located in the Fisher Building.  It was at the time a celebrity magnet for the theater crowd.   A restaurant made for people watching.  I was giddy with excitement to me the night was magical.  I remember that we were both dressed to the nines and trying to look as mature as our age would allow.   Looking back, I am glad that the restaurant had dim lighting from that era, which may have made us look older as well.

 

 

I remember that my date and I both ordered steaks, as we were naïve to a lot of the dishes being offered.  The restaurant handled the pre-theater crowd very well, got them in and out in time for the play, with anticipation of some of the crowd coming back for nightcaps after the play.

 

I ordered a bottle of wine; a Chianti Classico from Castello Di Brolio (Barone Ricasoli) and they brought it to the table.  I presume from the label that it was a non-vintage blend as there is no vintage year listed.  It was all that I could afford at the time, between the theater tickets, the dinner and the wine.  I remember that this Chianti was much more mellow and refined compared to the home made “Dago Red” wines that were given to my father on occasions.  I was not very astute about wine at the time, which is understandable and most of the wine that I had encountered to that point were Chiantis.  The two of us finished the bottle of wine over dinner, and I asked if I could have the bottle as a keepsake, which they gave me.  Then we both had coffee in hopes that it would counter the effects of the wine.   I remember having to run to the parking lot to put the bottle in the trunk of my car, and getting back in time to see the play.  I was learning the ways of the world and had started my appreciation for wines, which has not slowed down yet.

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Once in Awhile I Like to Get Surprised

Posted on September 8, 2012 by thewineraconteur

Periodically my Bride goes out to replenish some of the basic wines that somehow seem to evaporate.  There is a technical term when the wine evaporates in a sealed bottle while it is aging, which is called ullage.  This is not what I am talking about.  Certain basic go-to wines never seem to stay in the racks, which is a good thing I guess.  When you are nibbling on some cheese and crackers in the afternoon or sometimes in the evening after dinner, wine just goes along with the nosh.

Back to my Bride who comes back from one of the big box membership stores with a case of wine, as we were getting low on some basic Chardonnay wines, which will get there own story one day.  As I am making room in the cellar and making hanging neck labels to store the wines.  I see that three of the bottles are not her basic Chardonnay purchase.

I go upstairs and I ask her about the three bottles and she tells me that a young man in the wine department touted the fact, that she should try this wine.  She listens to him, agrees and buys three bottles.   She tells me that I like Meritage wines, when we go out to restaurants, so this wine should be good.  As a side bar, I do enjoy Meritage wines, which is a relatively new term for Bordeaux style blended wines from California.  As long as they are members of the society that was formed, they may call the wine a Meritage.  Some winemakers do not belong to the society, because they were experimenting with the Bordeaux style and created this New World taste sensation.

So now I had three bottles of Kirkland Meritage wine, and I am thinking to myself, now there is a generic Meritage wine.   I figure that during some party when the wine is flowing, this may be a good second or third bottle of wine to open when there is a group of people quaffing wine, instead of drinking wine.  I know that I sound like a snob, but the economics of pouring sixty dollar bottles of wine to some people who really don’t drink wine is not a sound fiscal policy.  So I thought that this would be the proper way to serve this wine and most people recognize the “brand” Kirkland from mixed nuts to paper products.

An occasion occurred and I started with a better wine, as the host was also enjoying himself, and then I opened up the first of the three Kirkland Meritage wines.  I was impressed with the nose of the wine immediately.   The color was what I expected and it tasted like a Bordeaux Superior wine.  I was happy to know that all was good, and if anyone sniffed in doubt at the label, I could with all confidence insist that they try some, before giving me a hard time.  There were no complaints, and my Bride did a wonderful service in the wine selection as well as in all of the food preparation.  I just kind of blended into the wallpaper for all of my work that evening.

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The Wine Tasting Party Kit and a Labor Day Meal

Posted on September 7, 2012 by thewineraconteur

On Labor Day, we had sixteen family members over for dinner and also celebrated the four birthdays in September.  We started off with some cheese and crackers, and hummus.  We had potato salad, Jell-O salad and my Bride’s Caesar Salad, Armenian Pilaf, vegetables, chicken breasts, hamburgers and hot dogs (for some of the youngsters) and whole beef tenderloin that I carved into medallions after cooking.  We followed it up with individual birthday brownies and hot fudge ice cream filled cream puffs.

 

As it so happens in the month of September I am one of the four recipients, and one of the gifts that I received from my Bride was “The Wine Tasting Party Kit.” The kit has four cloth bottle covers to do a blind tasting, wineglass markers, tasting notes cards and a booklet about wine with a cheat sheet of tasting terms.  It looks like it has the potential to be fun with the right group of people, time will tell.

 

I also went into the cellar and grabbed a couple of wines that had piqued my interest, but had not tried them yet.  The white wine was a proprietary blend called Serenity 2009 from Brassfield Estate Winery with a High Valley Appellation from Clearlake Oaks, California.   This wine was a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Gewurztraminer and Semillon grapes.  The wine had a more crisp taste, while I had a preconceived thought that it would have more fruit and citrus tastes.  It worked very well on the hot day that we enjoyed.

 

The other wine that I opened was a non vintage proprietary red wine blend Uvaggio produced and bottled by L’Uvaggio Di Giacomo from St. Helena, California.  This wine is a blend of Barbera grapes grown in the Sierras and the Coastal Hills of California.   It had a fruit forward taste, but not overpowering and paired quite well with the beef medallions.   Since it was a non-vintage indicated wine, I did not want to take a chance of a long cellar life, and tried it young, which I think is best for it.

 

A couple of easy drinking wines that we could enjoy without any fanfare or ado, and both did a yeoman like job.  Not everyday has to be enjoyed with Premier Grand Cru wines.

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“M” in OSU Land

Posted on September 6, 2012 by thewineraconteur

You may be aware that there is a rivalry between Michigan and Ohio, namely the University of Michigan and Ohio State University.  My Bride and I were in Columbus for a convention, staying at a hotel directly across the street from the convention center.  I was talking to the concierge at the hotel about my restaurant reservation for the evening and was informed that rather then going to my intended choice, I should try a brand new restaurant called M at the Miranova Center, which was a short stroll from the hotel.  I joked that it sounded like blasphemy that any establishment would be called M in Columbus.  The concierge smiled and informed me that it was the newest concept and the new flagship restaurant for Cameron Mitchell, the “Horatio Alger” of Columbus.  I had dined at both of his chain restaurants Cameron for Steaks and Mitchell’s for Seafood, so I knew of his name.  As a sidebar these two chains have since been bought by the Ruth Chris chain of restaurants.  The concierge just chuckled and said that Mr. Mitchell ran out of names.

 

After the convention we walked over to the restaurant for our reservation and I immediately thought of the interior of the Delano hotel in South Beach of Miami, Florida.  A two story room with muslin sheets draped from the ceiling for that tropical atmosphere.  This was far superior to the two restaurants that I had been to from Mr. Mitchell just from a visual appearance.  My Bride ordered a salmon dish and I ordered a version of filet mignon.  We also had an appetizer, salad and somehow we had room for dessert.

 

We also had a wonderful bottle from the Peter Michael Winery “Les Pavots.”  This is a proprietary Bordeaux style red wine from the Knights Valley district of Napa Valley.  Here is another “Meritage” wine, where the winery is not a member of the Meritage Society.  This was truly a Bordeaux style wine with the tannins and the fruit in a deep dark wine with a full nose that required one’s full attention while enjoying the labor of the wine maker’s craft.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc with a heady 14.2% alcohol count.

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