huevos con vino

Last night I went out with a few friends for a nice Italian dinner.  We had some house pinot grigio and then I ordered a bottle of 2003 Rosso di Montalcino from Castello Banfi.  I ordered it thinking it was something I hadn’t tried before, but it turned out to be 100% Sangiovese.  Ever since I learned of the Wine Century club (see my link list) I have wanted to expand the number of varietals I’ve tried.  I’ve already had Sangiovese before, of course, so that was a bit of a letdown, but the wine was quite good!

Here’s a link to the Castello Banfi Web site, which is a bit of a mish-mash but better than nothing.

The State St. Tavern (aka Osteria Via Stato) is a really fun place.  It’s huge, very popular, and very loud.  Six of us went on a Saturday night,  which meant the place was jumping by the time we sat down to eat.  The tables are cool; we sat at a huge dining table that had enough space for all of the antipasti and other plates of food delivered to us incessantly.

So yes, we ate a lot of food.  Here’s what we had.

Dinner:

• Antipasti:

• Baked onions with mozzarella (very sweet and delicious, almost an au gratin preparation)
• Chilled bean salad
• Chilled beet salad
• Hot octopus salad

• Sheep’s milk ricotta agnolotti with mushrooms
• Rigatoni in a sausage and garlic broth

• Lamb porterhouse au jus with asparagus and crispy new potatoes

Drinks (I did the “Just Bring Me Wine” promotion at the highest level, which cost $50 for 12 total ounces of wine):

• 2003 Foradori “Myrto” Trentino - “Myrto is a blend of two white grapes that have always been a staple part of the estate’s tradition: Sauvignon and Incrocio Manzoni. The blend (60% Sauvignon, 40% Incrocio Manzoni) is aged partly in wood and partly in stainless steel. It embodies the essence of Foradori’s selection of white wines. Myrto is the name of a plant typical of the Mediterranean. A delicate expression of elegance, it is a symbol of strength and vitality for its energy and compact form that enable it to survive long, dry summers.” (from their Web site)
• 2004 Ca La Bionda Valpolicella - “insanely delicious light-bodied red wine. Magical scents of red fruits, white flowers, and roasted fennel. Silky, caressing texture flows with flavors of black cherry, plum tart, and nicks of roasted spices” (from Busa Wines review)
• 2000 Tenuta Pule Galtarossa Amarone della Valpolicella - Corvina (65%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (10%), Molinara (5%); tons of blackberry and oak on the nose; strong tannins and acid mean this wine could be stored longer, but it’s so opulent and delicious now!
• Nonino Gioiello Chestnut Honey Distillate Grappa - Wow!  Very strong, smooth, chestnut-scented grappa.  Very smooth.  Very expensive, though.

Overall, the evening was wonderful.  The Amarone was the clear winner for me in terms of the wines I tried, but I did like the Myrto quite a bit too.  The Valpolicella was great at first, but then it began to fade a tiny bit…ultimately, the Amarone kicked its butt, unfortunately.

I wish I could eat at this restaurant more often.  It’s probably for the best, with regard to my wallet, that I can’t.

On Friday night in Chicago, my fiance, her brother, their parents, another close friend, and I all went to one sixtyblue.  I believe Michael Jordan owns this French restaurant, although you’d never know it from the decor.  The Signature Room had photos of Jordan in a few places, but one sixtyblue is more of an upscale “nouveau Francais” sort of place.  In other words, photos of sweaty dudes in sports jerseys don’t fit in here.

One of the centerpieces of this restaurant is the “wine room,” which is a pretty impressive glass-enclosed space housing some incredible wines.  In fact, their wine list made my heart skip a few beats.  The California Pinot Noir selection was unbelievable!  I thought finding a bottle of Littorai at Topolobampo was impressive, but this place was far beyond that:

• 2004 Radio-Coteau “La Neblina” and “Savoy” releases
• Multiple Littorai releases
• Multiple Adrian Fog releases
• Multiple Williams Selyem releases
• and more!

I didn’t end up trying any of these wines, though, because they were as expensive as you’d expect a bottle of Adrian Fog to be, particularly since we were in Chicago.  Both of the Radio-Coteau wines were over $100 (I think they were $115 and $135 respectively), and they were still tempting.

Anyway, dinner:

• Bouillabaisse - seafood / saffron aioli / garlic croutons / brunoise of vegetables / extra virgin olive oil
• Seared foie gras - really good!
• Chocolate soufflé - also really good!

Drinks - I went easy after Topolobampo and just had a snifter of Del Maguey mezcal.

Overall, I would highly recommend this restaurant to the wine lovers in the Chicago area…as long as they can afford, say, $300 for two bottles of wine.  The food and service were both excellent too, which is always important when you’re enjoying a $150 bottle of wine.  But I’d like to see more photos of Michael Jordan dunking over Patrick Ewing spread around the place.

Topolobampo is the brainchild of Rick Bayless, a major American chef and former Iron Chef competitor.  Topolobampo sits within the Frontera Grill restaurant in Chicago; I had been there once before, about a year ago, and the experience had been so good I was interested in repeating it with a different set of friends.  The first time, I had about 4-5 glasses of wine, all of which were different.  This time, it was a mezcal kind of evening…no wine (although they had a Littorai that really caught my eye) was served in the end.  Just lots and lots of mezcal.

Dinner (reprinted from the menu):

• Ceviche Primaveral - lime-marinated halibut cheeks with salsa bruta (homemade mayo, poblano, grilled ramps, pickled fiddlehead ferns) and Tracey’s baby sunflower greens; cured halibut “cracker” and crushed pepitas
• Tamal Colado - Yucatecan polenta-style tamal, layered with herby house-made ricotta, local spring nettles and chipotle-glazed shiitake mushrooms; morita-infused black bean broth
• Trucha en Tamal - Rushing Waters trout roasted in corn husks, stuffed with wood-roasted poblano chile, wild ramps, grilled calabacitas, corn and herby rice; served with creamy tomatillo-poblano sauce and chunky-fresh avocado salsa

Drinks:

• 1921 Reposado margarita (one)
• Del Maguey Minero mezcal margarita (three)
• Crema de Mezcal hot chocolate (two)
• Crema de Mezcal straight (one and a half)

As you can see, it was a busy night.  I love good mezcal: It’s a combination of the smoky, earthy flavor of tequila with the roasted, malty flavor of scotch.  Del Maguey make some of the world’s best mezcal and while I wanted to try their Pechuga, at $35/glass I didn’t want to taste it that badly.

Overall, I highly recommend Topolobampo, although the main waitress we had this time seemed sort of joyless and bland.  The waiter we had a year ago (Oliver) had flair, interesting conversation points, and terrific wine suggestions.  I missed Oliver this time around…*)

I arrived in Chicago yesterday after a decent flight…oh, I forgot to mention previously: I’m going to Chicago!  Anyway, I arrived in Chicago and after relaxing for a while I went to The Signature Room with my fiance, her brother, and a close friend.

The Signature Room is on the 95th and 96th floors of the John Hancock Center, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world.  It’s an incredible place to dine as you might imagine…we had picturesque views in every direction, and we watched the sunset as we ate dinner.  Very nice.

Drinks:

• 2004 Rehbach Riesling Spatlese - good, fairly sweet (definitely a Spatlese), some effervescence and minerality (hooray!)
• Some sort of 2003 Barbera (I forget what it was, but it wasn’t all that exciting)

Dinner:

• Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Dumplings, pulled beef short ribs; tamarind reduction - this appetizer was one of the best I have ever eaten anywhere…very tangy with the tamarind sauce, delicious combined with the Riesling
• Grilled Filet of Beef, Maytag Blue cheese with creamed spinach; red wine reduction - very nice filet, which is the thing to get if you’re in the Midwest, eh?
• Warm Molten Chocolate Cake, banana emulsion; caramel gelato - despite the redundant name, this dessert was quite good

Overall, this restaurant is worth the money…once.  The wine list left me a bit uninspired and there were no draft beers, but the food was wonderful and the service was good but a bit slow…which is fine when you’re on the 95th floor!