You must forgive my delay, but it's been a very busy week and we are now headed to the west coast and Mexico. I write from about our flight, and will try to catch up.
While Restaurant week comes to a close in DC, we did manage to have a super $30.06 dinner at CEIBA on Monday evening. We chose one of the wines served by the glass to start with our first bottle. We always adore Susana Balbo's wines, and her CRIOS SRAH/BONARDA Blend from Mendoza 2004 (Argentina) is as delightful as all her others. A ripe fruit forward wine with a plum nose, a bit of acidity on the tongue which works great with those tangy and spicy appetizers.
Ours were the SHRIMP CEVICHE and the excellent WEST INDIAN CONCH CHOWDER with Sweet Corn, Johnnycakes and two little pitchers of Gosling's Dark Rum and Outerbridges' Sherry Pepper Sauce that you can add to your own liking. I liked it all!
The second wine we chose was white: ANDREW RICH SAUVINGON BLANC "Croft Vineyard" 2004 from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I'm not familiar with Oregon Sauvignon Blanc's, but adore the Pinot Gris, Chards and other whites, not to mention the Pinot Noirs. The wine exhibited a grassy nose, but less grass in the mouth with citrus overtones, so it was like a combination of older style California SB and New World SB, say from New Zealand. An excellent choice with my SCALLOPS A LA PLANCH with Lentils, Serrano Ham, Grilled Frisee in Sweet Potato Curry Sauce. The scallops were large slices of dollar coin size and were layered in a large line over the creamy yet mild curry sauce. Others raved over the PERUVIAN BOUILLABAISE and the TILAPIA Special was a true treat, as
this fish tends to be dry flaky and boring. Here it was treated with respect and had tons of flavor and benefited greatly from its sister ingredients (I forget what they all were). The one dud dish was the GRILLED ATLANTIC SALMON with Blue Crab-Avocado Fingerling Potato Tacos, Haricots Verts, Roasted Poblano Corn Sauce which sounds much better than it really is. The fish itself is a typical and plain salmon, and the preparation here did not excite the fish as the Tilapia dish did.
Desserts were, as always, wonderful preparations of pastry chef David Guas, with mine being the FLAN with Almond Crisp and Cajeta Cream, and some choosing the yummy CUBAN FRENCH TOAST. A glass of ROYAL TOKAJI 5 PUTTONYOS sent us happily on our way!
Wednesday night, a large number of you decided to join us for the Italian wine tasting at LA MICHE in Bethesda. It was a fun night with great friends, great food and great wine. We arrived to hor's d'oevres of BLINIS with SMOKED SALMON & CREME FRAICHE and others with CRAB SALAD that was yummy. The excellent GAVI de GAVI 2004 "La Giustiniana" from Lugarara that kept getting poured endlessly was a treat. The Cortese grape that makes Gavi wine is not usually on my favorites list, but this vintner's version had a soft acidity with citrus hints and huge melon overtones that burst in our mouths.
The second wine was a DOLCETTO d'ALBA 2003 ROCCHE COSTAMAGNA which comes from the 3rd oldest registered estate in Piedmont. Dolcetto is a soft wine, and while this was a nice well-rounded one, it was a bit too tannic for my tastes. It did pair superbly with my appetizer of the superb RABBIT RILLETTES, a pate that anyone would adore.
I chose the VEAL NORMANDIE with its rich and creamy mushroom sauce for the entree and it was supreme with a tender yet huge chop and wonderful sauce. The wine was a magnificent BAROLO 1999 BRIC SANT'' AMBROGIO that apparently has less than 3000 total bottles made in production! It's jammy flavor indicated that this was a Barolo ready to be drunk.
I kept my dessert simple choosing the fresh berries which was a bowl of yummy BLACKBERRIES and a huge gob of chantilly cream, which I avoided for the most part. The wine was a not very exciting MOSCATO d'ASTI 2004 from ASTI LODALI. No matter, we drank more Barolo instead and bid our friends goodnight. Hopefully, you can join us at the next LA MICHE wine dinner.
