Per Se

Erin and I went to New York last weekend to celebrate our birthdays, mine October 7 and her's October 15. As I turned 30 this year, my only real wish was to have dinner at Per Se, Thomas Keller's urban interpretation of the world famous French Laundry. Everything I had heard/read, said this was one of the most amazing restaurants in the world, an unforgettable dining experience. It is also on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants, #6 to be exact. As it turned out, dinner reservations here are very hard to get. I tried for 3 months leading up to our trip, and the only thing I could manage was lunch, not quite what I had in mind. When we got on the plane Thursday morning, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be dining at Per Se on this trip.

When we got off the plane, I had a voice message on my phone. It was our hotel calling, letting me know they were able to get reservations for us at Per Se that evening! Well done W Union Square. It could not have worked out any better. What a perfect way to start off our trip to New York.

We got to the restaurant at 7:00p. Per Se is located in the (relatively) new Time Warner Building, in Columbus Circle. It's funny because there are two unbelievable restaurants in this (more or less) shopping mall. One is Per Se and the other is Masa, one of the most amazing sushi restaurants in New York where the chefs tasting menu (omakase) can run you upwards of $400 per person.

The distinctive blue front door of Per Se is intended resemble that of French Laundry. There is a beautiful garden and fireplace out front as well.

The interior is designed in all earthy materials, wood, granite, marble and copper tile floors. In the dining room, the view is amazing. Every table faces huge windows that look out over Columbus Circle into the southwest corner of Central Park. Although it was dark, the view was incredible.

Erin and I started the evening with the 2004 Schramsberg, Blanc de blancs, Napa Valley, a very nice sparkling wine. It was slightly off dry, just a small hint of citrus and vanilla, and a real nice smoothness. It made for a very nice way to start the meal. When presented with the menu, you really only get two main choices, the Chef's Tasting Menu, or the Tasting of Vegetables. It was a pretty easy choice as we both are meat eaters. From there, everything went very well!

The wine list was amazing as well and I could not have been happier with our selections. We decided on two bottles to go with our meal. We started with a Vouvray, a Chenin Blanc from from Vouvray in the Loire Valley in France. This wine was special. Over a year ago, I read an article in Food & Wine about Vouvray, especially the producer Domaine Huet. For a year now I have been looking for this wine, in retail stores, on-line, in restaurants and had no luck (keep in mind, I am in Indiana). When I saw the wine on the list at Per Se, I just had to order it. Chenin Blanc is one of my favorite grapes and it pairs really well with food. It has great acidity, minerality, and nice honeyed fruit. The grape makes a nice sparkling wine as well. The bottle at Per Se was the 2006 Gaston Huet, Sec, "Le Mont," Vouvray. Le Mont is the best vineyard in the domain. The wine was a little young but tasted amazing. It has great minerality and tangy line and ginger notes. It made a great starter wine for first 4 courses.

The food was absolutely amazing. Four courses really stood out, but that is not to say others weren't delicious. After a small starter, the first course was "Oysters and Pearls." This is a dish made famous at French Laundry and brought to Per Se. We were presented with Mother of Pearl spoons before the food was served. The dish paired White Sturgeon Caviar with 2 small Island Creek Oysters and a very light tapioca. Individually, all these ingredients were good but together they were great. This is a classic example of why I believe great chefs are great. More or less, any chef has access to top tier ingredients, fresh seafood, vegetables, quality meats. But what makes the great ones great, is their ability to put flavors together. Most talented chefs can get these choice ingredients and prepare them correctly but it is the out of box thinking, "how would these 3 favors taste together, and together, would they be better than each as an individual?" is really what is special. Not many people can create these specialities. We saw this at Alinea, and we relished in it here.

My favorite course of the night was "Gateau" of Hudson Valley Moulard Dock Foie Gras. I LOVE Foie Gras, and I eat it every chance I get. If you didn't know, Foie Gras is fattened liver, typically goose or duck. The birds are force feed several times a day, become obese, and develop fatty liver. Many argue this is inhumane and the birds suffer. Others believe the animals don't feel any pain. The argument reached political proportions when the city of Chicago banned Foie Gras from all restaurants but the city council later over turned the ban.

The Foie Gras at Per Se was the best I have ever had. The fattened liver was layered between an oatmeal "Genoise" and Blis Maple Glaze. It was served with huckleberries, crosnes, red ribbon sorrel and toasted Brioche. Every bite was amazing and I never wanted it to end. It was unreal.

The Foie Gras was paired a glass of the 2002 Királyudvar, Tokaji Cuvée, "Ilona," Hungary. It was an amazing pair, one I won't soon forget. The classic pairing is Foie Gras with Sauternes, but the sommelier recommended this wine and it was a huge hit. This made the best course of the night.

Scottish Langoustines "A la Planca" were served with a caramelized salsify, musquee de provence pumpkin, brussel sprout leaves and "Mousseline de Quarte Epice." This dish was another example of various favors coming together to make something special. The langoustines has a sweet, brininess to them, the pumpkin had a spicy sweetness, the salsify added acidity and the brussel sprout leaves, a bit of bitterness. Altogether, the dish was very tasty, fun to eat, and a big hit.

For the later half of the meal, we enjoyed the 2006 Bergström, "Single Barrel Selection," Willamette Valley. This is a really special Pinot Noir from Orgeon. Bergström takes one barrel of wine and bottles it exclusively for French Laundry and Per Se. This limited quantity rarity was really enjoyable. The wine tasted of plums, cherries, and red raspberries. It was a young wine but tannins were velvety and smooth. It had an amazingly long finish that lasted for well over a minute. What a special wine...

The last dish I want to highlight was the Saddle of 24 Carrot Farm's Rabbit. It was served with a "Farcie a la Mousse de Marron" applewood smoked bacon, wilted dandelion greens and rabbit jus. This was a delicious rustic dish. The rabbit was prepared very well and its distinctive flavor was augmented by the bacon and the greens. This paired amazingly well with the Pinot Noir and was a great example of how wine and food make each other better.

Dinner at Per Se was an unforgettable experience, one that we will relish for a long time. The food was delicious, the wine amazing, and it made for a great 30th birthday for me and 29th birthday for Erin.

Eating in Denver

I originally intended this blog to focus on wine, what I was drinking, what I like to drink, and what I was thinking about what I was drinking and like to drink, although the last several posts have focused on food restaurants. At least I am drinking wine while I am eating!

On Thursday I had dinner at Black Pearl. This was a great restaurant and eating outside at the communal table, near the fire pit, in beautiful Denver weather, really made for a great experience. The wine list was really well done, focusing on smaller producers or limited releases of the major varietals but also some really nice grapes you don't see a lot. I started with a beautiful Rose from Provence. Speaking of Rose, it's a great summer wine, with the structure of a red but with the refreshing acidity of a white. It's typically associated with crappy, low quality blush wines, as they have light to medium pink color, but Rose is nothing like that. They can well balanced, structured complex wines, that generally pair with food pretty depending on the producer and the vintage, but knowing that is not required to find a good bottle. You typically can't go wrong from anything from Provence.

Dinner was great. They post weekly "Seasonal Menus" with 3 courses at a fixed price. Thursday nights included a refreshing salad, some very well done scallops and a clean, lemon tart for desert. A very solid white burgundy, minimal oak and a nice apple nose, paired very well with the scallops. I also ordered truffle mac and cheese, because I have been on this mac and cheese thing recently and everyone loves truffles. Great meal, great atmosphere.

If you are in Denver, which is quickly becoming on of my favorite US cites, go down to Little Raven Vineyards, a great wine store focusing on great wines, representative of where they are from, but offering uniquness that really makes them stand out.

Summit at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs

Wednesday night I had dinner at Summit, a great restaurant at the Broadmoor, a gorgeous resort in Colorado Springs. Upon arrival, I grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered a great Albarino, which has quickly become on of my favorite summer wines. The grape is very refreshing, with hints of lemon and lime, slight minerality, and balanced acidity giving it a nice crispness. As a prominent Spanish white from the Rias Baixas, this wine is always very affordable and despite pairing well with seafood, it is very enjoyable alone.

The restaurant was pretty cool, behind the bar a spinning tower of wine was flanked but glass display cases. The wine list was solid, lots of the standards but some nice finds too. The Albarino was one of them. For dinner I ordered a trio of appetizers in that included an amazing soft shell crab, sauteed in lemon juice and olive oil. It was accompanied by a really nice cauliflower puree that added some creaminess to the crispy crab and slight bite of the lemon juice. All in all, this was a very nice dish that went well with the Albarino.

The next course was a great escargot preparation. Garlic, ham, green and red peppers, and flat beans floated in the olive oil and really added to this dish. Chef Rolland Wesen, who happens to be Jacques Pépin's son-in-law, modifies this classic French dish with ham, peppers, and beans and I think really enhances the conventional preparation. I would say this was the best dish of the night.

The final dish was a clever Mac and Cheese, with lobster and goat cheese, all good things individually, the become even better together. Overall, this was a great meal at a nice location, check it out if you are in Colorado Springs.

Alinea

On April 18, Erin and I went to Chicago to celebrate our 4 year anniversary. We had dinner at Alinea, and I must say up front, this was the most amazing dining experience I have ever had.

Alinea, is ranked in the top 25 restaurants in the world, and is quickly moving up the list. Chef Grant Achatz brought Spain's experimental molecular cooking style to the states, and although many feel this modern gastronomy style (think Wylie Dufresne of WD-50) is too technical and hard to enjoy, I personally thought the food was absolutely delicious and inviting. It's this creative, engaging style that makes it a truly unique and memorable experience.

When we made reservations, there were really only two choices presented to us, the 12 course or 24 course tasting menus. Our choice determined our seating time. We opted for the 12 with wine pairing, about 10 different wines. Interestingly, they don't serve any liquor, only beer and wine, stating they don't want the plate numbing effects of liquor to impede our ability to enjoy the food. I really appreciated that considering the largest margins in the business come from alcohol sales. Granted, that make up for it with the cost of meal.

The restaurant was simple and well laid out. Beautiful fresh flowers were well placed in our small dining room that we shared with only 4 other tables. There was this very distinctive aroma that filled, but didn't overwhelm, the dining room. It was hard to tell if it was the food, the flowers, or a specially designed fragrance but it was unique to the restaurant and if I smelled it again, it would take me right back to our table. I feel it really added to multi-sensory experience that was our evening.

I wish I had the words to describe the dinner. It was absolutely amazing. I unfortunately can't recap each of the courses and the wines, largely because I don't have the best memory but also because it has taken me 3 months to write this entry. There were a few highlights that still are fresh in my mind. The 12 courses began and ended with smoke. This was part of the full, multi-sensory experience of each dish. Each course was so much more than taste, although that was a major highlight. The textures, the smells, the presentations stimulated not only sight and taste, but touch and smell also. I'm actually surprised they didn't make noise! The presentations were so unique, that custom flatware was designed for several of the dishes. The choreography involved with presenting 12 courses was impressive as well. It was not as simple as presenting a dish, clearing it, and bring out the next one. Some later courses came out early in the meal and developed before our eyes as we were eating the early courses! It was a show in itself.

All in all, the food was amazing and 8 of the 10 wines really shined. I personally though two were misses in regards to pairings. My favorite courses included the steelhead roe, fava beans, wagu beef, persimmon, and the sweet potato. In regards to the wine, the champagne cocktail, the vouvray, the pommard, and the TBA really stood out. Check out the menu below.

After arriving at Alinea around 6:30 and leaving about 10, Erin and I can both say we had an experience of a lifetime and an amazing anniversary celebration. The fun will be trying to top it next year!

Pairing Party

Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Wine and Tapas Pairing Party

For our first official Wine Pairing Party since moving to Indianapolis last year, we co hosted with a new friend. Sarah, an excellent cook and hostess, shares my same passion for food and wine. Sarah and I had been talking about hosting a party like this for a few months and finally decided on the 12th.

Of course, half the fun is deciding on the menu and picking / shopping for the wines. After a week of discussion and a great wine shopping experience at Cottage Grapevine we settled on the menu, 6 courses, 6 wines.

First Course

Assortment of Cheeses
Perrier-Jouet, Grand Brut NV, Champagne, France


Second Course

Tandoori Style Shrimp, Assortment of Cheeses
Dr. Loosen, Dr. L Riesling 2006, Mosel, Germany


Third Course

Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad, Citrus Dressing, Assortment of Cheeses
Pine Ridge, Chenin Blanc-Viognier 2007 , Napa Valley, California


Fourth Course

Mushroom, Fig, and Nut Pate, Assortment of Cheeses
Joseph Drouhin , Chorey-les-Beaune 2004, Burgendy, France


Fifth Course

Herbs de Provence Lamb Chops, Assortment of Cheeses
Chateau Brown Lamartine, Bordeaux Superieur 2003, Bordeaux, France


Dessert Course

Chocolate Crème Brulee
Warre’s Otima, 10 Year Tawny Port, Oporto, Portugal

White Chocolate Raspberry Crème Brulee
Rudolf Muller, Eiswein 2004, Pfalz, Germany

The guest list, composed of good friends and family, included Ajay and Sarah, Adrian and Annie, Jamie and Markel, Aaron and Betty-Ashton, and of course, Erin and I.

As a first course, we served some fresh Brie and one of my favorite non-vintage Champagnes. The Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut was great for a toast and kicking off the evening. With the spicy wood and light toast, great acidity, layers of wonderful citrus (including tangerine) and floral aromas, the Champagne is a very balanced and lively wine. It was a great start to the party!

The second course featured Tandoori Style Shrimp and a great German Riesling. A lot of people don't like Riesling saying "its too sweet or sugary." Many Rieslings are not sweet at all. In Alsace, France, Riesling is bone dry, showcasing great minerality and acidity. Many dry Rieslings come from Austria as well. Of ccourse, you can have great off dry Rieslings, but the key is balance. Acidity must balance the sweetness, and in my opinion, German Mosel and Pfaltz Rieslings do that the best. These wines are actually the easiest white wines to pair with food, especially with Asian cuisine. The spiciness of many Asian dishes is balanced by the slight sweetness and vibrant acidity of an off - dry Kabinett, and that is exactly what I sought to accomplish with this pairing.

The shrimp was marinated in a yogurt mixture containing, among other things, jalapeno pepper, ginger, garlic, and tummeric. This gave the shrimp a nice spiciness and after grilling, the flavors really popped. The fun of this pairing was the ability to highlight the sweetness and acidity of the wine with a lemon wedge. The shrimp alone had a residual sweetness while the marinade added a little spice. When the wine followed a bite, the sweet flavors of the wine were highlighted by the shrim and spicy flavors. But by squeezing a lime over the shrimp, the wine showed its strong acid and mineral backbone. See how amazing Riesling can be? Dr. Loosen partnered with Chateau St. Michelle in Woodinville, WA and created an amazing Riesling called Eroica. It is very easy to find and a really enjoyable bottle.

The next course featured Sarah's Crab, Mango, and Avocado Salad with a Citrus Dressing. This dish was the hit of the party. The sweet crab was accentuated by the mango and balanced nicely with the avocado. The red onions added a slight kick. The light citrus dressing really pulled it together.

I was initially concerned in regards to pairing a wine with this dish. Avocado is tough to pair with and the recipe originally called for endives, which are bitter and bring out some less than desirable qualities in a wine. But in the end, this was one of the top pairings. Wine has good acidity and some nice apple and pear flavors that highlighted the mango. The Chenin Blanc had a little sweetness to it and brought out the crab while the Viognier added a bit of spice and floral notes. It really matched up perfectly, in a great example of the food bringing out the best qualities of the wine. It was also fun to see how, with a little faith, a complex pairing can turn out really well.

Course four was a mushroom, fig, and nut pate. The pate was a great dish, focusing earthy components, mushrooms and nuts, while the fig brought in some fruit flavors. The red burgundy was delicious, with great red fruit flavors, a bit of a bite at the end, followed by a nice finish. Unfortunately, this wasn't the best pairing. It wasn't bad, in that the wine took away from the food or visa verse, but each didn't make the other better. The wine had too much fruit and not enough of the earthy terrior driven expression you expect to see from a red burgundy. Overall, good individually, not the best together.

The next course represented one of my all time favorite pairings, grilled lamb and red Bordeaux. (Sorry there are no pictures of the food moving forward. I guess we just forgot to take them, a causality of the experience). The lamb chops were grilled rare to medium rare after a short marinade in olive oil and lemon juice. They were seasoned with salt / pepper and a very aromatic Herb de Provence. This simple preparation brings out the best in the lamb by managing the gaminess and adding / accenting herbal flavors.

Red Bordeaux pairs perfectly here. I prefer left bank Bordeaux, as the predominant grape, Cabernet Sauvignon, contributes full tannins. The fattiness of the lamb can easily over power many wines but the tannins found in a Bordeaux cut the fat very well. Bordeaux is also unique in that as the wines ages, which many quality Bordeaux's can do for many years, the strong fruit flavors give way to some herbal and floral nuances. This quality really ties in well with the Herb de Provence. This is really a special pairing with a well aged (minium 10 year) red Bordeaux from a strong chateau in a good vintage.

The 2003 Chateau Brown Lamartine was served with them lamb for this course. 2003 was a good vintage but the wine was still very young. It probably needs 3-5 more years of bottle age. Typically, I do not decant wine, unless to remove sediment, but in this case the was decanted and left open for 1o hours or so. Having tasted the wine before and after the breathing period, I did feel the young tannins softened a little.

The desert, and final course, featured two Crème Brulees, one traditional and one chocolate. Erin is a master at Crème Brulee so she ran the show there. We paired the chocolate with a great 10 year tawny port. Port is great with chocolate but even better with a nice Stilton or Maytag blue cheese. We had some ready to serve but after 5 courses and a good bit of wine, I think we simply forgot to bring it out (a lot like the pictures we forgot to take). B lue Cheese and Port is a great pairing based on the salty, sweet concept, like Kettle Corn. Stilton's have a great salty, almost briny, taste and together with the thick richness of the cheese itself pair well with the thick, viscus, sweetness and dark dried fruit flavors of a Port. The combination is classic.

Back to the Crème Brulee, the chocolate was delicious, with a brownie batter consistency. A few raspberries on top tied in nicely with the port. The traditional Crème Brulee was paired with a delicious German Icewine. The creamy consistency of the Crème Brulee was cut nicely by the sweetness of the Icewine. A nice honey flavor in the wine tied in nicely with the vanilla flavored caramelized sugar on top of the Crème Brulee.

The party was a lot of fun and Erin and I really enjoyed hosting everyone. We all ate good food and drank a lot of great wine! Thanks to Sarah for two amazing dishes and all the help composing the menu. Thanks to Erin for two very impressive and delicious Crème Brulees. We can't wait to do this all over again!

For the last 4 years, I have been developing a strong interest in wine, and it all started with two beautiful Germany Rieslings in Anguilla, BWI. I simply loved everything about them, the colors, the aromas, the flavors, even the feel of those wines. Since then, I have read about wine, talked about wine, tasted a lot of wine, and even study wine. I am currently training at the International Wine Guild in Denver and am a Certified Cellar Master. Through all this, I have come to realize, although a wine can be very special and an amazing experience in itself, it is the terroir of enjoying a wine that is the most memorable. Terroir is a french word that doesn't have a literal English translation but basically means the combination of influences (eg. water, wind, soil, sun) the grapes experienced during their development. I remember particular flavors, particular aromas, and of course, particular labels of specific wines, but the memories most treasured include where I was, who was I with, and what, most importantly, was I eating. The terroir of that wine experience.

Through my interest in wine I have developed a deep interest in food. Wine is meant to be enjoyed with food, and although many wines can be enjoyed casually, a wine is at its best paired with food. Some of my favorite memories are not of the wines themselves, but of the wines and the meals they were perfectly paired with. I find few things as enjoyable as a multi-course chef's tasting menu with a wine pairing where the wine and food were constructed around each other. It can be an amazing mild altering experience and the memories can last forever.

Through this blog I hope to capture these dining experiences, along with other great wine moments, as they happen. I will share some past experiences, favorite bottles, what I like to drink and why, my thoughts on food and wine pairings, great restaurants, and other random thoughts, but my intention to focus on food with wine and wine with food. Enjoy.