A Platinum Christmas

A number of years ago, Thrifty read a book titled The Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel       http://www.amazon.com/Pinchers-Passport-Luxury-Travel-Travelers/dp/1885211317 -- from which she took the lesson that concentrating your travel in the hands of a few providers (airlines, hotel brands, car rental companies, etc.) will tend to accrue loyalty rewards that can genuinely elevate travel comfort.  Since that time, Thrifty has managed to concentrate air travel pretty much with American and the former Midwest (both sensible choices when starting from Chicago or Milwaukee, although United devotees will surely argue).  The upshot of following the Penny Pincher's advice is that Thrifty has retained either Gold or Platinum status for nearly all of the intervening years since reading the first edition of that book.  It doesn't seem like a big deal, but the access to snagging exit row seats when making reservations is reason enough to pursue elite status.  Electronic upgrades make the good life accessible on a lot of flights without breaking the bank to pay exorbitant first class fares.  When, in December of 2010, our plane from Madrid was delayed and someone met us with signs at Heathrow and literally ran us through security to barely make our connecting flight, we had to wonder if the airline would have arranged that level of helpful service for non-elite passengers.  When we hear people scheming about how to get enough stuff for a trip in their carry-on bag so they can avoid baggage fees, we are reminded that fee-free traveling without lugging bags around the airport and trying to stuff them in overcrowded overhead bins is another perk.

So when this past December rolled around and Thrifty thought she needed another 4,000 miles or so to make Platinum (requires 50k miles in a year), the search was on for a quick, easy, and inexpensive trip.  How about Christmas Eve in Las Vegas?  The right distance, the right price, easy access to the final destination from the airport, and best of all -- an array of great eating. 

Every month or so, some travel writer "discovers" all the good eats available in Las Vegas and writes an article on how far things have come since the old buffet days.  (One of the most extensive last year was Travel & Leisure's Feb. article:   http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/las-vegas-best-restaurants).      We have long admitted to people who ask about gambling or shows that one of the main reasons we go to Las Vegas is to eat.  Nowhere else is there such a concentration of restaurants by noteworthy chefs with such easy availability of reservations and parking!  Add to that an extensive collection of worthwhile ethnic restaurants (we tend to favor Vietnamese, Korean, and Indian -- we have those aplenty in Chicago, but driving to the food and parking is so much easier in Las Vegas that we cannot resist), and you have culinary temptations that could keep you in town for a month.

The overwhelming number of dining possibilities available for a one-night trip made choosing tough.  But what delicious fun to spend 3 or 4 days reading menus! (Most of the restaurants under consideration had menus on line.)  After 3 days of reading, drooling, and discussing, we (well, Thrifty) chose what is always our preferred choice:  Joel Robuchon's l'Atelier at the MGM Grand.  This is Robuchon's little sister restaurant to his grand eponymous restaurant next door in the MGM, with Atelier (the name means 'workshop') utilizing counter seating around a large open kitchen -- thus making it the perfect choice for a food-centric solo diner. 

So Thrifty winged off to Las Vegas (with an electronic upgrade to first class, thank you), grabbed a rental car, and headed to THE Hotel, where she had snagged a rate of $68 for the night of Christmas Eve.  (Okay, they added tax and a resort fee for wi-fi that didn't work, but it was still a Thrifty Posh bargain at under $100 for a luxurious room with really pleasant and capable staff at the front desk & valet station.)  The surprising thing was the unexpectedly large number of families with children in Las Vegas -- who thinks snowflakes, presents under the Christmas tree, and Las Vegas all in the same breath??!!

 

Because the valet was so jammed up at the MGM Grand, Thrifty had to park and hike and was actually about 10 minutes late for her 6:30 reservation.  Similarly, l'Atelier was packed, with more people seated in the restaurant than we have seen in any of our six or so previous visits.  Thrifty had studied (and nearly memorized) the several menus available at l'Atelier and was sorely tempted by the seasonal discovery menu (chef's 10 course tasting menu), but in the end reverted to our favorite tactic of ordering just exactly (and only) the most tempting and desired courses (from the 'degustation' menu). 

 http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/atelier-joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.aspx

The amuse bouche has recently been changed back to the original we first tasted at l'Atelier, which may still stand as the best bite of food ever.  It's a foie gras parfait with port wine reduction sauce and parmesan foam.  The new version is in a wider, shorter vessel than the original, and so seems to carry a bit less of the port wine sauce, but it's still a fantastic bite (or slurp) of food.  Following the amuse and an egg cocotte with a light mushroom cream, Thrifty enjoyed something called a potiron, or a pumpkin veloute accompanied by a ginger cappuccino with toasted pumpkin seeds -- fabulous!

Subsequent courses included a wonderful carmelized kampachi with a little endive salad, a cebette (a white onion tart on crisp thin pastry with asparagus, lardons, and shaved parmesan), and a quail stuffed with foie gras and served with a side of Joel Robuchon's famous mashed potatoes, which are probably really only half butter.  Either a repeat of the veloute or the onion tart would have made a great dessert if one were required, but an order of coffee (French roast in a French press, natch) provided sufficient goodness at the finish.  We have never been disappointed in the experience or the food at l'Atelier.

After retiring to THE Hotel to dream of sugarplums, Thrifty arose, packed her suitcase, and pointed the rental car to the Venetian Hotel and Thomas Keller's Bouchon for brunch.  Since they do not make reservations for brunch (except for very large groups), Bouchon was coping with a frenzy of would-be Christmas morning diners.  Would Thrifty like to wait or be seated for service at the bar?  The bar was perfect -- providing relatively speedy service that would permit an extravagant meal in time to make a 1 P.M. flight.  Although Thrifty usually finds it hard to pass up Keller's brioche French toast, his croque madame was calling, and seemed a sturdier preparation for a day of flying (with another electronic upgrade, thank you very much).  http://www.venetian.com/uploadedFiles/The_Venetian/Content_Blocks/Restaurants/Fine_Dining/bouchonBrunch.pdf#zoom=100

Brunch is superb at Bouchon; we have always enjoyed it more than our one try at dinner there (when the staff was distracted by visiting members of the chef's family).  On any day other than Christmas (and no doubt New Year's morning), this is a delightful and generally relaxing option.

After downing the croque madame and more good french roast coffee, Thrifty grabbed her bag of scrumptious surplus frites and made her way back to McCarran airport, regretting only that she had failed to score the perfect one-day trifecta by snagging some exquisitely tender grilled octopus in limoncello at CarneVino in the Palazzo -- because they don't serve it before 5PM.

Besides confirmed Platinum status, the other outcome of this one-day challenge came from reading the menus and realizing that we need to schedule another eating trip to Las Vegas -- and soon -- to sample Michael Mina's StripSteak at Mandalay Bay (for the lamb, pork shanks, & Kobe carpaccio), Sirio Ristorante (as in le Cirque's Sirio Maccioni) at Aria, and (at the very top of our list) Jaleo by Jose Andres at the Cosmopolitan.

Some of our previous scouting and dining efforts are recorded on a public album on Picasa entitled Eating Las Vegas:

https://picasaweb.google.com/108239567140136971533/EatingLasVegas#

Buen provecho.

Playing With Our Food

Friend Julie's departure for a trip to Washington, D.C., seemed reason enough to plan a small dinner party (like we need an excuse?) -- but what to serve?  Julie is not particularly keen on rich meat dishes, and tends to prefer veggies and such.  She has grown a number of heirloom tomatoes this year with spectacular results.  Since we're in the height of the good produce season here in the upper Midwest, it wasn't too hard to develop most of the menu in such a way as to exploit local growers.  A roasted vegetable tart to start, along with some Cambozola and crackers (http://www.gourmet-food.com/gourmet-cheese/cambozola-cheese-1000325.aspx  -- a good description, though locally we like Caputo's or Trader Joe's offerings of this creamy mild blue cheese).  We keep trying to buy alternatives to Cambozola, but our guests favor it so highly, that we're afraid to suffer their disappointment -- and okay, we like it lots, too.  The veggie tart had sauteed yellow squash and baby eggplant, carmelized onions and garlic, a variety of fresh heirloom tomatoes, and was topped with a mixture of shredded Parmesan tossed with Panko bread crumbs, all on a puff pastry shell.  The frozen puff pastry was pre-baked, then the veggies were layered on and then the whole tart was baked again until the tomatoes softened and the cheese browned slightly.




As a nod to Julie's more carniverous spouse and The Chef, the third opener, along with the tart and cheese, were crostinis with a mortadella schmear -- mortadella was processed in a food processor and mixed with a small amount of cream whipped into soft peaks, and combined with a little bit of chicken veloute (roux with butter and flour and a small amount of chicken stock), and finished with a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  The crostini tops were garnshed with chopped pistachios and reduced balsamic syrup.     

The next course was a gazpacho, but unfortunately it was all consumed before any photos were snapped.  The Chef doesn't really like gazpacho all that much, so her success was all the more delightful for the rest of us.  Her winning approach consisted of a variety of luscious mid-season local and heirloom tomatoes, 1 sweet red Carmen pepper (grown by Thrifty!), fresh local cucumber, tossed with sherry vinegar, olive oil, and some day-old bread -- all allowed to marinate together in the fridge for at least 2 hours.  Meanwhile, a small onion was quartered and tossed with about 4 cloves of garlic in olive oil and roasted together on a pan in the oven for about half an hour until everything was soft.  The tomato mixture and roasted onion/garlic mix were added together in a food processor and blended until smooth.  If you make your own, at this point taste for seasoning and adjust with salt & pepper as needed.  Garnish with crisp croutons and Chiffonade of basil.

The side dish to accompany the entree was a fresh corn casserole, consisting of 2 cups of fresh corn kernels (about 5 ears), half of which gets pureed with a stick of butter and 2 eggs.  Add into the puree 1 cup Mexican crema (or sour cream), 1/2 cup diced Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup polenta or cornmeal, 5 or 6 slices of bacon sliced thin, fried until crispy, drained, and chopped, and the other half of the fresh corn kernels.   Whip 2 additional egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour into a generously buttered 2 quart rectangular casserole and bake, uncovered, 50 - 60 minutes in a preheated overn until no longer jiggly in the center.  If you want to gild this perfect lily, garnish with Chiffonade of basil and a bit more bacon.  Of all the ways to enjoy fresh grilled Mirai corn, this may be the best.  And if you don't yet know about Mirai corn, stop what you are doing right now and go find some:
http://www.miraicorn.com/mirai_story.html

Since our guest of honor wasn't likely to be wildly enthusiastic about any meat, we decided this might be the time to have some fun and be silly.  Well, nothing new there, but at least it seemed like the perfect occasion to test something weird that came across our desks in an email back in early July.  "Bubba and LeRoy's Redneck Turtle Burgers" consist of 'handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave, with hotdog portions added as heads, legs (with slits for toes), and tail'.  It was the photos, though, that had captured our attention.  Here is our version -- the raw form:

 

This is one occasion when perhaps our enthusiasm for high quality (thick) Wisconsin bacon (either Usinger's or Neuske's for us) may have been misplaced.  Cheap bacon may crisp better when following Bubba and LeRoy's original instructions, "Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees.  A little crispy, not too crunchy . . . just how a turtle should be, no?''

Our version mixed ground beef with ground veal and used Usinger's bacon, and turned out like this:

Cute and silly. 

For a salad course, we enjoyed fresh Cylindra beets, roasted with olive oil, fresh thyme, and salt until tender -- our last batch, roasted whole, took 2 hours at 375.  Cool until you can handle them, then peel and chop into bite sizes.  Our beet bites were mixed with greens and a dressing made from a leftover Cambozola chunk (of mild blue cheese) mixed with Mexican crema, lemon juice, and a little milk, all blended with an immersion blender.  The most spectacular part of this version was the garnish.  Julie had previously presented us with some Chioggia beets -- the products of some seeds we had given her.  They were small, and young, and looked great.  The Chef had intended to slice them thin and use them raw as a garnish on the roasted beet salad, but to our horror, we found they were pretty tough AND had a distinctly bitter taste that would have ruined the rest of the salad.  Uh oh . . .  what to do?  Food Funatic has 2 basic answers to all food dilemmas, and since 'bacon' didn't fit here as a solution, the anwer had to be 'fry it'.  Indeed, she quickly got a sauce pan going with a 2" mix of olive and peanut oil, and voila!  Beet chips!  Nothing like the raw form, these were incredibly sweet, crispy cruchy, and darned cute with their little red and white swirls.  This was one of those times when it pays to hang out with someone who has a LOT of cooking experience.

 

Finally, after a good long rest, we were treated to a lemon almond tart produced by Professor Physics (who is frankly much better suited to the fussing and measuring required to bake than is Food Funatic).

Astonishingly, his tasty dessert came from a recipe out of Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts, published by Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., N.Y. 
Freshly whipped cream with a bit of almond extract and sugar to top it . . . m-m-m-m-m!  

Nice finish to a Silly Supper for Julie.

Worth the Trouble? Schwa is a resounding YES!!

Is Schwa a pain in the neck?    Yes. 
Is it quirky to the point of being different from every other fine dining restuarant in the world?   Yes. 
But here's the bottom line -- the food is inventive and sublime, challenging, yet always delicious, and it's possible to taste the dedicated passion in every bite.  And Schwa's BYOB policy makes it a dining extravaganza serious food fanatics can't afford to miss.

http://schwarestaurant.com/

      After waiting patiently by the phone for a call-back on our reservation request, making the reservation, eagerly awaiting our reserved evening, enduring a last-minute cancellation due to gas line problems, and finally dining two days after our originally reserved date, we made it to dinner at Schwa (our second trip there in the past seven months). 

The dining milieu:

Located in a nondescript neighborhood at 1466 North Ashland, Schwa will greet you with a ragged screen door covering a plain storefront, which beats a lot of other high end Chicago restaurants (you know who you are, Achatz) by at least announcing its presence with a sign.  Inside, loud indy music with unprintable lyrics will likely be playing and you'll discover a straightforward modern dining space accommodating just 26 diners.  The serving is done with unpolished enthusiasm by the members of the kitchen staff in their T-shirts.  We'll take that any day over stuffy, snotty "polished" waiters.  Diners are offered a choice of either a nine-course tasting menu or a 3-course dinner.  Two things should be noted:  #1 - They will probably always serve diners more than the advertised number of courses; and #2 - We shall probably never find out first-hand about the 3-course dinner.

What follows is the important part -- the description of the food -- again, text is contributed by:
Beer Boy / Bacon Dude / Mike

Schwa, 27 May2011

9* course dinner

* in reality, more like 14

Wine

Bottle: Marchesa, Gavi, 2009

Bottle: Gordon Brothers, "Tradition", Columbia Valley, 2005

Bottle: Susana Balbo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendoza, 2008

Food

Amuse

Cherry-covered chocolate (no, they don't mean chocolate covered cherry) in a small amount of Manhattan cocktail (rye whiskey, sweet vermouth, Luxardo cherry liqueur)

1) Crab

the "salad" course

Jonah crab salad in pineapple (some grilled, some pickled) cones; taro root chips; proscuitto; macadamia nut puree; balsamic vinegar; micro bull's blood greens

2) Baked Potato

the "soup" course; their version of Wendy's old baked potato bar

Potato soup; scallions; Barely Buzzed cheddar cheese bridge across the soup; potato skins; sour cream; scallion puree; bacon puree

* Bonus Course, the first *

Quail egg raviolo; parmesan brown-butter; truffle oil.

Served with instructions to down it in a single bite -- no cutting allowed.  (Apparently the significant slurping -- which we did loudly and long -- IS permitted.)

3) Riso

Chicken liver risotto; taleggio cheese; fried shallots; honey; blackberry puree; peppercrest garnish; summer truffle oil

4) Roe

"it should taste like Fruit Loops if you get a bite of everything at once"

Steelhead roe; passionfruit gelee; pickled papaya; violet bubble foam; tempura (roe, lime zest, and more)

* Bonus Course, the second *

Orange juice soda, with basil & coriander

5) Scallops

A (shared with the waiter) shot of aquavit to start:

Seared diver scallop; rye crisp; rye pudding; meyer lemon; mustard greens; mustard seeds; rutabaga balls

6) Trail Mix

Sous vide wild boar with blueberry, thyme, & butter; dehydrated trumpet mushrooms; chicharrones; parsley puree; consomme in a shot glass mirroring all other ingredients, for sipping

7) Smores

Chocolate mole beef shortribs; graham cracker puree; marshmallow flavored with cardamom; graham cracker crumbles; food set atop a glass container filled with smoke

8) Cheese

Pretzel grougere filled with Chimay cheese; Chimay foam; mustard skin

9) Dessert

Celery root cake; celery branch puree; aerated white chocolate; banana leather; caramelized banana; caramel

* Bonus Course, the third *

"Dr. Pepper and whiskey" on a plate; side glass of regular Dr. Pepper on its own

* Bonus Course, the fourth *

Raspberry pudding; rose sorbet on an inverted shot glass

The Verdict:  The simplest observation we can make about Schwa is that it is all about the food -- not the trappings of setting or view, waiters or fine linens, money plundered from liquor bills, or any of the other trimmings usually associated with extraordinary dining.  The focus is the inspirational and often whimisical conceptualization of dishes and progression of flavors -- and the passionately perfectionistic execution of that vision of food.  This is the unique genius of Schwa and Executive Chef Michael Carlson:

Schwa was one of only 23 restaurants in Chicago to receive any kind of Michelin star last October.  Schwa was one of the 18 that received a single star.  Kind of makes you wonder what they might achieve if they cared a fig about fine dining restaurant conventions . . .  
It is interesting to note that the on-line page of the Guide Michelin for Chicago
http://www.michelinguide.com/us/chicago_stars_2011.html
provides clickable links to reserve a table at every other restaurant except Schwa and one other.

Frankly, we hope they remain fiercely independent and are relieved that all the hoopla about Michelin stars seems to have subsided a bit, and they can get back to being intensely focused on doing what they do so well.
We're willing to deal with the quirks for the amazing dining adventures they offer.

One final hint: If you're taking wine for yourselves, take an interesting bottle for the kitchen.

Spontaneous Moto

When our reservations at Schwa were cancelled at the last minute (we were parked 1 block up on Ashland waiting for our dinner companion) due to problems with their gas line, we had to scramble to find a substitue capable of curbing our disappointment.  C'mon!  We'd driven down from Pleasant Prairie and, if not dressed up, we had at least had gotten into garb acceptable for Schwa -- heck, Thrifty had even unstuffed her pockets and was carrying a purse!
We quickly drew up a short list of places we'd really to try, and determined that heading to Fulton Market had the advantages of easy potential parking (or valet) and two restaurants of interest (no, not Next, but Moto and The Publican).  A quick call to a friend to get Moto's number (none of the 3 of us wants a phone that is smarter than we are), a call to Moto, and we were on.  Don't try that on Friday night at 8 PM, but at 6 o'clock on Wednesday, we were in luck.

http://www.motorestaurant.com/


The interior of the restaurant was redone about a year and a half ago, so it looked a bit unfamiliar to all 3 of us -- none of whom had been there more recently than 4 years ago.  We were ushered into what felt like an Alice in Wonderland booth (picture something with seat backs upholstered in striped linen and stretching up for nearly six feet), and dove into the experience with gusto.

What follows is narrative of the 10-course tasting (vs. the 20-course GMT), with notes by our friend Mike -- aka Beer Boy or Bacon Dude, depending on the day and our mood.

Moto, 25May2011

Ten course dinner

Wine

Glass: Thierry Laffay, "Vaillons," chablis, 2008

Glass: Shafer, "Red Shoulder Ranch," chardonnay, carneros, 2008

Bottle: Clendenen Family Vineyards, syrah/viogner, santa barbara county, 2004

Food

Amuse

Menu written in edible ink on thin slice of grilled toast, flavored with lemon zest, with green beans and olive bits.  10-course menu "printed" on one side; 20-course GTM printed on the reverse:

1) Sake & Sea Salt

"Snow man" made of sake & lemon foam, with Haiwaiian salt for eyes and pink peppercorns for buttons; served standing on top of ahi tuna tartare seasoned with lemon

2) Foraging

Truffle & bread puree; spinach-ramp crumble (to stand for the "dirt" of foraging); oyster mushrooms; asparagus; cauliflower; micro-watercress

3) Vichysoise

Seared halibut with a potato-leek sauce; sauteed leeks; potato crisps; parsley powder dipped in liquid nitrogen

4) King Cake

Sponge cake filled with Alaskan king crab, topped with a lemon-cream cheese frosting;  butternut squash ice cream with Old Bay on top of graham cracker crumbles; poached fennel ball with fennel leaf puree

5) Quail with Cracker Jack

Seared Texas quail on a GrannySmith apple and Coca Cola puree; candied peanuts; popcorn powder; edible starch paper with a cherry surprise on the back

6) Corn Bread

Sous vide capon breast; pulled, smoked capon thigh; corn bread puree; carrottop and micro-green salad; powdered bacon, powdered cornbread, and powdered jalapeno; topping of sage oil poured out of a candle  (the dish was way better than the photo):

7) Nuac Man

Pork belly cooked in nuac man sauce (dark caramel, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, and chilies); beach mushrooms sauteed in togarashi; bonus mushroom puff/cheeto made out of maitake; braised cabbage

8) Bleu Cheese

Warm custard made from Roaring 40s blue cheese (Australia); pear puree; gala apples compressed with lemon and thyme; chamomile tea foam

9) Pineapple & Coconut

Vanilla-infused pineapple; wintergreen foam; coconut powder; banana mint; pineapple puree; sassafras sorbet  

10) Earl Grey & Chocolate

Earl Grey ice cream with cookie crumbles and dark chocolate mousse; lower layer of greek yogurt with raspberry jam

Ending Amuse

Toothpick of edible packing peanut with lemon zest and olive oil, dipped in liquid nitrogen; served resting atop/inside a beaker containing ginger-pineapple soda with white rum & green chartreuse

The verdict:  Molecular gastronomy has matured at Moto -- they have moved well beyond the 'gee whiz' phase to a point where techniques and technology are harnessed in service of some really delicious results.  Although one of us is still uncertain about the edible packing peanut that accompanied the wonderful after-dinner liquid quaff, there were no clunkers (or even just so-so dishes) in the entire 10 + 2 course extravaganza. 

And finally, it is easy to love the work of Executive Chef Homaro Cantu -- we love watching him and his exploits on tv because of the contagion of his enthusiasm and the sheer pleasure he obviously derives from all things geeky.  We have to believe that food tastes better when we are confident the chef is having fun.

Don't Let Them Beet You Up

The curmudgeonly food writers at the Chicago Trib are at it again, trying to make us feel passé for liking beets.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/sc-food-0121-dineout-beet-salad-20110120,0,103301.story

Chris Borrelli says, “Still, an overnight flowering of love for the beet feels pat.”.  Overnight?  I don’t think so!  I thought I hated beets until I had my first beet salad about 10 years ago in the Kendall College dining room.  They were small and red and yellow and striped, roasted to perfection, dressed with a light vinaigrette and incredibly flavorful.  Since then I’ve ordered beets almost every time I see them on the menu.  Not because they’re hip and trendy, but because they give a chef an opportunity to create their own spin on a malleable ingredient.  And because they’re found fresh at different seasons in different parts of the country including areas that have few fresh vegetable options for much of the year.  And because they pair well with a variety of ingredients including cheese and nuts, which are in abundance everywhere.  And  because they’re colorful and fun on the plate.  And because they taste good when done right.  Even the Trib article admits that they’re affordable and keep well.  How much do we like beets?  We’ve been known to have beet salad for dessert.

So what’s wrong with beets?  Well, apparently the fact that so many restaurants are doing flavorful, interesting things with them and making them more available to the eating public is a bad thing.  Is ubiquity a crime in the restaurant world?  Guess so.  Next thing you know, they’ll be taking bacon off the menu.

My favorite beet salad recently – Julian Serrano in the Aria Hotel, Las Vegas

http://www.arialasvegas.com/dining/julian-serrano.aspx

Thrifty-Posh’s favorite – Zibibbo in Palo Alto, CA

http://www.restaurantlulu.com/Zibibbo_about.html

Quick Updates on Trader Joe & Football

Two or three weeks ago, we brought home a batch of new (for us) Trader Joe’s  wines to try – you know, the old ‘it’s a dirty job’ . . .

Well, we found a new goodie, TJ’s  Marqués de Montañana Garnacha. 

http://www.traderjoes.com/pdf/onthecounter-wine.pdf

For a $4.99 wine, this Spanish treat has reasonably luscious berry-like fruit with a surprising balance of earthy notes and a finish longer than three microseconds. 

Naturally enough, when we returned to our local Trader Joe’s  (that being a relative term in the Midwest), there were no bottles available.   Humpf.

So if you see this garnacha on your shelves, grab it, but, please . . . , leave some for us.

The Playoffs:  We shall NOT be hosting any color themed (or any other kind of) playoff feast for the impending  Bears / Packer playoff game.  The question of which team to support could get ugly, although Thrifty, who grew up in L.A. when the Rams were still there, has a hard time sustaining any real enthusiasm for da Bears. 

Besides, if it weren’t challenging enough to try to think of reasonable green and gold refreshments, the idea of navy and orange food and drinks is just disgusting. 

And even if we were to wander down that unappealing road, we worry and tremble that we might lapse into a nightmarish place of looking like Sandra Lee wanna-be’s. 

Eeuwww.

Not Cheap, But Easy

It was evident from the twinkle in the eye, the flirty posture, the arched eyebrow, and the knowing, expectant look that accompanied a hand casually placed on hip.  “Good, . . . no?” was the question in heavily accented English.  “It was amazing!” she answered breathlessly in flawless English.  Language was not going to get in the way.  I was somewhat embarrassed to witness such blatant seduction and surrender, but I should have been used to it by now.  When the Food Slut (aka Thrifty Posh) meets a Food Madame, the results are predictable.

Here’s the whole story…

One of the best things about eating in Italy is that so many people preparing the food are as passionate it about it as we are.  Many times, in very unassuming restaurants, we met people with this passion.  One of our favorites was a little restaurant in the Tuscan hill town of Montecchiello.

We had tried to eat in Montecchiello the first night we were in Tuscany, and our hosts recommended a restaurant.  We arrived to find that Osteria La Portal was closed for a special Slow Food event.  We wandered around the twisting streets of the tiny town and finally spotted another restaurant, but alas, it wasn’t open either.  We finally ended up in nearby Montepulciano for dinner that night, but planned on returning to Montecchiello at the first opportunity.

That chance came a couple of days later at lunch time.  Again, the highly-touted Slow Food restaurant was closed, so we wandered up the hill to what apparently is the only other restaurant in town.  It was open and smelled inviting, so we walked in.  Meeting us at the door was the matronly Italian proprietess, who was properly attired in a flowered dress, sensible shoes, and spoke virtually no English.  Behind her was the pass-through to the kitchen where a character who had to be her husband was working.  The language issue was not a problem, Thrifty Posh’s Italian was up to getting us a table and menus.  The place was tiny, 8 tables total, in a brick-vaulted cellar-like room.  There were nice linens, elegant stemware, and heavy silverware on the tables.  It was evident that a lot of pride went into the place.

As was our wont, we looked first for the wine list.  It’s such a civilized custom – drinking in the middle of the day followed by a nap.  Somehow we had adapted to and adopted the habit early on.  However, there was no wine list – there was something better:  a chalkboard list showing the bottles that were open that day that we could order by the glass.  We were like kids in the candy store… ”We’ll take one Nobile de Montepulciano and one Rosso de Montalcino to start”.  By a happy accident of geography, "our" town, Montecchiello, was located atop a promontory in the valley between Montalcino and Montepulciano, so none of the parochial loyalty required in either of those major wine producing towns was necessary.  Montecchiello is a town for wine sluts.

When the menus came,  excitement crackled in the air as eyes scanned the pages.  What would catch our eye?  Then suddenly, a gasp followed by a grin!  There it was - Sformato!

By now we were eating these savory custard flans whenever we saw them on a menu.  Madame’s version had broccoli with a cheese sauce and dusting of walnut flavor.  Food Slut was lost.  Madame’s eyes lit up when it was ordered.  She delivered it without comment, leaving the plate on the table, and with studied casualness sauntered slowly away.  There it was.  A slightly firm mound of greenish soufflé garnished with the velvety smooth cheese sauce and bit of walnut.  It smelled divine.  With the first bite Food Slut let out a low moan.  Then a grin crossed her face.  Declaring it a cloud-like souffle that tantalized and teased her taste buds, she didn’t want to share at first, but a quick arm wrestle won me a taste.  I knew what all the fuss about.  I may have moaned a bit myself. 

It was over too quick.  The plate was empty, even licked clean.  Madame came to clear with that twinkle in her eye.  The rest of meal matched the Sformato.  You’ll always remember the first one…but you’ll also always remember the best one.  Madame’s was one to remember.

Find the Taverna di Moranda in Montecchiello at:  http://www.tavernadimoranda.it/index.htm