TN: Dinner at Bruce & Karen's (Jan 15, 2012)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
attendees: Bruce + Karen, Brad + Marcia, Jim + Michelene, Bob, Larry, Jeff

I am visiting Minneapolis for Bruce's birthday celebrations. It is great fun to catch up with the friends and acquaintances that I made during a long stint here in 2005-2006.

Last night's bash was held at dark room in a swanky downtown hotel where the cocktail craze is in full swing. I had the Negroni Tredici (a standard Negroni with added Cynar), the Hollywood (a forgettable citrussy thing), and the delightfully-named and surprisingly-drinkable Eeyore's Requiem (a mix of four bitters).

Tonight is the actual birthday and that is celebrated with cooking and good wine:

First course: egg yolk ravioli

Marcarini 1997 Barolo "Brunate" - chosen to go with the uova di ravioli this is still youthful in its core but showing a little development around the edges, bay leaf and a bit of cooked raspberry, good match with the runny egg yolk, spinach-ricotta-truffle filling, and slightly under-done pasta

Second course: salad of greens, red pepper, pears, kumquats

Dom. Du Rin du Bois (Jousselin et fils) 2010 Touraine Sauvignon - an aggressive varietal, a good thing against a big heavy salad; would be coarse in any other context

Dom. du Closel 2002 Savennieres "Clos du Papillon" - undrinkably oxidized

Schloss-Gobelsburg 2007 Gruner Veltliner "Renner" - rounded, pretty, sweetened grapefruit and maybe a bit of fruit cup, a little overwhelmed by the food

Pierre Frick 1999 Gewurztraminer "Grand Cru Steinert" - OTH, a wisp of rose eventually comes out but it's basically limp and caramelly

Third course: b'stilla

Bousquet des Papes 1998 Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Cuvee Chantemerle" VV - lovely texture and a fragrant bouquet of flowers and red fruit, unfortunately discordant with the mad sweet-savory palate of the b'stilla

Fourth course: beef tenderloin with sauce Bernaise, fresh watercress, and braised baby bok choi

Olga Raffault 1989 Chinon "Les Picasses" - excellent bottle, vigorous but not aggressive, good mix of cabernet currant-ry and franc green-ery, long finish

Olga Raffault 1990 Chinon "Les Picasses" - a kaledoscope of brett: shoe polish, school paste, band-aid, metallic twang, feh

Ch. Tertre-Daugay 1998 St-Emilion Grand Cru - a bit mild, finishes short, maybe scalped?

Fifth course: cheese plate of chaource, ossau-iraty, Red Hawk, Roaring 40s

Dom. Newman 2009 Monthelie - young and very vigorous but a perfumey nose bodes well for drinking after a few years' nap

Sixth course: chocolate sour cream bundt cake with whipped sour cream and macerated raspberries

Bod. Olivares 2000 "Dulce Monastrell" - modestly sweet red with a hint of cedar and spice-box, good but not a chocolate match

Mas Amiel 2001 Maury - modestly sweet red with a red fruit profile and a bit of tannin, this is an excellent match with the moist dense cake

M. Chapoutier 1989 Banyuls - rather sweet red (three sweet wines and all red???), this is the most complex and the most interesting to drink by itself, despite the sugar it is rather vinous

After

Torii Mor 2006 Pinot Noir "Dundee Hills Select" - a good study in how to use a little wood (25% new) to support wine flavors without intruding, ripe but not over-ripe, a blend of three parcels, good Oregon wine ...G+

A wonderful evening. Thanks to all.
 
Thanks. Nice fireplace, to pick one detail. Was the bread bought or homemade? The spherical is is hand-chipped, right, as documented some time ago by Mr. Dalton? What's the technical distinction between 'feh' and 'meh?'
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks. Nice fireplace, to pick one detail. Was the bread bought or homemade? The spherical is is hand-chipped, right, as documented some time ago by Mr. Dalton? What's the technical distinction between 'feh' and 'meh?'
Click to expand...

Feh means blech. Meh means "like, so?"
 
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks. Nice fireplace, to pick one detail. Was the bread bought or homemade? The spherical is is hand-chipped, right, as documented some time ago by Mr. Dalton? What's the technical distinction between 'feh' and 'meh?'
Click to expand...

not to put words in Jeff's mouth but I think of meh as an expression of indifference and feh as an expression of disgust.
 
Jay and Jonathan: Yeh.

Ian: I do not know how the ice got that way. Would have to ask Jordan or Shawn, the snappy and able barkeep and waiter.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
originally posted by Ian Fitzsimmons:
Thanks. Nice fireplace, to pick one detail. Was the bread bought or homemade? The spherical is is hand-chipped, right, as documented some time ago by Mr. Dalton? What's the technical distinction between 'feh' and 'meh?'
Click to expand...

Feh means blech. Meh means "like, so?"
Click to expand...

good thing you explained, I read it as the fifth variety of brett
 
A couple of folks used to chip ice balls for the drinks at the sushi placed I worked at awhile back in the Time Warner Center. It would take them about 10 or so minutes per ball. They were pretty good at it.

Stan V. was freakin great at it. It was with Stan that I realized you are moving the ice around a lot to get it round, but also to keep your hand from getting too cold.

The Ginza guys said that only women at home would use the ice molds. Molds were a non-starter for actual bar service there. Ice was chipped and/or shaved. That being said, I used the MoMA molds at Convivio to pretty good results. We did have to rubber band the outside of the molds before freezing to keep the line that is mentioned in the "Con" section from forming.

Revisiting this subject is interesting now. I remember my intense excitement when for the first time I encountered spherical ice, but now it is a commonplace in New York bars. Composing drinks from chilled bottles still seems a long way off, however.
 
originally posted by Tom Glasgow:
Chilled bottles wouldn't allow the proper amount of dilution for some drinks.
Click to expand...

Depends on how you shake or stir them.

And Ginza folk seem to see the benefits. Folks saying what you have just said seem to be arguing to keep to status quo quo'ed, and I tend to think that that is because the alternative would be expensive to implement.
 
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