after dinner sneeze

t says:  I just got back from dinner at Supper.  It was pi day!!  Get it?  “Pi” day, as in 3.14, as in 3/14, as in March 14.  Pretty cool, right?  Yea it is.

So Supper brought out some awesome pies, savory and sweet:
Ritz-and-crab pie
Veal tongue pie
Rabbit pot pie
Pork pie
PB pie
Mississippi mud pie
Pecan pie
Apple pie

Now, it should be noted that these weren’t just “pies”.  Supper actually had far fancier names for these, so it’s probably not fair for me to call them all “pies”.  But whatever …

Another awesome little coinkidink was that pi day happened to fall on a Wednesday … which means that it’s BYO night at supper!!  So not only was there a two-pies-for-$20 deal, but we could bring our own wine!  Boo-yah!  I immediately signed up the usual crew to go and notified them via email.  There was some attrition, so only a, v, and I were able to go.  That’s cool – more wine for us!

We didn’t take any pictures and we didn’t get all super-critical, but had a blast.  I went with the veal tongue pie which was prepared more like a chili poured on top of a layer of frito’s.  It was quite tasty – like the best meat-based tortilla chip dip ever!  The one drawback was that cilantro was still served with the stems on – I hate that.

a’s rabbit pot pie was homey and delicious.  v’s crab pie was more like a crab cake, but at least a very well done one.

And all of the dessert pies we sampled were quite delicious: the peanut butter one was a densely whipped PB cream with a peanut crust, the Mississippi mud pie was like a moist brownie with a pie crust, and the pecan pie was exactly that – a well-done pecan pie.

In all, aside from the cilantro stems, we really had no complaints with Supper’s pies.  For $20 a head, we were full, and our mouths were happy.  It was quite a deal!  The server was a little weird/awkward, but maybe it’s because customers aren’t spending much moo-lah on pi day.  Whatever.  He warmed up some by the end of the meal.  By the way, can you imagine what’ll happen on 3/14/15?  That’s gonna be SUPER-[nerdily-]awesome

OH … and the wine!

I brought two bottles of pinot noir not from what I feel are traditional pinot noir countries: Italy and Argentina.  a picked out the Argentinian one.  I was excited because the reviewers had nice things to say about it:

“Dark ruby red in color, it reveals a charming bouquet of smoke, spice box, raspberry, and cherry. Silky, sweet and savory on the palate, this elegant, concentrated effort displays impeccable balance and length. It is an excellent value in quality Pinot Noir.”  -WA 91 pts

“Quite good and honest, with full raspberry, cherry and tea aromas along with a hint of grassiness. The palate is dark and full-bodied, with toasty cherry and herbal tea flavors. Finishes long, full and several steps ahead of most of the competition. Drink now.” -WE 88 pts

So we poured the wine into Supper’s nice a big glasses, gave it some swirl-action, and then got to it …

2008 Alma Negra Pinot Noir (Mendoza, Argentina, $21.98 at wineworksonline.com).  The nose was interesting in the beginning – smelling a lot like earth and chocolate and tart red berries.  As it opened up, the nose developed into more like a cranberry apple pie.  On the palate, it had some tart cranberries and sour cherry and this hint of something … different.  In retrospect, I honestly think that it was indeed that “herbal tea” flavor – you know – it’s what you get when you order tea, but instead someone gives you a cup of some sort of fake Rooibos crap.  It wasn’t something I was ready for and it caught me offguard.  Overall, it tasted kind of weird but it wasn’t like a restrained, elegantly balanced French pinot, and it wasn’t fresh-and-fruity like new world pinots.  It just didn’t quite taste like a pinot.  v called it a “heavy beaujolais”.  Quite right!  And, while it improved with food for sure, ultimately, I don’t think I’ll be venturing any more Argentinian pinots in the near future.  Darn.

I wonder what the Italian one will taste like?