another reason to be suspicious of wine “perfection”
t says: Ok – so from the last post, you know that I sought out some wine from the PLCB based on a pretty strongly-worded review. Well, this past Friday, I put that wine to the test:
what a Snooki-shaped bottle! (before the weight loss)
What I didn’t mention previously about my purchase is that the bottle is a pretty silly shape. It’s short and stout. It won’t fit in any wine cellar/refrigerator that I’ve seen, including the one that I own. And it’s not particularly pretty when lying down next to other bottles. Actually, it’s not pretty in any orientation. All in all, pretty silly if you ask me – but what do I know?
So I got to decanting the wine for a half hour or so and eventually poured it into the glass. I reviewed The Wine School’s note:
“Luxurious, like a velvet cushion of dark sweet fruit. The only fault is its perfection –round, sexy, slick perfection– which takes away some of the pleasure of drinking a Umbrian wine.”
I braced for “perfection”.
I didn’t find it …
2009 Falesco Tellus (Umbria, Italy, $13.99 at PLCB). Sweet-smelling dark fruits on the nose, like blackberries. On the palate, there’s some initial pleasant fruit but a surprising lack of the spice or pepper that I normally think of when I think “shiraz” (I guess I’m used to Australian Shirazes). There’s a medium body. The finish is kind of short – shorter than I’d expect from a shiraz. However, it’s also silky-smooth, with only trace tannic bite and only a tidbit of alcoholic heat. It’s a dry wine, but it goes down really easily. As far as flavors are concerned, it’s a little one-dimensional. a’s review was similar to mine: “A ‘berry-e’ nose, good fruit up front, not much on the back. Certainly NOT perfection, unless ‘perfect’ means ‘enjoyable’.”
In my mind, the Tellus lost in a head-to-head against a Cali Cab (PLCB Product Code: 000514628) that I had also pulled out that night – one that I had purchased for $10 in NJ. a disagreed, though, feeling that the Tellus was more interesting of a wine with a fuller, more inviting body. I felt the opposite. Knowing that a can handle some criticism, I told him he was “wrong”. He informed me I was misinformed and requested that I re-taste the Tellus to ensure we were tasting the same wine. I did. Nope – it was the same Tellus, so I wasn’t budging. I suspect it’s because he has higher expectations from a California Cabernet Sauvignon than an Italian Shiraz. Despite not agreeing after a few more seconds of debate, it didn’t come to fisticuffs, as we agreed that no matter which way we sliced it, this wine is definitely not “perfect” in any aspect: bottle shape, nose, flavor, finish, etc.
In summary: It’s smooth and pleasant and it won’t disappoint anyone at a party … well … unless they’re expecting “perfection”.
another reason to hate the PLCB
t says: There are many reasons why people dislike or even detest the PLCB. Today, I will share my latest grievance with them. Having been on the email list for The Wine School, I received their March newsletter containing reviews of some bottles that can be found in PA Wine and Spirits Shoppes. One particular wine stood out (I hope they don’t mind that I reproduce it here):
2009 Falesco Tellus (Umbria, Italy, $13.99 at PLCB). per The Wine School: “Luxurious, like a velvet cushion of dark sweet fruit. The only fault is its perfection –round, sexy, slick perfection– which takes away some of the pleasure of drinking a Umbrian wine.”
And trust me – these guys at The Wine School have no incentive to promote PA wine sales – they just really like wine! Furthermore, the Wine Advocate had a glowing review as well (check the PLCB link above). So I logged onto the PLCB website, searched for the bottle, and found that a some-what local store in center city. So I walked on down to 12th and Chestnut, skipping along, ever-so-excited by my impending purchase. I mean, come on: “round, sexy, slick perfection” – who could resist?.
I arrived and couldn’t find the bottle on my own. No big deal – they only had 2 bottles left, so it was going to be hard. I approached a person stocking shelves and asked them for help. They had no idea what I was talking about, which was to be expected, so they looked it up on the slower-than-molasses computer. “We’re supposed to have 2 of these.” I was not surprised. “You couldn’t find ’em?” No – of course I found ’em – I was just testing him because I have nothing better to do on a Wednesday. Duh! But I was nice and politely responded, “nah – I’ll check the Italian section again.” He then went back into the storeroom to “ask the wine guy”. A few minutes passed. He came out and said, “we don’t got ’em”. None? “Nope.” And then he walked away. The mysterious “wine guy” didn’t come out and say anything. No “oops”. No “let me help you find something else”. Nothing.
Thanks PLCB. I love you, too.
NOT.
PS I just went to the PLCB on 5th street and they had 7 or so bottles – from which I selected two. I hope they’re not compromised! (The corks seem to be riding a little high.) If so, it’d be anotherreason I’d hate the PLCB …
vetri. wow.
t says: g and I went to Vetri this past Friday. Holy. Crap.
This was our second time going to Vetri, but the first time with their required fixed price tasting menu. I’ll lead off and say that sure, the price is steep ($135pp), but the food is absolutely phenomenal.
So when you first get there, they show you a menu of dishes that they are preparing for the evening, and you tell them things that you really would like to see or really really would not like to see. Check out the copy they let you take home:
the menu from far away
top half close-up
bottom half close-up
As you can see, there is a major problem with the menu. Well – maybe two problems with the menu … Problem number 1 is that of the things we recongized, there are so many that we want to try! The second problem is that there were also so many things where we had no basis on which to judge whether or not we would like them (i.e. ingredients we didn’t recognize) … So we made it as simple as possible when talking to the server and put our fate in chef’s hands: no brain for me, and no brain and no organ meats for g. Done deal.
There were a total of 6 courses for the each of us: 2 appetizers, 2 pastas, 1 meat, and 1 dessert. Every course was different for g and me except for the meat (we both had beef). There was also some freebie courses, like cured meats and veggies in the beginning and a cookie platter towards the end.
There were also wine-pairing options ranging from $90 to $135 for the “Grand” tasting. The problem is that that is a lot of EtOH for two little people like g and me. I wish they would offer mini-sized pairings, because I was looking around at others who ordered the tasting, and I swear they were getting 3/4 a glass with each course!! g and I would have been hammered by the third course had we done the wine pairing. Additionally, the pairing is a bit too spendy for us – affording the meal was a stretch by itself. In the end, we each ordered a glass of white and a glass of red to be served throughout the meal (and we get a complimentary glass of prosecco to start as we perused the menu).
We didn’t take pictures of every course because we wanted to dine unfettered. I did sneak a pic of the dining room, though:
the perfect mix of upscale and intimate/cozy
Rather than give you a blow-by-blow (which would be pointless because I assure you that everything is delicious), let’s talk about the highlights …
The dish that sounded and looked plain … but was awesome [and not on the menu]:
Persimmon and pecorino salad. Yea, it was just sliced cheese and persimmon with some olive oil and [I think] black pepper. But there’s gotta be something else because it was delicious! g and I are going to try it at home. It sounds and looks easy, but we’ll just have to see about that … Maybe it was the olive oil? We might have to sweet-talk v out of a drop or two of her fancy olive oil
t’s best dish: Pappardelle and braised heart. So good. Perfectly tender pasta, just enough sauce, and wonderfully textured bits of meat. The menu says duck, but I swear the server said “venison”. I guess I’ll have to go with the menu because it’d be weird for Vetri to have a last-minute change of heart, right? (buzinga!) And to be honest – I don’t think I could distinguish one heart from another. The more I thought about it, I think that the pappardelle-heart dish was kind of like something you might be able to get from Melograno on their absolute best day. But the difference, however, is that Vetri then backs this up their ethereal spinach gnocchi, and [apparently] famous almond tortellini. I don’t know how pasta can be this good with every pasta dish that comes out of the kitchen.
g’s history lesson: Testarolo with pistachio pesto. This was the oldest form of Italian pasta which is kind of like a crepe made in a cast iron pan then cut into strips. g enjoyed it! (I liked it, too – but not as much as the above three).
the biggest surprise of the evening: So yes, the appetizers were delicious, the pastas were delicious, the steak entree was incredible … but that’s to be expected – this is Vetri after all … But lo and behold, they unleashed dessert. First, there was my dessert: “pistachio flan”. They lied. This was no “flan”. This was like a molten lava cake … of pistachio. Holy. Shnitzel. And the cake was swirled with some chocolate and served with white chocolate gelato. Wwhhyy haven’t I seen this before? It was easily the best dessert I’ve ever had. It houses all of the following: any Zahav dessert, any Talula’s Garden dessert (even the dark chocolate cremeaux with bacon, graham, and marshmallow), and even my precious Godiva molten lava cake of the 90’s at Morton’s. I repeat: Holy. Shnitzel. And then the cheese plate: g was in heaven. Just when we thought that no one could hold a candle to Talula Garden’s cheeses – yikes – Vetri was on fire. We even sought out the pecorino truffle cheese from the plate at DiBruno’s the next day because it was so good (but you know what – it was better at Vetri – maybe they had just the right accompaniments?).
I know we’re light on the details here, but I think the takehome is that Vetri does fine dining like very little can (and surely better than anyone in Philly – although we haven’t tried the Fountain or that restaurant in the Union League). It has this odd mix of being fancy, but not stuffy. There’s this mix of novelty with the familiarity of something so comfortable as “pasta”.
I think the big question is: Vetri vs. Talula’s Table … who would win? I. Don’t. Know. The two experiences are very different, so perhaps that’s not a fair comparison. Different atmosphere. Different feels of their services. One is BYO, the other isn’t. But what if it came down to just the food? Well – to be honest – I still don’t know because g and I haven’t gone back since the chef change. I guess we’ll just have to sneak our way into the kitchen table and try it out!
n.b. There was one disappointment with Vetri. It was the “icebox cookies” they sent us home with: they were pretty boring. I mean, I guess they couldn’t send me home with more pistachio flan, but I’m sure they’ve got to have some other Italian cookies to send us home with … (g likes pignoli cookies … just saying … in case you’re reading, Marc … ).
happy [impending] bday g!!
t says: It’s g’s birthday on 3/3. In an effort to surprise her, I orchestrated [with a lot of help] a little multi-phase gathering/party this past weekend to celebrate. The theme was “things that g likes”. Phase 1 featured hanging out, eating food, and drinking wine.
meat, cheeses, veggies, chocolate sauce, utz specials extra dark pretzels, donuts, hummus
And all that food was for like … 6 people (we had some last-minute bailers – no problem – more for us!). The wine list was extensive (bottles outnumbered people at least 2:1), and we wasted no time getting started with reds, whites, bubbles, etc. But I think what made this phase of the evening fun were these:
donut close-up
a, being the selfless trooper that he is, ventured to “Fednuts” (i.e. “Federal Donuts”) to pick up a dozen of the above donuts: grapefruit, pistachio, pina colada, raspberry balsamic, s’mores, and banana. They. Were. Awesome. Grapefruit was the winner of the group, capturing 3 of 7 votes, with the remaining votes scattered among the rest. I disagree with the grapefruit victory (being my least favorite of the six), but I can’t argue with the numbers. In any case, you absolutely MUST go to Federal Donuts because it’s not all hype. It’s actually that good!
Other phases of the evening (with more attendees) include bowling, eating at Han Dynasty, and resuming wine consumption while watching tivo’d Iron Chef. To my surprise, everything ran according schedule and g was not the least bit sleepy at any point throughout the evening. Awesome!
g and I send our sincerest thanks to everyone who came – you really made the night special for g. Also – happy birthdays to w’s boyfriend (and to m!) … AND … congratulations to both w and her boyfriend-now-fiance for getting engaged! We’d like to think they got engaged the night before our party as a birthday present for g (she was rootin’ for ’em). We wish them nothing but the best!
a & v supper at supper
v says: At one point a and I wanted to have a section of afterdinnersneeze entitled “a to z + v”. [t clarifies: They wanted to see if they’ve gone to a Philly restaurant for every letter in the alphabet.] We worked on it for quite some time, but never got around to completing it. We were missing two letters when we starting writing the list, S and Q (which we eventually decided could be Cuba Libre because of its pronuncation). One day we ran by Supper and I yelled, “That’s our S”. a was confused by my enthusiasm, as he had no idea what I was talking about until I explained. He immediately shared in my enthusiasm and made reservations for a Sunday night.
It wasn’t the 1000 point table or that Supper is BYO on Sundays that made this meal special, it was the food. I always says that you can judge a restaurant by its vegetarian dishes. If I’m right, then Supper is the best restaurant in Philadelphia. I ordered the Daily Harvest, but substituted the pretzels for the first course. The pretzels were fresh and the mustard potent. While the combination was tasty, the ratio was off – too much mustard, too few pretzels. The Blue Elephant Farm Salad was one of the tastiest, albeit healthiest salads I have ever had at a restaurant. The vegetable quartet was comprised of four unique, palate challenging dishes. I ended my meal with the banana bread pudding, which rivals the bread pudding at Barbuzzo; ‘nuff said.
a says: I think this is one of the best meals he’s had in the city. the squid appetizer was inventive and full of flavor, yet light. The duck and waffle is interesting entree and does many things well. Best duck in the city… It’s definitely on the short-list. v says it was the best duck she’s had since Django… that’s right… she said Django…
iloveyoucapogiro
t says: Today marks the start of the google offer for $10 worth of capo giro gelato for $5. Whenever g and I go, we spend that amount. So basically – it’s half-off. That’s amazing. It’s so amazing that maybe even dz won’t protest if smn partakes (and if he does, smn, just don’t share with him).
after dinner sneeze 