Photograph by Steve Young-Burns

Memory fails me on how we ended up at Solo-Vino one particular evening about four years ago.  Was it happenstance or an email blast that brought us to a tasting of wines from Domaine Rouge-Bleu and to meet the wine maker M. Jean-Marc Espinasse?  Regardless, of how we ended up there, we have been blessed knowing Jean-Marc and enjoying the wines that his family produces about 25 minutes north of Avignon.

Every March Jean-Marc returns to Minnesota to introduce us to his new vintages and for the third year 128 Café has hosted a Wine Maker’s Dinner featuring the wines of Rouge-Bleu.  The moment the email came from Jean-Marc announcing his arrival and another dinner, I was on the phone to the 128 to make reservations.  The evening did not disappoint.

We arrived at our table to find a platter of the Cafe’s famous apple chutney, goat cheese croquettes and grilled crostini.  Glasses of Dentelle Rosé 2011 were set before each of us to enjoy with our amuse bouche.  This rosé is smooth and light being pressed from the grapes of Grenache and Carignan.  The name in English means lace, which is a perfect name for this beautiful wine.  The same wine remained flowing as we enjoyed our next course which was a lemon-caper risotto with spicy grilled calamari, basil oil and pickled carrot.  As they say, what grows together goes together and this pairing could not have been more perfect with citrus, capers and the fruits of the sea.

A panzanella salad with spinach, arugula, radish, fennel, cucumber and white beans was enjoyed for Act 3  along with a cream of artichoke and asparagus soup.   Thank goodness the chef did not add tomatoes which are traditional for such a salad.  We’ll wait until summer for that addition.  What we did enjoy were some of the abundance that is now in season both in the salad and soup.  A Chateau de l’Aiguillette Muscadet 2011 was poured and enjoyed.

Our plat choices were either an artichoke and spinach stuffed chicken breast with polenta and vegetable salicon; a beef tenderloin stroganoff with crimini mushrooms, fresh herbs, spaetzle and grilled asparagus or a mahi mahi on saffron-caper basmati rice with grilled zucchini and a tomato-leek purée.  The majority of the table went with the  stroganoff, which seemed perfect on a chilly (okay cold) early spring evening.

I guess Jean-Marc couldn’t decide as both his Dentelle Rouge 2010 and his Mistral Rouge 2010 (a blend of grenache, syrah, mourvedre, and rousssan) were poured.  On the nose the Dentelle Rouge was full of red fruits like currants with a hint of smokiness.   The Mistral, named after the strong winds that blow through the Rhone valley,  had the intensity of dark red fruit with spice.  The intensity however was not heavy and it had an enjoyable long finish.

Brock and Natalie Obee would be proud that the Café continues to thrive in the basement of an apartment complex across from the campus of the University of Saint Thomas.  We took a peek at their regular menu and the famous 128 Café ribs are still on the menu.  They are the best!  Luckily, the Obee’s shared the recipe once at a cooking class and I was fortunate to be in attendance.  They are magic on your tongue.  128 Café, Cleveland Avenue North, Saint Paul MN. 651.645.4128.  For more information on the wines that Jean-Marc produces and where they can be purchased, check out his check out his website at Domaine Rouge Bleu.

Late winter finds the hearty folks in Minnesota climbing over mounds of packed snow or dodging large puddles of melting ice.  You must really want to go out when it’s not a necessity.  Cabin fever was exactly what drew Jon and me out on a recent school night, arriving at Eat Street Social for their first ever Bittercube Cocktail Dinner.  You know it’s going to be a good evening when you are handed an aperitif of sparkling wine with a Demerara cube, bark vanilla, and orange bitters even before you peel off your Michelin-man looking overcoat.

Two handsome chaps Nick and Ira, greeted us.  Come to find out they are not only part owners of Eat Street Social but are also the masterminds behind Bittercube.  As we made our way to our table, we knew we’d be dining with The Cake Diva and her husband (Mr. Cake Diva).  However, to our pleasant surprise we’d also be sharing it with Tracy and Molly, the co-owners of Kitchen in the Market.  From the get-go, it was clear we were going to have some fun!

Nick and Ira gave us the lay of the land for the evening.  All five flavor senses would be hitting our tongues:  salty, sweet, bitter, sour, and umami, each focusing on one flavor per course.  In the middle of our table was a large platter of delectable spices, herbs, dried flowers, and several kinds of citrus zests surrounding a mason jar of eau-de-vie.

It would be the job of the table to come up with our own version of “bitters” that we would enjoy with our dessert cocktail later in the evening.  Let’s put a few of each of the zests in the jar.  Oh what the heck, we all piped in, put in all the zest as well as some tarragon and thyme.

I voted for the addition of a few jasmine flowers and a sprig of rosemary – so Provençal.  After adding a half dozen other spices, some of which we crushed in a napkin and the bottom of a glass, we closed the lid and shook it periodically to “brew” it to perfection.

For our first course we enjoyed a beautiful presentation of Tuna Tartare with a beet vermouth foam and the cherry bark vanilla bitters.  I was leery when I saw the word “foam” as it can look like something narely.   What was presented wasn’t necessarily “foamy”, but creamy and light in texture and crimson in color.  It was beautiful and tasted sublime.  It was paired with a Cocchi Vermouth Rosa & Americano, with a Reposado Tequila, Meyer lemon, cherry bark vanilla bitters, and seltzer.

Our “salty” flavor was a Breseola Spring Roll with a “Cocktail Sauce”.  The breseola was house cured and each thin slice rolled with shreds of Diakon radish, carrots, and cilantro.  The “cocktail sauce” was a thickened version of the cocktail that was paired with this course: a Johnny Drum Private Stock, with lemon, simple Aperol, fish sauce, and grapefruit oil.  The salty component was indeed present in both the spring roll and cocktail, but it was so disappointing that only one spring roll was served.  And, whoever heard of adding fish sauce to a cocktail?  I wonder how it would taste in a Bloody Mary?

I don’t recall whether it Nick or Ira that explained how the brandy was “sous vided” with hazelnuts and almonds.  Regardless, it was used as part of our next cocktail that also included Benzinger Chardonnay, prune extract, honey syrup, lemon zest, and Bolivar Bitters.  This cocktail was served with my favorite course: a seared scallop nuzzled up to a hunk of braised bacon atop a swath of jalapeno fig jam.  Imagine on your tongue the sweetness of the scallop, then the saltiness of the bacon, throwing in a little heat and the jam’s fruit for good measure.

The winter evening was perfect for our next course of a duck breast and foie gras roulade with perfectly sautéed Hedgehog mushrooms, accompanied by  cauliflower purée, and black brandy gel.  Mushrooms are a classic example if one is going for the taste of umami.  We enjoyed them not only with the duck, but also in our cocktail of Armagnac, Gamle Ode Dill Aquavit, lemon, porcini Infused Carpano Antica, and a porcini tincture.

Our dessert was a lovely Cara Cara Tart made with cara cara navel oranges, grapefruit, pink peppercorns, and barrel-aged blood orange bitters.  Presented with it was a cocktail of Barrel-aged Rehorst Gin, Dolin Dry Vermouth, Lillet, Averna Amara, and the bitters we had created.  The gents instructed us to first taste the cocktail and then enjoy a bite of dessert.

Afterwards we took an eyedropper of the “brewed” tincture, squirted it around the inside of the cocktail glass with any remaining going into the cocktail itself.  What an amazing transformation a squirt of the tincture gave to our “naked” drink.

The best lesson learned of the evening is that anyone can make his or her own bitters.  If you can’t find eau-de-vie use any high quality neutral vodka as your base then add the herbs and spices you have on hand.

While at dinner we all begged the boys to schedule their next Bittercube Cocktail Dinner.  It appears they have for Wednesday, March 20 at 6:30 pm.

Eat Street Social, 18 West 28th Street, Minneapolis MN – 612.877.8111.  We can’t be there this time around, but we’re sure hoping that they will have a Cocktail Dinner III.

Photograph by Steve Young-Burns

Recipe coming soon.

The winner is Dawn Kelly!  Dawn – Please go to the contact page on my website and send me your address.  I’ll get it in the mail to you.  Thanks everyone for commenting on my blog.  There will be other opportunities to win stuff from Bret’s Table.

The Market bags I had designed and manufactured are now finished.  I’ll be giving one away similar to this one in the photograph.  To win it, all you have to do is comment on one of my blogs between now and the last day of February 2013.  Jon will draw a name on March 1st and his decision will be final.  I’ll post the name of the winner on a blog post in March.

Fine Print
Be sure your comment doesn’t look like spam 0therwise, I won’t be able to post it and your name won’t be in the drawing.

When one scores dinner reservations for four only 2 days hence at one of the premier restaurants in the US, the feeling is as if you’ve hit the jackpot.  That’s precisely what happened during our recent visit to the Sonoma Valley in California when we nabbed a table at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon restaurant in nearby Napa Valley’s Yountville.

The reservation was for 6:00 pm on a Friday evening.  According to our GPS, it was to take 45 minutes to travel from Rohnert Park to Yountville.   That amount of time might be accurate if one is traveling at 7:30 am on a Tuesday, but not 5:00 pm on a Friday.  When traveling in the evening it takes a good hour and 20 minutes, unless of course Jon is the chauffeur.  See, he’s had experience both on the back roads of Missouri and the switchbacks to Moustier, France.  We went over the “mountain” between Rohnert Park and Yountville, not around it.  If you’ve ever taken that route as the sun is setting and you are in a hurry, which I don’t recommend, you will know the use for the oh sh@t handles in a car such as a Crown Victoria.

We called ahead to let them know that we were running a bit late and wanted to arrive in one piece.  Unfortunately, the response from the person on the phone was, “We’ll only keep the reservation for 15 minutes after your scheduled arrival.”  I thought, “Really, even with a phone call?”  So we pressed on; well Jon pressed on the gas pedal.  We arrived with five minutes to spare, and all needing a serious cocktail.

Jon ordered a classic “Sidecar”, giving our delightful waiter the recipe of his preference – equal parts Hennessey, Grand Marnier, freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup; shaken and served up with a sugared rim.  Easy, enough right?  Unfortunately, what was delivered fell far short of the intent.  So much so, that it was sent back to the bar and Jon ended up drinking a Coke.  Our remaining cocktails, an Eva Peron, Manhattan and Pont Neuf were all good but not stellar.  However, I wasn’t about to send mine back.  With nerve ends retracting, we perused the menu.

We were at Bouchon, the Bouchon so tasting several appetizers were in order.  Since I have made Brandade de Morue, right off the bat I wanted to try Keller’s version of the Beinets de Brandade de Morue with tomato confit and fried sage.  They were better than good; light but creamy and melt in your mouth with the confit as the perfect accompaniment.

The house made charcuterie platter was a delight for the taste buds with Jon and myself enjoying a short tower of oysters as well.  But then again, I’ve never met an oyster that I didn’t like – well once in Ventura, CA, but that’s another story.

The plat du jour for one of my dinner companions was the Roasted Sole.  To quote her, “I’ve cooked better plates in my Basics 101 culinary class”.  Off the menu, another of the four at our table ordered the Poulet Rôti with whole grain mustard spaetzle, trumpet mushrooms, butternut squash with a sauce forestière.  Jon decided on the Risotto aux Topinambours; a roasted sunchoke risotto with a brown butter sauce with a generous shaving of fresh black truffles for an extra $25.  For myself the Lotte de Mer Rôtie; a pan-roasted monkfish, braised oxtail, French green lentils, matignon of root vegetables and kale with a sauce bordelaise seemed the best choice.

I won, I won!  Not really, for I am sad to say that I was the only one that chose wisely!  My three dinner companions were underwhelmed with their choices.  My fish, however, was perfectly prepared; the French lentils tender and not overcooked as can easily happen.  The sauce was divine, so much so that I still have the memory of its deliciousness.  What did fall short was the glass of wine from Burgundy that our waiter paired with my plat.  Much to my dismay not all French wines are created equal even at $15 -$16 a glass.

Hope springs eternal or should we cut our loses were my thoughts as we contemplated ordering desserts.  Jon checked to see how late The Girl and the Fig was opened that evening.  Unfortunately, there’s no way we could make it back to Sonoma before they closed, so we took our chances and kept our fingers crossed.

We ordered the Marquise au Chocolat (dark chocolate mousse and caramelized orange cream), the Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, and the Pomme au Four Meringuée (baked apple filled with poached prunes, walnut lady finger and toasted meringue).  It’s hard to mess up chocolate mousse, right?  Luckily they didn’t, but the caramelized orange cream was inedible.  The cream puffs with ice cream and chocolate sauce were good, but Jon said he’d had better.  The baked apple was so close to perfection, but even a small pool of crème anglaise would have set it on it’s deserved pedestal. As it was served, it came in second place.

We all had such high hopes and expectations for our dining experience and, I believe, rightly so.   As I reflect on the experience, how was it even possible that we could get a 6:00 pm reservation at Bouchon in Yountville, California on a Friday night with just two days notice?  Should that have been our first clue? Our first impression was made even before we arrived with a very unpleasant telephone conversation and then a cool reception when we arrived.  I thought we looked presentable, maybe a little frazzled, but it wasn’t like we were wearing ripped jeans and Van Halen t-shirts!  Nothing against Van Halen, but every attire has its place.

I’ve enjoyed cooking from Keller’s The French Laundry and Ad Hoc cookbooks so I know of his attention to detail and the superb quality for which he strives.  It’s not that the evening was horrible, but very sad to say we were just underwhelmed.  There were so many other places we could have dined in this part of California on that particular evening—and likely had a much better experience.  Bouchon, 6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599
(707) 944-8037