Keltish plays Euro Bistro

[quislet]

Having become a keltish groupie by default, I showed up at Herndon's Euro Bistro for their latest performance and a European wine dinner. (They're on SL tonight if you missed it!) The performance was marvelous, even before the band hauled Ginger Rose up to lead "Captain Jack and the Mermaid."

Dinner last night started with an Austrian Grüner Veltliner (Andon Bauer Rosenberg, 2006), crisp and refreshing, ending with a haze of gentle pepperiness, not unlike my cologne of choice. The first course, with the same wine, was "Green Spargel Westfaller Schinken," which is green asparagus in butter with Westphalia ham. The wine did a great job of bridging the fresh green taste of the asparagus to the salty julienned ham, and the butter added a note that would have been missing from the wine otherwise.

The second course was served with a Spanish blend of Grenache, Tempranillo, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon (Ludovicus Red Terra Alta, 2004). It was full-bodied and loud, but great for $10 per bottle. This was paired with lamb ravioli in a (veal, I think) reduction sauce with roasted garlic and fresh rosemary. This was another dish that was perfect when you put it all together. Each of the pieces was quite nice, but it wasn't until you got the fresh rosemary and the wine together over the base of the roasted garlic, ravioli and sauce that it became a perfect jazz chord.

Third course was roast pork, stuffed with sun-dried tomato and Spanish olive, haricots verts and saffron rice. This was paired with a French blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah (Pesquier Gigondas, 2003). This was, to my tongue, the finest wine of the evening (and the most expensive, at $26 per bottle), but then I'm known to be partial to reds with attitude. It was everything I wanted in a dinner wine, and stood up very well to the tomato and olive stuffing. Ginger Rose & I argued at length over whether the wine went with the pork or not. She liked it with the rice, which I thought flattened the wine out too much. I like my reds bossy, undiluted.

Dessert was a tiramisu with fresh raspberries, paired with an Italian frizzante (Garetto Moscato D'Asti, 2005). The frizzante was sublime, particularly with a raspberry in it. It was sweet (almost too sweet) and perfumy. It reminded me of lavender, but not quite. The tiramisu wasn't as good as mine, it was too light. But with the berries and wine, I can see why the chef went light. The drunken raspberry at the end was the perfect punctuation to end the meal.

Comments

[stephantasy.livejournal.com]

Du meinst "grüner Spargel mit Westfälischem Schinken". Sounds good. I like Grüner Veltliner.

Spanish wine and pasta? *frowns* But I suppose that does work.

The third course sounds yummy. I like stuffed meat. Dried tomatoes and olives gang well tegither.

I lovelovelovelove raspberries. LOVE them. Actually, I'm eating a bowl with maple syrup for breakfast.

[quislet.livejournal.com]

I was actually quoting from Klaus' quasi-Englisch menu, but I do affirm your superior grammar, mein liebchen.

I did the same wine with raspberries again tonight. The desired effect was achieved.

[quislet.livejournal.com]

I made my own special recipe of grilled Spargel tonight, after watching The Harmonists (and getting the pun).

It was grilled multigrain garlic bread (with mashed garlic poached in butter, barely melted parmesan and mimolette on top), t-bone steaks, small lobster tails, a steamed mix of broccoli & orange cauliflower (with a spritz of lemon juice). The Spargel (asparagus) was grilled in extra virgin olive oil with a mixture of pepper, celery salt, jalapeño powder, rosemary, a pinch of cardamom, fresh thyme, fresh oregano, salt, cracked pepper and the aforementioned cheeses. They were grilled to "al dente" and are best served almost-too-hot right off the grill, like long green french fries.

[keltish.livejournal.com]

Best... gig... EVAR!

Mmmm... yummy. It was a nice perk that they paid us well too. :-)