Very rarely in my life have I been at the right time and place for anything special involving celebrities, sightings and/or sport events. I’ve never had a good seat at a Big Ten football game, never caught a home run, or even a foul ball at an MLB game, and I’ve never sat next to a movie star in a restaurant. That is until the fourth Monday of June. I was fortunate enough to participate in a charity event that involved one of our wines, SNAFU, at a killer Chicago wine bar (JUICY WINE BAR), where the Cubs baseball team celebrated their sweep of the AL Central first place White Sox while supporting a fundraising event for Chicago students.
80’s music was floating through the air as the team arrived and were ready to get down with tasty BBQ from SMOKE and delicious wines. We even had some junmai ginjo sake for Fukudome. The sun was setting on the patio and everyone was in happy summertime moods that matched with the perfect weather.
Highlights from the night were speaking with pitchers Ryan Dempster, Kerry Wood and Scott Eyre who all have a great zest for the juice and know what they’re talking about. And watching the MLB pitchers learn how to saber a Champagne bottle (opening a bottle of Champagne by cracking the top of the neck off with a heavy knife or saber - please don’t try this at home). Or perhaps it was walking by a Lamborghini in the parking lot. Since all little boys dream of driving expensive race cars, then as adult hood settles into our aura we let that dream float away in the warm winds of summer that when you come face to face with one of the beauties of the 21st century automobile design your heart skips a beat. I don’t know about you but my lifestyle doesn’t afford me such luxuries, nor my friends, so I’m never this close to celebs and their cars. Simply put, how f…g cool!!!
Baseball and wine seem to have something in common. They are both so much better when you pay attention to the details, read the stats so to speak. Knowing where wine comes from is as much the enjoyment as the drinking. And watching professional baseball players do what they do so well is just as exciting as knowing what they’ve done in the past. The drama, the expectation, the highs and lows are in both wine and baseball. And this very well may be the year. So keep drinking for the love of the wine and lets get some more runs!
From the creators of Town Hall and Salt House in San Francisco comes their third restaurant, Anchor and Hope. Just opened in April, 2008. As you can imagine the theme is seafood and the decor exotic/shabby chique. Large black sea-creature fish are painted on the wall above the bar as you walk in the restaurant demanding attention and screaming to all that it is about the seafood. Open and airy, recycled and used timbers adorn the tall vaulted roof and back wall with exposed brick feels comfortable and hip at the same time. The space used to be an auto repair garage and still retains the large openess of a single workspace. It reminded me of a shabby chique decor that ran into Japanese anime on its way to the Bay Area. Very unique, simple and well done (whether you like the screaming painted fish or not).
The wine list is a thoughtful blend of domestic (mostly Californian wine) and a surprising array of Mediterranean styled wines like Vermentino of Sardenia, Northern Spanish Albarino or Viognier from the Var in Provence, France. Perhaps not enough white wine selections as I would like to see since it is a seafood driven restaurant. Some of the dishes that we ate were simple and well executed, but perhaps lacked pizzazz. But the fish stew was magical. Monk fish, mussels, clams, chorizo and a spicy broth all sopped up with crunchy fresh sourdough bread. That was dynamite. If you are a fan of Doug Washington and partners Mitchell and Steve Rosenthal’s Salt House or Town Hall then you must stop by for a visit at Anchor and Hope.
Ask for the “Fries with Eyes.” It is a killer little surprise.
I have to say that when you find something good there’s no reason to keep on looking. My wife and I spent a night in Napa Valley and went back to one of our favorite restaurants, Bouchon. It is the ideal, romantic and exquisitly executed bistro that holds very true to the Lyonaise concept restaurant. Small, traditional, charming with soul filling food. I remember the first time we went to Bouchon 6 years ago and my wife smiled as the waiter placed our bread directly on the table wrapped in wax paper. “Just like in France,” my wife said as we smiled at each other.
Every detail at Bouchon is attended to from the mis en place, custom stenciled plate ware, perfect temperature control of the wines and elegant and charming service. We were excited to start with foie gras (an outlawed dish in our hometown of Chicago, I know, don’t get me started) which was as decadent and rich as you could imagine served with the crunch and tart delight of lightly sauteed rhubarb. We had an excellent Macon (superb value oriented wines that are crisp, chalky and citrus balanced) and an amazing grouper entree as well as the chicken. I remember being told by a chef friend of mine in San Francisco that if you wanted to know how good the chef is at any restaurant try the chicken. If you cannot execute a chicken dish to perfection then all your other dishes are called into question. Not that we were wondering whether the food was going to good to excellent, but the chicken was a magnificent pairing to our Macon white Burgundy. And of course when you are eating traditional food all we wanted was wholesome goodness and satisfaction. Bouchon does it again!
This blog is about traveling across the country. I see so many unique and hidden gems that have incredible people, amazing food, excellent wine, drinks, beers, cocktails that I felt it was important to write about them. Please feel free to share your travel stories and thoughts about the places in your backyard, or from the traveling road.
