A Twisted Wine Wednesday

Hey, folks, here's a big shout out to Boy Braynard, Nolan and Bill (from Crossroad), Neal Brown, and the rest of the crew from the Twisted Oak dinner last night at L'Explorateur. My favorites? The pig's trotter risotto paired with the Twisted Oak %@#$! White and the chicken-fried sweetbreads with the Tempranillo. With oysters, cured salmon, bison, duck and elements of wild boar, the dinner was as big as the wines.

Patachou Expands: They've been doing a fair amount of spruce up work at Cafe Patachou at 49th and Penn. Fresh paint, a new look, and now, a much-needed expansion. Word has it the cafe is moving into the former Cork's spot. (Cork's, you'll remember, was caught in the City Market debacle, closing to move into space that was never ready.) For those of us used to that 10:00 a.m. wait on Saturday mornings, the extra space is a welcome addition!

IBJ on Opentable.com: IBJ has an article this week on local restaurants and how they're using Opentable.com. It's no secret I'm a fan (from a customer standpoint) and it seems that quite a few local restaurants are fans as well (from a customer management standpoint.)

Bits and Pieces

A Twisted Dinner! Just what we've been waiting for -- a particularly twisted reason for a feast at L'Explorateur. Neal, Lindy, and Crossroad Vintners are welcoming the famous (or infamous) Boy Braynerd, winemaker for Twisted Oak in Calaveras, California, for a Twisted Oak wine dinner, Tuesday, August 21, at 6:30 p.m. With the big wines and flavors -- and the rowdy and fun tone these wine lovers set -- this will be a can't miss event. These guys *love* wine and it shows. I may have to wear my "Wine Rack" tank top. Call L'Ex for reservations.

Bar Menu at Tallent: Christine (over at My Plate or Yours) has a beautiful preview of the new bar menu at Restaurant Tallent in Bloomington. If you haven't eaten Dave's incredible food, you're missing out on some of the best in the state. And a bar menu is a perfect way to enjoy a light dinner with a glass of wine while making reservations for a Big Night Out!

More Bloomington News: Also, from our fair city to the south, Bloomington Eat Local night is this Friday, August 17. Eleven local restaurants including Trulli, Nick's, Upland Brewery, tutto bene, and Restaurant Tallent, will have special menus featuring locally grown foods. Ask your favorite restaurant if they're participating and order local!

Bar Menu at Peterson's: More details to come, but we hear Peterson's has a new happy hour bar menu with specials starting this month, too. Haven't heard about dishes and prices but I'll update you when I get the info. (Bar menus and happy hour pricing are a great way to sample the food at some of these fine dining restaurants before committing to a full meal. With all this hot weather, they're also a great way to eat more lightly!)

Bartenders at Ruth's: We'd heard a nasty rumor of some turnover at the downtown Ruth's Chris bar (which would be a real shame because they have some of the best bartenders in town.) Turns out nasty rumors are all they are. Bar goddess Susan Brewer confirms that our favorites Matt and Theresa are still firmly employed while martini master Mode has been away helping open the new restaurant up north. He'll be returning shortly!

Pizza King Arriveth: Yes, it's true (or as one fan said as his eyes rolled back in his head in anticipation, "There *is* a God.") Pizza King has opened a location in Broad Ripple. For fans of classic thin crust pizza, it's a welcome addition to the local pie market. Look for it on Broad Ripple Avenue in the old Tin Star location! (There are locations in Geist and Zionsville as well.)

A Whirlwind of Food

It's been a crazy few days of food and wine! I've been out and about and run into lots of folks. If you're new and just checking in here, welcome! And if you're an old friend, welcome back. Here are a few tidbits from my eatings:

Supper Club Deliciouso! Friday night, we celebrated summer (and a birthday) with 16 of us foodies and wine geeks who have a supper club together. It was crazy, flavorful fun! Every dish was *intense* from the rich peanut sauce of the super-fresh Vietnamese spring rolls to the pine nuts and raisin relish on the perfectly cooked salmon, to the ginger-toasted coconut-orange coated scallops to the crazy flavorful watermelon/feta salad, fresh blueberries and lemon pound cake. All so rich and good with all the best summer produce has to offer. The wines? Incredible. (My favorites? The rose Malbec "tinto" and the Twisted Oak Viognier) Thanks to our host and hostess and everyone who brought food and wine!

Race Party Central: If you couldn't find a party to hit on race weekend, you weren't paying attention. My favorite parts of the party circuit? The pineapple infused vodka punch, the wasabi chex mix, the ubiquitous artichoke dip, and, hey, who brought those mini-chocolate cupcakes? I couldn't stop eating them!

Catering from Epicurians: A big shout-out to Chef Brad Miller who was sauteing sweetbreads like a champ at a wine event on Sunday night. Miller, the catering group Epicurians, and the wine experts from Confreie des Chevaliers du Tastevin did a terrific job on the pairings with the six 2002 white Burgundies. The stars? The pea soup with white truffle oil (paired perfectly with the Macon-Village Les Vallon de Lamartine 2002) and the strawberry shooter with black truffle (interesting with a Puligny-Montrachet Les Enseigneres 2002). I also loved the Dauphinoise potatoes, the venison with cherries and chocolate, and the quince paste on the cheese plate.

Coho Salmon at The Oceanaire: Last night, Executive Chef Ryan Nelson of The Oceanaire Seafood Room rolled out a salmon feast with four courses featuring west coast Coho salmon just coming into season. My favorite? The delicate and so fresh starter of house smoked salmon with diced watermelon, cherry tomatoes and and ice wine vinaigrette. So perfect for high summer (and paired with a rose sparkler, natch.) The rest included a grilled coho fillet with his signature cherries, almonds and thyme, and a slow baked fillet with red verjus grapes, spaetzle, duck sausage and spinach. (The duck sausage gave the dish a hearty quality which worked with the spaetzle and made the grapes shine.) I'm pretty sure Ryan said that watermelon salad was on their regular menu so I'm assigning myself to check that out this week. What I won't do in the name of research. (Plus, any excuse for oysters is an excuse for me to go to Oceanaire.) Hat tip to GM Roddy for the spot on wine pairings. My favorites of the night? The Craggy Ridge NZ Sauv Blanc and the Benton Hill pinot.

What Foodies Don't Tell You: At two different dinners this week, foodies shared their dirtiest secret: We love McDonald's! From the fries to the McNuggets, just know that some of your high end eaters secretly crave a double cheeseburger, biggie fries, and large Coke. After discussing the finer points of the dollar menu, two well-known foodies last night made an interesting point (after confessing they eat lunch together at McDonald's almost every day.) On healthy days, they have the chicken sandwich and the fruit salad. For two of them, it's around $18 and 1000 calories. If, however, they were willing to settle for the double cheeseburger meal, large fries and 2000+ cals each? Around $9. An interesting commentary on how hard it is to eat healthy fast food. Me? I go for the fries!

Getting Twisted Indy Style

If you came out and tasted Twisted Oak's fantastic wines with us, then you'll be happy to read Jeff's round up at The Good Grape of restaurants and shops carrying their fantastic wines. He has a great list of who's carrying exactly what and even some suggestions for wine/food pairings from some of your local favorites like Brix and L'explorateur. Check it out and in the meantime, for a preview, here's the list:

*Calaveras Syrah: L’Explorateur, Adams Mark, Cork & Cracker
*Calaveras Tempranillo: Payless 96th, Cork & Cracker, 14 West Brix
*The Spaniard: Cork & Cracker, Payless 96th, Grapevine Cottage, Brix
*Calaveras Viognier: Cork & Cracker, Payless 96th
*Red Rhone Blend (also known as the *&^%) Payless 96th, Cork & Cracker
*White Rhone Blend (also known as the #*$!) Payless 96th, Cork & Cracker, Classic Spirits Carmel
*Silvaspoons Verdelho: Payless 96th, Joe’s Butcher Shop Carmel, 14 West, Brix

Completely Twisted!

What a fantastic turnout last night for the Twisted Oak tasting at The Upper Room! Thanks so much to Jeff Lefevere, Ashley and Rob from Cork and Cracker, Pimp Daddy from Twisted Oak, and all manner of other folks who helped put a fine party on last night. The snacks were great, the wine was fantastic, and everyone seemed to have a good time. (The beef carpaccio was my favorite -- delicious!)

It was a perfect mix of wine fans, friends, foodies, chefs, bloggers, and assorted writers and editors. (I'm always gratified when someone says "I came because I read it on a blog.") Cool! As Jeff covers in his post, the wines were again, fantastic. I've become a big fan of rhone-style wines this year and their &$*% really delivers. And after several more tastes, I also decided I really liked their Temprenillo as well as the Syrah. I look forward to starting to see Twisted Oak appear on wine lists in Indiana.

Two things I learned last night:

1) Cork and Cracker will have tastings at The Upper Room every two weeks starting this spring. Stop in to make it onto their mailing list.

2) Remember, Ester likes to be violated, smelled, have her legs looked at (although it doesn't mean much), slurped, and then quaffed. I suggest you take ester to dinner when you try all this.

Good luck to Twisted Oak on the rest of their mid-western tour. And thanks for the hot "Wine Rack" tank top! I will wear it proudly. Thanks again for coming, all and we hope to doing it again soon!

Celebrating an Early Spring

Ahhh, 38 degrees! It's back to reality after a few days of tantalizing spring weather. The warm temps and sun were just enough to give us hope, to remind us that there will be a spring and summer, and that if we just hold on a bit longer, the seasons will change. I have to say the extra hour of daylight helps. This is usually the most dreary time in March with the early evenings. Hope -- and warm weather -- springs eternal.

Yesterday, knowing it would turn cold again today, I celebrated the end of the short teaser spring by sitting on a friend's deck, talking about life, and splitting a bottle of a fine, fine 2002 Caparone Cabernet from Napa. (Thanks to Jeff Lefevere who brought me the bottle a couple of weeks ago. It was a fine gift!) This cab is everything a Napa cab ought to be -- big, slightly peppery, and suck-the-inside-of-your-mouth-off dry. Delicious.

Last night, I also popped into L'explorateur for their weekly free wine tasting to meet Boy Brainard from Twisted Oak and preview their wines before tonight's get together at The Upper Room. It was a fun group of people! It was great to run into old friends and new ones including the Meetup.com Wine Aficionados group. They are busy attending various tastings and seem well organized and fun.

My overall thoughts on Twisted Oak? Wow! These guys are producing some lovely wines using grapes more common in France than California. Like some of my favorite houses -- Qupe and Vinum -- they are applying California styles to French and Spanish wines producing everything from an incredible Rhone-style blend (called %$&* because it's so $%^ing good) to a Temprenillo to an incredibly elegant and finished show-stopper called The Spaniard.

So, bring on the Twisted Oak! See you all tonight! (and don't forget Hoosier Beer Geeks afterwards at Brugge.)

Thursday, March 15

6:00-8:00 p.m.

The Upper Room (Broad Ripple Steakhouse)

$15 for wine, snacks and prizes

Rabbit Ears, Local Producers, and Pheasant, Oh My!

Pheasants in the Freezer: I have a friend who hunts and was wondering what to do with the 10 or so pheasants in his freezer. While I'm trying everything I can do to make sure I get invited to dinner, I have recently taken on a Bubba Gump-like-ability to name all kinds of ways to cook these gamey little fouls. There's roasted pheasant, grilled pheasant, pheasant cooked in the crock pot, pheasant with wild rice, braised pheasant with wine, pheasant pate, Greek pheasant roasted with herbs, pheasant stuffed dumplings, Asian pheasant won-tons, pheasant chili, deep fried whole pheasant ... My favorite so far? Stuffed pheasant breast en croute. Any favorite ways to prepare pheasant? Brine or not? Tips on grilling? Share!

I.FARM Collective Market: Susan Gilley has an interesting post on the I.Farm collective market opening downtown at the renovated City Market this summer. (The City Market project is running behind schedule and currently due to open in mid-June.) The group of local growers and sellers is hoping to run an everyday food market in the heart of the city with product from its member growers and producers.

More on Twisted Oak: The Good Grape has more on Twisted Oak, their unique lables, and fun approach to wine making. Plus, he's a fan. And check out the Twisted Oak blog with more on their "world tour" which includes several stops in Indianapolis. See you all on Thursday!

Ear-to-Tail Eating: Just to show you that El Bulli isn't all about weird chemistry, here's something that looks truly interesting -- Deep Fried Rabbit Ears with Aromatic Herbs. If you're an advocate of true nose-to-tail eating, this is a fantastic example. Even Rachel Ray is a convert -- and they look pretty good. Cartlidge never seemed so interesting. (via Ruhlman)