A Riesling For Living

I realize I am going to sound like a spokesperson for Brie & Bleu and Thames River Wine and Spirits, but I promise that it is just coincidence that they figure so heavily into two blog posts so close together.

Although I have been on a cheap eating kick this week (trying to use stuff that has accumulated in my refrigerator, cupboards, and freezer) I could not resist when my friend Jim - my main source of wine recommendations - informed me about a wine dinner he was putting together at Brie & Bleu on Wednesday (last) night. Winemaker Konrad Hahn, proprietor of Von Schlenintz Vineyards in Germany(left), would be bringing an array of wines (including a sparkling Riesling, a pinot noir, and some very rare eiswien) and they would paired and served with a meal prepared by James Wayman (below right), one of two executive chefs from the River Tavern in Chester. The menu consisted of the following:

• Foie Gras & black truffle custard
• Thai summer roll with shrimp, sweet chili & peanut
• Lob Gai: Thai chicken salad with toasted rice powder, Thai basil, mint & chili
• Baeckoffe: Alsatian braised pork with potatoes, carrots & Riesling - served with mustard
• Sable cookies, Stilton cheese, marcona almonds

I was essentially powerless to resist this combination. For $65 plus gratuity, I thought it was a phenomenal value. (Five courses and wine! This is a steal, people.)

As much as I was intrigued by the wine, the food was what really persuaded me to open my wallet. I have heard nothing but good things about James, and the menu seemed like such an interesting combination of sort of heavier, decadent dishes (the foie gras; the braised pork) and lighter, Asian-influenced dishes (the chicken salad; the summer roll).

The minute I walked into Brie & Bleu, Jim handed me a glass of Von Schlenintz Sekt, a sparkling Riesling. It tasted so fresh and dry and just so clean (for lack of a better flavor descriptor) on my tongue. I sipped the Sekt as I mingled with the other guests (a small and eclectic group, all very personable) and found my seat.

The set-up for these dinners consists of about 12-14 seats arranged around a group of small tables pushed together to form one large-ish table. The seats are limited in order to allow everyone to listen and participate in the conversation. The conversation was definitely quality as Konrad Hahn, seated directly across from me at the far end of our rectangular arrangement, described the Riesling grape and how his vineyard cultivates it to make such distinctly different wines. He passed around large color photos of the vineyard, showing the grapevines planted on steep slopes overlooking the river. We discussed Riesling's reputation in America as on overly sweet grape as we tried wines that proved it has versatility as a dryer beverage as well.

Drinking such well-crafted wine while discussing how it was made with the person who made it is a mind-blowing experience. And Konrad was extremely warm and inviting and very encouraging of questions. I think a person who had absolutely no wine knowledge whatsoever would have appreciated the dialogue as much as an experienced sommelier. In fact, I found myself regretting that Noe wasn't with me - he is not a wine drinker but I think he really would have enjoyed the conversation about how the grapes are grown and harvested.

James came out to talk about his menu as we were finishing our sparkler. Actually, James came in - he had been frying shoestring potatoes to top the foie gras and truffle custard out on the deck. He told us the custard was an "experiment" but it was one that the entire table was in agreement had worked. I've had foie gras before and think of it as kind of heavy - I have trouble naming a specific flavor, but the word rich is what immediately comes to mind. Somehow James' custard captured the richness of the foie gras along with the subtle truffle flavor and incorporated it into a creamy, lighter confection. All the decadence minus the heavy feeling - in short, magic.

The next two dishes - the summer roll and the Lob Gai - showcased an incredible understanding of how to use herbs. I immediately detected the mint when I bit into the shrimp and veggies of the summer roll - not overpowering mint, but just a hint of freshness that accented the crispness of the vegetables and the clean ocean-y flavor of the shrimp. The chicken salad had a great contrast of peppery spice and cooling cilantro (at least, I thought I tasted cilantro). (I sort of imagined that these two dishes would be what Jeff from this season of Top Chef would have made were he in the kitchen last night).

The fourth course was Baeckoffe, a departure from the lighter, Asian-themed second and third courses. This was more of a country dish: braised pork with potatoes and carrots. The pork was so tender that it more or less fell apart when I touched it with a fork. The vegetables were perfectly cooked - not underdone, but not at all mushy. This was paired with Konrad's lone red wine, a Pinot Noir. This German Pinot Noir was fairly understated - the color was a light ruby, and it tasted like it looked - not heavy at all. That is not to say it had no flavor - indeed, it had an almost slightly tart, cranberry-esque fruit with a smattering of what I think of as the typical Pinot Noir "spice". It was described by a member of our party as "the perfect red wine for white wine drinkers" and I couldn't agree more.

For dessert, we had the pleasure of drinking true Ice Wine (made from frozen grapes and very rare) alongside Sable cookies, Marcona almonds, and quite possibly the most divine wedge of Stilton on the planet. The cookies were buttery and much softer than they looked. It is a good thing they put a set number of almonds on each plate, because I would be a truly opportunistic feeder if a jar of Marcona almonds were set in front of me. There is something about those little golden nuts tossed in oil and sea salt that I can not resist. The Stilton was the crowning glory of the plate, brought to room temperature and the consistency of butter. I would take cheese over chocolate for dessert any day.

There were so many high points to this evening that it is hard to pick what was truly the best part, but I think it may have been how well these wines paired with the food. Eric (the importer) and Konrad explained why Riesling was such a good food wine, and every carefully selected dish prepared by James backed up their point. There are wine and food combinations that are good together - or at the very least, don't fight each other - but these pairings were truly complimentary.

All in all, the food and wine highlight of my time in Connecticut thus far...at least until the next one. Now that I know what I've been missing, I'll be trying very hard to make sure I don't miss any more.

Cheap Eats, Day Two (or Three)

Back in November of 2007, when I didn't know anyone in town, I signed up to go to an Italian wine and cheese pairing seminar at Brie & Bleu. I was apprehensive because at this point I didn't know how much I would come to love Brie & Bleu and Thames River and had no idea what I was in for. I needn't have worried - not only did I get to drink some really fabulous Italian wine and eat fresh mozzarella and poached pears and gorgonzola, I also met some nice people (and Joanne, one day we will meet up for that drink!)

Flash forward a year and several months, and here I am, trying desperately to make a week's worth of dinners out of stuff already in my cupboards (spurred on by $700 worth of car repairs). You would not think that Brie & Bleu's Italian wine and cheese seminar would immediately come to mind under these circumstances. Yet...that is exactly what happened.

I was staring at a package of organic spaghetti and a jar of Newman's Own vodka sauce in a very uninspired manner when I randomly remembered eating spaghetti at the Italian wine night. Even better, I remembered it being described as a "dish you make when you have nothing else in the house." So I dug through the old wooden Drambuie box I use to hold my cooking magazines and computer print-outs of recipes until I found the notes from the wine seminar.

There it was. Spaghetti with Pecorino Romano cheese and fresh cracked pepper. Three ingredients, all of which could be found in my kitchen at that moment.

The technique was simple: put some water in a pot on the stove, salt generously, bring to a boil. Throw in the spaghetti and cook until al dente. While the spaghetti was cooking, I used a hand grater to grate a mound of cheese. Drain the spaghetti and let sit for a minute - the sitting is important, because you don't want the cheese to melt (which it will do if the pasta is too hot), but rather to cling to the pasta. Toss the pasta and grated cheese together, add a LOT of fresh cracked pepper, toss some more, and put on a plate with some garlic baguette. YUM.

So simple, yet so incredibly delicious. And I was using a hunk of cheese from the supermarket cheese counter - I can only imagine what this would have tasted like if I had a higher-quality piece of cheese to work with. Don't let the fact that there's only three ingredients and no sauce deter you - this dish is not bland. Resist the temptation to add olive oil, butter, or pasta water - it will interfere with the way the cheese and pepper cling to the spaghetti and mess with the overall texture. The dish is not too dry, I promise! (Plus, you can always pour a glass of Inama Soave to help it go down.)

Anyway, I know I have been doing a lot of food blogging lately, but my cheap supper last night was so easy and so good I just had to share. I hope you will give it a try!

Food Strollin'

Last night, Noe and I attended the New London Main Street Fall Food Stroll. This is the third Food Stroll that has happened since we have been here (one last fall and one in the spring) but the first one we were able to make it to.


New London Main Street is a non-profit organization dedicated to the "preservation, enhancement, and promotion of the Historic Waterfront District" here in New London. Basically, they want downtown to look nice and they want people to come here. New London has kind of a bad rep around CT and New London Main Street is trying to change that perception. (Ypsi - you could probably take some notes from NMLS.) One way they get people downtown is with events such as the Food Strolls, where most of the downtown restaurants and bars give out samples of their wares. Since New London's downtown is very walkable, everybody pretty much sets up shop in their own space and the attendees wander from one restaurant to the next. The cost of this adventure? $25 bucks for all the samples you could eat and a drink coupon.

After meeting up with the group at our favorite downtown watering hole, Hanafin's Irish Pub, we headed all the way down to the end of Bank Street to start the stroll at Jasmine Thai, the newest restaurant in town. Jasmine Thai put out the most diverse array of samples of any of the participating vendors. We were able to get fried rice, salad, tempura shrimp, cucumber rolls, and California rolls. Yum! (Noe and I actually ate at Jasmine Thai about a week ago and enjoyed the food - there will be a review forthcoming.)

Dr. Chattybox, me, Amanda, Kevin, John and Katie setting out

After Jasmine, we continued down Bank Street to some other familiar spots, Hot Rod Cafe and Dev's on Bank. Rod was serving up an Amy and Noe favorite, the garlic-pepper dry rub wings, along with a prime rib slider (both excellent). It is also worth noting that Rod was redeeming drink coupons at a two-for-one rate, which the boys were taking full advantage of. Dev's was handing out their painted grapes (grapes wrapped with Gorgonzola, rolled in spicy almonds, and drizzled with honey).

After gossiping with Bunny for awhile, we continued down the street, stopping at the firehouse (firemen handing out their homemade chili), Frontera's (Ecuadorian place we have never tried, but thanks to the excellent ceviche we will certainly be trying soon!), Lucca (albacore and liver pates on crostini), Brie & Bleu (hunks of Gouda cheese), Thames River Wine & Spirits, Muddy Waters (could not keep the boys away from those chocolate muffins!), Daniel's Downtown Dairy (mini ice cream cones!)

We negotiated the right turn onto Water Street to grab some tamales at Zavala and then turned left to head up State Street. There aren't as many restaurants on State as there are on Bank, but we'd read that some of the local catering companies had set up shop in the stores and venues. We were able to get a good look at City News, the new cigar shop/news stand owned by the Thames River Greenery/Wine & Spirits/Brie & Bleu group. We visited East Coast Catering in the Atrium building, and then headed over to the Crocker House.

The boys at Crocker House heading back for seconds.

Gourmet Galley Catering was displaying their wares in Crocker House's three outstanding event spaces - the modern art-inspired rainbow colored lobby; the gorgeous grand ballroom, and the elegant garden courtyard. We knew we'd like them before we even entered the lobby - we were handed some Captain Morgan spiked hot cider at the door and didn't even have to use a drink coupon. Once we got in, we gawked at the space and ate a sandwich that Steve the Pirate very aptly described as "Thanksgiving on a bun" along with little pieces of pie. Katie and I chose to redeem our drink tickets here for some (full-sized) gin and tonics to enjoy as we completed the stroll.

Katie and I love our G&Ts.

We stopped for curried rice at Northern Indian and squash/carrot soup and apple crisp at Mangetout, downtown's organic offering (the crisp was awesome but I thought the soup - while having a great velvety texture - was lacking in flavor). We finished the night with chocolate chip cookies and banana crepes at the Bean & Leaf - and were finally forced to admit that we were indeed finally full.

This was a fantastic event and I am really impressed with NLMS and all their volunteers for being able to pull it off so smoothly. I can see why these strolls continue to bring more and more people downtown. As long as I live in New London, I know I'll never miss another one.

Lame title, cool story

Recently the Boston Globe ran an article on New London - the city that I moved to - praising, among other things, the diverse restaurants and funky shops. You can check out the article here.

I was pleased to see some of my favorite restaurants mentioned - readers of the blog should recognize Dev's on Bank Street and Brie & Bleu. I was not, however, to thrilled to see them mentioned in the same paragraph as the overrated Bulkeley House (yes, the patio space is nice but the service is abominable and the live bands are too loud for an outdoor bar). I was also thrilled to see some of the fun stores (Peacock Feathers, Flavours of Life), the Saturday Farmer's Market, and the Garde Arts Center get shout-outs as well.

These are places that have made me appreciate New London a lot more than I thought I would initially. I'm glad to see them getting a little credit from a major newspaper - trust me, it's well-earned.

Check out the story: Whale of a City

Wine and Cheese, Trifecta style

Lately the Trifecta (Amanda, Katie, and myself - plus sometimes the Mini Deal) have been spending a lot of time (and money) at two of the "Thames River" group of businesses - Thames River Wine and Spirits and Brie & Bleu.

Thames River Wine and Spirits has a great Friday night wine tasting. They try three or four (usually four) different wines, mostly ones that I probably would not stumble upon myself. They hold these free tastings in their cellar:


The Thames River tastings are a great way to try new wines. They pour a variety of regions, varietals, and price ranges. This past Friday, we started with an $11 Loire Valley sauvignon blanc and finished up with a $46 Italian red blend (mostly sangiovese). The taste they pour is generous and the glass they pour it in really lets you get your nose right in there. The staff is pretty accommodating and happy to answer questions.

I'll be the first to admit that I've been a little out of my wine element since leaving the Earle and Julie's wine tasting group behind in Michigan. I was very excited to find this Friday night tasting and even more excited to find friends who are really interested in wine. (Check out one of those friends at http://ctwineguy.blogspot.com/ - John recently posted reviews of the stuff we tried last Friday.)

Perhaps we are a little too interested - the Trifecta decided that one night a week wasn't enough and has since begun visiting Thames River's neighbor and sister business Brie & Bleu on Thursday nights.

Brie & Bleu is billed as "New London's Premier Cheese Market" but they are also an excellent little bistro with deck seating available in nicer weather. They have a menu consisting of some standard cheese plates, salads, and bruschettas, plus weekly entree specials. Their list of wines by the glass rotates and offers some unusual suggestions.

However, the Trifecta doesn't order by the glass. We think the best way to enjoy Brie & Bleu is to first visit the wine cellar next door and pick out a couple bottles. We can then take these to the cheese shop where a waitress or one of the wine store guys will open them and chill them if necessary.

We've found some truly wonderful wines this way over the past few weeks, including one of our new favorites, the Michel Torino Don David Torrontes. We actually can't take credit for finding this delicious Argentinian white - a third of a bottle was given to us a couple weeks ago by a couple also dining on the deck at Brie & Bleu who decided not to finish it. We went crazy over the floral smell and light citrusy flavors and bought our own bottle the next week. And then we bought more to take home. I know it's only June, but this might just be my favorite wine this summer...

Brie & Bleu has also provided some excellent cheese finds. We usually order one of the cheese plates on special. These plates include three regional cheeses and accompaniments.

Last week's Italian cheese plate was fantastic - but who doesn't enjoy some creamy fontina spread on crusty bread? The dried apricots and salami were perfect compliments.

We loved two-thirds of the French cheese plate we tried the week before. However, the third cheese was terrible. I mean really awful. It was a bleu cheese and I wish we had gotten the name of it so we could make a point to NEVER EAT IT AGAIN. All three of us enjoy bleu cheeses, but we dubbed this one the "morning breath cheese". The texture was bad, too - sort of gelatinous. If I find out the name, I will post appropriate warnings!

The occasional bad cheese aside, Brie & Bleu has provided us with some incredible food. If you are looking for something more hearty, I recommend their bruschettas. My personal favorite is the Parma - a delectable combination of prosciutto, tart apples, and blue cheese melted over a crusty baguette. Yum!

So between Brie & Bleu Thursdays and Thames River Fridays, we've been giving this group quite a bit of business lately. However, they've provided us with some wonderful wines and mouth-watering food, so I'd say it's a pretty fair trade.