Chicago Foodies

Wine with a Second Wind

My wife and I had some guests at our home, and we opened up a 2001 Casa de la Ermita, which is a Petit Verdot from the Jumilla wine region.  (Not familiar to me at the time of purchase, Jumilla is southwest of Valencia.  Spain, after all, has a few score of DOCs.)  When we first served it to our guests it was just okay, and it hadn't opened up. 

Saucisson Sec – Cook au Vin

Wow. Now I've raved about the lovely landjager sausages from Bobby Nelson and they sure have that handheld bite-ablilty but after several Spotted Cows while watching the Cubs game I remembered I had a nice small saucisson sec from Cook au Vin on Elston.  It's not what I expected. It's definitely a sawing process  – that's one hard salami... but it might be one of the best things I have ever tasted.

Napa Valley Vintners Winemaker Dinner

Fleming's Steakhouse on Ohio is hosting the Napa Valley Vintners Winemaker Dinner this Monday July 21st. There is an initial 45 minute panel discussion before dinner and tasting. Seating is limited and it sounds like a great combination of wine, food and information for under $100 bucks.

Monday, July 21 6pm
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar,
25 E. Ohio
R.S.V.P to Fleming’s at 312.329.9463
$95 includes wine tasting, dinner and panel discussion

Meyer-Fonne Wineck-Schlossberg Riesling 2005 (Alsace)

Alsace has been prominently featured in a lot of recent Chicago Foodies posts.    With the exception of Pinot Noir, Alsatian wines are almost universally white, and the holy trinity of Alsatian wines are Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, and Pinot Gris (there are a couple other varietals, which I hope to write about sometime). 

The Little India Restaurant

I first heard of The Little India Restaurant on Bryn Mawr at the Edgewater Dinner Crawl.  After sampling their samosas at the event I decided to head back to the restaurant to try more but unfortunately, was not as impressed the second time around.

Who the Hell is Robert Parker and why is he important?

In the wine world you can't go inside a shop or a wine web site without seeing a Robert Parker score or praise from Robert Parker.  His taste buds have given credit to the rise of high-quality Rhone valley red wines (and their prices), as well as his authority in rating Bordeaux vintages.  If you go into a shop and have two similarly priced and similarly styled wines and can't decide what to pick and you see a Robert Parker or Wine Spectator rating, what do you buy?   C'mon and fess up!  I admit, I've done it. 

Big Jones

Big Jones on Clark St. in Andersonville has only been open for a couple of months but it has been getting write-ups and rave reviews everywhere you look.  My interest was definitely piqued so we decided to skip the crowded dinner rush and check out brunch instead. 

For a Saturday afternoon at 1PM the restaurant was not over-crowded and we were seated immediately.  This scored big points with me as one of my pet peeves of the weekend brunch is the hour-long wait.  The restaurant has a very pleasant, relaxing décor reminiscent of New Orleans but not overbearing.  The waiter brought us menus and right away we noticed the ample variety of southern style egg dishes with savory meats and gravies.  Hot beignets were brought to the table right after ordering and satisfied my sweet tooth, especially with coffee. 

4th of July – Moo and Oink – Smoke That Meat!

Moo and Oink is a great place to get your meat... and they've been around for a while. 71st and Stony Island.`
Not sure which is better an entry from their new jingle contest or their old television commercial.