Wine-ings: Insolia-Grecanico Ramí COS 2009 Sicily Italy

On Friday night, I got to see the love of my life again... and by "love of my life" I'm referring to New York City, epicenter of my universe.  I went in to celebrate a belated Father's Day and the end of a school year with a dinner at Colicchio & Sons followed by the play Food and Fadwa.  (The play was SPECTACULAR.  For more information about it, please see the end of the post.)

Duck confit with pickled cherries, haricot verts, and polenta

Colicchio & Sons was amazing- as always!  The meal began with freshly made sesame bread bread that is baked on premises and served warm.  (I try not to dig into the bread baskets at restaurants to save room for dinner, but at Colicchio & Sons I can't help but go back for seconds... so good!) As an appetizer, I ordered a radish salad with bacon bits and sherry vinaigrette.  My entree was a duck confit with pickled cherries and haricot verts.  Every time I visit, C&S is pickling something new: watermelon, radishes, cherries.... The cherries were a nice accent.  The bitterness of the brine balanced the sweet cherry, making it appropriate for a main meat dish.  For dessert I had Stephen's cookie jar and a side of caramel popcorn.  Yum!

Insolia-Grecanic Rami 2009

Although everything about the meal was memorable, the wine was the true discovery of the evening.  I ordered something I had never had before, a wine listed as "Insolia-Grecanic Rami COS 2009 Sicily Italy."  I have tried numerous wines and varietals, but I confess I was unfamiliar with Insolia and Grecanic.  The wine's color was truly unique; it could have been mistaken for a mead.  It was a rich golden brown.  At first glance the server described it as "straw," but we all agreed it was more complex than that.  It certainly had honey tones.

*Side note from a dork: I am in the process of settling into a new apartment.  As a result, I happen to have Sherwin Williams paint samples in front of me.  If memory serves, the wine is like a SW 6677 a.k.a. Goldenrod, but it was a few days ago and this is a piece of cardboard paint sample I'm looking at... haha

The taste was indescribable, but I'll try!  The flavor crept on me.  At first, it tasted like a thick water... then whoa!  There was nothing fruity or sweet about it.  Nothing grassy or herbal either.  It was stone.  And nut.  And earth.  Some internet searches revealed that the wine is aged in conrete and fermented in cement.  That certainly accounts for the distinct taste!  I was- and still am- bewildered in a good way.  I would not call it run of the mill or easy drinking, but it certainly left an impression.  I am always on the quest for unique wines.  I kind of loved it.

After describing the Rami to a friend of mine, he guided me to a Satrico 2010 Lazio Bianco for comparison.  It's 34% Chardonnay, 33% Sauvignon, and 33% Trebbiano Giallo.  While it was tasty, it was only a bit reminiscent of the Rami.  To get the Rami from that bottle, you would have to darken the color, strip away the sweetness (there's not much in the Satrico, but you'd have to do away with it all), and amp up all of the minteral/earthy notes that hit you at the end.

Open note to Colicchio & Sons: Please keep a bottle of the Rami on hand for when I'm in next!  I'm still trying to wrap my head around it... in a good way... and it will take at least one more visit before I figure out what all that complexity is!

The cookie jar... complete with a special message!

Caramel popcorn

And now for notes on the play...
Meet Fadwa Faranesh, an unmarried, 30-something Palestinian woman
living in Bethlehem in the politically volatile West Bank. Known for her
delectable cooking and deep-seated sense of duty to her family and aging father, our kitchen maven insists on continuing the preparations for the
wedding of her younger sister, despite constraints of daily life under
occupation. Politics blend with family tensions to create a sometimes
humorous and sometimes heartbreaking meal. Story by Lameece Issaq
and Jacob Kader and directed by Shana Gold, this new play melds the
fight a Palestinian family wages to hold onto its traditional culture with its
need to celebrate love, joy and hope. NYTW teams up with company-in-residence Noor Theatre to present FOOD AND FADWA.
http://www.nytw.org/food_and_fadwa_info.asp

Dining by Design: Fishtail by David Burke

When life hands you lemons... run away to New York city?!

After a particularly difficult couple of days, I decided to get my happy back by visiting my favorite place on earth... New York City.  My plan was simple: behold the diamonds at Tiffany's.  Find a sunny rock in Central Park where I could lay back and read a good book.  Get a little work done at the Starbuck's in the Trump Tower.  Try on some sparkly headbands at Bendel's.  And have drinks and appetizers at the end of the day at a good restaurant.  I selected Fishtail by David Burke, a favorite of mine and a place where I knew I could get some much-needed fun and relief.  (I also won some facebook contests there recently!)

Fishtail has two sections: an upstairs dining room and a downstairs that serves as a bar/late night area.  The downstairs has the seats at the bar, a corner table, and several booths complete with cushioned seats, candles, and fluffy pillows.  The downstairs was what drew me to Fishtail on that  night.  I wanted somewhere I could have a sophisticated, yet somewhat intimate and casual experience.  Someplace I could fly under the radar in a chic setting.  Many restaurants blend the regular dining space with the bar, but Fishtail's two levels give it a whole different vibe.

In keeping with the theme of the day, "getting my happy back," I ordered a cocktail named "habitual happiness."  The drink is a blend of St. germain, cointreau, rose water, prosecco, and wild hibiscus flower.  The Middle Eastern studies major in me found this appealing.  I'm not sure if the eclectic American chef intended it to be a throwback to my visits to Egypt and Dubai, but the rose water and hibiscus flavors brought me back there instantly.  The cocktail was the perfect combination of sugar, florals, and acidity.  It had fruity qualities, but the drier prosecco and carbonation balanced the sweetness.  It was refreshing and had a slightly feminine touch... perfection for me :)!

As an appetizer, I ordered the shrimp roll.  "Shrimp roll" sounds traditional and simple, but anyone aquainted with David Burke knows that is never the case.  This shrimp roll came with pinapple inside and a side of lemon harissa.  The ratio of pinapple to shrimp was wonderful: a sweet kick without consuming the palate.  The lemon harissa was a great touch and added spice and acid to the protein and fruit.  (Side note to David Burke: Between the harissa and the cocktail, have you been journeying into the Middle East lately?)

That was what I ordered... but the meal was far from over!!!  The crew had remembered my facebook wins and were sooo kind!!  (Maybe they and/or the universe had also sensed my need for some enjoyment....)  Joel and the general manager Peter, made the experience extra-special by serving us additional David Burke specialities!  The first dish to arrive, the pretzel crusted crab cake, turned out to be my favorite of the entire evening.  Again, the phrase "pretzel-crusted" is deceptively simple.  What we got was not pretzel crumbs over a protein and fried, but actual pretzel sticks on top of delicious crab!  The crab meat was almost pure... not oven-fried or mixed with mayonaisse beyond recognition.  I love salt, and the pretzels gave the appetizer a slightly salty profile that I enjoyed.  The presentation resembled a small raft... so cute :)! 

Pastrami salmon

We also recieved the Burke interpretation of smoked salmon.  The creative twist on this dish was pastrami.  They disguise it on the underside of the salmon, so the pastrami taste hits you as an unexpected suprise at the end of the bite.  The dish comes with potato cakes and horseradish creme fraiche.

I guess the kitchen got the memo that one of my mottos in life is "Life is short... eat dessert first!" because they brought us cheesecake lollipops.  My date (a.k.a. my dad, who has an office in NYC!) pretty much devoured those, but it was all good because I'd saved my "dessert pocket" for the David Burke peanut brittle that they place on the counter instead of those silly after-dinner mints.  ("Dessert pocket is a term I coined at age 2.  Apparently when I used to eat a lot at dinner and still request dessert, I would tell my protesting mother that I had a "dessert pocket" reserved exclusively for dessert that never got full from dinner.)  Yummmm!!!

The night was exceptional in all regards.  The crew was so nice and generous.  The food was both creative and delicious!  I left the restaurant with a full belly... and my HAPPY BACK :)!

Cheesecake lollipops: Bubble gum (front) and chocolate (back)

Fishtail by David Burke
135 East 62nd Street
(Park & Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10065
http://www.fishtail.db.com
Phone: 212.754.1300