Paris Visit

I've just returned from an 8-day visit to Paris with my grandchildren, ages 12 and 14. We rented an apartment on a small street near lively rue Mouffetard in the 5th Arrondissement. The apartment was only a stone's throw from Ernest Hemingway's first apartment in Paris. We had a great time and saw a great deal. The weather was a couple of degrees chillier than I like, with high temperatures mostly in the mid to high 60s. The French people with whom we deat were generally very friendly and helpful. In the coming days, I'll be posting some of our experiences.

Terrific Lobster Dinner at Michael's on East

Michael's on East is one of Sarasota's classiest restaurants. They have an excellent regular menu and a variety of creative special menus. One special which they have every summer and which I love, is the Lobster Pot dinner, which is served on Friday nights. I normally have it for my birthday dinner. This year was no exception. The dinner was made even more pleasant because we were joined by our friends M & T.

The Lobster Pot dinner includes two 1 & 1/4 pound lobsters, mussels, clams, a couple of potatoes, and an ear of corn. It costs $34.95.  M, T, and I all had the lobster pot. I also had the lobster bisque, which was terrific and which had large chunks of lobster in it.



My wife had the Pan-Seared Scallops, a dish with scallops, lobster, housemade ricotta, gnocchi, roasted butternut squash, and sage brown butter with crushed amaretti. This dish was delicious.

For dessert, my wife had chocolate truffle cake - warm liquid ganache-filled chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries.

I had Riesling Poached Pear Cobbler -  Sweet pears poached in a spiced riesling, baked
in almond frangipane crust with brown ale ice cream.

Both desserts were wonderful.

M & T started out with a Graham Beck sparkling wine from South Africa. They had visited the Graham Beck winery on one of their visits to South Africa. They had a chardonnay with their lobster.

My wife and I shared a bottle of the same wine we'd had at the Ritz several days earlier - a 2007 Font du Vent Côtes du Rhône. It was very nice and cost $34 -$5 less than at the Ritz.

With my dessert, I had a glass of 10-yr old Taylor Fladgate port for $8.

Our server, Mike, did an excellent job.

As is usually the case, co-owner Michael Klauber stopped by our table to chat. He is always very attentive to his customers.

The singer who was entertaining the clients was very good.

We were fortunate to have made reservations - because the restaurant was filled within minutes of our arrival.

Every month, at least during the summer, Michael's has 3-course Epicurean Adventure dinners for $25. They can be paired with wine for an extra $10. This month's theme is New Orleans. The menu, which can be viewed at http://www.michaelsoneast.com/cuisine.html?menu=special&mid=35, looks terrific.

The bottom line is that co-owners Michael Klauber and Phil Mancini do a superb job. Check out their web site at: http://www.michaelsoneast.com/

An Italian Dinner for Friends

Tuesday evening, we hosted two couples for dinner and had a delightful evening. Our guests were C & J, whom we had not seen for years, and who were in town for a short visit, and mutual friends J & M.

While C, J, and I had all served in the military, C, who served three tough Army tours in Vietnam, represents a very special type of patriot. His wife also dedicated her career to serving our country. They are both very special people.

Most of the dishes I prepared were ones that I had previously made. However, I tried one new one that we all really enjoyed. M brought a delicious tiramisu for dessert.

The dishes I prepared were:

Antipasti:
- Bruschetta/fettunta with tomato topping - from http://www.turismo.toscana.it/
- Crostini with goat cheese, fig jam, and prosciutto - from http://theitaliandishblog.com/imported-20090913150324/2010/4/20/crostini-with-prosciutto-goat-cheese-and-fig-jam.html This was the new dish, and it was fantastic.

First Course:
Sformato di Parmigiano e Prosciutto - custard with prosciutto, parmesan, and onion from http://www.italianchef.com/sformato.html This is a relatively easy dish. Most people like it, and it's a bit different.

Main Dish:
Arista alla Fiorentina - Florentine pork loin from http://www.tuscanrecipes.com/recipes/arista-fiorentina.html

Side Dish:
Carote in Stufato - stewed carrots with pancetta & onion from the Beautiful Tuscany cookbook. This dish is always popular. J, who is not a vegetable eater, even had some. This recipe can be found at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/CAROTE-IN-STUFATO-BRAISED-CARROTS-1214933 I make two changes to this recipe. Instead of using 2 pounds of carrots, I use one pound. I also buy precut carrots.

C & J brought three bottles of wine:
- Two bottles of 2006 Squarcialupi La Castellina Chianti Classico Riserva. It is 90% sangiovese, 5% merlot, and 5% cabernet sauvignon. It was wonderful and perfect for the meal. Wine Spectator rates it at 92 points. See http://www.lacastellina.it/english/storia.html for a bit of interesting history about the Squarcialupi family.
- A bottle of Sexy Wine Bomb red wine. This was for laughs. We will try it soon.

J brought a bottle of Vecchia Cantina Chianti, a very pleasant Chianti. My wife and I had a delightful visit to the Vecchia Cantina winery near Montepulciano last fall.

Savor Sarasota at the Ritz

Last night, we enjoyed another $25 Savor Sarasota dinner - this one at the Vernona Restaurant at the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/Sarasota/Default). We went with our friends M & T.

The Ritz's Savor Sarasota menu is much more limited than those of other restaurants participating in the Savor Sarasota program - only two choices for each course. However the taste was excellent. This time, the service was very good, but on two earlier occasions, T & M had experienced problems with the service, including soup poured in T's lap instead of his bowl!

We started with a nice amuse-bouche of a bite of salmon & candied bacon.

The first course we all chose was a "popcorn bisque" of crab, mango, and mint. This bisque is fantastic! We had it last year as well.

For our second choice, we all chose Muscovy duck breast with Farro, Sunburst Nectarines and Confit Gesier, Champagne Gastrique. We loved this dish as well.

For dessert, three of us chose Key Lime pie and one chose chocolate cake. Both were excellent. The Key Lime pie was among the best I've tasted. The on-line menu lists crème brûlée as a choice, but that has changed.

For our wine, I chose a 2007 Font du Vent "Notre Passione" Côtes du Rhône Villages for $39. It was very pleasant.

The Ritz has an excellent wine list.

The complete Savor Sarasota menu offered by the Ritz is available at: http://www.savorsarasota.com/whats_cooking.php?id=32

C'etait Formidable!

Last Saturday evening, P & L, our friends & neighbors, treated us and three other couples to a superb feast. I always feel fortunate to eat one of P's dinners, since he's such a great cook.

We started with tasty appetizers - thinly-sliced baguette with different two toppings:
1. A homemade bruschetta spread with the following ingredients:

Muir Glen organic diced canned tomatoes & a pesto of:

·      2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

·      1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

·      1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

·      ¼ cup cashew nuts & ¼ cup of walnuts

·      3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

·      Salt & freshly ground black pepper 

2. Tasso Tapenade (a delicious commercial product)

The next course was a very nice cold Vichyssoise (potato-leek) soup, with carrots, celery, vidalia shallots, 50% chicken stock/water; salt and pepper to taste; heavy cream

That was followed by an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) salad of Arugula, feta, cherry tomatoes (which P added to the recipe), watermelon (1 inch dice),  and mint from his garden

It was dressed with a citrus vinaigrette

The main course was grilled butterflied leg of lamb with an Ina Garten yoghurt-mint sauce. P basted the lamb with a balsamic vinegar glaze just before removing it from the grill. The lamb was cooked to perfection and melted in my mouth. The sauce was fantastic! I love lamb & this was some of the best I've had.

The dessert was a terrific concoction called Espresso Jellies from a Giada de Laurentiis recipe available at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/espresso-and-chocolate-jellies-recipe/index.html

It included chocolate chips, heavy cream, espresso powder, and coffee liqueur. P also added a layer of raspberry coulis.

The wines included:

A Korbel rose brut with the appetizers

Zisola Nero d'Avola

Fetzer chardonnay (brought by another guest)

Ecco Domani pinot grigio (brought by yet another guest)

A Delicious Italian Dinner

On Monday evening, our friends M & T, who are making their annual visit from Germany, prepared a wonderful Italian dinner for us and friends L & P. I am getting very hungry as I relive that meal.

They brought some of the ingredients from Germany. M is a superb cook and both M & T are gourmets, who appreciate good food and wine. We have dined with them in four countries - the U.S., Italy, France, and Spain. We always have a great time with them and with L & P.

Table decorated with napkins in the colors of the Italian flag


The menu for the evening was:

Appetizers:
- Prosciutto di Parma (one of the best Italian hams) wrapped around Grissini (Italian breadsticks)
- Celery filled with spicy, creamed tuna
- Marinated olives
- Marinated pearl onions
- Ciabatta bread and a cream cheese & chive spread

The Appetizers

First Course
Risotto in red wine. The red wine was a 2008 Santa Cristina Sangiovese produced by Antinori in the Chianti Classico area of Tuscany.

Main Course
Tender morsels of chicken breast and scampi with truffles, asparagus, spring leeks, mushrooms, & capers in a saffron-champagne sauce.

The Main Course



Dessert
Strawberries with sugar & orange zest in a sauce of mild mustard, sugar, and balsamic vinegar. This dish was created by a chef at Don Camillo, one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Berlin.

The Dessert



Wines
- Korbel sparkling rosé brut
- Lugana San Benedetto 2010 from Zenato winery in the Veneto. (M & T, another couple of friends, my wife and I did a wonderful tasting at the Zenato winery in 2004.
- Vitiano Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Vielen Dank!

Harry's Continental Kitchen - A Savor Sarasota Treat

Last night, we joined our friends M & T at Harry's Continental Kitchen for a Savor Sarasota $25 three-course meal. It was terrific. Three of us also did the wine pairing for an additional $10. The wines were ok, but nothing more.

The Savor Sarasota menu contained three appetizers, three main courses, and three desserts. Diners can choose one of each.

Two of us chose one appetizer and two chose another. Both were great!!!They were:
1. Bacon-crusted diver sea scallop, horseradish cabot white cheddar fondue, garlic crostini
2. Grilled soy-ginger marinated skirt steak sate, creamy ginger-cashew slaw and plum wine dipping sauce

Three of us chose one main course, and I chose another. Both were wonderful. They were:
1. Grilled gulf of mexico red grouper, tomato-basil vinaigrette, mediterranean rice with artichoke, black olives and roasted red pepper
2. Bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin, creamy mushroom demi, gorgonzola gnocchi.

Two of us chose one dessert and two of us chose another. Both were very tasty. They were:
1. Death by chocolate - layers of chocolate cookie crust, white chocolate raspberry swirl cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, topped with chocolate ganache.
2. Triple berry pie with streusel topping and mixed berry sauce

The atmosphere was very nice - warm and relaxing. Service was friendly but a bit lacking. We had to remind them to bring bottled water which we had ordered and bread.

Harry's has a very nice menu, details of which are available on the restaurant's web site. Dinner entrees on Harry's regular menu run $26 to $38.

Harry's is located in the 5600 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key. http://www.harryskitchen.com/