Why me.....?

To paraphrase a famous (Mark Twain?) quote about stupid people, the problem is not that boors exist, it’s that I always wind up sitting next to them. Such was the case at last night’s Bastille Day Wine Dinner at Café Des Artistes. We were seated at a nice table along the camera wall, but next to us was a six top containing said person. It seemed that the person’s only reason for attending the dinner was to impress all the companions (and those within earshot) with a grand and extensive knowledge of travels, likes, and dislikes of wine. “Holding Court” comes to mind. “I remember a nice little restaurant in….”; “As I was talking to the chef…..” ; I’m sure you get the idea. That’s another problem with dining in a restaurant; you can’t control your neighbors. Of course if it’s bad enough you can ask to be moved, but that’s pretty difficult in a crowded place. You try and try to shut them out, but it can be difficult. Okay, enough of that. I feel better.

Besides the distraction it was a pretty good dinner. I found out (from Chef Loic) that there is no traditional food for Bastille day, such as we might say ribs and barbeque go with our Independence day. In fact, in France Bastille day is considered a day to celebrate with family, it’s not a restaurant day. Food would be “whatever grand mere cooks”. Regional foods most likely. Our menu consisted of 5 courses and dessert. 3 were seafood, a salad, and “Cuisses de Canard Braised au vin Rouge”. It is left to the reader to figure out what that dish is. A hint: “cuisses” is French for "leg". The meal began with a welcoming glass of sparkling (petillant) Jacquere from Savoie. A little lighter than champagne, but it had a nice yeasty nose and although not overly bubbly, it did have a refreshing dance on the palate (sorry). That was eventually accompanied by a Basque Calamari Salad, with little rings of squid in a somewhat spicy sauce with lightly sautéed peppers and onions. I thought that might have been the dish of the evening, but MFO disagreed and thought the second course of a smoked trout over “taboule” (tabouleh) containing black forest ham. It was also very good, but I liked the calamari a bit better. The trout was served over a very nice Zind Humbrecht 2006 Pinot Gris. I was surprised at the depth and color of the wine. Not the usual pale color you get with most Pinot Gris, this was a deep straw color, and did in fact give hints of apple and pear, with a long finish. It was explained that Alsatian wines have to be 100% of the varietal.

Speaking of which, at this point, I should mention the ubiquitous “wine guy” that occasionally populates these dinners. This time, it wasn’t just some distributor rep, and I won’t name names but if you’ve been to Port of Call on the Solomons, you might have seen him. At first he was a bit much, but as the evening wore on (and the wine was poured) he seemed better. He did have quite an extensive knowledge of wine and geography, and although he did use the dreaded “fun” word it somehow wasn’t as obnoxious as I have heard it used in the past. I don’t think I heard “a fun little wine” even once. In fact all the wines were solid representations of their heritage. All French of course. Bordeaux was probably the only big region left untouched.

After the trout we had a “Napolean” of tuna and sliced squash, an intermezzo of a berry Granite, a nice salad with Gougeres and finally the (you know by now) braised duck leg, which was served with a tart of morels and baby fava beans. Which sounds much better with its French “Cuisses de Canard Braised au vin Rouge et Tarte Croustillante de Morilles aux Fevettes. A 2007 Chanteneuf du Pape from Domaine Paul Autard was an excellent pairing. The wine was a deep ruby color, full fruit flavor with still some structure and tannins. I believe Mr. Parker thinks it was worth 90 plus of his points. All in all, I thought the wines were above the quality you usually get at these types of dinners, and of course we were afforded the chance to purchase some (one of the rights of passage). Above average wines carried relatively respectable prices. None below 20 as I recall, but they were well chosen.

As to the service, it was good. Tables were served at once, almost full glass pours, seconds were offered (or thirds if you wished), and thank goodness you could trade in your fork with every course. I know there were perfectly good reasons why, but we did have to use the same glass for all the whites, and it was replaced with a red glass for the remainder of the reds. Small pitchers of water and dump vessels were provided, which help, but there is nothing like a clean glass.

A very nice event, made more pleasant by the presence of Chef Loic, and his charming wife, who gave me a lesson of the use of Bon Jour, Bon Soir, and Au Revoir. If only that person at the next table……