Wine and Cheese Pairing Class at 404 Wine Bar

Jen, Jill, Limey and I had one more iWish class to take before Limey moves, so last week Monday we went to the Wine and Cheese Pairing class at 404 Wine Bar. We’d hoped to do something like a Spanish Tapas class or some other cuisine, but we just couldn’t get our schedules to align right in these last few weeks before the move. So, wine and cheese it was. Not that I’m complaining. Who doesn’t love wine and cheese? It’s just that it was SO similar to the wine and chocolate pairing class we took a couple months ago

I think my favorite pairing was the blue cheese with the Riesling because the cheese was very pungent and the wine was a little sweet. I also really liked the South African Pinotage wine. I’d never even heard of this before so it was fun to try.

Last time after the tasting we went to 404 Wine Bar for dinner. This time we went to their attached sister bar & grill, Jack’s. You can actually get the menus for both restaurants in each place, so it didn’t really matter. What did matter was that we could watch the Packers whomp the Vikings on MNF (45-7!). Wine, cheese, & a Packers win. WIN WIN WIN!

Wine and Chocolate Pairing Class at 404 Wine Bar

Last week Jen, Jill, Limey and I went to a wine and chocolate pairing class at 404 Wine Bar. The class was put on by I Wish and we’d purchased tickets from Groupon. The Groupon was actually just for a wine class, but we were having problems scheduling a date in Chicago (not the suburbs) and I Wish was nice enough to let us transfer the ticket and take the wine and chocolate pairing class.

We learned about pairing different kinds of wine with the different kinds of chocolate. How to complement and contrast the flavors and that sort of thing. My favorite pairing was a Santa Christina Sangiovese with dark chocolate. The wine was very fruity and cherry-like and mixed together it tasted just like a cherry cordial. I should note that this was Jill’s least favorite wine. She actually dumped it out. Ha! She has a thing about fruit. Jen and I were teasing her and Limes from across the table. Hence the thought balloons above.


I really liked this wine: Proyecto Garnachas de Espana

I thought the class was fun enough at the discounted rate ($20). We learned a few things and had an enjoyable lesson. I don’t know if I’d ever pay the full price for the lesson, $45 seems overpriced to me, but I guess that’s why we got the Groupon!

On a side note, you may recall that this is the second I Wish class I’ve taken. Jen and I went to a Korean culture and food class earlier this year.

Since our class was in a side room at 404 Wine Bar and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, we headed into the bar/restaurant to eat. We ordered a bunch of things and split them:

– Housemade tapenade with crostini
– 3 cheese plate with cranberries, grapes and honey almonds
– Sauteed Maine sea scallops
– Wild mushroom ravioli with a truffle cream sauce
– Fish tacos (from Jack’s Bar & Grill, which is attached to the wine bar)
– Chocolate fondue served with pound cake and apples

Everything was really delicious. Everyone agreed. We also agreed that we all loved the mushroom ravioli. SOOOO good. Also, how appropriate that we both started and ended with chocolate?

I Wish Korean Food & Culture Lesson

Last year Jen and I bought Groupons for a Food Tour from I Wish. I Wish is a company that tries to help you answer the question, “What do you wish you could learn?” In their food section they have many different kinds of cuisines that you could choose from for the Groupon.. and the Groupon got you in for $20 instead of the usual $40 – 45.

Jen and I choose the Korean culture and food class at Waba Korean Restaurant. We were to learn the the staples of traditional Korean cuisine while you are guided through a tasting tour of some favorite Korean dishes. Learn all about Korean culture, here and abroad, and how food has influenced the culture and history. And all the while, we of course got to eat.

Waba is a decent place. Nice, but not too fancy. Lots of TVs in the dining room. The food was great. It’s basically one room with a bar. In the photo below, the bar is kind of to the left and behind me:

The reason I mention the bar first, is because that’s where we started out. I had this Korean beer called Hite. They also had soju on special, but I’d had that before and I’d never had Hite, so I decided to try that.

Good beer. Light and refreshing. Cool and Fresh! Just like the label says!

Now, I just want to make a note before I talk about the food that we had. Jen and I attended the course in November. I took a couple notes, scribbled on a scrap of paper, but not a lot…. and I can’t remember every detail now that a few months have passed. With each dish we were told how it was prepared, when its served, some history and we were also told stories of historic as well as modern-day Korea. Well, I’m just going to try to at least remember the names of the dishes I took photos of and try to do a little bit of internet research on them!

Banchan are side dishes that are usually served in small portions and come out at the beginning of the meal. There’s always kimchi, maybe even multiple forms of it. My favorite banchan was a potato dish, shown on the bottom right.

Next up was japchae, a dish made from cellophane noodles, stir fried in sesame oil with various vegetables. It can be served hot or cold, in our case it was cold. I thought this noodle dish was ok, but it was not my favorite. I don’t think I was expecting it to be cold. This dish is always made with vegetables and sometimes with meat. Ours had some bulgogi (grilled marinated beef) in it.

This is kimchi bokkeumbap, which is kimchi fried rice. The photo doesn’t look very appetizing because we used the same plate that we used to eat our japchae. Don’t let that deceive you, though. The kimchee fried rice was one of my favorite dishes of the night. Ours was made with rice, kimchi, vegetables, and SPAM. Gasp! This might be the first time I ate SPAM. I’ve actually had it a few times since November, though.

This is miyeok guk, or seaweed soup, made from seaweed and soup stock. Ours also had a bit of meat in it. I think it was bulgogi again. Bulgogi seemed to be sprinkled in everything! Our instructor told us this is a very nutritious soup and is served to pregnant women and on special occasions like birthdays.

Next we tried a serving of bulgogi and somehow I did not take a photo of this. I think it’s because this was my other favorite dish of the night and I dove right in! Bulgogi is made from thin slices of sirloin or other prime cuts of beef. This meat is then marinated in a mixuture of shoyu, sugar, sesame, garlic and the like. Then the meat is grilled or pan fried.

Sitting next to us were some actual Koreans. Haha. They were really fun and filled us in on additional information about all of the food we were eating. I was wondering why they took this class, then I found a Yelp review from one of them. They thought they were signing up for a cooking course when they bought the Groupon. I must admit, I thought the same thing.

Bibimbap literally means “mixed meal,” which is appropriate because everything you see is stirred together just before it’s eaten. Bibimbap ingredients can vary. Ours had rice, vegetables, sprouts and bulgogi. What doesn’t vary is the egg on the top. We also stirred in gochujang (chili pepper paste), which is very common.

Next up was budae jjigae or “army base stew.” This soup is named this because after the Korean war, meat was scarce in Korea. People ate a lot of spam and hot dogs and other types of canned meats that were available as surplus foods from US Army bases. We’re told that budae jjigae is still very popular in South Korea and that SPAM is also surprisingly popular to this day. This reminded me of Hawaii a bit!

And one last photo of the outside of Waba Korean Restaurant as we were leaving. Jen and I had a fun time at the class. The food was good and you can see that we got to try a lot of different things. At the end they were even giving people seconds on things they had more of. We bought the Groupon for the lesson for $20, so we totally got our money’s worth. I don’t know if I’d think the same if I paid the full I Wish price of $40. Fun night, though.