I saw this display at Strack & Van Til that paired wines with cheeses and had the wines and cheeses right there for purchase. Not only that, a chart showed what order you should eat the cheese and drink the wine. Pretty handy! Too bad I wasn’t hosting a wine and cheese tasting anytime soon.
This was all sponsored by Fetzer Vineyards and Artisanal Cheese. If you go to the Artisanal Cheese site, you can see an interactive “cheese clock.” (Screenshot below.)
Tags:artisanal wine·bucktown·cheese·Chicago·fetzer vinyards·Shopping·strack and van til·wine
green olive salad, salumi toscano, pickled peppers, white cheddar cheese curd
west coast sardines, tomatoes, hard egg, tartine
seared frog legs, dill creme fraiche, cataluna spices (smoked cinnamon & pimento)
seared frog legs, dill creme fraiche, cataluna spices (smoked cinnamon & pimento)
salad of octopus, shrimp, mussel, squid, toasted couscous, citrus-cured tuna vinaigrette, nichols farm cherry tomatoes
saffron pillbox omelet, albacore tuna, sun-dried black olive vinaigrette, tomato shrimp broth
daily selection of three cheeses, tampered honey, and vine grapes
I guess it’s been several months now, but when the first Logan Square wine bar, Telegraph, opened, Jess, Dallas and I went over to check it out. I remember it was about a thousand degrees, so Jess and I drank some refreshing white wine. Dallas enjoyed the short list of high-end European beers they offer.
I never had frog legs before, so I was all for trying them. Let me just say. I do not like frog legs! They seemed to be prepared right and I’ve seen plenty of Telegraph reviews that mentioned them and not in a negative way, so I think I’ve just discovered that I don’t care for them. Frog legs aside, we enjoyed everything else we had. We all shared the olives. Jess and I split the frog legs and the seafood salad. Dallas had the tartine and the omelet. Then we all shared the cheese plate.
Tags:Chicago·dallas·jessica·logan square·telegraph·wine·wine bar
Last week we had a Roundarch team dinner at Prosecco, an Italian restaurant on the Near North Side. Prosecco has a huge selection of wine and one of the largest selections of Italian sparkling wine in Chicago.
I’d never been to Prosecco before and the menu online looked good, so I was excited to try this place. Upstairs the dining room was really pretty and brightly lit. Our private party was taking place downstairs in the private room/wine cellar.
Claire, Mark, Stella, Tony, Ryan, Adam, Marlena, Anjum
Wa-Jiw, Garrett, Bill, Ed, Doug
Ed, Doug
Before dinner we enjoyed some Italian wines, prosecco (of course), and Italian beer.
Claire, Bill, Tony, Adam, Anjum, Marlena
For dinner we were all seated at four tables. There were menus at the table and each course had several things listed.
Primi
Secondi
Terzi
Quarti
I thought we would be choosing what we wanted from each course, but it ended up that they served everything family style.
Josh, David
Andrew, David
Wa-Jiw
Ben, Andrew
David, Ed
At my table was Josh, David, Wa-Jiw, Ben, Andrew and another David.
Stella, Charlie, Mark, Kelly, Doug, Garrett
Adam, Tony, Bill, Claire, Marlena, Anjum
Adam, Sean, Ryan, Eric, Scott, Ashanth, Teal
At one point I went and took a photo of the other tables.
Back at our table, our candles were really melting down! I guess we’d been there a while.
Josh
Josh
Josh
For some reason people at our table were discussing the things that should never be discussed at work outings: Politics and Religion.
Mark, Tony, Teal
The big bosses said a few words of thanks and appreciation.
Oh, and a few behind the scenes photos from a secret team project taken earlier in the evening:
Shhhhhhh!
Tags:adam·andrew·anjum·ashanth·ben·bill·charlie·Chicago·claire·david·doug·ed·eric·garrett·italian·josh·kelly·mark·marlena·near north side·prosecco·roundarch·ryan·scott·sean·stella·teal·tony·wa-jiw·wine
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?
Tags:404 wine bar·Chicago·chocolate·groupon·i wish·jacks bar & grill·jen·jill·lakeview·limey·wine·wine bar
I had a coupon for Crust so Jess and Sara and I went out for dinner one night. I’d never been there before but Jess and Sara had. To start, we split the baby beet salad (organic poached baby beets, avocado, pink grapefruit, extra virgin olive oil). Then we split two pizzas: The Forestierre had bechemel, woodland mushrooms, roasted peppers and fontina cheese. The Basilico had tomato sauce, bechamel, mozzarella, fontina, provolone, parmigiano reggiano, and fresh basil.
Oh, and we also tried the Lambrusco, which was a sparkling red. I’d never had a sparkling red before and I liked that too. It wasn’t like it was bubbling all over the place like a champagne, it just had a slight, light fizz to it.
Tags:Chicago·crust·jessica·lambrusco·pizza·sara·wicker park·wine