Tano is a No-No

Friday night date night once again.  Decided to try a new restaurant in historic Loveland, new to us and relatively new to Loveland.   Called Tano, it had been written up in the Cincinnati Enquirer and made to sound amazing.  They gushed over the food and ambiance, touting it as the hot new happening dining spot.  Perfect for a person like me, amazing. 

 

First view, a maître 'd just inside the entrance, asking us the proverbial, "do you have a reservation?"  We did at six but forgot to come on time.  Oops.  However, we got here at seven and the place was about half-full.  They seated us at a deuce by the kitchen door (we found out later, as people traipsed by, the restrooms were also located behind the door leading to the kitchen.  Weird.)

 

We began with oysters on the half-shell.  Five for $ten.  Such a deal, right?  And they were flown in all the way from Connecticut.  They were perfectly chilled, absolutely fresh and a real delight, after so many months of an oyster-free culinary existence.  The cocktail sauce was right out of a bottle, and not a very good one.  No zing, no pizzazz, a breath away from Heinz ketchup.  Very disappointing.  But that's ok, the entrée will amaze!  Right?  The Cincinnati Enquirer said so!

 

Having started with oysters and a very delightful glass of Malbec, I ordered the scallops.  Described as "chipotle linguini, spinach, rock shrimp, tomatoes, champagne beurre blanc", it sounded delicious.  Yes please!

 

You can see by the photo that indeed, the plate did contain all the requisite items as outlined on their menu.  Unfortunately, there was also a little bait and switch going on.  Not bait and switch in its pure form, yes, those are scallops, and yes, those are rock shrimp.  But, have you ever ordered scallops as an entrée and only received THREE puny, overcooked scallops?  Me neither, until this night.  The rock shrimp were mighty shrimpy as well, all five of them.  Three snuggled together atop the linguine, trying to convince me of their massive shrimpiness!  Keeping company with the shrimp and three puny scallops was the full plate of slimy, oily, over-buttered linguine.  And let us not give short shrift to the three strands of deflated spinach.  All in all, the appearance hinted at the less than stellar dining experience to come.

Others have raved about Tano, I will not.  First time and neither I nor my companion was impressed.  No reservation = table by the kitchen/bathroom.  Ok, next time, we will make a reservation.

 

Portion size was fine, but for the entrée that arrived, it should have been priced around $24, not $27.  We are in a suburb of Cincinnati, not downtown!  Not only that, the scallops were small and without flavor, the shrimpy shrimp tasted like they came out of the bag of Kroger shrimp I keep in my freezer.

 

The Chipotle linguine was an interesting concept, the heat came through in a mild undertone, but the oiliness of the linguine overwhelmed in the end.  It was truly disgusting to look at, and to eat.

 

My dining companion ordered their special of the night, Fluke.  Right, Fluke?  First of all, to the uninitiated, it is a white, mild-flavored fish.  The waitress told us everything she knew about it.  That was pretty much it.  So I quickly googled it.  Fluke is a relative of the flounder and is often called the Summer Flounder to distinguish it from the standard, Atlantic Flounder.  (Who would be able to know the difference?  Maybe other Flukes and Flounders.)  I took a taste of the Fluke.  It was beautifully presented on a bed of mashed garlic potatoes, surrounded by a moat of roasted corn off the cob.  The Fluke was lightly dusted in batter, then sautéed in butter.  should have been at least tolerable, but the fish itself was not a tasty consistency.  It was dry, but not flaky, dry, but not full-bodied.  Just dry.  Just unpleasant, almost as though it had spent time in someone's freezer, in 1972.  It tasted just ok, but overall - a fail.  Garlic mashed potatoes were perfect, but hey, even Bob Evans has that dish nailed.  the "fresh off the cob" corn had a spicy blend of chiles and peppers with popped against the fresh corn taste.  Sadly, it was the best part of both meals.

 

Will we go again?  Yes.  I don't like to judge a restaurant on just one meal (or in this case, two meals).  But next time I will try a meat or veggie dish.  Will keep you posted!

Delta Winery - New Zealand News

Spoiler alert:  This is not a news blog.  And really, the title is a little misleading, I am not bringing you the news from New Zealand.  But I tried this very nice Sauvignon Blanc recently and wanted to share it with you.

The Delta Winery is relatively new, started in 2001 in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand.  This region is well known for its Sauvignon Blanc wines.  However, the people behind Delta Wines true passion is establishing the region as a strong Pinot Noir source.  Nonetheless, in 2001, the family that owns the Delta Winery planted just 25 acres in solid sauvignon blanc grapes.  Their 2008 vintage is a smash hit!

The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from Delta is on the bright and light side of the wine spectrum.  It has strong notes of grapefruit and passion fruit, combined with herbs and a little chalk dust (yes, chalk dust!).  The palate is clean and bright with mouthwatering acidity and a mineral laden finish that lingers.  Perfect to serve with light appetizers, salad, fish or pasta.  A bottle should run about $12-15 in your local wine shop.

You Know You're Spending Too Much Time on the Computer

Choices

"She gets to keep the chalet and the Rolls, I want the Montrachet."  -Anonymous, Forbes Magazine, 1996

Montrachet is well known for their spectacular whites and Chardonnays from the Cote de Beaune subregion of Burgundy.  This region is perhaps the most widely respected source for the finest dry white wines in the world.  A Montrachet 2009 vintage is available for $99.  Like something a little older, closer to your graduation year, say 1979?  You'll have to shell out $1,693.  If you'd like something a little more grand, may I recommend the 1970 for a mere $4,367?

However, if you're really in the mood to drop a small fortune, Forbes magazine reports that "the world's most expensive bottle of wine that could actually be drunk today is also the most expensive wine ever sold in America, a Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti that was hammered down at Sotheby's in New York in 2001. The lot of seven bottles fetched $167,500, or $23,929 per bottle. This is an extraordinary price for a white wine, even in the rarified world of wine collecting. What happened was that two avid collectors were bidding against each other and got carried away, each refusing to yield as the price rose through the stratosphere."  So let that be a lesson to us all.  There are many decent white wines available at your local wineshop for well under $20.  Cheers. 

 

Off to France

It's been quite some time since I sipped a French wine, but when I stopped at the grocery today, a representative from a wine distributor was providing samples of E. Guigal's Cote du Rhone rose, blanc and red wines. Naturally, I had to stop for a sip. Who wouldn't? I originally was in search of a Sancerre, (which he explained was the fancy French term for a Sauvignon Blanc). He advised I look in the French section, as New Zealand S.B.'s would be too grapefruity for this dish. However, French white wines are becoming more and more rare with the proliferation of New Zealand and Australian whites, and there was no Sancerre to be found. I went back to the regional expert, and after we spoke about the special dinner I planned to cook tonight, he recommended the E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone blanc, 2009. E. Guigal has been producing wine in France for many years, and is the largest producer of Cote Rotie.

This wine is comprised of 60% viognier grapes, with the rest being a mix of other whites, primarily the marsanne grape. At first taste, you'll experience a slightly minerally and acidic flavor. It's a beautiful pale gold, with melon and honeysuckle on the nose. As you let it warm, you'll get fresh peach and apricot as well. It has a complex and rich palate that provides the fortitude to pair well with chicken, fish and spicy Asian foods. There's a nice spicy finish on the back half.

The reason I went looking for a Sancerre to begin with, was because I planned to cook a meal from a recipe I found in Food and Wine magazine, and that was the recommended pairing.

Dinner was Warm Scallop Salad with Zucchini and Mushrooms. Though originally intended as a side salad for four, it became our entree for two. 35-45 minutes from start to finish. It is an easy dish to make, healthy, filling. It was a little heavy on the olive oil flavor for my taste, but perhaps I could have used EVOO instead of VOO.

Hmmm. All this writing has allowed my glass of wine to breathe even more. And it is tasting even better than with the meal. Perhaps it's time for a refill.

Bon Appetit!

Spring is Here, What Wine to Keep Near?

For some people, the first sign of Spring is the blossoming of the crocus, or the blooming of the forsythia bush. To me, the first sign of Spring is the arrival of Peeps in the local grocery stores. That ubiquitious melange of marshmallow molded to symbols of chicks and rabbits, in unnatural shades of purple, yellow, blue and other colors too distasteful to mention.

But face it, once you pull one sticky little Peep from it's perch and pop it in your mouth, you can't stop eating them until at least three or four have followed the first.

Once you realize the horror you've created in your mouth, the first thought that peeps into your brain is probably, "oh my goodness! What can I wash this down with?"

And though I doubt that many people would recommend a specific wine to go with Peeps, I'm going to go out on a limb here and recommend any New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. After all, every label I've ever read says it goes great with chicken and rabbit.

Happy Spring!

Cavit Pinot Grigio - Part 2

Did I say I'm not much of a Pinot Grigio fan? It's true. My tastes in whites tend to run towards the chardonnays and the sauvignon blanc. But the appearance of a Cavit ad on my blog inspired me to give the under-appreciated Pinot Grigio another sip, or two. Cavit bills themselves as the number one Italian wine in America, and who am I to dispute that? (I'm not a numbers person.) Their slogan is "Elevating Life", no doubt a reference to their location in northern Italy, scandalously close to the Dolomite Alps. But the Pinot Grigio grape is founded in the soil of the Alsace region in France, where it is generally known as "Pinot Gris". The crisp white wine grew in popularity quickly, and before you could say, "ciao bella", it jumped the mountains and the border, and spread to Italy, where it flourishes today. Cavit has 50 years of winemaking tradition within the confines of their vineyard. By U.S. standards, that's a decent amount of time to have been making wine. Their grapes come from Trentino's Adige River Valley. One unique quality about the Cavit Pinot Grigio is their use of 100% Pinot Grigio grapes. Intuitively you might think, "well, what else would you put in a Pinot Grigio?" But actually, many vineyards blend the Pinot Grigio grapes with a variety of other whites to generate a complex wine. Cavit ferments their Pinot Grigio in thermo-conditioned tanks in an effort to preserve the freshness of the wine. After tasting their wine this evening, I would say they have achieved their goal here. The 2009 Pinot Grigio (PG hereafter) I sipped this evening had a very light, fresh taste. Cavit recommends serving it ice cold (ok, they used the more acceptable phrase "well-chilled"). But on this chilly day in NE Ohio, I appreciated the complexity of its flavor even more after it "relaxed" for about a half-hour on my kitchen counter. It has a crisp, light character, a pale gold straw color, and a light essence of pear, citrus and acid. All the elements combined to leave you with a soft, generous and well-balanced white with a nice finish. Though I have not been a fan in the past, I will definitely try this again. Perhaps it will become a staple in my wine cellar.

So We All Should Thank Noah

" 'Twas Noah who first planted the vine and mended his morals by drinking its wine." -Benjamin Franklin

I rarely think of Benjamin Franklin as much of a poet, honestly, I rarely think of Benjamin Franklin. But when I do, I think of him more as an inventor and a farmer, so it was nice to run across this quote and comprehend his appreciation for the fruit of the vine. Not only that, this comment seems to insinuate that Noah's morals had been compromised at some point, but (thankfully for Noah, and thankfully for us), he planted the vine, tasted the wine, and was completely able to amend his morals. Amen brother, now pass the wine.

Lent and Wine

"If food is the body of good living, wine is its soul." Clifton Fadiman
That is all.