“I think we’re early,” Paula whispered as we walked into Smith & Wollensky last week. Nobody was around. Nobody. No hostess to greet us, no bar tender tending bar, no customers at the empty tables. “Are they open?” Dean asked. “Well, the doors were open.” Susie said. Still, there we were, all alone in the restaurant. We stood awkwardly for several minutes. Dean began whistling the theme from “Twilight Zone.” “We’re early,” I said with conviction. They all looked at me like, “No duh!” The other times we’ve come for wine week, we were part of a mob. I was having a hard time reconciling the deserted restaurant with the frenzy of wine week. We go every year in March to celebrate Paula & Dean’s anniversary. During wine week they pour 10 wines for $20. It used to be $10 for 10 wines, but last year they doubled the price — someone in my wine… Read More »
It’s a wine miracle! Well, sort of …
The beginning of last week an unexpected but very welcome e-mail popped up in my in box. It was from UPS saying I would receive a package on Friday. I had not ordered anything from anyplace so I was nonplussed. Back around the holidays I received notices about a supposed UPS delivery that was waiting for me and all I had to do was open the attachment to get the tracking info. Of course I did not open any attachment, but I did contact UPS several times. So as I was looking at this e-mail, I realized I had not received any such notice for several months and perhaps the bogus notices were back … or not. I scrolled down and saw the shipper was Maloy O’Neill winery in Paso Robles. Really? Could it be? Maloy O’Neill went out of business a couple of years ago. Let’s go back a minute to the fun, heady time when I… Read More »
Remember White Zinfandel ?
… I’ll bet you do. It was when you first started drinking wine, wasn’t it? Okay, maybe not when you first, first started drinking wine — that was Annie Greensprings and Boone’s Farm. But I mean when you graduated to real wine — white zinfandel. It had a lot going for it: it looked pretty, you could order it in a restaurant and feel very grown-up, and it tasted well, not exactly like soda pop, but it sure went down easy. And it wasn’t expensive, either. What’s not to like? I am reminiscing because I am sitting here sipping on a glass of “Rose′ of Zinfandel” from Villa San-Juliette in Paso Robles. It has a lovely shell pink color, bright and lively appearance, and would certainly add elegance to any dinner table. But … (My dad used to say, “just tell me the part that comes after the but.”) I don’t like it. It… Read More »
I met Grandma Dusi !
“Greetings! Greetings! Welcome to J. Dusi Tasting Room!” The big dog met us at the entrance with a huge smile and with his tail slapping people out of the way right and left, escorted us right up to the tasting bar. Well, at least I’m sure that was his intention. He got sidetracked by a bit of salami just inside the door. My friend Shawn and I had gone on a quick weekend trip to Paso Robles and at several of the tasting rooms we heard, “Don’t miss the new J. Dusi winery!” I’ve always loved wine that has grapes from the Dusi vineyards and we agreed that it was a “must.” So after a full day of visiting wineries, we screeched into the parking lot at 4:30 — half an hour before closing. Even then, the tasting room was crowded. Many of the other tasters were locals who were thrilled with… Read More »
What the Cluck?
“Hey, I know that wine!” The helpful guy at Best Buy was looking at the picture I had taken with my new — and confusing — camera. “Really? You do?” Cluster Cluck was, as far as I knew, a very limited edition, not widely distributed. In fact, the only place that I had seen it was at the Albertson’s market in Paso Robles and that was a few years back. “Yeah,” he said. “I wrote about it on my blog!” “Me, too!” (Well, I hadn’t, but I was going to which is why I’d taken a picture of it.) “What’s your blog?” He gave me his card and I will reference it here for anyone who is interested in seeing his take on this wine: http://SinCityFoodie.com . “So, do you know the story of Cluster Cluck?” I asked “Yes, it’s on the back label.” “Well, not exactly.” In fact, the… Read More »
