I Am Wined and Dined

Joe, my rep from CCCNY was coming to town today, and I have really been looking forward to it. He is such a nice guy, and I really like him. We don't get to see each other that often (he lives in Buffalo, NY), but I really enjoy it when we do.

They always take me someplace nice when they take me out, and I decided I wanted to go to Devereaux's downtown this time. I had never been there, and had been really curious.

The food was divine. We had the chef's tasting menu, which was five courses, but the portions were 'art food' sized, so it really wasn't a huge meal. We started off with a tuna sashimi with mango relish. The relish was delicious without being too sweet, and they had a mild ground chili on it that was lovely (chilies roasted and then cooled in snow to take the heat out, so the waitress informed us with a completely straight face). We then moved on to a butternut squash soup with orange honey marscpaone and toasted pecans. The marscapone melted like a lightly sweet cloud in the contrastingly salty and hearty soup. Next was a seared snapper with trophie pasta and pesto broth. The pasta was handmade, and the pesto broth deliciously light and flavored with fresh basil. Following was Atlantic salmon with miso broth. The salmon was served on a bed of matchstick snow peas that were exquisite in both taste and texture. For dessert, there was a cayenne spiced flourless chocolate lava cake with cinnamon ice cream. The cake was lightly spicy on the back end, but just a hint of chili. I am seriously loving chocolate and chili together. Those fiery chili Choxie bars they have at Target are my fave. So all in all, I felt like a pampered Chinese emperor, totally spoiled and indulged. That's a good feeling to have sometimes.

The star of the meal, however, I have to say was the wine. They have an impressive wine cellar, and I wanted to try a Soave, an Italian white that I had read up on. They were out though, and the waitress suggested an Albarino instead, a Spanish white that she said would be a good replacement. It was exquisite. Light, tart, and bold, and ice cold. It hit my palate with a slap, danced sparklingly for a moment, and then was gone, leaving me wanting more. I don't like whites with a long finish, so this was perfect for me. Really brassy and sassy on the front end, but content to be swallowed. This is a wine I will have again. The cellar we had was Nora, but I have read good things about Burgan's as well. I am seeing a trip to Wine & More in my future.

I'm glad I felt well enough to go. This crud is still hanging on, but I have been staying wrapped up and nursing my throat with peppermint tea, so hopefully I can throw it off. I'm buzzed and tired, and going to bed