philadining

Percy, thanks for your careful notes! Shola's combinations of flavors often suggest a very different wine than one might ordinarily pair with the main ingredient, so, just for the sake of posterity, here are my thoughts, for what they're worth: The Kurubuta Pork and Red Lentil soup paired with Piper Sonoma Blanc De Noir. We just had the bubbly already open as an aparatif, but it wasn't bad with this course... The 2002 Thierry Triolet Brut was a way more interesting bubbly on its own. The 1st course - Foie Gras two ways with silver corn juice paired with 2000 Chassagne-Montrachet It was Shola's suggestion to have a white Burgundy. And as much as I like my American Chardonnay, that LaTour 1er Cru was so elegant, so light, yet powerful, it's going to be hard to go back to the exuberant loudmouths from our left coast. This matched beautifully. 2nd course - Dayboat scallops... paired with 2003 Pierre Sparr Reserve Gewurztraminer As I had mentioned in my first post, I think this concept was good, and a spicier Getwurtz would have been really good here, but this one happened to be a little sweeter and smoother that I had expected, not a perfect match, but in the ballpark. 3rd course - Tomato water Risotto ... paired with 2004 Kim Crawford Sav Blanc This was also Shola's call, we had been all over the map on which way to go here, and we just happened to have a couple of bottles of this Aussie Sauv Blanc, which had a nice crisp freshness that accentuated the tomato and crab really well. (Thank You Pedro, and Chairman Newman!!) I liked this match quite a lot, but I think Pedro had some other ideas, which, frankly, I'm surprised we didn't pursue. It's not like we didn't have enough bottles to try... I might just have been too enraptured by the risotto to get up and try to operate a corkscrew. 4th course - Australian lamb sous vide... paired side-by-side with 2003 Langhe Nebbiolo and 2001 Arrowwood Syrah "Le Beau Melange" The Nebbiolo was a very nice wine, but not quite right with this lamb (it was really good with the goat cheese in the next course, although not so much with the salad as a whole.) The Syrah was exactly freaking perfect. And I might even suggest that it's that particular Arrowood that was so right. Spectacular. (Thank You again Pedro, and of course Chairman Newman!!) 5th course - aka "cheese course" paired with 1989 Aigle Blanc Vouvray We'd originally thought of this with the corn soup, but it would have been a little big there (good call, Bill) and we were steered to the much more appropriate Burgundy. But the Vouvray did a really nice job with this cheese, and was just all-out luscious anyway. 6th course - dessert paired with Sky River [Dry] Mead and 1998 Chateau Haut Bernasse Monbazillac The Mead was a delightful surprise, an elegant version of this honey wine, not too sweet and very complex. Thanks for putting up with our skeptical raised-eyebrows, Lauren! I really enjoyed drinking this, but it didn't really go with dessert. Thankfully the Monbazillac did, really well. That was a real treat, thanks yet again, Bill. We had about 10 more interesting bottles on-deck, so we'll have to find an excuse to crack those puppies soon!

Another incredible night at Studio Kitchen: great food, good company, amusing conversation, and a rather alarming amount of wine. The delivery of each course elicited a storm of flashes that would make Hollywood paparazzi jealous, so I'm sure we'll see some more visuals on some of this food. Our keeper of the wine list had the good sense to go to sleep, so we'll look forward to his detailed report with more info about the grape specifics. I will say that I think we did pretty well, largely by bringing enough wine to stock a small shop, and deciding as we went, often with helpful, sometimes surprising, suggestions from Shola. Big thanks to everyone for pitching-in with some truly interesting bottles. Special gratitude to Bill for raiding his cellar for some delicious wines. Sadly, he will live to regret this night, because even as we speak, Pedro and Percy and I are plotting ways to lure him into future events, in the hopes of sampling even more treasures from his collection. Some day soon, he'll look at his racks, in a hung-over haze, and wonder what happened to all those bottles he'd been saving... And thanks to Percy too, for that really amazing white Burgundy. The wine certainly enhanced the evening, but of course the food was the real star. Here's what I can remember in the sleepy afterglow. Amuse: Kurobuta Pork, Red Lentil Soup. A little lollypop of amazingly deep-flavored pork: crunchy, crispy, bacony on the outside; juicy, tender on the inside. Look for this pork on all the hipper menus soon, it's really something. Accompanying was a shotglass of Shola's perfect red lentil soup, chinoised to such a smooth texture that it's hard to believe there were legumes involved. First Course: Silver Queen Corn Juice, Foie Gras Two Ways, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Truffle Syrup, Meyer Lemon Oil. This picture was snapped right before the refreshing corn juice was poured around the pile of wild mushrooms, capped by a foie gras dumpling glazed in truffle syrup, a seared portion of foie topping that. The subtle touch of citrus really perked-up the already bright and fresh corn broth, making this refreshing and soothing all at once. Second Course: Roasted Dayboat Scallop, Chicken Escabeche Ravioli, Pimenton Ahumado, Carrot- Miso Puree, Cardamon Emulsion. These gargantuan scallops were so fresh and delicious that they almost needed none of the accompanying elaboration. On the other hand, I might not have even noticed if someone snatched it off my plate, I was so engrossed in the ravioli, the just barely vinegary stewed meat and sweet onion made even more complex by a subtle hint of smoky paprika. Some at the table were saying they most enjoyed this dish eating each element alone, but I was busy dragging the scallop through that essence of carrot, or spiking the ravioli with the eastern aroma of cardamon. Third Course: Tomato Water Risotto, Crab, Tarragon, Fennel Pollen, Dessicated Brandywine Yellow Tomatoes, Arbequina Olive Oil, Fennel Emulsion This creamy rice, cooked completely in tomato water, along with lumps of crabmeat, a dice of sopressata, not-quite-sun-dried heirloom tomatoes, and a drizzle of fruity olive oil, was by far the most intense risotto I've ever encountered. The layers of tomato flavor were mouth-filling but not overbearing, leaving room for one to revel in the texture, and for the subtleties of fennel and herb. We had to ask for spoons, it would have been criminal to leave any of this creamy liquid behind. Fourth Course: Australian Grass Fed Lamb Poached Sous Vide, Smoked White Bean Puree, Aged Goat Cheese, Lemon Pistachio Crumble, Pistachio Praline. Just when I thought the risotto was the star of the night, in comes this incredible lamb, a dark, seared crust contrasting with the uniform medium-rare doneness and concentrated essence of flavor that can only come from sous vide cooking. The white beans, some whole, some pureed, had an assertive smoke that melded perfectly with the meat. A grating of dry, aged goat cheese lent a nice salty note. I was enjoying pressing pieces of the lamb into the lemony nuts, the crunchy crust adding to the layered flavors. I loved this dish, but just to prove that I'm not a hopeless sycophant, I must report that one of our party was a little disappointed to have gotten the end piece of the lamb, which was much more done than the others' portions. I was too enraptured in my plate to notice at the time, and I wish everyone had been able to experience that amazing rosy meat. I can't imagine the more-cooked part was bad, but surely not as transcendant. Cheese Course This was kind-of a cheese course, kind-of a salad. A disc of roasted beet was topped with an ashy goat cheese, some yellow tomato, apple-smoked bacon, onions, basil and parmigiano reggiano. I could have eaten this anywhere in the sequence of dishes, it was so summery and refreshing, even while filled with strong flavors. (BTW, there's not always a cheese course. If you're lucky, if he feels like it, Shola might make some kind of cheese plate, and he goes so much further than simply putting cheese on a platter that you should certainly hope you do get one. But don't count on it!) Dessert: Chilean Carica Soup, Ginger Infused Peach Broth, Lemon Chaource Ice Cream, Caramelized Puffed Rice, Apricot Kernel Oil. This was so fresh and light and rejuvenating, the tropical sweetness playing off the cheesy tang of the ice cream. Mom never made a rice crispy treat quite like this puffed rice, but this might be the version they serve in heaven. I did have to whack at the clumped cluster in a slightly undignified way, but I'll pay that price to have that sweet crunch over the top of the ice cream and papaya nectar. It was great to end with something refreshing like this, especially on a hot day. In sum: once again, another artful, innovative, delicious meal from Shola, not a single misstep along the way in conception or execution. And we picked-up about 150 good tips about food, ingredients, cooking, where to eat... And we were lucky to have made some fortuitous wine pairings: Pedro's magic Arrowood Syrah matching just perfectly with the lamb, Percy's Chassagne-Montrachet going with, jeeze, anything!! I brought the wrong Getwurtztraminer: something a bit spicier than the 03 Alsatian Pierre Sparr would have been better with the scallop course, but it wasn't a tragedy. We had an incredible variety of drinks, 10 bottles in all among the 10 of us, ranging from sophisticated French classics, to a Pacific Northwest Mead that was surprisingly tasty (thanks Lauren!) As usual, it was nice to meet some eGullet folks in person, and I hope we've trapped a few more folks in our increasing social gravity. And good to see some of the familiar crew as well, thanks to all of you for making it a truly enjoyable night. And thanks to Shola for surprising and delighting us, again. Like there was any doubt...

Table Talk in the Inky says that Hamburger Mary's has closed, or as the sign in the window apparently reads: "Mary has left the building."

I like this idea: none of the soups on the Chinese menu are translated, and I expect that some of them must be good. And there are a bunch of duck dishes that don't have translations either, and they can't all be tongues or feet... Well, I guess they could be, but they might be good, it would be nice to know how to order them! And we have to find those dumplings for Percy, maybe if someone can pronounce "Zhong Shui Zhao" correctly for us, we'll get somewhere...

We were happy to see that Majolica in Phoenixville is offering Hendricks Farm cheeses as their cheese course. My apologies, I lost track of which they were offering, and the three were a little too similar for an ideal cheeseplate, but the cheeses themselves were very good, and nicely presented.

Oh yeah, here's their website: http://www.china-bistro.com/ which includes both the "main" and the Chinese menu.

Hot weather calls for hot food, so some friends and I sweated it out at Tifco's tonight. The Lamb with Cumin didn't look quite as terrifying as the other time I had it, you could actually see the meat amidst the dried chiles this time. But it was no less spicy, good bold heat but not so much that it was decimating whole clusters of taste buds. We were thrilled to discover some fried slices of garlic, infused with the cumin and hot pepper, which were almost as good as the lamb which was nice and tender and juicy this time. Twice-Cooked Pork had approximately the same level of spice, but mostly from thin-sliced green chile peppers, and a generous sprinkling of dried hotter peppers. This was nice slices of fat-streaked pork, with fresh peppers and onions, the spice cutting the richness. Surprisingly the hottest thing was Ma Po Tofu which featured nice soft cubes of beancurd, minced pork, and a firey sauce. We also had their Dan Dan Noodles, which were decent, but not especially exciting, and our table's private comedian wolfed down a good portion of the Chow Fun in-between knock-knock jokes, so it must have been pretty good. I had actually ordered the cold chicken in a spicy sauce as well, but they forgot that, and it's just as well, three adults and a kid barely made it through half of this food. So, there's good stuff to be had here, with a little digging. Percy, I'm convinced we can find those dumplings if we ask enough times! I'm looking forward to trying some more.

Despite it being oppressively hot and humid on sunday, I was shivering, practically frosted-over from getting caught in an epic downpour, then sitting in a subzero movie theater. One solution: soup. Katie's recommendation of Lee How Fook for Hot and Sour was top-of-brain, so there was no debate. I'm not sure a photo can ever really do soup justice, but this was indeed the best Hot and Sour I've ever had, not in any dramatic way, but by simply being perfectly balanced. It was solidly sour, but not puckeringly so; a little spicy, but not burningly hot; thick but not gummy; filled with the right amount of the right stuff. Excellent. Pan-fried dumplings weren't quite as good. They were a little limp, and all stuck together, and had a slight scorched flavor. The next table over had some steamed dumplings that looked better. We really liked the Duck with Black Bean Sauce and Hot Pepper. I didn't see or taste any hot pepper, but the flavorful chunks of boneless duck, sweet bell peppers and onions were bathed in a good salty sauce, with a strong ginger kick. I'd get that again. But the real star was indeed the soup.

OK, I'll admit it was a little sick to have a Tex's pulled-pork sandwich for lunch, and then go to the Smoked Joint for Dinner, but sometimes, things just work out that way. Could be worse. Four of us were lucky enough to hit it early in the night, on the day after a Book and the Cook event with Mike and Amy Mills, authors of "Peace Love and Barbecue." They had some food from that special event left over, as well as the usual menu. Our bartender, as well as several of the waitstaff had been raving about that food (we were fully aware that they were also desperately trying to move the product, but they did seem sincere in their praise.) We surprised even ourselves by ordering the deviled eggs from the event, which despite our skepticism about how good a deviled egg can be, turned out to be rather interesting. The filling had a bold sweet mustardy flavor which was good on its own, and even better contrasted with the mixed greens on the plate, which had been simply dressed with a vinaigrette and dusted with rub spices. Even the couple of strawberries among the greens seemed to like the chile powder and whatever else was in the rub. This is worth exploring further. We also got the babyback ribs from the special (leftovers) menu, and they were very tasty, not quite as smoky or juicy as the Joint's own spareribs, but a little spicier and drizzled with a very different, sweeter sauce. Our table was split on which version of the ribs we liked better. This came with a nice baked sweet potato with a brown-sugar based glaze, and a small ramekin of baked beans which were quite good, a mixture of types of beans, and were not as sweet as the Joint's own version. We also got the Joint's standard Chicken Wings as an appetizer, and these really are terrific, as others have reported. They are not deepfried, which is nice, and they are big and meaty, which is not always the case. The wings are smoked and grilled, and have a thick coating of dry spice on them, which makes them texturally pretty different from most wings, and I'd say way tastier. (And I grew up close enough to Buffalo to have encountered a few wings over the years....) We also shared a "Barbecue Experience" which as I think I've reported in previous posts is a big plate with 3 or 4 spare ribs, 3 slices of Brisket, a good-sized pile of pulled pork, a chicken leg and two sides. The brisket was really nice and juicy, I think they might have finally nailed that, it's been good on my last three visits. The pulled pork had good moisture too, although i was also enjoying dousing it with a bit of the clear vinegar-based sauce on the table. Sweet potato fries and greens were both excellent, although the side order of greens is a little skimpy. I mean it's greens for god's sake.... I was so stuffed I couldn't even stagger over to Capogiro, which might be a sign of the apocalypse. Take cover.

Had the Steamed Pork Buns here last weekend, REALLY good... Baby Bok Choy with garlic is good too, and the older woman there always tells me it's very healthy when I order it (along with about 8 other dishes featuring pork in various guises....)

I think your description of the procedure is right, but then I also think that Sang Kee does the classic Peking Duck procedure, or something like it. They do have Roast Duck on the menu, but the Peking Duck is a different thing, with the super-crispy skin that is really quite distinct from that on their plain-old roasted duck. I can't swear to this, but I can just say that the first course (the skin with the pancakes and scallions and hoisin) tastes very different to me than simply the outer layer of the roast duck that you can get on a rice platter, or whatever. As another datapoint, I remember reading recently in the paper about how they ship the ducks out to Sang Kee Asian Bistro in Wynnewood from downtown. I doubt they'd bother if they were just roasting them. And along those lines, I've had "Peking Duck" in a few places in the world (sadly not including China, which would make me feel a little more confident) but in high and low-brow places in NY, in San Francisco, in Toronto, in smaller cities where it requires a day or two advance notice. And it has always had a taste and texture very similar to Sang Kee's version. So unless everyone's playing fast and loose with the terminology, I think Sang Kee really does make Peking Duck. It's entirely possible that I'm missing some subtlety, or that every place I've gone has taken the same shortcuts, so I'm not going to wager my car on this, but I really think they do more than just roast the ducks there. But I'd love to hear from anyone who knows more about it. And back to Andrew's question, and the point of this topic: At Sang Kee, the "Peking" duck, whatever its true identity, is of course a must. Evan is right about the roast pork (by itself, or on a rice patter with boiled greens, or in a noodle soup.) I have a hard time resisting a bowl of roast pork egg noodle soup. That makes a perfect solo lunch in the winter. And again agreed with Evan on the snow pea greens. The other various sauteed greens. like water spinach, etc. are good too, Also, I know it's hard to get past the connotation of mundane mall food, but the General Tso's chicken is really quite good. I also like the Salt-Baked Squid there. I like the Beef Chow Fun, and the various pan-fried noodles.

I got some take out from Mabel's a while back (they don't have tables) and I thought it was pretty good. It's more of a plain homestyle food place than the maniacal artisan smoker shrines that we see a lot of these days. I got a half rack of ribs, which were not really smokey, but probably weren't supposed to be.... they were really quite tender, falling off the bone for better or worse, and very tasty with a nice sweet sauce on them. I also had some OK Mac and Cheese, and excellent basic greens. I think all that was like $10 or something. I'd go back, but it's not really a destination for barbecue aficionados, more like a spot for good basic homey food.

So, what, I was supposed to walk past this? I was hoping that they'd be set-up in this parking lot in Phoenixville all summer, but it turns out they rove around, so keep an eye out, or better yet check their website to find out where Tex's Barbecue might show up next. There was a whole lot of smoke going on, and I could see good real wood stacked up in a flatbed truck, and smoldering down when the pitmaster (Tex, I would presume) opened an end to douse a flame-up. They didn't have any brisket today, but I tried their ribs Which had a medium smoke flavor, but a really nice (black) peppery spice and a good tenderness. Their homemade sauce is neither watery nor thick, bright red, but not too hot or sweet, assertive with black pepper like the ribs. It was really good on the meat. I also got a pulled-pork sandwich which was doused in that good sauce, but not too much... It was really nice and tender and juicy, but I didn't get many of those crusty outside bits I like. I did get one little weird ashy dry nugget that wasn't too great, but I can overlook it... The pork sandwich was quite generous for $4, even if it was on a plain-old supermarket hamburger roll. A rack of ribs is about $16 or 17, I bought a slab that was a couple of ribs shy of a rack, they had sold a few ribs to the guy in front of me and I was happy to take the remainder which they weighed-out and charged about $14. I wouldn't say it's the BEST barbecue I've had, but it's pretty darn good, and if they pull up in a lot a few blocks from you, their rating seems to go up a few notches! So keep an eye out for Tex...

I just heard about this interesting site with news and reviews of Main Line restaurants: http://www.mainlinedine.com/

I've often found eating crabs to be a calorie-losing proposition, exercise really. Delicious exercise, sure, but every bit as good as a jog around the park. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

tonight- Blueberry Thyme: randomly thymey, consistently blueberry-y Fresh Yogurt with Cherries: light, tangy, creamy, with chunks of fresh cherries. Really nice. good together.

As a fan of both Sang Kee and Joe's Peking Duck, I was thrilled at the opening of Joe Poon's place on Arch. I went several times in the first couple of years, but experienced decidedly mixed results. As for the food, every time I went, I got a combination of absolutely fantastic, interesting innovative, delicious food, and some barely edible disasters. The good stuff was good enough that I kept going back for a while, but we kept being subjected to enough bad ideas, or sloppily-executed good ideas that I finally gave up. The service we received was occasionally pretty good, but more often abysmal. I'm only guessing, but it might have been another symptom of the celebrity chef syndrome, I did notice that our best meals occurred when Joe Poon himself was in the place, and at our worst ones I saw no evidence of him. So, I'm a little sad to see him close his restaurant up, but I have to say that I haven't been able to bring myself to spend what always ended up being a lot of money for hit or miss food. I'll agree that the hits were pretty thrilling. I'm not sure the hyperactive chinatown tours or TV fruit-carving shtick has helped solidify his reputation as an important chef, although I'd agree he has been just that.

It's actually at Sixth and Chestnut, and it's called Cafe Toscano. Same owner as Mezza Luna. I sampled their gelato on Friday. (It's mere steps from my office.) Flavors are more traditional, unsurprising in a mostly tourist area. Laid out the same way as Capogiro, with fruit flavors on the front end and nuts/creams/chocolates going towards the back. I had zabaglione and wild blueberry. It was nice, but no Capogiro. The flavors were just not very intense. The texture is a bit off was well, the zabaglione in particular was a bit goopy. The is one non-traditional flavor -- apparently the owner is a fan of G Power (is that the right name? Some sort of power-drink?) They'll smoosh as many flavors as you want into any size cup. The small is $3 or $4 (sorry! an important detail, I know.) In short, it was pleasant, but not outstanding. I'll go back and sample more flavors. In the name of research, of course. :) ← After about 16 orbits in ever-widening circles, and still failing to find parking near Capogiro, we bailed. (time for a drive-through window!!!) We were headed for the Ritz anyway, so we checked out this new place. And I'll concur with Serpentine: it's good, but no Capogiro. I liked it, and I'd go again if I were in the neighborhood, but I'm not making a special trip. I don't know if people started torturing them with crazy requests, but they're now, sensibly, portioning flavors like Capogiro does: 1 or 2 in a small, up to 3 in a medium, 4 in a large. I didn't try the G-Power! flavor, I'm afraid to, but yeah, that's a little weird.... Most flavors are pretty conventional, although they did have a mojito sorbetto. Since Bonnie's closed, I don't know where else one can easily satisfy a frozen-dessert jones in that neighborhood, so they should do fine.

I liked all the wines, a few really stand out in my memory: Warner Vineyards "Grapes of Love" Liebenstrauben, MI This was indeed quite a nice wine, Pedro's term "crypto-riesling" is apt. It was sweet but not cloying, very refreshing. I was feeling the love. Graf Hardegg Pinot Blanc/Chardonnay 1999, Austria This was quite a contrast to our previous white, complex and minerally, austere and elegant. I liked it a lot. (And yes, it tasted like slate, but making us go lick the front steps was a bit strong of a teaching tool Katie....) Arrowood Syrah "Le Beau Melange" 2001, Sonoma, CA This was one of my faves of the night, it was luscious and fruity, dense enough you could probably paint your house with it. I'm going to get some of that, unless Pedro's bought all of it. Montes Alpha Cabernet 2001, Santa Cruz, Chile La Jota Vineyard Howell Mountain Cabernet 2000, Napa, CA This was indeed an interesting contrast: the wines were like identical twins separated at birth, recognizable as close relatives, but clearly the product of different school systems. Each was a quintessential Cab, but on opposite edges of what that might mean. The Californian was open and happy and fruity and delicious. The Chilean was WAY more tannic, structured and complex. I really liked them both, but the Montes Alba was very impressive, interesting, deep and serious. The La Jota was more like that fun neighbor who's really great to hang out with, but will probably forget to water your plants while you're on vacation. You'll find it hard to stay mad. Big thanks to Katie, Percy and Pedro for sharing those treats.

:cough: Was it really that many?? ← I think all my emails in the previous days included some reference to "there's ONLY six of us, we don't need ALL that much wine." What was I thinking? This just kind of summed up the mood of the night, and this was only part way through the evening: Thankfully the meal was pleasantly casual in its pacing, so we were there a LONG time (almost 5 hours), which allowed us to detox sufficiently for the drive home.

T-Shirts!!!!

OK, Tim, Evan, I'm probably being dense here, but can you confirm the way the steak was cut in half? Horizontal? Do you really mean they made two thinner steaks from one "normal" serving? Weird! A rib-eye does have an interesting variety of tastes and tenderness around the different areas of the steak, so I can see how it might make a certain amount of sense for them to try to assure that you each had what seemed like complete steak, but making it thin like that would seem to me to be counter-productive for highlighting the qualities of a piece of meat like that. It doesn't seem like either of your were happy with the preparation. The only times I've seen anything like that is when someone orders a filet mignon well-done, and and the chef butterflies it to keep from charring it (and to keep from rushing out into the dining room and murdering the person who ordered it.) But it seems odd that Barclay Prime would divide a steak that way just to facilitate sharing.

Not really. Birchrunville is quite a ways north from there. Longwood is in the same general part of the world, but pretty far south and a little west. But if you drove up 202 North, to 100 North, and jogged a little east on 113, then a couple miles west on 401, you're almost there. That might take you 45 minutes from Longwood. But make sure you have a reservation, it's not a large place so they're often full. And it's not as if there's a back-up restaurant in Birchrunville.

Six of us hired trained wilderness guides and made the daring trek out to deepest Chester County for a really wonderful dinner at the Birchrunville Store Cafe. OK, it's not really all that remote or hard-to-find, but it's a bit of a drive from almost anywhere, and the restaurant, located in a formal General Store, is just about all there is in Birchrunville, besides a few houses and some sheep. I'm not kidding about the sheep. But it's worth making the trip, even from Center City, as a few intrepid members of our party did. Those us us from Chester County left wondering why we don't eat here every week... On Wednesdays and Thursdays, they offer 5 or 6 course tastings, as well as a regular a la carte menu. The six of us did the 6 course tasting. Percyn managed to wangle a menu out of them the night before our dinner, but we basically resorted to the saturation-bombing school of wine pairings, bringing entirely too much wine, and then drinking a terrifying amount of it! At some point we toasted PLCB Chairman Newman, as we enjoyed several Chairman's Selections, along with some more obscure bottles courtesy of Katie, Percy, Capaneus and myself. I'll let Katie add wine details, as she was taking careful notes, as well as showing us how the real professionals do a horizontal tasting: They say that the tasting menus change daily, here's what we had: Amuse: Grouper ceviche with black ink. This was a wonderfully refreshing, cleansing start: fresh, tangy marinated fish, presented with slices of cucumber, spicy micro radish greens and a surprising hot twist, from tiny pieces of chile pepper. It was a lovely presentation, although we couldn't help wondering if it might have been even more attractive without the ink. First Course: Ahi Tuna with Aged Balsamic Glaze Calamari stuffed with crawfish, organic tomato coulis Lobster with Langoustine and Bourbon Sauce The Tuna was nicely seared, giving a real textural gradation from the crusty exterior to the rare center. It was seated in an intense, reduced balsamic vinegar sauce that complimented the earthier spicing on the fish. Small, perfectly tender squid were stuffed with a savory minced crawfish mixture, reminiscent of a loose sausage, and seated in a summery, smooth tomato sauce. The Lobster claw meat was luxuriating in a creamy, bisque-like sauce, perked-up by an unmistakable touch of whiskey. Second Course Crispy Pheasant with Seared Foie Gras, Roasted Fig and Champagne Grapes This was really delicious. The last minute addition of the foie added an extra level of indulgence, and was much appreciated, even though the tender, just slightly gamey pheasant breast and intense, dark sauce could probably have done just fine on its own. The foie was a nice touch though... Third Course Vol au Vent with Sweetbreads and Wild Mushrooms Airy puff pastry held crusty roasted sweetbreads and an almost overwhelming array of wild mushrooms. The fungi were so tasty that the sweetbreads were almost secondary, but the decadent little nuggets had a satisfying crust and just-barely creamy interior. Fourth Course Rabbit Tenderloin with Burgundy Sauce and Wild Blueberries This mild meat had just a hint of gaminess, but the wine and tiny blueberries gave the needed kick to the tenderloin's domesticity. This was perfectly cooked, even finishing up the last final moments of the process in front of us, as we were instructed to start from the thin end, promised that the thicker section would be just right by the time we got there. And indeed it was! Fifth Course Venison Filet with fresh Morels and Barolo Sauce Tender, ultra-lean meat brought to an ideal medium rare, enlivened by a signature intense sauce, and earthy mushrooms. Sixth Course Cappuccino Creme Brulée, Banana Mousse Cake with Sesame Nougat The thick head of whipped cream somewhat obscured the crunchy caramelized top of the creme brulée, but it was worth it for the visual analogy to a frothy cappuccino. The mousse and surrounding cake were both airy, as one would hope, with just enough sweetness. I thought all of the food was excellent. If I had to pick a personal fave, it might have been the pheasant, but all the courses were quite enjoyable. And each was amplified by some excellent wine pairings, which we managed by bringing way more than we could ever drink, covering a wide range of styles, and making snap decisions as the food arrived. Of course it didn't hurt to have Katie at the table! Service was very friendly and professional, nicely paced, attentive without being intrusive. Frequent changes of flatware, (including flashy Sabatier Laguiole knives) and good quality wineglasses (and we were keeping them busy with stemware changes!) made for a smooth, elegant experience. But the feel here is nicely unstuffy, befitting the laid-back country location. This six course tasting menu cost $70 (plus coffee, tax and tip) which felt like an excellent value. The regular menu is more affordable, and offers the same caliber of food, if not the exact same dishes. It's a pretty small restaurant, so reservations are necessary, and not easy to get, especially on weekends, so call now, and be ready to wait several weeks for a prime table. All this at a place that's not really easy to find! There's a decent map on their website, and some slightly ambiguous driving directions, so you might want to Mapquest it if it's your fist time. But it's worth the traveling time, if you get there early just sit on the porch and start in on your wine. Life could be worse. Big thanks to percyn for making this dinner happen!

The Birchrunville Store Cafe has been one of my favorite places for several years, and I was surprised to see that we hadn't started an actual topic for it. Here's the official info: 1403 Hollow Road Birchrunville, PA 19421 610.827.9002 http://www.birchrunvillestorecafe.com/