Brasserie Margaux wine dinner

[LEdlund]

When is the dinner featuring Australian wines? Is that also $65 per person?

My husband and I used to attend wine dinners at the old Le Fleur restaurant and we have been looking for a new place to go. From reading past posts, BM sounds perfect.

Lauren

[MsRamsey]

The Brasserie Margaux dinner is Sunday, April 27 at 7:00 PM. The cost is $75. Arnie Millan, the chatty sommelier, says to email him if you would like to receive a menu: millan@wolfenet.com

[tighe]

For anyone who's interested, here's a link to the menu for the upcoming Australian wine dinner at BM: Menu

I don't find it as interesting as the last two and will probably pass.

[MsRamsey]

My mind says yes, (even though I'm not interested in Australian wine), but the IRS says no.

[LEdlund]

I just made reservations. I agree, it doesn't sound as interesting as those previously posted, but I'm sure I will learn a thing or two....

Lauren

[tighe]

I just made reservations.  I agree, it doesn't sound as interesting as those previously posted, but I'm sure I will learn a thing or two....

Lauren

My guess is that it will be great and I'll be kicking myself for not going after I hear your account of it....

Scrat and I went to BM for dinner last night, hoping to catch the cassoulet before the menu change. The bad news was that the cassoulet has already been taken off the menu, the good news is that it got us to try a couple new things that were out of this world.

First was the foie gras appetizer. The first thing that jumps out about it on the menu is the price: $18.95!...now thats one pricey appetizer. Then you get the plate and realize that it is probably the largest slab of foie gras you've ever seen served in a restaurant, the size of a small steak, I $#!^ you not. I have no idea how they accomplish it, but the foie is crispy on the outside and almost molten in the middle. Its served with a port reduction, vanilla-port poached figs and toasted brioche. I thought I was going to die....

The second stellar item was the paella. After some otherworldly paella experiences in Spain, I am always a littel hesitant to order it here. I had a very good one at La Tienda Cadiz, but most others I've tried have failed. This one combined seafood (salmon, shrimp, clams & mussels) with chicken and house-made sausage. It was just outstanding, with all the ingredients cooked perfectly.

The waiter said that the best thing on the menu is the Braised Cider Chicken, but if its better than these two, I don't know if I can take it....

[tighe]

Sorry to be so impatient Lauren, but......spill it!! How was the BM Australian wine dinner last night?!?! Inquiring minds are dying to know.....

Edited April 28, 2003 by tighe (log)

[LEdlund]

I guess I best get this down before I completely forget everything from the dinner.

Since this was my first wine dinner at BM I have nothing to compare it to, but I had a fabulous time. Arnie and his staff did a great job of serving the 40 or so of us that were there. Having done wine dinners at other restaurants, I was surprised to see that we were seating at different tables in the main restaurant. I had expected a big table in a separate room. The only thing I missed by having the tables separate, was that talking with the other diners was difficult. We were lucky to be seated right next to Arnie so we were able to chat with him regularly.

First course was oysters on the half shell with St Hallet Poacher Blend wine. The oysters were plump and tasted just like the sea. They were especially good when eaten with the cucumber salad they were served with. I wasn't fond of the wine. A little too green for me. I should note that I am by no means a wine connoisseur. I like to drink it and that is all I know.

Second course was shrimp skewers with tamarind and the wine was Howarths Pycnantha Riesling.

This was not my favorite course. The shrimp had cooled too much by the time it got to us and the tamarind flavor wasn't as prominent as I would have liked. The wine was the strangest riesling that I have ever tasted. Very watery and almost sour.

The third course was duck pot pie in green pea puree with a Sticks Pinot Noir.

I loved this dish. The crust of the duck pie was rich and buttery and the duck confit was soooooo flavorful. The puree was split pea soup finished with fresh english peas. The brightness of the peas blended perfectly with the rich saltiness of the pot pie. It was mentioned that in Australia they would put tomato sauce on that dish (which they call a floater). Sounded like a crime to me. Oh, yeah the wine..... a pretty non-descript pinot. Very young and light. Arnie mentioned that they had tasted, and were expecting the 1999 vintage and ended up with the 2002. It needed the age.

The main course was lamb served on foie gras filled gallette topped with a fried quail egg. I am the only one at my table who tasted the foie gras in the potatoes and I thought it was a fun touch. The lamb was perfectly medium rare and very tasty. The wine served with the lamb was my husbands favorite. It was a Jim Barry McCrae Wood Shiraz. It was peppery and big and went perfectly with the lamb. I wish I had known about this wine before Easter!

By the time dessert came around I was stuffed, but I managed to eat it all anyway. It was pavlova with tropical fruit and on the side of the plate were three little cakes covered in coconut. The pavlova was a little too sweet for me, but the little cakes were a nice surprise. And the dessert wine was my favorite of the evening. It was a Campbells Rutherglen Muscat. Very dark in color. Tasted like hazelnuts and caramel to me. I loved it.

The next dinner is featuring Southern Italy but unfortunately it is the Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend. I doubt we will be in town, but if we are, I'm sure we will be there.

[tighe]

Thanks for the review, sounds like the food was better than the wines. Southern Italy is very intriguing to me, think I'll have to clear the schedule for that one....

[tsquare]

So you wine dinner diners have such good things to say about this place - did you read the review in The Stranger (April 17, 2003) on French restaurants in Seattle? Do you think they reviewed it before the current the staffing or just a question of taste preferences? Mmmm, hazelnut caramel dessert wine...

[MsRamsey]

Ya well, it's The Stranger after all. Never known for their food reviews.

[tighe]

So you wine dinner diners have such good things to say about this place - did you read the review in The Stranger (April 17, 2003) on French restaurants in Seattle? Do you think they reviewed it before the current the staffing or just a question of taste preferences? Mmmm, hazelnut caramel dessert wine...

While my knee-jerk reaction is to second MsRamsey's comment, I think there is probably a different explanation...

First, thanks for pointing out the review. I had been meaning to read that issue and never go to it. Their main complaint seems to be with the sauces. If you are of the minimalist sauce school, that is, you like a small drizzle around the rim of the plate, much of what BM serves is not for you. In sauces, they are definitely Old School, in the amount and composition. I am a sauce freak, and if the sauce is a good one, as BM's virtually always are, then BRING IT ON! Personnally I am much more likely to complain about an insufficient amount of sauce than an excess of it.

All that being said, I haven't tried any of the specific dishes that they mention and there are certainly any number of items on the menu that are excellent and not sauce-centric such as the sauteed wild mushrooms.

I was dismayed that BM didn't even crack The Weekly's recently published Top 100. Its full of places that, to me at least, don't hold a candle to BM.

Some examples of BM's sauciness:

Edited April 29, 2003 by tighe (log)

[Schielke]

Saucy!

I think it is awesome that they served a floater.

Ben

[tighe]

Ya well, it's The Stranger after all.  Never known for their food reviews.

Sorry, but I have to get in one more parting shot......

Just to see what her opinions were on other places, I did a search of The Stranger's archives for other articles by Jennifer Maerz, the author of the blurb about BM. Guess what? She's a music writer! She's written a few pieces on films and art, but unless I'm missing something, she's never written about food before.....

[mamster]

Hey, you got a problem with music writers crossing over to food?

Seriously, I'm reluctant to comment on another publication's reviews (unless, y'know, I really like them), so let's just say I like sauce.

[tighe]

Hey, you got a problem with music writers crossing over to food?

You think if I went over to the history department they'd let me teach a course in the early-modern history of the Middle East because I've read a few books about it?..

To be fair, it appears that Min Liao has actually written a few pieces on music and film, so maybe The Stranger just has a whole posse of multi-threat writers....

[thelastsupper]

Not to praise the Stranger's food writing, or pan it for that matter-- but come on . . .

A sauce is too sweet, meat is tasteless: these aren't things that take special skill or experience to see. Also, you can be an excellent diner without writing about what you eat for a living. Just look at this board. I doubt the folk at the Stranger have an aversion to sauce. Sauce done badly on the other hand is (if not a crime--) exceedingly unpleasant. More bad sauce=more unpleasantness (more crime!).

I wonder if the wine dinners are more carefully executed than meals in the dining room?

[Schielke]

I think that the issue in question used a bunch of different writers to cover all the french restaurants. Who knows if the writer is credible or not. Perhaps she caught them on a bad night or perhaps she is a tasteless heathen!!!!!

I have no opinion since I have not eaten at BM, but I know some people who have good taste and like it.

pssst, that is you guys.

Ben

[tighe]

Not to praise the Stranger's food writing, or pan it for that matter-- but come on . . .

A sauce is too sweet, meat is tasteless: these aren't things that take special skill or experience to see. Also, you can be an excellent diner without writing about what you eat for a living. Just look at this board. I doubt the folk at the Stranger have an aversion to sauce. Sauce done badly on the other hand is (if not a crime--) exceedingly unpleasant. More bad sauce=more unpleasantness (more crime!).

I wonder if the wine dinners are more carefully executed than meals in the dining room?

I'm going to try to parse out my response in coherent pieces, please forgive me where I fail....

I have eaten at BM probably 8 times, other than the two wine dinners that I attended there and have noticed no appreciable difference in the quality of the food. The wine dinners may include special touches that are not seen on the regular menu items, but the fundamentals are equally strong.

I believe experience, both in dining and writing about it, does play a crucial roll in being a good food critic. Simply recounting one's personal opinions about food does not a professional critic make, which is why very few of us on eGullet are getting paid to be food writers. You have to understand your own tastes in the broader context of taste and be willing to acknowledge where your impressions may be due to personal preferences rather than some absolute standard. This piece, and much of The Stranger's food writing, consistently fails to do this.

Finally, the real issue at hand, the sauces at BM. As I've said, I haven't tried any of the dishes mentioned in the piece, but have a hard time believing that they could be so radically different from what I have sampled. I would argue that "too sweet", in particular, is in the palate of the beholder. Distinct sweetness in food, even desserts, seems to be widely regarded as a bad thing these days. I know that I have a much higher sweetness threshold than many people, so its possible that a sauce that I enjoy, others would find overly sweet. My experience at BM is that sauces are rich, amply portioned, well balanced and compliment the food they are served with in almost all cases, and where they don't I have no compunction about pointing it out.

If my tone is irrationally defensive, its because I know the effect that reviews, even brief ones, can have on a restaurant's business and I frankly think that BM is getting screwed by the one in The Stranger. Guess this just means I'll have to go there even more often myself!

- tighe

Official Apologist For Brasserie Margaux

Edited April 30, 2003 by tighe (log)

[tighe]

The menu for the next wine dinner has been released:

Antipasto

Soppressata Sausage with Marinated White Beans and Arugula

Argiolas Costamolino - Sardegna 2001

_____________________

Pasta

Orecchietti with Eggplant Caponata and shaved Pecorino Romano

Morgante Nero D’Avola – Sicilia 2001

_____________________

Insalate

Grilled Octopus with Caramelized Cipollini, Spring Greens and

a Balsamic Dressing

Pichierri Primotivo di Manduria 2001

_____________________

Main

Pan Roasted Veal Chop stuffed with Smoked Mozzarella, Grilled Polenta,

Portabello Mushroom Ragout and Fava Beans

Taurino Salice Salentino Riserva - Puglia 1999

_____________________

Dessert

Lemon Cannoli – Almond-Laced Pastry Shell filled with an Italian Lemon Cream Ricotta

Colosi Malvasia Della Lipari - Sicilia 2000

Tea and Coffee

Wild horses couldn't keep me away, crappy sauces and all.....

[tighe]

MsRamsey, scrat and I are planning to attend the next wine dinner at BM. If anyone else would like to go and is willing to be seen with us in public, let me know and I'd be happy to handle reservations....

Edited May 13, 2003 by tighe (log)

[LEdlund]

MsRamsey, scrat and I are planning to attend the next wine dinner at BM.

Well guys, how was it?

I ended up staying in town this weekend but totally forgot about the wine dinner. I guess a bbq with family was just as fun.....

[tighe]

Along with the Ramseys, scrat and I enjoyed another wine dinner at Brasserie Margaux last Sunday. In my opinion, neither the food nor wine reached the heights of the Rhone Valley dinner, but both were still quite good and, yet again, the pairings were remarkable.

We were shown to a nicely set table. For whatever reason, I particularly like the X-shaped arrangement of the wine glasses.

Soppressata Sausage with Marinated White Beans and Arugula

Argiolas Costamolino - Sardegna 2001

A 'flower' of thinly sliced soppresata filled with chopped arugula, propped up by marinated white beans in a radicchio cup. A very balanced combination of flavors, paired with an interesting, fairly grassy, white wine that cut the fattiness of the sausage well.

Orecchietti with Eggplant Caponata and shaved Pecorino Siciliana

Morgante Nero D’Avola – Sicilia 2001

Both my favorite dish and my favorite wine of the evening. If you are a sauce minimalist with your pasta, this one was for you. Smoky roasted eggplant, accented with bits of sautéed bacon and capers. The chef sought out Sicilian pecorino to be true to the origins of the dish and the wine. This was a profound wine with nice earthiness. Apparently it is available at Esquin for less than $10/bottle.

Grilled Octopus with Caramelized Cipollini, Spring Greens and a Balsamic Dressing

Pichierri Primotivo di Manduria 2001

A somewhat disappointing dish, as the octopus didn't have a lot of flavor or a very satisfying texture. The cipollini were the best part of the dish and we learned that they are actually not related to onions, who knew? Although the wine was Zinfandel (or was it Grenache?) based, it struck me as very much like a pinot noir in flavor and weight.

Pan Roasted Veal Chop stuffed with Smoked Mozzarella, Grilled Polenta, Portobello Mushroom Ragout and Fava Beans

Taurino Salice Salentino Riserva - Puglia 1999

A huge veal chop that was made by the pepper seasoning on the outside and the smoked mozzarella inside. I don't care for polenta, but I devoured this one; I don't even want to know how much butter was in it. Maybe because of its young age, this was a very assertive wine that I enjoyed, but scrat couldn't stand.

Lemon Cannoli – Almond-Laced Pastry Shell filled with an Italian Lemon Cream Ricotta

Colosi Malvasia Della Lipari - Sicilia 2000

Unlike any cannoli I've ever had, this would be a hit with the "I don't want my dessert to be sweet" crowd. The shell was tuile, filled with a very lemony, but not at all sweet, ricotta. A decent dessert wine, but not a good as other Italians I've had, such as Vin Santo or Passito di Pantelleria.

One general comment is that there was distinctly less sauce involved in this meal than in others I've had at BM. I hope that was just a function of the cuisine being prepared; I would hate to think that Chris actually took that drivel from the Stranger to heart.

After dinner we had a nice conversation with Arnie Milan about all things wine. He just knows a tremendous amount about the wine itself and its historical context, and has incredible passion for it.

Sommelier Arnie Milan & Chef Chris Zarkades

Chef Chris Zarkades & his kitchen crew

Edited multiple times because I desperately need an editor....

Edited May 30, 2003 by tighe (log)

[col klink]

Wow, thanks tighe!

[Schielke]

Sauce Rocks!