Wine & Food Dinner

[rich]

Great five course wine & food dinner, pairing five types of meat from Lobel's with ten wines from Morrell - two for each course.

Check it out - only $70 per person - incredible value.

Next Wednesday 7/30 at 7:00 p.m.

Rich

[tjaehnigen]

that is really cheap considering Lobel's prices (and Morrell's). Wow.

[rich]

Here's more info and menu:

When: Wednesday July 30th, 2003

Time: 7 pm

Cost: $70/person

Information/

Reservations: Melissa Boardman. 212-688-9370, ext 2208 or melissab@morrellwine.com

RSVP: by July 28th

New York's finest purveyor of prime meat and New York's best wine merchant are combining forces and resources to create a memorable evening for gastronomes and wine lovers. 5 pairs of superb wines will be matched to 5 magnificent Lobel grill preparations.

Fourth- and fifth-generation Lobels, Stanley and Evan, will discuss each of the cuts of meat they are serving while Robert Millman, Director of The Morrell Wine Institute, will introduce the wines. There will be lively discussions throughout the evening of how the wines work with the meats.

A special feature of the evening will be a serving of Wagyu NY strip steak, unquestionably the most luxurious beef in the world. Wagyu, the same breed stock from which the famed Kobe beef is raised in Japan, represents the epitome of densely marbled, sweet and succulent beef. It is an unparalled gustatory experience. The Wagyu beef to be served at this special event is available only from the Lobel's of New York's Web site.

Space is limited for this fantastic tasting: early reservations are highly recommended.

THE MENU

PORK TENDERLOIN MARINATED IN APPLE CIDER

Pork tenderloin is always a standout when marinated and grilled. It showcases pork's affinity for taking on a variety of flavors, making it the height of versatility. This preparation combines a tart-sweet cider-based marinade that includes exotic spices characteristic of Middle Eastern style preparations.

Sokol Blosser Evolution, Willamette Valley Oregon

Pinot Gris Paterberg 2001, Paul Blanck

Sokol Blosser's exuberant and delicious blend of nine grapes will be paired with a fine, rich yet restrained Pinot Gris from one of Alsace's best growers.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB

When you want the rich, mildly gamey flavor of lamb and the convenience of a quick, no-fuss preparation, butterflied leg of lamb is the cut of choice for grilling.

Chateau du Tertre 1997, 4th Growth Margaux

X Winery 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa

Good Bordeaux is the classic wine for Lamb. It will be fascinating to compare the dry, earthy du Tertre with the soft, ripe, gorgeously scented X Winery Cabernet.

FILET MIGNON, UDSA PRIME

Cut from the center portion of the tenderloin, filet mignon is both the leanest and the tenderest steak. Filet mignon is the first choice of those who prefer a melting texture and mild beef flavor.

Cote de Brouilly 2001, Nicolas Potel

Elk Cove Pinot Noir 2001, Willamette Valley Oregon

This is an exciting pairing of a remarkable cru Beaujolais made in the style of rich, aromatic Burgundy and one of the best Pinot Noirs made on the West Coast.

WAGYU NY STRIP STEAK

Strips steaks are often called the classic "steakhouse steak." When properly cooked to rare or medium-rare, a Wagyu strip steak bursts with a rich, buttery onset, followed by a hearty, meaty finish that lingers gently on the palate.

La Vieille Cure 2000, Fronsac

Havens Merlot 1999, Napa

A luscious, chewy, mouth filling Bordeaux, made primarily from Merlot will be paired with one of the most elegant, fragrant and sophisticated Merlots made in California.

GRILLED HANGER STEAK, USDA PRIME

Hanger steaks are often the preferred cut of steak lovers who are "in the know," and are sometimes hard to find. Also called "the butcher's tenderloin," hanger steaks offer a surprisingly tender texture and a robust, full-bodied beefy flavor.

Chateau Gruaud Larose 1999, 2nd Growth St. Julien

Lewelling Cabernet Sauvignon 1999, Napa

One of the most famous grand cru Bordeaux, notable for its dark fruit, minerality and potently aromatic bouquet will be matched to an exceptional Napa Cabernet made from one of the oldest vineyards in California. This may very well be The Wine Duo of the evening.

[tommy]

i can't afford to not consider going to this.

[rich]

I made two reservations this morning - they still had openings then.

And I did confirm - it's a sit-down dinner.

[tommy]

stupid question: where is it?

[Rachel Perlow]

That's a very good question tommy. I totally missed that there was no address posted until I saw it. In any case, I emailed our reservation in so hopefully there's still room for us.

[rich]

stupid question:  where is it?

When I made my reservation, I was told the event will be held at Morrell's warehouse tasting room at 665 11th ave. at 48th St. (N.W. corner.)

[larry07041]

The menu and wine list sound great. Sounds like it's definitely worth a trek over to 11th avenue.

[hscottk]

I called this morning, and they are sold out. But I did get the scoop on what they are doing. It will be a sitdown, but with 'tasting' portions of steak and wine (2 oz of steak per course/ 5 courses). It sounds interesting.

I can't wait for the reviews.....

[rich]

Anyone else going Wednesday evening? My wife and I will be there at 7:00 p.m.

[Jason Perlow]

Rachel and I will be there, with our digicam.

[Ruth]

My husband and I will be there this evening. Look forward to meeting you all

[Jason Perlow]

Here's the pics from the dinner tonight, I'll comment on all of these in a followup post.

Menu, Page 1

Menu, Page 2

The wine inventory for the evening

Pork Tenderloin Marinated in Apple Cider

Butterflied Leg of Lamb

USDA Prime Filet Mignon

USDA Prime Filet Mignon, Closeup

Wagyu NY Strip Steak, closeup

USDA Prime Hangar Steak

USDA Prime Hangar Steak, alternate view

[Jason Perlow]

Okay, now that you've seen the food porn, here's the commentary.

For starters, all of these portions were pretty tiny with the exception of the filet mignon -- most under an ounce, we ended up going out to Grand Sichuan International midtown afterwards because we were still considerably hungry. There were no accompanying dishes such as salads or starch or vegetables, no dessert and coffee, just some slices of French bread on the table as palate cleansers for the wine. All the of meat was served lukewarm or cold, but that did not affect the taste at all -- the younger Lobel himself did the cooking on a grill supplied by Viking for the event, and he obviously let the meat rest for a considerable amount of time in order to present the meat at its maximum juicyness.

Pork Loin -- Served cold, was nice and juicy and very tender, excellent specimen. The first wine, the Sokol Blosser Evolution from the Willemete Valley in Oregon, a white wine which was a blend of 6 to 9 varietals (it varies from bottle to bottle apparently) , primarily those being Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Blanc, was nice, a little on the sweet side though. Not sure white wine blends work as a concept, personally. I felt the Pinot Gris Petergarden 2001 from Alsace had a nice acidity to it and was nice and ripe, it was a better match for the pork.

Butterflied Leg of Lamb - Served on the cold side of lukewarm, again very tender and juicy, not at all gamey. The French wine, the Chateau de Tertre 1997 from Margeaux, which according to the sommelier was approx 60 percent Cabernet and 25 percent Merlot, with the rest being mostly Cabernet Franc, was a better match than the X Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, which was too hot at something around 14.5 percent alcohol, yuck. Time for the Gen Xer winemakers at that winery to do their homework or go back to web page design.

Filet Mignon -- Again lukewarm, but again very juicy, extremely buttery tender, perhaps the best single peice of filet mignon I have had in my entire life. The Elk Cove Pinot Noir 2001 from Willemette Valley, Oregon was very similar to the Argle Pinot Noir I've had before, very good, nice match. The Cote de Brouilly Nicolas Potel 2001, a Gamay was nice as well but I thought the Pinot Noir was better.

Wagyu NY Strip Steak -- Lukewarm again, but who cares, following up on the best peice of Filet Mignon I ever had in my life was the best single peice of steak I ever had in my life. Unbelievable beef flavor and great fat marbling, which melted like butter in your mouth. The sommelier later admitted that both of these wines were a crappy match for this unbeleivable peice of meat. The La Vielle Cure 2000 from Fronsac, 80 percent Merlot was significantly better than the excremental Havens Merlot 1999 Napa Valley (whose oak had the effect of a sledgehammer on top of the taste of the wonderful Lobel Wagyu) but I would have rather had the Pinot Noir from the previous flight with this or something else with more tannins, like a nice Barolo, a Cotes du Rhone or a nice Burgundy. Anything but fucking Merlot.

Grilled USDA Prime Hangar Steak: How do you follow up the last two? You can't. Still, this is probably some of the best hangar steak I've ever had. Nice beefy taste. The Chateau Gruaud Larosse 1999, 2nd Growth Julien (Cabernet Sauv based) had nice tannins, nice mouthfeel, a good balanced red and solid cabernet. Where the hell was this when they served the Wagyu? The Napa Valley Lewelling Cabernet Sauvingnon 1999 was just eh.

A wonderful evening and great opportunity to taste some very unusual cuts of meat, although a bit pricey for what we got and I'm a bit annoyed we were not served a full meal with accompaniments. For 70 bucks per head you shouldnt leave hungry from a wine dinner.

One last thing of mention -- before the dinner we were served an apertif of Philippe Prie Brut Traditionele champagne, a Recoltant Negociant (RM) "grower" single estate champagne. Morrell has it for $22.95 a bottle, this is an AWESOME value for a NV champagne, especially a grower champagne. Had I not just spent a bundle on champagne recently I definitely would have bought some, it was crisp, clean and refreshing, with a nice toastyness to it.

[Dave the Cook]

I hate you. This popped up as I was finishing off a plate of reheated wings.

Great pictures. I know porn when I see it, and this is it.

[Special Ed]

Multiple orgasm.

[Bux]

More of a tasting excercise, than what I'd call a dinner, but it sounded interesting if not the bargain it seemed to be.

Not sure white wine blends work as a concept, personally.

It works well enough in most of the Rhone and in Bordeaux. Come to think of it, it works well in some of the lesser known wines of the southwest of France.

[rich]

First, let me say it was great to meet Rachel and Jason in person.

I can't add much to Jason's report. I think the Lewelling Cab was better than Jason described. I totally agree with the mismatch on the Wagyu course. I would have tried a Syrah, Zinfandel (though no French equivilent) or an aged Cabernt Franc.

My one area of disagreement would be with the cost. While I agree some type of starch or salad should have been included, I thought the $70 price was still a terrific bargain.

I spoke to some Morrell and Lobell people afterward and they said it was decided to only serve meat so not to interfere with the purpose of the tasting - the matching of steak and wine. I guess I can accept that.

But when you consider everyone had at 10 ounces+ of steak and least least a full bottle of wine each, the price was fine.

There were 60 paying customers at $70 each. That comes to $4200. When you consider, Morrell went through seven cases of quality wine and Lobell's probably served about 50+ pounds of prime beef, the numbers are fine. Add to this, the cost plus tips for the waiters and clean-up staff, it was a bargain.

[Bux]

"cost ... dinner ... bargain ... tasting ..."

As to the cost, it you were having a dinner at one of NY's better restaurants, a three to five course meal would be almost that much money or considerably more. The pairing of wines alone for a five cost meal could well run $75. Depending on the size of the pours, you'd certain pay more than $75 for less than full glasses of those ten wines in a good restaurant. On the basis of wine alone it's easy to consider the evening a bargain.

I would have been disappointed, not because I thought I didn't get my money's worth, but because the offer was for "dinner," and that doesn't seem to be a meal to me. It was a tasting of wines and meats -- something I value, but also something I normally find less satisfying than dinner. I also think it's less than reasonable to make any comparison with dining in a fine restaurant, not only because they didn't serve a meal, or even the kind of preparation I would expect from the kitchen of fine restaurant, but because it didn't appear as if either the comfort or ambience of a restaurant was there. It just wasn't dinner and it wouldn't have been dinner even if I was not hungry at the end. I much prefer small courses. On the other hand, although I'm a carnivore, or at least an omnivore, I've not been that much a fan of plain grilled meat. Thus it would have been fascinating to have tried such quality meat, the beef in particular, unadorned and to have compared the specimens.

Lobel is a butcher, but Morrell is the operator of two restaurants as well as a wine store and the timing of the event, not too long after the second restaurant opened, could easily lead consumers into thinking this event was as much to publicize their cooking as the meat and wine. It's realy a matter of communication. As often as not, when a diner leaves a restaurant unhappy, it's often because of a lack of communication and quite often a matter of not getting what one expected.

[Rachel Perlow]

I understand exactly what you are saying Bux. And since the communication I and others received was that it was going to be a tasting menu, with accompaniments, I think we are justified in being a little disappointed. In fact, one of the gentlemen I spoke with on the way out said he specifically asked if it was a full dinner, and was told it was a tasting menu and there would be side dishes. I won't go as far as Jason as to say it was overpriced (but to nitpick Rich, it was 4.5 cases of wine (including the champagne), not 7, unless there was another table of wine I didn't see?), but most of the meat portions were tiny, those are not life-sized pictures. I understand their reasoning for changing their mind about it, but still, it would have been nice to have been served a salad at some point, maybe a scoop of sorbet as a concluding palatte cleanser? I didn't leave there hungry exactly, but I needed something anything green. Jason was actually hungry (he seemed to get the smallest tastings of every meat), so he ordered a chicken and a noodle dish, but it was only the plate of sauteed mixed green vegetables I ordered that we finished.

That out of the way, the Wagyu (Lobel pronounced it Wag-oo) was the most interesting meat last night. Very beefy, with a lot of fat marbling. The problem with the wines paired with it was that they were oaky, leaving that caramel tasting film in the mouth. This was not conducive to cutting the fatty taste left in the mouth after the beef. At $80+/lb, I don't think we'll be making it a frequent purchase. However, it was the ultra-prime filet mignon that was something I could see going to Lobels to purchase. What we were served was more of a slice from further up the loin, than the mignon, but it was tender, beefy, well marbled, delicious, this is not the bland soft filet mignon you get at the supermarket!

[rich]

Bringing back an oldie.

This was a great dinner that was never replicated. The cost (even in 2003 dollars) was inexpensive. Thinking of calling both parties to suggest they bring back another version.

I'm sure people here would be willing to pay $100 per for something similar. Yes?

[weinoo]

Yes.