An American Grill Wine Dinner--Afterthoughts

[Rosie]

I will post the menu and wines later (or others are free to post) but wanted to give a quick THANK –YOU TO LOU REDA AND PHILIP WARD for a most memorable and delicious evening.

Thanks to:

Curlz for having the distinction of living in a town without a decent restaurant.

Zeman for volunteering not once but twice to plan the next outing. ( I think it will be in Newark or under the Pulaski bridge.)

Rossimania for being able to name more restaurants then I can and for promising not to lurk on eGullet and become a real poster.

Rock for not leaving the room with all of the smokers.

Suzilightning for screaming out the first expletive of the evening and sharing her cigars.

Johnnybird for his love of food.

Tommy for being priceless and well behaved.

Phil Ward for telling us about Dr.Loosen.

And LOU for being such a gracious host.

More later but those who were there please fill in the dots.

[tommy]

a particular standout was the pairing of the smoky prawns with the Newton chardonnay.

lou's staff is great.

thanks to phil and lou for pulling that together. it was a blast.

[Rosie]

Dinner started at the bar. From there we were escorted into the party room at An American Grill where the table was beautifully set. Actually, I would have loved to have taken the Mikasa china home.

Amuse: Caesar salad soup served warm in a wine glass (Veuve Clicquot Champagne)

Lou said this soup was made with romaine, croutons that were thrown in the blender, horseradish, garlic, and mustard. It had a lovely spicy aftertaste.

Tuna carpaccio served with chives, red onions and topico caviar (Chatequ Ste Michelle: Dr Loosen” Reisling ’03)

The transparent slices of tuna were artistically layered on the plate. The Riesling was my favorite wine of the evening. It was crisp, dry and not at all sweet.

Grilled Maya prawns wrapped in Serrano ham and served over a salad of watercress and mache greens (Newton Chardonnay “Unfiltered” ’01)

The crisp ham was a perfect complement for the prawns and greens.

Braised short rib ravioli served with oven-roasted tomatoes, porcini mushrooms in a truffle butter-veal stock reduction (Robert Stemmler Pinot Noir Carneros ’01)

This was my number one dish. It was rich yet not overwhelming with subtle harmonious flavors in the sauce.

Grilled prime NY strip served with a potato, chorizo and asparagus frittata (Berringer Alluvium ’99)

Steak was tender and cooked to order. I was so full that I brought it home for dinner tonight. Thought the chorizo overpowered the frittata. Would have preferred it with just potatoes and asparagus as we had the Serrano ham with the prawns. It may work better as a leftover tonight.

Coconut flan; Grandma’s dark chocolate cake; crème brule; and cinnamon ice cream cake (Fonseca 20 year Port) Don't miss the intense Grandma’s dark chocolate cake.

Service was attentive and the wine was flowing all evening.

[Curlz]

This stupid job of mine is really starting to interfere with my eG time...sorry it's taken me all day to post. First of all, a rousing THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to Lou and his staff! A great time really was had by all. For those of you who haven't yet ventured up to The Grill, it's well worth the trip...a very attractive space, attentive staff (not just when you're with Lou), and the food was just terrific. Even if it is a 35-40 minute drive for me, I fear that I'm going to become a frequent visitor.

I have to agree with Rosie about the ravioli; aside from being FULL of meat, the intensity of the flavors made them a really interesting departure from other 'creative' raviolis I've had. Obviously, the braising is the magic trick. If Rossimania hadn' t licked everyone's plates (Lowell, where are those pics?!?), I would have done the same. Heehee And I must admit that I was really amazed (amused) by the amuse...having read about it in other postings, I wasn't so sure what I'd think, but it was delicious, and a great way to start the meal. Soup and salad, all rolled (pureed) into one! The tuna was exquisite (hooray for chives!), and I devoured the prawns, really enjoying the balance with the greens. My only minor complaint there was that they were a tad salty, but with the Serrano in the mix, I know that's to be expected. The steak? Like butta. 'nuf said! And I have to respectfully disagree with Rosie--I loved the flavor of the chorizo in the potato frittata. Maybe she'll change her mind after she has it tonight!

As for the wines, I still can't believe how much of the Eroica I drank (then again, I also had my share of the Veuve, the pinot noir, the alluvium and the port...). Considering that I am NOT much of a white wine drinker any more, Dr. Loosen (say it with me, kids...Low-sen) may have changed my mind! Phil, you did a great job of describing the wines, and the paperwork was greatly appreciated, especially since after the third course, I don't know how much wine knowledge (other than "Wow, that's good!") any of us retained!

To my fellow diners, thanks again for a really fun time--it was great to put faces with your names and see who really is true to their on-line personality (not naming any names...). I look forward to many more fun evenings with the eG crew!

Curlz

PS Lou, thanks also for cooking for me tonight--like Rosie, I took home most of my steak, as I was just way too full at that point. But the joy of leftovers is that I get to have round 2! Now if I can just decide what wine to have with it...hmm...

[Rosie]

I have the pictures on my desktop and if someone can tell me how to post them I'll do it. Yesterday was the first time we used the camera.

Unfortunately when I opened my take home package it was just steaks so I won't be able to give another opinion about the frittata.

[Curlz]

AAAAAAACK! I hate when that happens. Hopefully I can report otherwise, as I said "I'd like all of it" to the waitress when she took it from me.

[zeman]

Oh baby I can see this dinner thing becoming a regular event! Thanks Lou for a great night and next time I'm bringing a designated driver. The menu, wine, food, service and our dinner companions were all just right.

My favorite dish was the serrano wrapped prawns and I wish I took my steak home, but then again I am headed to New Orleans for the next eight days.

Favorite wines were the Stemmler and Dr. Loosen.

OK Rosie, I'm already thinking about where and when to have the next one.

Lou: you and your staff are a class act. My hat's off to all. Let's hear it for the chef!!

[Curlz]

A post-post afterthought...the steak, frittata and peas were deeeeeeeeelish as leftovers! And Rosie, that chorizo really did add great flavor to the frittata. Coupled with an ice-cold Yuengling, I had a lovely meal and all I had to do was warm up the oven. Thanks for cooking again, Lou!

[Rosie]

Zeman and David (who is getting ready to lick his plate clean)

[Rosie]

Johnny Bird and Suzi Lightning

[Rosie]

Curlz with Rock and Tommy in the background

[Rosie]

Phil, Rock and Tommy

This was the first time we used our digital camera so the date is wrong.

[tommy]

and I devoured the prawns, really enjoying the balance with the greens. My only minor complaint there was that they were a tad salty, but with the Serrano in the mix, I know that's to be expected.

i noticed the salt as well, although the greens helped balance it. additionally, although i thought the chardonnay paired wonderfully with it, i found myself sucking down a bit of champagne every few bites, as i thought it complimented the salt/fat of the dish as well. i was torn. torn i tell you.

[suzilightning]

first of all - thank you lou and the kitchen staff for a wonderful meal and phil for the wines to match.

from the picture rosie posted - i think john and i have been married tooooooooo long - check out the identical postures.

so tommy was pairing the veuve with the prawns - guess that's why there wasn't any left later for me since i am not too much of a dessert person

my favorites were the amuse and the steak. while i was too full to do much more than taste the steak, i tortured my co workers eating it and the peas for my dinner at work yesterday. the torte was my lunch and it reheated really well. john's steak will be thinly sliced and served on mixed greens with a blue cheese vinaigrette.

i, too noticed the prawns were a bit salty but thought it might have been from the dressing for the salad.

i now think i have got it into john's head that the reason we meet on weeknights or sundays is because, unlike him, restaurants are the busiest on the weekends and need to turn the tables over a wee bit quicker than an egullet function does

i'm off now to buy some romaine and do some experimenting...BWWWWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[jtphjl]

Can I tell you how eager I am for dinner tomorrow night!

I couldn't commit to diiner with the group. and wow... I am licking my lips and getting ready, we have a 5:00 reservation for Tomorrow --we have a David Bromberg concert afterwards (that's why we are dashing with a 5:00 seating) .

[Rosie]

Steak last night was perfect. Heated it up briefly under the broiler.

[Lreda]

Steak last night was perfect. Heated it up briefly under the broiler.

Rosie my dear, If I wanted to to "broil steaks" I would have called the place An American Broiler. I have a legit grill in the back. A broiler doesn't cook a steak the way I like.

Otherwise I'm glad you all enjoyed everything. Let's just say after the filming of the commercial, putting a proper dinner together for you all, I got a little drunk at the bar and left my car at The Grill and got a ride home. I'll expound on a few things tommorow when I have a few hours to screw off.

[Rosie]

But Lou the steak was so perfectly grilled that it didn't matter if I heated it up in the broiler. It tasted great.

[tommy]

i just picked up a bottle of that newton. it's the first chardonnay from outside of burgundy that i've bought for my own consumption in about 5 years.

if phil reads this, maybe he could tell me if it would benefit much from sitting on it for a year (i don't think i would wait much longer).

[Johnnybird]

tommy, my sweet

if unfiltered i don't think it will benefit from sitting

ps- it's suzi signed in as johnnybird. he really isn't getting fresh

[Hank]

Rosie, are you sure the Dr. Loosen was an '03? The '02 has only been here a short while. Either way I love this wine a lot, have been drinking it for many years and still own a few of his oldies.

[tommy]

tommy, my sweet

if unfiltered i don't think it will benefit from sitting

ps-  it's suzi signed in as johnnybird.  he really isn't getting fresh

as i'm reading this, i'm thinking "how the hell would johnnybird know?!?!"

anyway, i'm not so sure that an unfiltered wine won't benefit from aging. in fact, my assumption, which is based largely on hear-say and ignorance, is that the opposite might be true.

either way i'm not sitting on it for long, so the point is moot.

hank, i do think the Chateau Ste Michelle Loosen was a 2003.

Edited April 24, 2004 by tommy (log)

[Curlz]

Fwiw, the Chateau St. Michelle/Dr. Loosen collaboration was called Eroica. I think it was '02. And I'll be stocking up on a few bottles--that's for sure!!

[Rosie]

Rosie, are you sure the Dr. Loosen was an '03? The '02 has only been here a short while. Either way I love this wine a lot, have been drinking it for many years and still own a few of his oldies.

I could be wrong but I remember asking what year and was told '03 because they didn't have enough '02 in stock for us to drink.

[Phil Ward]

i just picked up a bottle of that newton. it's the first chardonnay from outside of burgundy that i've bought for my own consumption in about 5 years.

if phil reads this, maybe he could tell me if it would benefit much from sitting on it for a year (i don't think i would wait much longer).

Tommy,

Yes it should benefit from some aging in a good cellar. But, it does drink so nicely now, it may be difficult to sit on it. I suggest, of course, buying a six pack case, put four down and drink the other two. IMHO, of course.

Phil