Balaban's Feast Magazine Tasting

Feast magazine held their September tasting at the new Balaban’s located in Chesterfield. I used to love the old restaurant in the Central West End as my family used to celebrate special occasions there. Luckily, they still serve their Beef Wellington, but after the tasting, I was in the mood to try more of their appetizers and tapas. This just means I’ll just have to go back for my favorite dish someday.

The new Balaban’s took over the collection of wines from the old restaurant yet this month’s tasting featured more recent wines. Like previous Feast tastings, the food portions are small and often get drowned out by the large wine servings. My favorite glass was a white wine (of course): a 2009 Cline Viognier from Sonoma County, while the best tasting was the Smoked Trout Pancakes. The trout was paired with a 2009 Mudhouse Pinot Noir from New Zealand, which had a smooth finish. Pinots are definitely my favorite red wine these days.

After the tasting finished, I was very surprised to go inside and see that the new version is actually a retail wine and gourmet food store! All the tables are arranged at one end of the room, along with bar seating against one wall, and is NOT the large, formal restaurant that I had imagined. Still, I was eager to try out the menu.

Since I am always searching for quality seafood in the Midwest, I started with the Chilled Oysters, along with everyone else at my table. The oysters had a sweet flavor of champagne and I was able to trade one for a couple of slices of the Applewood Bacon Flatbread, definitely one of the best items on the menu. It was recently featured in Feast magazine in STLwinegirl's "Quite the Pair" article.

Another weakness of mine is Lobster Ravioli and the delicately handmade, large squares came in a fennel and ricotta sauce. Great flavors but I would have liked a little more sauce to cover all the raviolis.

The last tapas item I tried was the Artisanal Cheese Plate and I was disappointed that I got more toasted bread than cheese. Mostly because I didn't get much cheese at all.

Next time, I’m definitely getting the Beef Wellington!

For Lovers of Food and Wine

After several months off, the food and wine pairings at Provisions restarted this month with a theme of “For Lovers of Food & Wine”. Angie, aka STLwinegirl (http://www.stlwinegirl.com) , tried to pick the type of foods one might select for special occasions when dining out. All of the pairings, especially the food, was top notch as always.

You certainly can’t go wrong with having cheese on the menu and a Goat Cheese Tart was the appetizer course. It had a strong onion flavor with a rich, creamy texture so you know it needed a sweet, white wine to cut through that! The “Sofia” Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine with a sharp, pear flavor was a good match for sure.

I was super excited about the Oyster Rockefeller next and it was even deshelled for us, but the wine that was paired with it, a Muscadet, was rather bland. I know this was done on purpose so that the wine did not outshine the food, but I would not waste my time drinking something that has little flavor.

The chicken marsala definitely required a red wine with such great flavors in the sauce, and was paired with a GSM, which I learned is a blend of Granche, Syrah, and Mourvedre. The blend was very mild with low tannins so a real mellow balance.

The high tannins could definitely be tasted in the Syrah that was paired with the Beef Wellington. Delicious! Both definitely complimented each other well and the wine calmed down a lot.

I really thought the goat cheese or the Beef Wellington was the best pairing until we got to dessert. Normally I do not enjoy dessert wines because they are so ungodly sweet. I tried a Framboise for the first time and it too, was overpowering to taste. Think Raspberry cough syrup. But then Angie cut it with sparkling wine and it really did become a true dessert in itself. While it could have been served as an ice cream topping, it helped to cut the SUPER rich flavor of the best chocolate molten cake that I have ever had. Oh. My. Goodness. Yes, that good. I am pretty sure I spent 30 minutes on this course alone, enjoying each bite…

Here is the pairing list while I savor the dessert memory….

Tomato & Caramelized Onion Goat Cheese Tart
“Sofia” Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine
California

Oyster Rockefeller
2008 Domaine de L’ecu Muscadet
Loire, France

Chicken Marsala
2008 Paul Mas G.S.M.
France

Beef Wellington
2006 Casa Lapostolle “Las Kuras” Syrah
Chile

Chocolate Molten Cake with Raspberries
Pacific Rim Framboise
Washington State

The next Provisions class will take place on Tuesday, March 8th at 6:30pm with an Irish / Spring theme!