Warehouse Wine Dinner

Looking back at all the courses, I have to admit that I don’t have a favorite since so many of the dishes were amazing. Chef Cassy really outdid herself. If you haven’t been to Home Wine Kitchen yet, you absolutely should get over there, but these courses were really above and beyond anything on her menu. Due to that, the wines had a hard time standing up to the food and merely were a “supporting cast” if you will and is probably the reason why I don’t remember them as much.

All the wines were rich and bold to me, but it was necessary since each course was incredibly full of flavor. I guess my top two were the buttery Diver Scallop that had a little kick from the Siracha Mayo and the Sugo with Lamb Shank, Pork Collar & Beef Cheek over Olive Oil Polenta with a Poached Egg.

Then came dessert…in a small, innocent glass jar…Chocolate Custard with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream & Cinnamon-Espresso Powder. Oh my goodness. You had the rich chocolate custard on the front with the salty caramel flavor on the back. Normally I don’t enjoy anything corrupting my chocolate but this was such a happy mixing of rich flavors. Somehow, an extra glass jar ended up in my coat pocket on the way home! (I returned the glass jar…)

Yet, the most exciting part of the dinner was during the first course when the scallops were cooking…with no real kitchen or stove hood, the smoke found its way to the smoke alarms. Industrial smoke alarms are NOT quiet and soon, the Fire Department arrived with axes ready. If I were them, I would have stuck around longer to try some of the other courses too!

Menu:

• Diver Scallop seared in Bacon Fat with Shaved Brussels and Siracha Mayo
• Venison Tartare with Beet Root Chip, Dijon, Quail Egg, and Cornichon
• Duck Confit Fritter with Cayenne Spiced Fig Jam and Spicy Greens
• Sugo with Lamb Shank, Pork Collar, and Beef Cheek over Olive Oil Polenta with a Poached Egg and Smoked Paprika
• Jarred Chocolate Custard with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream and Cinnamon-Espresso Powder

Resources:

Ionia Wines: http://www.iawines.com/

Home Wine Kitchen: http://www.homewinekitchen.com/

Home Wine Kitchen FEAST Tasting

Unfortunately, Home Wine Kitchen has closed.

I know that I have already blogged about Home Wine Kitchen but I got to go again, for free, thanks to another monthly FEAST tasting hosted by STLwinegirl, Angela Ortmann. Since Home Wine Kitchen is always changing its menu, you don’t have to worry about going back more than once. Chef Cassy Vires is known for her unique twist on comfort foods or home cookin’, if you will. In the past, the FEAST tastings are usually just that…a small taste…but this was a five-course meal.

We started with Cranberry Confit on grilled bread but what made this dish was the thin layer of Missouri goat cheese that helped to mellow the tartness of the cranberries. This was paired with a Domaine St. Vincent Sparkling Wine from New Mexico. I believe I had this sparkling wine at the Home Wine Kitchen Traveling Table as well!

Next was my first time trying Beef Tartare and I learned that tartare is really any diced raw meat. The beef tasted so fresh…and even more delicious with the quail egg on top! To help cut through some of the grease, we already moved to the reds: Dauvergne Ranvier, from my favorite region, Rhone Valley, France.

The third course was a risotto mixed with caramelized onions, wild mushrooms, thyme, and brie. I tried not to take too many helpings in order for the vegetarian of the table to load up on this dish, which was paired with Domaine Depueble Beaujolais. I think I will now just make the blanket statement that you can’t go wrong with Beaujolais at any age. Light and fruity…MY kind of red!

While I enjoyed all the courses, I was blown away by the Lamb Chop. Normally I avoid lamb in a restaurant just because I don’t like to fight with getting the meat off of the bone, but this was definitely worth the work! We were only allowed one per person and I caught myself looking around for leftover chops. Of course, a strong, dry red wine (Haraszthy Old Vine Zinfandel out of Lodi, California) was paired with the lamb so I didn’t drink much of it.

Last but not least by any means, the dessert was out of this world…home-made Chocolate Hazelnut Spread (think Nutella) on top of Honeyed Waffle Bites. And yes, I did use my finger to get to the leftover chocolate on the plate. Again, I only sipped the Quinta Do Noval Tawny Port from Portugal since it’s way too strong for me and interfered with the chocolate.

After the FEAST tasting, I made plans to have dinner with friends…yes, I was still a little bit hungry, and yes, I wanted more from the tasting. My dinner consisted of the Beef Tartare and another order of the Lamb Chop. I could only eat one out of two so I had a delicious meal the very next day too!

Resources:

FEAST magazine = http://www.feaststl.com/

Home Wine Kitchen = http://www.homewinekitchen.com/

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com/

Home Wine Kitchen Traveling Table

Unfortunately, Home Wine Kitchen has closed.

Even though I had dined at Home Wine Kitchen for No Menu Monday, I was really looking forward to the Home Wine Kitchen Traveling Table hosted by Angela Ortmann (aka STLwinegirl). I just knew that Chef Cassy Vines would go all out for us…and I didn’t realize just how much!

Much like the mix and match cheese tasting a couple of nights before, we were encouraged to try all the courses with each of the three wines that were served:

Vin Ver’rary Chardonnay
Mendocino, California

Chaumette Rose of Chambourcin
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

Mountain View Pinot Noir
Carneros, California

Needless to say, I was quite surprised that Angela picked out three American wines, not to mention a Missouri wine! It was much like being Goldilocks…the white was a little sweet, the rose was mild, while the red was a little dry. All were smooth initially but once they were paired with the food, the Rose stood out the most and went perfectly with everything. I admit that I barely touched the Pinot Noir and even the white wine was too sweet with some the pairings.

Our appetizers consisted of a variety of assorted confits and housemade ricotta to be spread on large slices of grilled bread. All the vegetables, tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic were soaking in olive oil, while I wanted to eat the ricotta straight out of the jar. As an appetizer and small plates fan, I could have made my entire meal out of the confits and arugla salad, consisting of figs, herbed cheese, pumpkin seeds, and a cider vinaigrette. I even had a second serving, which turned out to be a big mistake because of the amount of the food that came with the main course followed up by dessert!

For a split second, I thought it was Thanksgiving as huge piles of food kept coming out to the table. The roasted chicken was stacked like the Great Pyramid and THE largest bowl of pasta EVER contained a green linguine with radish pesto, parmesan, and pine nuts. If that wasn’t enough, we were served a side of polenta that was so smooth and creamy that it was almost a tapioca pudding!

I think I finally understand the “home cooking comfort food” theme of Home Wine Kitchen, but I found all the courses to be unlike anything I have ever tasted before. These flavors are nothing like you have ever tasted before! This really is a place for a “food adventure”.

As if we had any more room, we still had to finish the night off with a Pistachio Tart with goat cheese on top! It was very hard not to slurp the goat cheese creamy top off every piece! I would have sworn it was cool whip if I didn’t know better. Dessert was graciously paired with a Domaine St. Vincent Sparkling Wine from New Mexico. We definitely had much to celebrate!

Resources:

STLwinegirl = http://www.stlwinegirl.com

Home Wine Kitchen = http://www.homewinekitchen.com/

Home Wine Kitchen

Unfortunately, Home Wine Kitchen has closed.

After reading about Chef Cassy’s “No Menu Monday”, I just HAD to try Home Wine Kitchen (http://www.homewinekitchen.com). Luckily, my best friend Tony saw my Facebook post about it and was a willing victim to go with me - for his birthday dinner no less!

Even though we had a reservation for two, the restaurant was already quite full except for the tall 2-tops in the front window on stools. At first I thought this was a cute little area, but then I realized how warm it got sitting right in the sun and after 30 minutes, it was hard to sit on a stool. Literally. I know that the point of Home Wine Kitchen is to make it seem homey and comfortable, but the prices and atmosphere really don’t quite match.

Anyway, we were troopers and were very excited about the whole concept of being surprised with three courses…quite the food adventure! It turned out to be a heavy appetizer, a large main course, and then dessert. I think I ended up eating off of Tony’s plate quite a bit as well because I enjoyed his courses the most.

At the very beginning you are asked if you have any allergies and then if there are any foods you dislike. I immediately mentioned pork (big surprise) while Tony voted down green vegetables. I then explain that Tony loves pork and I loved green vegetables so that we could still both get meals that we enjoyed without being deprived, but this may have been a mistake. We also agreed to the wine flight with each course, which I also highly suggest.

Our wines were poured first and I was given a Pinot Grigio, so I immediately guessed a fish of some kind. The server told me no but I ended up being close since I got a plate full of mussels. I almost squealed in delight! Tony was served a fairly heavy red wine and I was wondering what first course would require such a strong wine. Sure enough, he was served a beef pate on toasted bread. Unfortunately, neither one of us had enough bread to go around. I wanted to soak up the buttery sauce that my mussels came in and Tony didn’t have enough for spreading the pate. I refused to let the pate go to waste because it was so tasty, so I broke down and used my fork. (Is it OK to ask for more bread?)

For the second course, more red wines came out so again, I was thinking beef, although one was lighter than the other. I got the lighter wine, but I also was handed the lighter dish, a pork steak, while Tony got the Strip Steak with asparagus. I was really hoping that this was just a server error and we immediately switched plates (and wines). We both ended up much happier and our dishes were excellent. Although, if I had known I was getting steak, I would have asked for it to be cooked more on the rare side. The sauces on both were outstanding.

With such heavy meals and red wines, I was really in the mood for chocolate…which went to Tony. I got a bite of the Chocolate Pate and it was incredible. Oh. My. Goodness. It was hard not to steal the rest. I attempted to eat what I could of my fruity Italian ice that came with a Sherry. Unfortunately, the ice cream was so frozen, I could only eat half of it and I tried to pour the Sherry on top to give it more flavor, but it really didn’t work. Tony got a Port to go with the Chocolate Pate…an excellent pairing.

I’m not sure if the restaurant is in the beginning stages still...growing pains maybe…and I’m sure I’d like to try it again sometime. Possibly eat off the menu instead. But I’m not sure I’m in a big hurry to go back just yet.