STLwinegirl In Home Tasting

After seeing so many pictures and reading the menus on Facebook, I finally had to sign up for an in-home tasting from the STLwinegirl, Angela Ortmann, Let me tell you, having your own personal chef and sommelier in your home, I felt so spoiled and could definitely get used to it.

The toughest part for me was picking out a theme or series of dishes for the STLwinegirl to whip up. (Yes, she cooks quite well too!) Inspired by another friend's dinner, I requested shrimp and grits, which turned into an entire N'Awlins-themed dinner and a wine pairing for each course.

We kicked off the night with an appetizer: Baltimore Crab Cabs with Creole Remoulade

Baltimore Crab Cakes with Creole Remoulade

Since the STLwinegirl knows me well, she made the Shrimp and Cheesy Garlic Grits EXTRA cheesy. (I think she used almost a whole bag of cheese!)

Shrimp & Cheesy Garlic Grits

Most of the heat came in the main course of the night: Duck, Andouille & Langoustine Jambalaya

Duck, Andouille & Langoustine Jambalaya

Since Patience prefers fruitier desserts and I must have everything smothered in chocolate, Angela made us both happy with Bananas Foster with Salted Caramel Sauce over Blondie Bars!

Bananas Foster with Salted Caramel Sauce over Blondie Bars

I almost forgot about the wines! Almost all empty bottles. hehe Since it was so warm we started off with a crisp white wine, a Pinto Blanc from the Alsace region of France. Next came two rose wines, the first, a Chinon from the Loire region of France and the second from Napa Valley, California. Not too sweet, not too dry, but just right to cut through the spice. And the Pedro Ximenez Sherry from Spain stood up to the rich, chocolately dessert.

Pinot Blanc, Chinon Rose, Azur Rose, and a Sherry

What I really appreciated the most was that Angela was able to alter the menu to our desires (more seafood!) and preferences (no piggy!), but the meal was still just as wonderful with the substitutions.

N'awlins-themed courses

Resources:

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

Photos by Patience Scanlon and Angela Ortmann

Inaugural Wine Girl Wednesday at Scape

As a long time fan of STLwinegirl, I couldn't wait to for her next set of events...Wine Girl Wednesdays!

The first Wednesday of every month, the Wine Girl will pick a restaurant for happy hour 5:30-7:30pm where you can get a glass of wine and appetizer pairing for a discounted price. There were THREE different pairings to choose from if you prefer a specific wine or appetizer, but you know, I went ahead and got ALL THREE because everything was so delicious.

WineGirl Wednesday Menu

The Deviled Eggs and Caviar was the RICHEST deviled egg I have ever had. Perfectly paired with the Moet champagne to help cut through the creaminess.

Deviled Eggs & Caviar with Moet & Chandon Imperial, Epernay, France

And you know I loved the second pairing, since Kung Fu Girl Riesling (2012 Washington) was featured with the Ahi Tuna Tacos. The shell was crispy and you got a big taste of fresh tuna. So wonderful!

Ahi Tuna Tacos with Kung Fu Girl Riesling, 2012, Washington

Even though it was a bit warm for the Cotes du Rhone glass of red wine, it was amazing with the Braised Beef Bruschetta, which was my favorite appetizer of the night! 

Again, with the high humidity, we finished off the night with a discounted glass of the Spatburgunder Rose Trocken 2013 from Germany. Spatburgunder is really pinot noir and the rose was quite refreshing. 

I cannot wait for the next one on September 3rd at Element!!! Here is more information:

https://www.facebook.com/events/410242575774575/

Resources:

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

Scape Bistro = http://www.scapestl.com/

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Scape Bistro

A friend of mine wanted to try out Scape Bistro in the Central West End and who am I to argue really. I always love to try someplace new and the restaurant was just beautiful inside.

The first thing that caught my eye on the menu was the raw bar, which is perfect since I was with my “seafood buddy”. I ordered the shrimp cocktail for us to start with (they were giant shrimp – isn’t that an oxymoron?) and then we picked out two east coast and two west coast oysters to try. I’m not sure I could tell the difference but the east coast oyster seemed a bit more flavorful even though I doctored both with cocktail sauce.

The other standard starter I always go with are crab cakes. While these Sauteed Maryland Style Crab Cakes were a good size (I’d say medium), they didn’t come with much sauce and I feel crab cakes should have a fair amount of moisture to balance out the breading on the outside. Again, I definitely could have made dinner out of their entire list of starters since they have so many unique dishes to try.

Since the raw bar and crab cakes were tempting me, in addition to a couple of fish items on the menu, I felt that I could confidently order the Kung Fu Girl Riesling…one of my absolute favorites since it has just the right amount of sweetness to it. But don’t get me wrong, I still would have ordered it if I had gotten the Veal Parmesan. My buddy tried their Hard Strawberry Lemonade specialty cocktail, which also was incredibly sweet and you couldn’t taste any alcohol. I easily could have had two of those.

I usually lean to getting the special since I know it’s fresh and seasonal and I got lucky that the Red Snapper was on that list. In addition to the fish, I ordered the other special as my side: risoto with beets and goat cheese. The little chunks of beets and goat cheese added a little bit of sweetness to the otherwise savory dish. My red snapper was light and flaky, but my buddy’s salmon was far better with a full, buttery flavor to the fish.

Luckily, fish isn’t too filling and we had split all the appetizers so we still had room for dessert! Of course I ordered the most chocolatey item on the menu: chocolate pate and gelato! So you had the richness from the thick pate next to the soft creaminess of the gelato, with only a couple of raspberries in the way. Mixing the two textures together in one bite was heavenly! My buddy’s hot apple pie probably could have used some of my chocolate gelato melted over it too…

Resources:

Scape Bistro = http://www.scapestl.com