Restaurant Week Tips for Wine Folks

We're already hearing that Restaurant Week reservations are booked up in certain locations unless, of course, you wanted to have your $20.10 lunch at 10:45 a.m.

And we're hearing about restaurants offering Restaurant Week menus and prices all month long. That's an up side of a down economy -- a buyer's market for food lovers.

But what we hear more than anything is, Where should I go?

A few suggestions are below. You'll see why.


WHERE: Gaslight Brasserie, 560 Harrison Avenue, Boston
WHY: The price of dinner includes a glass of wine.

WHERE: ROCCA Kitchen & Bar, 500 Harrison Avenue, Boston
WHY: $30.10 wines, $20.10 pitchers of cocktails.

WHERE: Buona Vita, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington
WHY: 20% off wine by the bottle, a different selection each day.

WHERE: Aquitane French Bistro, 569 Tremont Street, Boston
WHY: Optional wine pairings, $18.

WHERE: Beacon Hill Bistro, 25 Charles Street, Boston
WHY: Dessert wine pairing, $20.10. Optional wine pairing, $19.

The official run-down of Restaurant Week in Boston goes like this:

WHEN: March 14 to 19 and March 21 to 26

HOW MUCH: 2-course lunch for $15.10, 3-course lunch for $22.10, 3-course dinner for $33.10

WHO'S IN: 216+ restaurants. Check out the full list.

WHAT ELSE: The folks behind Restaurant Week have teamed up with vendors to offer special packages on theater tickets and hotels. So you can really make a night of it, from soup to nuts.

Watch Videos, Win Wine Dinner, Taste Malbec

Here's what you do.

1. Watch this video of Gary V. talking about Malbecs from the Old World. (He talks about lipstick, cranberries, raspberry jam sandwiches, and the Patriots too.)

2. Watch this video of a producer of Malbecs from the Old World talking about coming to Boston for his tasting this week-end.

3. Grab your ticket for the tasting on Saturday evening at the Bulthaup Design Studio, so you can taste what they're talking about. Bonus: use the code RWBCAHORS for a special discount for Red White Boston readers.

3. Tell us, in 50 words or less, why you'd like to try Old World Malbecs. The best answer winsone of only twelve seats at dinner with the winemaker at Sel de la Terre in the Back Bay after the tasting. The winner's dinner will be free.

4. Want to grab a seat at that table anyway and take no risk? Good for you. Let us know that too and we'll add your RSVP.

Watch videos. Taste Malbec. Win dinner.

Done done and done.


WHAT: Discount to Old World Malbec Tasting
WHEN: Saturday, March 6 from 5 to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Bulthaup Design Studio, 200 Boylston Street, Boston
COST: Normally $25, $20 for RWB readers with the code RWBCAHORS
RSVP: Click here.

DAILY TIDBIT:

Philippe Lejeune, the Old World producer in the video, has a cool history with Boston. Back in the day, when he was a young engineering intern, he came from France to work at Teradyne in North Reading, MA. He promptly invented a systems solution for semiconductors -- right -- then patented it and eventually built two companies, including Galaxy Semiconductors where he is still CEO. He bought Chateau Chambert in 2006 and has been making wine ever since alongside Stephane Derenoncourt, one of the most in-demand consulting winemakers in the world today.

The Very Best, and Very Affordable, Way to Spend a Long Lunch, Smith & Wollensky

Imagine, come lunchtime one day this week, hanging up the Gone Fishin' sign at your cubicle.

Imagine traisping over to the castle that is Smith & Wollensky in the Back Bay.

Imagine sinking into the luxe seat at your special table and settling in for the spread -- and we do mean spread -- of lunch plus of t-e-n (10) tastes of wine.

Luxe seat. Luxe locale. Luxe spread.

Not a luxe price.

How non-luxe?

How's ten dollars for those ten tastes of wine sound?

Pretty crazy if you ask us, but we'll leave the figuring up to the Smith & Wollensky accountants.

In the meantime, all you need to do is figure out what you're going to eat alongside those ten tastes of wine.

Oh, and make a reservation. Pronto. Because Smith & Wollensky's Wine Week is already underway, it only lasts until Friday, March 5, and it's only available for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Ten wines. Ten bucks. Plus lunch.

Gone Fishin', indeed.

WHAT: Wine Week
WHERE: Smith & Wollensky, 101 Arlington Street, Boston
WHEN: Now through Friday, March 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
COST: $10 for ten wines. Price of lunch is additional.
RSVP: Highly recommended. Call 617.423.1112 or reserve online.

DAILY TIDBIT:

Here's a bit of advice for tasting ten wines in one sitting, according to the folks who judge wine competitions and taste 75 to 100 wines a day. Their secret? They spit. That is, they look, smell, taste, and evaluate the wine, and then they spit it out.

If spitting out your wine isn't really your idea of a happy lunchtime experience, but you still should try and get some work done in the afternoon anyway, remember to sip leisurely (take your time, savor each taste, maybe take a break between whites and reds), eat as you drink, stay hydrated, and go into it with a strategy. That is, consider the list of wines being poured, decide which you'd really like to focus on (the Pinot Noirs, say), and spend more time (and more sips) on those.

Wine + Weenies This Thursday, Starlite Lounge

Here's one to get on your calendar right away.

What's the rush?

Let's put it this way.

When's the last time you drank wine with your weenie?

With your hot dogs, that is.

Let's see. Maybe... Never?

Us neither.

We'll all have our chance this Thursday at Trina's Starlite Lounge in Somerville.

That's right. Wine with hot dogs.

But it isn't like these are going to be plain ole Oscar Meyer.

We're talking four hot dogs prepared by four of Boston's fave chefs: Gregg Reeves from Green Street Grill, Mark Romano from Highland Kitchen, Jaime Bissonnette from Coppa, and Suzie Maitland batting for the home team.

Four wines, too, which were chosen because they pair just so.

What "just so" means when it comes to weenies, we don't know.

But we'll be there, for sure, to find out.

WHAT: Wine and Weenies

WHERE: Trina's Starlite Lounge, 3 Beacon Street, Somerville

WHEN: Thursday, March 4. Cocktails at 6 p.m. Dinner from 7 to 9 p.m.
COST: $44.

RSVP: Required. Call 617.576.0006 or email.

DAILY TIDBIT:

Wine pairings with hot dogs that have been tossed around (seriously) include Riesling, Australian Shiraz, and Champagne or other sparkling wine.

Last-Minute Opportunity for Wine Knowledge at the BCAE!

A few weeks ago we told you about learning wine the strategic way at the Boston Center for Adult Education.

The appeal of this approach to wine -- structured yet fun, takes you from Point A to Point B with lots of sipping in between -- is so great that the "wine the strategic way" class is now over-subscribed. They've had to offer a second session and now they need to fill it up.

That's where your opportunity comes in: a second chance to sign up for a very popular course.

The catch is that you've got to decide by Monday, and the sessions start on Wednesday.

Yep, that's this Monday and this Wednesday.

Not a lot of time. So here's what you need to know:

The class -- offered via a universally-respected organization called Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) -- has no prerequisites.

It's designed for people with a limited understanding of wine. (Which means stupid questions are welcome.)

The instructor tells you exactly where to start. (How to taste wine, how to read labels, how to select wine, and which grapes and regions to definitely know.)

And it's broken down into two-hour sessions, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday evenings from March 3 through June 23.

All in all you'll taste more than 90 wines. Nine-ty.

The class fits quite nicely into that after-work slot.

And it ends just in time for you to go and show off your newly-acquired knowledge at your favorite neighborhood place, or even to the folks who normally sit around your kitchen table.

Which makes it not such a bad way to spend two hours on Wednesday evenings.

Go on and sign up. It's wine knowledge. Available now.

WHAT: WSET Advanced Certificate Course

WHERE: Boston Center for Adult Education, 122 Arlington Street, Boston

WHEN: Wednesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. beginning March 3

MORE INFO AND RSVP: Click here

DAILY TIDBIT:

Check out the 3-minute wine school organized by WSET, or Wine and Spirits Education Trust (the folks who sponsor the tasting course described in this email). You'll find 12 short films on different wines styles and regions. For free. Think of it like a pre-tasting for the course!

When Art Meets the Palate: Painting and Food from Spain at the MFA

Painting, Pablo Picasso said, is just another way of keeping a diary.

If that's true, then the diary of Spanish painter Luis Melendez was chock full of hams, olives, grapes, vinegars, tomatoes, garlic, cheeses, and who-knows-what in various jugs and jars.

All of those items were the subjects of his still-life paintings which, along with Melendez' 18th-century contemporaries, are currently on display at the Museum of Fine Arts.

The MFA's curator of paintings is offering special sessions to the public to explore the subject of feasting at the Spanish table.

And then, appetites whetted, we eat.

Or at least we watch a culinary demonstration directly inspired by the paintings and their gastronomic pleasures.

Both sessions -- the talk and the cooking demonstrations -- are offered in March in two separate sequences.

Both are bound to entice.

Both may just inspire you to start painting your own diary, of food or wine or or or...

Looks like that Picasso guy was onto something.


WHAT: Feasting at the Spanish Table
WHERE: Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston
WHEN: Tuesday, March 2 and 9 or Thursday, March 4 and 11 from 10:30 a.m. to noon
COST: $53 for both sessions (for members, students and seniors), $60 general admission
RSVP: Call 617.369.3306

DAILY TIDBIT:

David Arvid is one of the today's most successful painters of the wine experience and the pleasures of consumption. Find him online here.

Wine + Music + Coffee at The Java Room

Quick!

What do these three things have in common?

Wine
Music
Coffee

Hmmm....

They're all social activities and are usually best enjoyed with friends?

Absolutely.

But how about this: They are each a specialty at The Java Room in Chelmsford.

Take the coffee. "Black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." (Their words, not ours.)

And the near-daily music, such as:

Friday, February 26: Alex Cole (saxophone) - Gretchen Stone (piano) Duo
Saturday, February 27: Trude Witham Group
Sunday, February 28: Sunday Jazz Brunch with Michael P. Chasse and Friends

Pick up a glass or two from their wine bar, settle back, and you are officially done for the evening.

WHAT: Wine, Coffee and Music
WHERE: The Java Room, Ginger Ale Plaza, 14 Littleton Road, Chelmsford
WHEN: Most nights. Click here for complete music schedule.
MORE INFO: Call 978.256.0001


DAILY TIDBIT:

For more on the association of wine with coffee, consider this: wet-processed coffees are roughly akin to white wines that have been fermented without the grape skins, while dry-processed coffees are like red wines, fermented in the coffee cherry with the skin intact. (Source: Tom Owen of Sweet Maria's Coffee)