I was just thinking how much I'd love to go out to a nice dinner and I forgot that Ryan's Wine Dinner was coming up at Cafe Oggi, my favorite Italian Restaurant, in McLean VA. Not only do they have the most fantastic Italian food, but Renato, the owner, is such a wonderful host. You feel like you're in his own home when you are there. I absolutely love it.
So, last night was really interesting. The owner of the Farnese (Italian Winery), Camillo de Julius spoke at the dinner and we got to sit with him, the CEO of a Empson - a wine supplier, and two other colleagues of Ryan's. For dinner we had 6 courses and five wines. The dinner started at 7:00 and we got home after 11:00...that was a long dinner!
You'll never believe I actually ate this, picky as I am with my food...check it out:
Course 1 - Octopus salami with Trebbiano d Abruzzo DOC; Course 2 - Hearts of palm w/ lobster (none for me) and pine nuts with Pecorino, Casale Vecchio, IGT; Course 3 - Crepe stuffed w/ fontina cheese, ham and asparagus with Sangiovese, Don Camillo, I.G; Course 4 - Arborio rice, peas, peppers, zuccini, sausage with Montepulchino d Abruzzo Riserva, Opis, DOC; Course 5 - Veal cheek stew over polenta with Edizione Cinque Autoctoni, VDT; Course 6 - Imported ice cream with coffee.
It was fun trying new food and wines and paying attention to how well they go together. The food was a little different than I'm used to, but it wasn't bad. I was anticipating something I couldn't handle, and as usual I was worried I would have an allergic reaction to something, but I didn't and it was rather fun eating unusual foods. I can't say I'm going to hunt for octopus and veal cheeks, and I still love spaghetti and meatballs, but you only live once. I was so glad to be able to attend. It's no wonder Ryan loves his job so much...I'm starting to too!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
An Italian Evening
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2 comments:
What's with all the abbreviations in the course descriptions? You guys are not trust fund babies, nor am I. Spell it out, I mean write it out. Ha ha.
I'll bring coctopus to your next home event. Maybe Transformers Day (formerly known as Independence Day). It turns out awesome on the grill. Anyway, sounds like a really long dinner. I prefer quickies.
Abbreviations were ON the menu, and that's what they call the wines, I'm not even sure what they mean. I didn't make them up...trust fund babies? It was free!
Just branching out when we get the chance, it keeps life interesting, you know? It was fun, you should try it some time. Ask Ryan to take you instead of me to one of his events...they're really fun and you learn a lot about all kinds of stuff.
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