Jury Duty = Good Food and Wine

So I had the privilege as a U.S. citizen to "volunteer" my time for the greater good, aka get suckered into mandatory jury duty.  At least I don't have to report for duty for at least another 6 years.  On the bright side, it meant two days off from my day job and an excuse to wander around Chinatown/Canal Street to find good eat.

My first day of Jury Duty was this past Monday, which was the Chinese New Year.  Now you'd think I'd pay homage and have a Chinese lunch.  But I had this craving for pasta, so I walked down Mulberry Street on my search for an Italian feast.  Walking down Mulberry reminded me of walking down Charlotte Street in London, where I'd get accosted by restaurant managers trying to persuade me to eat at their Indian restaurant.  At one point during my trek,  I had an Indian man trying to sell me on an Italian restaurant, and it just didn't fell right.  Finally, I saw a beautiful restaurant on the corner of Mulberry and Broome called Grotta Azzurra.

My meal was spectacular.  $9.50 for lunch, pasta and an entree.  To start I chose the rigatoni with pancetta, tomatoes, cream and vodka.  It wasn't heavy, just right!  And the waiter brought me warm semolina bread with butter.  I should have asked for olive oil, but sometimes butter is just too good to pass up.  I chose chicken parmigiana for my entree that came with broccoli and roasted potatoes.  It was a feast and in Midtown near my office, this meal would have cost me over 30 bucks.  Also, I don't think Frank Sinatra music would have been playing the entire time I was eating.

Oh, and, I couldn't have this amazing meal without a lovely glass of red.  I selected a Sangiovese wine  - I'm beginning to test out the Italian wines.  I chose the Melini 'Borghi d'Elsa' vintage 2006.  It went down smooth and had bold flavor.  According to the bottle description, there are scents of iris, raspberries and spices.  The dry wine had an aftertaste of toasted almonds and fruit.  All in all it was an excellent choice - a nice $7 glass.  Now the lunch, included a 20% gratuity, for a total of $21+.  I normally bitch about gratuities included in bills, but the waiters were so nice and I had a such a great lunch by myself.  AAAH it was great, and then I had to head back to Jury Duty base camp.

The following day I finally decided to eat Chinese.  For a lovely grand total of $7.25, I had a small cup of egg drop soup with a general tso's chicken and white rice.  If you're ever in Chinatown, China Village Restaurant at 94 Baxter Street is where it's at for lunch.  I mean when the Chinese go there for lunch, it has to be good!

Oh Mitch, you shouldn't have!

Mitchell's Wine and Liquor Store holds a special place in my heart (liver).  It's near my friend's gorgeous UWS apartment, where I first discovered my favorite wine hands down.  Banrock Station from Australia makes an amazing Shiraz.  It has a deep purple color with aromas of black currant, cherry and spicy oak, with cherry and red berry fruits.  

I discovered it the first time I was going to my friend's apartment to watch Season 7 of American Idol about a year ago.  Now every time I go to her apt, I drop by Mitchell's to buy the magnum bottle that used to cost $8.99, but has gone up to $10.99.  I almost had a heart attack last night though when I couldn't find the Banrock Station Shiraz.  I always knew exactly what corner of the store I could find the Banrock Station magnum bottles, but they were not in my line of sight.  I turned to one of the store clerks asking where the Banrock Station could be and if they still carried it.  He replied yes and pointed to another area of the store where the hard liquor is shelved.  So now I know where the magnum bottles of Banrock are at Michell's, and I won't have a heart attack over the booze again.  

Not only is the Shiraz spectacular, so is the magnum Cabernet Sauvignon and the Merlot.  I think they put some form of crack cocaine in the wine because I'm hooked.  Hell I think pee could even be in the wine and I'd still drink it!  My AI crew and I finish the magnum bottle every time.  And to boot, the proceeds from each wine purchase goes to environmental projects around the world.  So I like to think  I'm helping Mother Earth while being a complete wine lush.  

Puerta, I Mean Porta

My friend CKC reintroduced me to a wine store called Drink on the corner of 69th Street and 2nd Avenue.  It's a very unassuming place and houses a wide range of wines at moderate prices.  I decided to take advice from the Wine folks at WSJ, and I decided to give Pinot Noir another shot.

I decided to try 2008 Porta Reserva Pinot Noir ($16.99).  First, the color of the wine is blood red - I usually go for more plum colored wines.  The wine had cherry and berry flavors, but it was not as full bodied as I would have liked.  The wine looked and tasted diluted.  

So lesson learned, I will not be drinking Pinot Noir again*!

*Unless it gets highly recommended by a sommeliere.

Happy 2009!

Oh another year has come and gone!  I personally have better odd years than even, so bring on 2009!  I read the following article on wine to-dos in this weekend's Wall Street Journal that I think everyone should do this coming year.    I'll write again soon!

Matches

I have been very bad this holiday season about blogging.  Between getting over yet another cold and holiday parties and such, I've neglected to reflect on the wine I've been drinking.  Now that Christmas has come and gone, I've got a little downtime before NYE and I wanted to give another recommendation for a moderately priced delicious wine.

Matchbook Syrah, Dunnigan Hills 2004 costs about $15 and it has blueberry and black cherry flavors.  This Syrah is 83% Syrah, 10% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Tempranillo.  On the back of the label, Matchbook highlights the Syrah and Tempranillo.  Personally, I taste the Malbec more than anything else.  It goes down smooth and has a nice after taste.

Barefoot in the park

I was on a Pilsner kick for a bit, so I didn't have anything to report really on the wine front.  This evening though, after a boring Monday at the office, I made a pit stop at a liquor store on 1st ave. between 57th and 58th street (on the west side of the street).  I tend to find hidden treasures there, like Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon.  It goes for $5.99/bottle, so with tax it's $6.49 (such a steal).

The wine has wild berries and currants flavors, with hints of toasted oak and clove.  It has a smooth finish too!  I complemented this cheap wine with two pizza slices for dinner.  Talk about starting off Monday right.  Oh and I drank almost the entire bottle - how I can type right now is beyond me!

Monster Mash

Yesterday for the first time in about 4 months I had time to have a sit down lunch with my two coworkers.  We collectively call ourselves G Unit, but I'll spare details on the reasoning.

Anyways, we decided to go to Vero Panini & Wine Bar on 53rd and 2nd Avenue.  I'd been to the one on the Upper East Side and I felt like dropping some bucks, and we did.  I opted to go with the $19 prix-fixe lunch, which got me a Prosciutto, Fresh Mozzarella and Basil Ailoi panini and a side salad portion of the Vero Chopped Salad, romaine lettuce with feta cheese, sweet onions, red peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, chick peas, currants, topped with a lemon vinaigrette.  Oh, and I got a refreshing, crisp glass of Indaba chardonnay from South Africa.  I've actually had this wine before, and it costs about $9 a bottle.  I'm a huge fan of reasonably (cheaply) priced wines that could pass as expensive wine.  Doesn't my meal sound so filling?

Well, not quite.  For some odd reason that day I was extremely ravenous.  I opted for dessert after lunch, which I normally don't do, unless it's the 2 chocolate chip cookies I get with my Subway combo meal or the peanut M&Ms from the office vending machine.  There were 3 options and I went for the "Cookie Monster."  My two coworkers can vouch for the monstrosity of the dish - 3 people should have shared it.  What did we do, we ordered 2.  My two colleagues practically polished one dessert, and I actually made quite a dent in mine.  Moving forward, I plan to have a camera with me at all times, so I can document food porn.  

This dessert was to die for.  At first all you see is whipped cream with blueberries and raspberries scattered on top.  As soon as you stick a spoon in it, you discover crumbled chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream.  The chef who concocted it was genius.  It's an adult spin on a sundae because it looks sophisticated and will cost you about $12.  It's not the $3 sundae you could get at Friendly's that's for sure!