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Archive for ham

Ancient Baroli

Nov29

Restaurant: Heroic Deli and Wine Bar [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 490-0202

Date: May 17, 2022

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Awesome wines and time

_

In Spring of 2022 friend Jeffrey, owner of Heroic Italian, hosted a series of old wine dinners. This one is (mostly) old Barolo. These things are immortal and some of my favorite accessible old wines.

To complement Jeffrey prepared an almost ludicrously rich and copious amount of food. Pay careful attention as the plated courses are INDIVIDUAL.

IMG_0573

The street view.

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We situated ourselves in the back of the main dining room. This was an epic dinner. Not only were the wine’s crazy good — these last forever.

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Tonight’s special menu.

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From my cellar: 2015 Azienda Agricola Valentini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. VM 93+. Good bright yellow. The pure, complex nose suggests lime, yellow apple and botanical herbs. Then very precise, intense and penetrating, if still youthfully unevolved, conveying a powerful, three-dimensional impression of extract and a deep, textured, multilayered mouthfeel. The wine closes very long and juicy, with herbal and saline elements that titillate the taste buds. Another outstanding wine from Valentini, who never misses a beat with his Trebbiano d’Abruzzo. (Drink between 2022-2033)
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Jotas Jamon brushetta. Special piggy toasts.

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Scallop with Uni and Caviar.
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Walker manages the wines.
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From my cellar: 1958 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva. Unfortunately flawed. Tasted like old dry sherry. Really really good dry sherry.

IMG_5207
The 1958 is on the left next to another wine of similar age. Uh yeah, it’s gone. Had to open a backup 58 (below).

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One old Spanish “snuck” in.
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Praise Cheezus. Jeffrey concocted this whacky take on fried mozzarella served with spicy sauce, garlic aioli, and pesto.
Unknown
We demonstrate how cheesy the interior is!
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1947 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva. 94 points. Wild strawberries with balsamico was mentioned by one at the dinner, and I completely agree. Also the slightest hint of nail polish. Also leather, rose hip, rose petals and “old” scents like an aged book or an old style library.
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1955 Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo.
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Lobster Claw “prequel.” Served before the main lobster event.
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My backup: 1958 Giacomo Borgogno & Figli Barolo Riserva. 96 points. Very light color in the glass, but the wine got better and better with air. Overall it was consistent with my previous experience. Complex nose of dried flowers, caramel, quite a bit of red fruit, tar, and cherries. Good structure with present tannins and fruit notes that picked up weight with air. Long finish. Amazing experience.
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Spicy Calabrian Sausage Pasta. This is an awesome dish with great al dente pasta and quite a lot of heat. Sort of a wine killer, but delicious all the same.
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Lobster “Thermidor.” Mayhaps there is a “reaction” to this joke.
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Farmer’s market asparagus.
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1964 Fontanafredda Barolo. 93 points.
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1967 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo. JG 94. 1967 is one of my absolute favorite vintages in the Langhe for current consumption and the ’67 Francesco Rinaldi e Figli Barolo is a stunning example of this very underrated year. The celestial nose offers up a complex and classy mélange of black cherries, licorice, pungent roses, road tar, spit-roasted gamebirds, complex soil tones and a topnote of bonfires. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and absolutely à point, with a great core of pure fruit, melting tannins, bright acids and simply stunning length and grip on the focused and impeccably balanced finish. Just a great bottle of fully mature Barolo at its zenith! (Drink between 2010-2040)
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1970 Giuseppe Rinaldi Barolo.
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Heroic’s amazing garlic bread. So good, so carby.
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Pan seared foie gras “Estilo Hoffman.” Larry likes his foie.
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Herbed Kurobata Pork Roll. aka porchetta.1A4A6884
The porchetta served with smashed potatoes, liver sauce, and creamed spinach (below). The meat was amazingly flavorful with that perfect crispy exterior. The smashed potatoes are very sexy as well.
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Creamed spinach.
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Old Amaro and Etrusco — cool stuff!

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Holy Cannoli. Good cannoli, but the shell needs that bubbly flakey quality from adding the wine to the dough and the ricotta, while good, wasn’t made fresh that morning in a small Sicilian village.

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Overall, another amazing meal. So much food and so good. And the old Baroli… Except for my dead solider there were so many good ancient grapes. I really like old baroli as they have this lovely dried fruit quality that just keeps going and going!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Foodie Club dining, click here.

Related posts:

  1. Old Baroli at Etta
  2. Drago Centro Baroli
  3. Ancient Italian (wine) at Sixth & Mill
  4. 1960s Barolo at Officine Brera
  5. Heroic Spanish
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Barolo, Foodie Club, Gelato, ham, Heroic Italian, Jeffrey Merrihue, pasta, Pig, Wine

Eating Monteriggioni – Il Pozzo

Jul03

Restaurant: Il Pozzo

Location: Monteriggioni, Italy

Date: June 13 & 22, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Classic Tuscan

ANY CHARACTER HERE

This local resteraunt in the cute little walled town of Monteriggioni pretty much typifies Tuscan cooking at its traditional best. We initially went here on the basis of our villa owner’s recommendation. He has good taste, and we came back a second time. This is probably the best of all my reports to get a sense of the classic Tuscan courses.


The restaurant is located in the main square of this qaint medeval village.


The name seems to mean well, shaft, or pit. There is an old well in the square right outside the restaurant, so that’s probably it.


The menu.


The interior is cute and traditional.


And they also have this lovely side patio.


The usual bread.


We started with a white from San Gimignano, Vernaccia, an old school but very pleasant DOC white.


Beetle juice anyone? Compari and soda.


Incredibly common, Tuscan ham with local melon.


Classic, caprese.


Smoked salmon served with a bit of salad and butter.


Local “pici” pasta with basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and olive oil.


Spaghetti pomodoro.


Pappardelle al Cinghiale, boar ragu. This was a scrumptious rendition of this wonderful dish, with perhaps a little cinnamon or nutmeg in the ragu.


Pasta with butter and cheese for the under 10 set.


Polenta with porcini mushrooms and cheese fondue — a rare out of focus photo.


A fantastic meat risotto. Basically a Bolognese sauce with rice. Really good.


The basic salad, but very well done.


Zucchini and walnut salad.


Fried fresh zucchini blossoms. Unlike in the states, these had no ricotta inside (which does frankly improve them), but they were still really good.


A good local Chianti Classico Riserva. It’s hard to really go wrong with some of these riservas at the local prices.


Grilled fillet of Tuscan cow. Rare (always)!


Guinea fowl braised and served in a sauce with slices of fresh truffle. No hating this.


Pork Senese, in a sweetish Vin Santo and fennel sauce. I liked this sauce which complemented the pork perfectly.


A total Tuscan classic, Salsicce con Fagioli — franks and beans. Tuscan sausage with stewed fava beans (a favorite of Hannibal Lector, but he uses the other other white meat).


Grilled lamb chops. Tuscans do love their Griglia (grilled meats).


Plenty of aperitifs available to wash down those slices of animal flesh.


The dessert menu.


Vanilla Gelato with hardened chocolate shell.


Creme Caramel. One of my personal favorites.


Tiramisu.


Cheese cake, Tuscan style.

You can really see the rhythm of a Tuscan meal here. The only things missing are the bruschetta and the minestrone, but those are shown in lots of other reports like Trattoria Pepei. First with have the antipasta, in this case cured meats, fish, etc. Then the pastas, then salads and vegetables accompanying grilled meats, followed by the cake-like desserts.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri
  2. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  3. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  4. Eating Castellina – Albergaccio di Castellina
  5. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Dietro Le Quinte
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: beef, Chianti, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Defensive wall, Dessert, eating-italy, ham, Il Pozzo, Italian cuisine, Italy, lamb, Meat, Monteriggioni, pasta, Pine nut, pork, Restaurant, San Gimignano, Toscana, Tuscany, Vernaccia

Eating Modena – Real Fini Breakfast

Jun12

Restaurant: Hotel Real Fini Via Emilia

Location: Modena, Italy

Date: June 5-8, 2011

Cuisine: Breakfast Buffet

Rating: Typical Italian Hotel Breakfast

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Italian hotels almost always include breakfast. The Real Fini in Modena’s is extremely typical of mid range hotels.


Cappuccino is always available, and unlike in the states is free and not $8. Plus, they know how to make a decent one at nearly any place in Italy.


There are very few hot items, just some scrambled eggs and a meat or two (sausage or ham). But there are lots of typical dry northern Italian cakes and cereal.


A couple fruits.

Yogurts, meats, cheeses. Often regional.

More bread products and jams. There’s always nutella, which makes anything better.


Biscuits and yogurt.


And this unusual selection of different “tinned” meats.


Like this Pate di prosciutto. Better than spam!


And a couple juices.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Modena – Osteria del Pozzo
  2. Quick Eats: Italian-Iberian Snack
  3. Quick Eats: Piccolo
  4. Riviera Country Club – Gluttony with a View
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Buffet, cakes, cappuccino, coffee, eating-italy, Eggs, ham, Hotel, Italian cuisine, Italy, Modena, pate, Travel and Tourism

Quick Eats: Italian-Iberian Snack

Dec01

A simple breakfast snack made with ingredients from the Philadelphia Italian Market.

Prosciutto on top of a fantastic Manchego cheese. Simple, but delicious. For breakfast snacking cheeses I really became a fan of the Iberian cheese during my month in Spain earlier this year. They have a rich nutty quality without being too overpowering.

Some slices of my Mom’s homemade banana bread.

The setting.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs
  2. Quick Eats: Panini at Home
  3. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  4. Quick Eats: Pizzeria Mozza
  5. Quick Eats: Brunch at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Brunch, Cheese, Dairy, Dairy product, Food, ham, Iberian Peninsula, Manchego, snack, Spain
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