brunosdream

Not as strange a  combination as one would think…

  The gourmet homemade pizza is nothing new.
It’s just a great way to use the freshest ingredients
and personalize pizzas for the gathering.

Wine… Well, wine goes with everything.

The Jewel of the evening…

           Truffles

The Truffles courtesy of
Cindy, Her bother Jason
and his wife Ana  of
Posh Chocolat

Tasting Time w/ Cindy as
our guide

garam masala, mojito,
classic, grand marnier,
coconut curry, cafe com leche,
10 year old balsamic vinegar
& strawberry, fennel, toffee,
rosemary honey, smoked paprika,
white truffle oil & tahitian vanilla

Later that Night Bruno shows
What can be done with extra
pizza dough

Before

After

Josh & Amy

Bruno,Cindy & Josh
toasting a job well done

Text & Photos- Duane

1111

First course was
roasted tomato and artichoke soup
very flavorful w/ a nice light broth.

Second course was seared duck breast
and three cheese
ravioli w/ prosciuto, arugula, tomatoes
and sage butter sauce – Scrumptious!!

Third course was a choice of oven roasted black bass over
garlic olive oil crostini and roasted red pepper basil sauce, or red wine
marinated and braised quail w/ stewed white beans and rosemary-pancetta
broth – I went for the roasted bass
which was edged w/ pancetta… absolutely fantastic!
Dawn chose the braised
quail. I was considering this initially but didn’t want to fuss w/ all those
little bones! Dawn let me sample her quail and it was beautifully braised – I
love the flavor of poultry that’s been braised in red wine!!

Duane went for the a la carte menu so I’ll let him describe
his meal.

The Duane, of course had to be different.
My starter was the
grilled sea scallops
w/ chive polenta cakes
& vanilla rum sauce

Followed by the   
12oz Char-crust dry rubbed
rib-eye w/gorgonzolla butter
& tillamook cheddar-chive gratin

For wine we started off w/ a bottle that I brought from
home.

Artazu Artazuri Garnacha Narvarra 2003
a 100% tank-fermented old vine Grenache made by Artadi’s brilliant
winemaker, Juan Carlos Lopez de la Calle. An elegant, deep
ruby/purple-tinged Tinto, it boasts sweet, crunchy raspberry and cherry
fruit, medium body, a luscious texture, and a heady finish. This is
knock-out stuff to drink over the next 1-2 years.

Liz, server extraordinaire
tasting the vino

Rick, our friendly bartender, commented, “It’s like our
gigondas, it has a dusty dry finish”. He always comes up w/ great descriptions
of wine!

For dessert I went for crème custard napoleon w/ caramelized
bananas & chocolate shavings. Our server, Liz, described it as “banana
cream pie on steroids” and it definitely was!! I had to ask Liz twice what she
called this dessert so Duane and Dawn diagnosed me w/ CRS (i.e., Can’t Remember
Shit syndrome) and suggested I start taking ginkgo biloba regularly. I’m proud
to say that it only took me an hour after I got home to remember all of this!
Sorry Duane and Dawn, I’ll pass on the ginkgo for now, unless you can come up
w/ a dessert version that goes good w/ calvados!!
warm chocolate bread pudding
w/ marshmallows & pecan streusel
served w caramel ice cream 

Main Text-Bruno        Photographs-Duane

Domaine de la Pertuisane

Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes 2003

France

Founded by two young British winemakers w/ a shared passion
for quality wine.

Domaine de la Pertuisane was created w/ the intention of
producing “real” wine from the traditional Catalan varieties of Grenache (80%)
and Carignan (20%). With very old vines on schistous soil, which produce
extremely low yields (12hl/ha), wines of great concentration and finesse are
produced. These wines undergo wild yeast fermentation and are aged for twelve
months in new oak barriques.

Available at The Wine Merchant –

St. Louis, MO