Dinner with Pairing

[DaveyGirl]

My husband and I are going to be staying in the city for one Saturday night in September to celebrate his birthday. It's our second night away from our children (ever) so we want to make it special.

I'm thinking a tasting menu with a wine pairing, but have no idea where to find this. Would you wonderful folks share your suggestions with me?

Thanks!

[Gorp512]

You really cant beat Sbraga.

[FayeD]

I would recommend The Fountain at the Four Seasons Hotel. I think they have a choice of tasting menus and that there might be recommended wines. The atmosphere is wonderful and from what I have read recently, they might be within your budget, but give them a call.

[jhpark]

LaCroix does the tasting with matching wines as well, and should be within the budget.

[Buckethead]

What's your budget (roughly)? There are quite a few places that offer a prix fixe menu with wine pairings but prices vary a lot.

I would not recommend Vetri after my most recent meal there, the food, service, and wine pairings were nowhere near worth the price paid.

[JanR]

Agree with Buckethead on Vetri. If it is within your budget, I guess the new Le Bec Fin would have what you seek.

[DaveyGirl]

I just checked out Le Bec Fin's new website. They don't say anything about a tasting menu. I will give them a call.

[DaveyGirl]

We're pretty loose on the budget. We rarely get an overnight away from the kids, so we are ready to have a good time. I would like to keep dinner (tax, tip, etc) under $300.

[Buckethead]

OK, Vetri and LBF will both blow that budget. I've had a very good 4-course meal at Sbraga with drink pairings, it's $85pp for both ($49 for dinner, $35 for drinks), though I've read that the drink pairings are not always wine for every course (sometimes beer).

Vedge also offers a chef's tasting with wine pairings, I've never had it but I've had dinner there several times and it's almost always fantastic (my most recent meal at the bar there was my least favorite, it was still very good). I don't know if they offer the tasting every day though, I'd call and ask. Vedge is great even if you're not vegan/vegetarian.

[barryg]

Look at Sbraga, $49 tasting menu with optional $35 pairing. Also the Garces restaurants (Amada, Tinto, Chifa, etc) all offer tasting menus at various levels ($45-65 I think) with optional wine pairing for maybe $30-40 more.

[Buckethead]

Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough!

One thing about the tasting menus at Garces' places, they're just a selection of items from the regular menu. So you are not getting anything you can't just order for yourself. That's true at Sbraga also but at Sbraga the 4-course prix fixe is their only offering, so all the courses are sized appropriately and there's a logical progression.

[CindyJ]

This is a long shot, and it might not work for you for a number of reasons, but I'm going to put it out there anyway. My husband and I attended one of these wine pairing dinners just a few weeks ago and were totally impressed with the event. We learned a lot about the wines that were served, we got to meet the chef, and to learn about how the menu and wines were matched up.

I know you said you'll be in the city, but Longwood Gardens (about an hour outside Philly) has been offering a series of wine pairing dinners this summer in their fine dining restaurant, 1906. There will be one on September 21 featuring wines from South America and Chile. The cost of the dinner includes admission to the gardens for the day.

The meal begins with passed hors d’oeuvres and includes four courses, an amuse bouche and intermezzo. You can take a look at the menu and the wine pairings by going to http://1906atlongwood.com/content/pro... and clicking on "menu" under the date for the event.

[DaveyGirl]

Cindy - Thanks for the suggestion. I will keep that in mind for the future :) We do want to be in the city.

[JeremyEG]

I'm an NYC hound but my wife and I had a great paired dinner at Vetri. It's not cheap but certainly will make for a special evening.
JeremyEG
HomeCookLocavore.com