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Last night I attended one of the best food/wine experience-to-price ratios I've had in a long time. And I still can't figure out why it's not incredibly booked, except for the fact that it's so poorly advertised.

Or maybe I should leave it that way?

Pierrot Gourmet is the small cafe attached to the Peninnsula Hotel, and it's entrance is on Rush and Superior. I'm sure they share chefs with the hotel itself, and I know they share the pastry crew, since I asked once (their French pastries are quite good, though pricey, although they do have a rather costly location to pay for).

I heard about an Italian wine and cheese pairing dinner for $35/person and a got a few friends together.

We were amazed. Really. I just don't get how this could only be $35. This was our evening.

It's a small, casual space, and they created one big communal table. There were about 25-30 people there. The hotel hired a new, young wine guy a few months ago, and he's responsible for this. He gave knowledgable commentary about each wine and region. The incredibly young-looking sous chef gave nervous but useful commentary on the food. They were both open to questions, and the mood of the evening was a bit inexperienced, but plenty willing to share their knowledge and passion.

A radicchio salad with roasted butternut squash and an apple-based dressing was garnished with a podda classico, matched with a Gaja sauvignon blanc.

A truffle risotto was made with a tangy pecorino, matched with a barbera d'asti superiore.

A smoky bacony/porky bean soup was matched with a Ceretto Asij barbaresco, the vinous highlight for me.

Braised veal cheeks with porcini, polenta and taleggio was matched with a syrah from Piemonte.

And a baked lemon buffalo ricotta was topped with fresh figs, candied prosciutto (it worked for me) and paired with a moscato.

In addition, there was a nice selection of breads.

Now, the amazing thing about this was that we were served full portions of each wine...and they kept refilling them! I mean, some of these retail for $60+. The portion sizes were small, as to be expected, but the wine flowed freely. The food I thought was well done, though perhaps the salad a bit fussy.

There is a South African dinner the second Thursday of December, and more planned for the new year.

Sounds great. I wonder if this deal can still be got...

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Aaron

Yes, it can. Tomorrow (Thursday, January 13) at 6:30 is their next one, a Rhone dinner, still amazingly only $35. Please don't tell anyone else, or the price might start becoming more reasonable.

I'd be surprised to get a glass of Gaja for $35, let alone dinner.

I can't see any reason to make Syrah in Piemonte, but that's my issue. Sounds splendid all the way around. Would LOVE to hear details about the Rhone dinner if anyone goes.

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"Strange how potent cheap music is."

Well, as a matter of fact, I did go, and what a treat. This dinner was even less populated (oh yeah, there was a single digit wind chill, but why should that stop a Chicagoan?), but the warmth of the space and the congenial host and company made up for it.

Once again, I just can't understand this - they're easily taking a loss on this, yet just don't seem to advertise. It wasn't even in localwineevents.com this time. But for $35:

A Chapoutier Hermitage blanc (100% marsanne) "Chante Alouette" nicely matched with a salty/fishy eggplant/salt cod/aoili souffle.

A Chapouteir C. de Pape "La Bernardine" (100% Syrah, however) with a rabbit loin/cous cous dish that was fine (the dish; although this was white rabbit meat and a little boring to me). A great French version of the grape, though.

A St. Joseph "Offerus" chave with the room's favorite dish, duck confit cassoulet.

A Guigal Cote Rotie "Brune et Blonde" with braised venison and au gratin potato thing. The venison was superb, my favorite dish; the wine was perfect with it, and a warming winter delight; the potatoes a bit underdone and lifeless (according to me and my friends there), the only thing we really didn't enjoy.

A Jaboulet Aine Muscat-de-Baumes-de-Venise with a nice apple tart with caramel sauce and vanilla bean ice cream. The apple tart was ok, the pastry being a bit touch and the ice cream a bit crystallized, but the muscat really stood on its on just fine.

Again, like before, these were full pours of wine, often refilled if desired, with the sommelier giving erudite backgroun, and the (sous) chef explaining the dishes. Both rotate around the room to chat as well for additional interest.

Unfortunately, the next one is 2/24, a sake tasting, which isn't quite as appealing, but I'm willing to be drawn into something new for the price. My friends who attended the South African event in December enjoyed that one as well. This is really one of those hidden QPV gems in Chicago, and I hope they get the word out better, or at least keep having them for those of us who go!

I've had the Gaja sauvignon blanc (Alteni di Brassica) and it's unusual. I think I had the '99 and it had a distinct grassy tone. I didn't like it enough to have it again, but if some one brought over a bottle, I'd sure drink it. IIRC it was around $45/btl.

Piemontese winemakers are definitely catching up (there's both good and bad in that observation). They've been planting Viognier, Pinot Noir, and Syrah for at least ten years. I think the Consorzio has loosened the rules, because those vines were once forbidden.

Gaja is making some wines in Tuscany now, too. They're not bad, but, in my view, not worth the premium over established producers...yet.

Aaron Elliot, the wine director of The Peninsula Hotel, is going to Japan for a few weeks to study sake. I am pretty sure that the upcoming wine dinner you mentioned at Pierrot Gourmet will be awesome. We look forward to seeing you there.

ChefGEB
www.gebowles.com