Canaletto
545 Newport Center Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Almost everyone who knows me knows I am not much of a wine drinker. I profess to know next to nothing about wines. I know that red wines go with meat and whites go with fish and poultry, but that is about the extent of my knowledge. After attending the Batasiolo Wine Dinner at Canaletto, my wine appreciation has grown immensely just in this one night.
The great people at Canaletto invited us to their monthly wine dinner this past week. I was a little intimidated walking into this event. Not only is Canaletto one of the most excellent restaurants at Fashion Island, but I was also walking into a wine dinner with people I did not know and people who I assumed had way more wine intelligence than me. In other words, I half expected to make a fool out of myself.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. We arrived right on time for the 6:30pm wine dinner. For those of you who do not know Canaletto, they are located between Neiman Marcus and Whole Foods Market. When we walked in, the bar was predictably busy. Canaletto is well-known for having one of the best happy hours at Fashion Island. They offer pizzas, appetizers, artisan cocktails, and wine for $5 while serving up $3 draft beers. Great prices for a restaurant where you pass by Lamborghini's and Ferrari's at their front door.
The Batasiolo Wine Dinner was being held in the restaurant's private room. We were immediately welcomed by the staff and made to feel at home. I was relieved there was no stuffiness in the room. In fact, these people were enjoyable, not like I had anticipated at all. About thirty of us were at the two tables for this wine dinner. Our wine expert for the evening was the very nice Stefano Poggi. He told us about all the wines we were about to drink and gave a novice like me a bit of history about Italian wines. For this, I will be forever grateful. I was also thankful for the food coming out, so let's look at what we consumed on this wonderful evening.
The antipastini course would be first. These tray-passed appetizers included Assorted Crostini, Tomatoes Stuffed with Crab Meat Salad, Mini Assorted Pizzas, and Cerignola Green Olives. You will not see olive in these pictures because I am not a big fan of that fruit. The other appetizers were delicious, though, with the best tomato stuffed with crab. I am no fan of raw tomatoes, but I could not keep myself from having about five. The crab salad was very fresh and kept my texture issues with tomatoes to a minimum. The mini pizzas had a nice chewy crust, with just enough cheese and prosciutto to keep this pizza on the lighter side without sacrificing taste. It was a lovely start to the meal and excited us for what was to come.
Here is a quick shot of the bread placed on the table. Looking at these pictures, I can almost smell this bread again. It was very well made and came out warm, and again, I had a hard time sharing it with my table mates. This bread was made even better by adding olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was very addicting.
Talk about starting with a bang. This was my favorite dish of the night, the Vitello Tonnato Con Capperi Fritti. This was roasted veal served cold with fresh herbs and a fantastic house-made tuna and caper sauce. The tuna was from Italy, which was great with this dish. I am not much for mixing seafood and beef, but this worked perfectly. The veal was fork tender, the celery on top added some nice crunch, and the smooth tuna sauce reminded me of my tuna sandwiches when I was younger. The entire plate came together very nicely. The Gavi Batasiolo 2011 paired with this course was very light and crisp. I was supposed to taste light citrus with this wine, but it did not come through for me. My wine palette is still evolving. I was sorry to see this course leave the table.
The pasta course was up next, and we were given two pasta dishes to try. The Ravioli Con Salsiccia E Verze Brasate was a mellow ravioli filled with sausage, savoy cabbage, caramelized onions, and ricotta cheese. The light butter sauce used here was excellent, and this was one of the lightest sausage ravioli I have ever had. The Risotto Alle Rape Rosse E Caprino Fresco looked like a raw hamburger but became a favorite of Katie. This red beet risotto came with Parmigiano and goat cheese crumbles. I am by no means a risotto connoisseur, but this was one of the best-made ones that I have had. It was cooked perfectly, the beet flavor just poked through enough to interest the taste buds, and the cheeses brought everything home. The serving size would be too much for me, but I had no problem polishing this off. The wine for this course was the Batasiolo Sorvana 2010. This wine comes from a single vineyard in Barolo, Italy. It was very smooth and paired nicely with the ravioli.
Katie and I strategically picked the opposite of the two choices during the main course. She went with the Pesce Bianco Avvolto Nel Prosciutto Con Salsa Di Tartufi. Yeah, my Italian is good when I type these words; saying them is tricky. This white sea bass was wrapped in prosciutto with black truffles. I should have chosen this main course because it was delicious. First off, the serving size of this was phenomenal. A massive piece of flaky and light bass, with the prosciutto's flavor hanging around. Very well cooked. This was served with some green beans and a delicious potato cake. The potato cake was like a gigantic scalloped potato. The wine pairing with this fish dish was predictably a white wine. The Batasiolo Gavi di Gavi Granee 2009 was much like our first wine of the evening, but this time, I did get the slight citrus taste. This was Katie's favorite wine of the night.
If you have noticed, I have talked about the food here first before mentioning the wine. It's not unusual since I am more partial to food than wine, but this Batasiolo Barolo Cerequio 2006 was very special. First of all, it is scarce. Stefano told us that there are only ten cases in the US. The grapes used to make this wine are only grown on one hill. This wine was very smooth, had a great fragrance, and is just coming into its prime right now. Stefano told us that this wine will continue to improve with time, as the peak drinking years for this wine are from now till 2028. I may have some for my 56th birthday. This wine came with Costicine Di Manzo Brasate Al Barolo E Pastinache. I should have taken Italian in high school. This boneless short rib was braised with Barolo wine and parsnips and served with the exact potato cake Katie got with her entree. As usual with beef short ribs, these were fork tender. You could almost see the meat falling apart when I lifted my fork to them. I liked that the sauce was subdued with this dish, so the short rib's meatiness could be the show's star. A very hearty meal.
Dessert was our final act, and man, we were full by this point. I still did finish this Torta Di Chocolato E Nocciole Con Gelato Alla Vaniglia. I must be learning some Italian because I did not have difficulty translating this one. This warm chocolate and hazelnut cake was joined by a vanilla gelato. The cake was moist enough but made an excellent combination when mixed with the gelato. This was like Nutella in cake form with the hazelnut and the chocolate. Excellent dessert. I might have found my favorite kind of wine, dessert wines. They are a little sweeter and go down really smooth. With this dessert, we had two different varieties of Moscato. The Batasiolo Moscato d'Asti 2011 and the Batasiolo Moscato Rose. Both of these were fruity and sweet without crossing the overly syrupy line.
To say that the Batasiolo Wine Dinner exceeded my expectations would be an understatement. Not only was it not pretentious and snobby, but it was a lot of fun. We met many great people, and the food and drink were well done. We will also be back for their monthly wine dinners and regular meals here. Looking at Canaletto's regular menu, I noticed that the Veal Scaloppine and the Chicken Cannelloni caught my eye. I am also intrigued by the passport dinners that Canaletto and their sister restaurant, Il Fornaio, offer. For two weeks every month, they feature items from a different region of Italy. Three-course meals for $29.99, plus you get a gift. If you get your passport stamped six times, you are then entered into a drawing for a trip for two to Italy to experience fine Italian cooking firsthand. Even if you do not win the trip to Italy, you can definitely experience great Italian cooking at Canaletto in Newport Beach. You do not even need the hassle of going through the security lines at the airport to eat here.
We would like to thank all of the servers, bussers, kitchen staff, and the management at Canaletto for making our experience so great. We must also thank everyone at our table for making this a fantastic event. You made this an enjoyable night that Katie and I will not soon forget. Thanks also to Stefano Poggi, Export Manager for Batasiolo, for explaining his great wines to novice wine drinkers like me. Lastly, we thank Lindsey Gaines, the Event Coordinator at Canaletto, for the invite and for putting on such a great night of food, wine, and new friends. Thanks for everything, Lindsey; we look forward to seeing you and everyone at Canaletto again soon.
To find out more information about Canaletto, click here: https://www.ilfornaio.com/canalettonewportbeach
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