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Dayton Dining

You Drink, They Eat!

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“Hope is the belief that, in spite of present conditions, happiness and good things are soon to come.”

The Wine Loft at the Greene has figured out how to serve up wine and hope at the same time.  As part of a unique new program that donates a percentage of sales with their monthly wine features, the more folks that sample the featured monthly flight of wine, the more money will be donated to The Hope Foundation of Greater Dayton.  The organization helps people with the pitfalls of life. By addressing these problems, they are helping to support the idea that tomorrow can be better than today, which is the essence of hope.

The biggest program the foundation runs is their mobile food pantry. Every week, their truck is packed with food packages for 700 families in need. They then travel to various host sites in Montgomery and Greene counties to deliver directly to  clients.  They provide two bags of groceries and a few lbs. of meat (9 meals) to those in need. They distribute more than FIFTEEN TONS of food EVERY MONTH.

Try a flight of the Lofts featured wines for June  for $16 and $1/flight with be donated  to  The Hope Foundation.  Here are this months features:

Bricco del Sole Moscato d’Asti

100% Moscato. The 6,000 case production is divided into 5 or 6 bottling periods to preserve natural freshness. Slow natural fermentation for 1 month in temperature controlled stainless steel.

Bishop’s Peak Pinot Noir

The 2009 Bishop’s Peak Pinot Noir offers aromas of strawberry, raspberry and hints of anise. Red fruit flavors are predominant with cherry notes and a long silky finish.

Domaine la Guintrandy Cotes du Rhone

70% Grenache, 20% olds Carignan and 10% Syrah

Joel Gott Cabernet

The 2008 Joel Gott 815 California Cabernet Sauvignon is ripe with blueberry, cherry soda, and dark cherry. The aromas burst with violet, vanilla, cedar, chocolate and cinnamon. Soft ripe tannins result in a balanced and long velvety finish.

Melville Chardonnay

This rich, creamy Chardonnay has fine acidity, while a touch of neutral oak adds a background of buttered toast. But the fruit stars, brimming with papayas, mangos, Meyer lemons, limes and pineapples. The finish is filled with honey, and yet is brisk and dry.

You can also visit The Wine Loft for lunch Friday- Sunday and 10% of your food bill will also be donated to The Hope Foundation.  Check out the lunch menu here.

Bring Your own Bucket Special at Bullwinkle’s

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I found this on Bullwinkle’s facebook page and wanted to share it with you all:

Many years ago, Bullwinkle’s used to have Beer-in-a-Bucket. But due to the unwillingness of those patrons of many moons ago, the buckets would “mysteriously” disappear from Bullwinkle’s until there were no more buckets for beer. One evening, a group of employees from the old Mound plant came down to enjoy a few buckets of beer. Sadly, no buckets were left. But these great drinkers had a brilliant mind with them and he said, “Well I want a bucket of beer. Point me to the nearest hardware store and I’ll get a bucket for myself and you can fill it up!” Given directions, our great man trudged off and returned victoriously with bucket in hand! “Ha-zah!” he was saluted by his co-workers. From that night on, this same man brought his bucket back to Bullwinkle’s so we could fill up that bucket with beer. Sadly, this great thinking man recently passed away, and his story was told to the Moose one night, during a break in trivia, about his ingenuity in bringing his own bucket. Thus, a new drink special and was launched and now is your chance to have some fun with us!

Bullwinkle’s is introducing BRING YOUR OWN BUCKET specials at Bullwinkle’s Top Hat Bistro! This isn’t just one night a week, it’s EVERY NIGHT! Yes, it’s your chance to have fun and get creative with this little dandy of drinking fun! The drink prices when you bring your own bucket are the following (ice is free of course):

  • Domestic Beers are $10 per bucket (or $2 a bottle)
  • Imports Beers are $15 per bucket (or $3 a bottle)

Fellow lovers of the barley and hops, this is also a chance for you to get creative with this new drink special! Yes, we’re encouraging you to start making this bucket of yours a continuously changing work of art. Customize it with stickers, paint it, if you loved doing macaroni art back in elementary school now’s your chance to do more! Decorate it as you see fit (please keep your bucket tasteful though, we do have families with kids who come here) but have a great time making your bucket your own. Are you an entrepreneurial type person? Create and design buckets for your family and friends!

To encourage creativity and uniqueness, Bullwinkles is  going to be holding  “Beautiful and Best Designed Bucket of the Week” on Thursday nights! Put your bucket up against the best the Dayton area has to offer and if you win, you’ll win a free bucket of beer for the night, on us. They’ll have judges there to decide which bucket is the best and if you win, you’re set for that round, or even a few rounds!

This special starts now, so stop by your local hardware store and pick up a good bucket that’ll easily hold 5 bottles of beer! Have fun and be creative! We’ll see you at Bullwinkle’s!

(just don’t forget your bucket)

Seafood Lovers Wine Tasting

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From the docked boat that greets you at the entrance, to the indoor waterfall surrounded by palm trees  and beach inspired decor, a trip to The Dock in Enon can sure make you feel like you’re at the beach. Join them on Thurs, June 9th as they present a wine tasting featuring 7 wines and an apetizer buffet buffet  and that  seaside feeling will be reinforced by the seafood pairing matched with wines presented by Allied Wines Manager Amy Tierney.  The menu includes:

Reception:  Rodney Strong  Charlottes Home Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc, Sonoma

Wine:   Garnet Pinot Noir, Sonoma
Paired with:  Individual Beef Wellingtons

Wine:  Beringer Alluvium Blanc, Napa Valley
Paired with:  Chilled Island Shrimp Kabobs

Wine: Layer Cake Chardonnay ,California
Paired with:  Seared Ahi Tuna on Toast Points

Wine:  Simply Naked Pinot Grigio, California
Paired with:  Fried Soft Shelled Blue Crab on Toast

Wine:  Colores Del Sol Malbec, Argentinal
Paired with:  Crab Stuffed Mushrooms with Lobster Sauce

Wine:  Menage A Trois White Blend, Californial

Paired with:  Homemade Cheesecake with Apple-Walnut Chutney

To make reservations to attend the tastings for $37.99 per person, call  The Dock at 937- 864-5011.

Silk in a Glass

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Louis XIII

T-Pain wants to buy you a draaaank.

During T-Pain’s song “Buy U A Drank”, Yung Joc discusses buying a few shots of Louis XIII cognac for himself and a lady friend. If you are going to discuss cognac, one of the things that should be included is the role that hip hop music played in not only increasing the visibility of the liquor, but how it revived a dying industry. In the late 1990’s, cognac sales were evaporating. The Asian markets, cognac’s largest market at the time, were in a tail spin, and Europeans were discovering the joys of single malt scotch. No one was particularly interested in this painstakingly made, elegant, complicated spirit. Then almost overnight, with the release of Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvosier”, cognac was jumping up the liquor charts, hitting over $1 billion in sales in just the U.S.A. alone by 2003. Cognac was back, and a small region in France could not be happier.

Cognac has always enjoyed a reputation of being a high class, refined drink. (I have yet to hear the story of crazy college benders on cognac.) Part of the reason it is such a high cost drink is the strict limitations that are put upon it by the French government. There are only three grapes that can be used to make 90% of what goes in a bottle of cognac: Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, and Colombard. There are even restrictions on what grapes can make up that last 10%. Those grapes must be grown in a region of France about 310 sq. mi., or a little smaller than Indianapolis, IN. The chalky soil of the region (and the more and softer the chalk, the better) produces a grape that is higher in acid. This grape would produce a terrible wine, but it is perfect for distilling. The distillation of cognac can only be done from November through March, and must be done in copper pot stills, called alembics. Copper is used because it will not change the flavor of the product being produced in it. Remember, all of this is legally required.

The aging process

That is just growing it. Now we can start creating it. At first, the growers pick and squeeze the grapes in October as if they were producing wine. For two to three weeks, the grape juice gets to just relax and ferment like nature intended. Ultimately it produces a low alcohol (7-8% ABV), acidic wine they then run through the pot still, extracting the eau-de-vie (water of life), getting rid of the too weak and too strong flavors, and finally ending up at a respectable, 70% ABV beverage. All of this has to be (legally) finished by March 31st following the October harvest. This liquid ambrosia is then poured into charred oaken casks where it straightens up, and after two years, is free to become the finest spirit in the world. During the aging process, the raw spirit absorbs the flavor of the oak and gets deeper in color. Oak is not air tight, either. Millions of bottles of cognac evaporate every year during the maturation process, a portion that cognac makers refer to as the “angel’s share”. Angels like it so much that they are the second largest market for cognac, after the United States. The longer the eau-de-vie is allowed to stay in the cask, the deeper and richer the final product is going to be. While the minimum is two years, most cognacs are aged far longer than that, some going as long as fifty years in the cask.

After two paragraphs, you would think the story about creating cognac was complete. There is one final phase: blending. You do not simply crack open a cask and start bottling it. Every house that makes cognac has a master blender, whose job it is to taste and smell each of the different liquids coming out of the casks, across a wide variety of years and regions, and then combines them into a single spirit with a consistent taste. As the current cellar master at Remy Martin puts it, she “has to manage the present, and predict the future” when preparing the blends. Each blend is then married and then bottled, though sometimes it is allowed some time to fully blend in large glass storage units before bottling for the public. After it is bottled, it gets labeled. Remember the blending part? When you look on a bottle of cognac, it is going to have one of the following designations:

  • VS – Very Special – the youngest cognac in the blend is two years old
  • VSOP – Very Superior Old Pale – the youngest cognac in the blend was stored at least four years, usually in aged oak
  • XO – Extra Old – the youngest cognac in the blend was stored for at least six years, usually closer to fifteen and up

There are other designations, such as Napoleon (a grade equal to XO), Extra (usually older than an XO), or Hors d’âge (equal to XO, but indicates a longer time in the cask). Most of these are more for marketing, to let people know how much longer the cognac as been in touch with the oak.

The traditional tulip glass

Time for those shots Yung Joc bought us. Cognac is not just something you experience only on the taste buds, but with your nose and eyes as well. Traditionally, the best way to enjoy a cognac is in a tulip shaped glass. A brandy snifter can do the same work, but it does not have the extra lip of glass that is helpful for the full cognac experience, as we shall read shortly. After pouring it, you can first start by taking in the color. Remember, the longer a cognac has been aged, the richer and deeper the color. The youngest are a light gold color; the oldest can be amber or even red. After you have enjoyed the color, put it up to your nose and smell it, enjoying the fruity, oaky, and earthy aromas often associated with the liquor. The tulip glass aids in this, driving the bouquet straight to the nose. As you are drinking it in with your eyes and nose, your hand is warming up the cognac, releasing even more of the flavor. After you have done all of this, bring it to your lips and savor away.

But what to savor? And where? The big four when it comes to cognac are Hennessy, Remy Martin, Courvoisier, and Martell. You can find at least one in most bars, usually a VS, just in case someone asks. L’Auberge has one of the widest selections in the area, with Hennessy, Courvoisier, and Remy Martin in VS, VSOP, and XO. Some places like Fleming’s may have Louis XIII, but the finest cognacs are hard to find in the area. All of the bartenders and managers I spoke to said the same thing: there is not much of a demand for them. But, there are enough good ones out there that you should be able to find one to try. But if you do want to try Louis XIII, let T-Pain buy it for you. It really is $150 a pour.

If you are looking to try one in a cocktail, here is an oldie but a goodie. It was listed in Imbibe’s Top 25 Most Influential cocktails of all time: the Sidecar.

The Sidecar

1 oz. cognac (VS or VSOP’s are recommended for cocktails. I would try Remy Martin.)
1 oz. orange liqueur
1 oz. lemon juice
Cracked Ice
Pour ingredients into a shaker, shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Sugared rim is optional.

Getting Lucky

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Lucky's Taproom -- One of the newest eateries in the always fabulous Oregon District.
Lucky’s Taproom — One of the newest eateries in the always fabulous Oregon District.

Now that I’m officially a grad student, I’m trying to be cooler and more interesting to the general public. One step on my trek to coolness is to dine at locations besides the Chipotle on Brown.

So when two of my best friends, Maggie and Allie, came for a visit this weekend, I asked them if we could go somewhere new and chic. The Oregon District of course has a lot to offer – and we soon decided the new Lucky’s Taproom & Eatery, 520 E. Fifth St., was our best bet.

Lucky’s is open from 11 to 2:30 a.m. Monday through Sunday. The owner, Andrew Trick, opened the store on March 11, of this year.

“This was his life dream to have this bar,” Teresa Jetton, Trick’s niece who also works at Lucky’s, told me.

Jetton said her uncle planned to open Lucky’s with his father, who recently passed away. Trick continued to work toward his dream of owning a restaurant and bar, and Jetton said it has been a big success since its opening earlier this year.

The trip to Trick’s new hotspot started out a litttttle rough for me. I decided to lounge for a while in my apartment before feasting, and soon woke up to Mags and Allie beckoning me out the door. I was definitely a zombie for the first hour of our night, but woke up just in time to enjoy a delish chicken salad sandwich and fries with a side of honey mustard — always a staple of any meal I eat.

Lucky’s, in my opinion as a food aficionado since age 1, was excellent. The menu is full of appetizers, soups and salads, and sandwiches at affordable prices, especially for a student like myself on a budget. My chicken salad sandwich complete with lettuce, tomato and mayo came to a grand total of just $5.50. Not only that, but Lucky’s also offers vegan/gluten free bread for just $1 more on all sandwiches. Allie, a vegetarian who used to be a vegan herself, was immediately impressed. The healthy options don’t stop there, either. Want a burger? Choose between beef, turkey, soy, gluten free vegan or fish meat to top your bun. Is the grilled ham and cheese sandwich not for you? Go veggie for just 50 cents more.

At Lucky’s, I feel like I couldn’t have made a bad menu decision. The $6.50 quesadilla with Anaheim/poblano and bell peppers, onions, cheddar/jack cheese, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, for example, was hard to pass up. I could have even made it vegan with cheddar-style vegan cheese for just $1.50 more. The cordon blue sandwich also was a close second for me. The sandwich comes with grilled chicken and ham, swiss cheese, dijon mustard, mayo, lettuce and tomato. Onions, pickles and sauteed mushrooms are available upon request. Even the simple spinach salad — with bleu cheese, chicken, bacon, candied walnuts, craisins, sliced pears and raspberry vinaigrette — was enticing. Decisions, decisions!

If these tasty selections sound right for you, be sure to stop in soon — All through June, the restaurant and bar’s Facebook friends will be treated to 10 percent off lunch, Monday through Friday.

My heavenly chicken-salad-and-fries dish: I couldn't help but take a few bites before snapping a picture!
My heavenly chicken-salad-and-fries dish: I couldn’t help but take a few bites before snapping a picture!

One of the top highlights – besides the diversity of food options – was the beer selection. The phrase, “Try a new one, samples are on us,” at the bottom of the beer menu immediately caught our attention. As a recent college graduate, anything besides Natty Light is like gold to me, so watching Allie try out three different baby samples (in adorably small glasses) was super exciting. Allie chose the Maharaja – despite my pleas for her to get Le Freak just for the name –and thoroughly enjoyed it as a complement to her beer battered fish and chips. Maharaja – a product of the Colorado-based Avery Brewing Co. – is an orange, sweet, seasonal beer with a hint of fresh citrus that we all just had to try.

Lucky’s draft list changes, but other options this past weekend included: Dragon’s Milk (New Holland Brewing Co.) for $6; Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (Lexington Brewing Co.) for $5; and Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout (Great Divide Brewing Co.) for $6. This listing alone was enough to get me in the door!

Highlight number three: the service. I have a strong, long-held conviction that everyone who works in the Oregon District is super artsy and musically-talented, and this one proved me right. I finally got up the courage to ask the hip waiter about his rocker tattoos, and he revealed that serving us french fries wasn’t in fact his primary passion. By night, he’s in a band. He explained the meaning of the tattoos that laced his arms, admitting he would show us the rest but wasn’t allowed to remove his shirt at our table.

All smiles after our tasty meals! (Photo taken by our musically-inclined, tattooed waiter.)

All smiles after our tasty meals! (Photo taken by our musically-inclined, tattooed waiter.)

Regardless, my first excursion was full of success.

Next time you decide to splurge and take yourself out, I challenge you to go somewhere new. You might just find a tasty meal, complete with some of your old favorites, and some surprisingly entertaining service.

Bon appetit!

That Crêpe Place opens at The Greene

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“Fresh, Authentic, Hand-held
Savory and Sweet Crepes
made Right in Front of Your Eyes!”

Celebrating it’s soft opening today, That Crêpe Place is “an original concept and the first of many, I hope,” laughs owner Rodney Long as I spoke with him by phone this morning.  Long, originally from Philly owned a BBQ restaurant and spent 15 years in marketing for Proctor & Gamble before taking the leap into crepes.

Long describes crepes as the perfect ubiquitous food, similar to a wrap, it’s versatile and can be filled with savory or sweet and perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert.  Their menu leads you through savory choices like the Pesto Shrimp crepe with a pesto aioli and the Mediterranean featuring Chicken Breast, Feta Cheese, Sweet Grilled Piquillo Peppers, Fresh Baby Spinach, with Balsamic Glaze; Sweet Crepes like the  Tahitian – a Vanilla Buttered Crepe sprinkled with Cinnamon and Powdered Sugar, and Sweet & Fruity options  like the Funky Monkey with Bananas, Chocolate Chips, with Creamy Peanut Butter or the Strawberry Cheesecake  made with Fresh Strawberries topped with Homemade Vanilla Cream Sauce.  Also on the menu are a couple of salad options and kids sandwiches.

Long suggested that a grand opening will be planned in a few weeks, once they’ve worked all the kinks out. He  thinks  his crepes are perfect for the casual outdoor shopping environment at The Greene, and thinks guests will enjoy watching a ladle full of batter poured on a crêpe griddle, spun into a circle, flipped and filled with your fresh ingredients will make his concept a big hit.  He says that “crepes are a perfect portable feast and can’t wait for everyone to try them.”  Be sure and check out the reward club, as each purchase will help earn you free food.

That Crêpe Place will share a patio with Cold Stone Creamery and is located at 4474 Glengarry Drive in Beavercreek, diagonally across from the movie theater.

Giuliano – A New Era of Anticoli’s Dining

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The Anticoli family has a long tradition of restaurants in the Dayton region.  Their first restaurant, Rendezvous, opened  downtown on Fifth Street in 1931. In 1951 they moved out to Saleem Avenue with Anticoli’s and in 2000 moved what became Caffé Anticoli  to Main Street in the Clayton area.  Son Michael went north and opened La Piazza in 1992 in Troy.

In 2011 the family moved south, and renovated a space in downtown Miamisburg.  The new restaurant starts a new era for the Anticoli’s, with Giuliano, named after the family’s ancestral hometown located near Rome, Italy.  The restaurant had a soft opening in April and this week has been set to celebrate the official Grand Opening.  A ribbon cutting is set for June 1st at 4pm and guests that visit during this week will receive a VIP card, good for 20% off every Sunday through Thursday until October 1st, 2011.

Giuliano will be open seven days a week, serving dinner Monday through Saturday and opening at noon on Sunday’s, when kids 10 and under will eat free, while mom and dad can enjoy 20% of wines by the glass.  Monday night will feature a pasta buffet, and Wednesday will be 35 cent wing night. Happy hour specials on food and drinks will run 4-6pm.
You may dine in the bar area, dining room or even book a private room for your party.  Entrees range from $12.95 to $22.95, pizza’s are $12.95 to $15.95.

Giuliano’s, An Anticoli Tavern
67 South Main Street
Miamisburg, OH 45342
937.859.3000

This Weeks Beer Tasting Bonanza

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It’s long been known that Dayton offers an array of wine tastings that rival towns twice our size, but in the last few months our local taverns have really been stepping up the craft brews they offer.

Here’s a quick round up so you can taste your way across town- be sure to click on the link for more detailed information on each event.

Tues
5-7pm Abita Beer Tasting at Rue Dumaine

Wed
7pm – Mike Scwartz from Belmont Party Supply hosts the monthly Trolley Tasting
9 beers and munchies just $20- arrive early this sells out!

5pm – Archer’s Tavern taps a new craft beer each Wed night

Thurs
6:30pm  Goose Island Beer Dinner at Dorothy Lane Springboro

7pm  Dogfish Head’s Hellbound On My Ale Tapping at Spinoza’s

7pm La Tappe Isid’or Tapping at Chappy’s

Fri

5-7pm Arrow Wine Centerville‘s Weekly Beer Tasting
There will be more posted as the week goes on, so be sure and check back.  Did you know you can choose the Dayton On Tap header under DatyonDining and you’ll get a weekly listing of beer tastings around town that’s constantly being updated located on the right column!  And if you know of a place that serves up some great beers, add it below in the comments!  Cheers!

Saturday Beer Brunch

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Spinoza’s Pizza & Salads will present “Founder’s Cerise Cherry Fermented Ale” four days before the rest of the world!   In an exclusive agreement with Founder’s Brewing Company (Grand Rapids, MI), Spinoza’s will tap a keg of this unique seasonal brew at 10am this Saturday, May 28th, as part of their bi-monthly beer brunch events featuring hearth-baked breakfast pizzas.  The official release date of Founder’s Cerise is June 1st, so make plans for Spinoza’s Beer Brunch tomorrow morning and be among the first to taste this year’s batch.    Special musical guests Michael Teckenbrock & Brian Cashwell will be playing during this special event, which takes place this Sat, May 28th from 11am – 1pm.  Spinoza’s is located on the 2nd floor of the Mall at Fairfield Commons in the Sear’s wing.

Roadtrip Down To Taste of Cincinnati

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Every Memorial Day weekend in downtown Cincinnati 6 blocks turn into an amazing food feast.   Started in 1979, it is now the nation’s longest running culinary arts festival. Featuring more than 45 restaurants serving up delicious and delectable menu items it’s worth the drive down 75.  Head south and exit at  the Fifth Street exit, and you’ll practically run into the event.  Plenty of parking lots line the streets, just be prepared to pay about $5 to park.

Stroll down 5th street and you’ll be able to taste treats that range from curry chicken to baklava, strudel to strawberry shortcake.  Most tastes run $2-5 and there are plenty of beer, wine, soda and water booths mixed in among the food vendors. Click here for menu.

To accompany all the mouth-watering menu items available on the streets of downtown Cincinnati, this year’s festival will also offer beer and wine taste-ings on Fountain Square. Beer taste-ing will be on Saturday and Sunday from 4 – 5 pm, and wine taste-ing on Saturday and Sunday from 6 – 7 pm. Guests can grab a seat in prime Fountain Square location with a great view of the stage and sip away to wash down the fare they’ve sampled. The cost is $15 per person, or 2 people for $25, which includes a souvenir wine glass or beer pint.

Speaking of stages, there are 6 scattered throughout the taste, featuring various entertainment throughout the festival, including rock, blues, country and even some standup comedy during the evening. Click here for entertainment lineup.

Taste of Cincinnati runs Fri & Sat noon – midnight and Mon noon til 9pm.

Happy “Nouveau Rosé” Day!

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The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer, and it’s time for some light, warm-weather wines.  The flavors of rosé wines tends to be more subtle versions of their red wine varietal counterparts. The fruit expectations lean towards strawberry, cherry, and raspberry with some citrus and watermelon presenting on a regular basis.  Rosés are perfect for spring and summer, as they are served chilled and can be a refreshing accompaniment to a variety of warm weather fare. Rosé wines also top the charts for food-friendly versatility. So, if you are opting for “surf ‘n turf” rest assured that a rosé can handle both the seafood and the steak in one fell sip. It’s also a great picnic wine, as it tends to have both a lighter body and more delicate flavors on the palate, presenting a great wine partner for a ham, chicken or roast beef sandwich, along with a fruit, potato or egg salad and can even handle a variety of chips and dips. Rosés are also the perfect guest for a backyard barbecue, tackling hamburgers, hot dogs and even French fries and ketchup with ease.

Arrow Wine (Centerville & Far Hills Location) will be celebrating Noveau Rosé’s all day today (Thurs, May 25th) with tasting at both stores.

Here are a couple of quick tips in searching for a rosé:

  1. Drink a recent vintage – you don’t want an aged rosé.
  2. If you see “NV” on a bottle, it stands for “non-vintage,” meaning that there’s a mix of grapes from different vintage years.
  3. Many great rosé’s are available for $12- $15 a bottle.

Buckeye Vodka Martini’s Anyone?

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Whenever  I hear talk about martini’s  Sean Connery’s voice pops into my head in his most quoted  James Bond line “shaken not stirred.” And while mixologists worldwide will continue to debate debate shaken versus stirred, gin versus vodka, I’d much rather just drink a martini. Archer’s Tavern (9496 Dayton Lebanaon Pike in Centerville) will give us all a chance to sip on a cocktail as they debut 8 new Buckeye Vodka Martini’s this Tuesday night.  From 6-8pm you are invited to join Buckeye CEO Jim Finke for a tasting of flavored martini’s for $3 each.  Or if you prefer your vodka with tonic, those will be just $2.50.  Since it’s April debut this Dayton distilled vodka has been making quite a splash across the state.  If you haven’t already tried it, this will be a great chance to do your own taste test.

But back to the Shaken Vs. Stirred Debate.

  • Shake your Vodka Martini
    Why: For a vodka martini to be good it needs to be cold. Very Cold! Therefore, shaking a vodka martini makes it colder.
  • Stir your Gin martini:
    A gin, or traditional, martini benefits by being smooth and one can enjoy the delicate flavors of the individual gin.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT
From the the British Medical Journal (on-line edition)

“Shaken martinis may enhance the antioxidant effects of alcohol, making them healthier than the stirred variety!”

Dayton’s Premier Wine & Gourmet Food Festival is Sunday!

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Fleurs et Vin is an  afternoon party  in the park,  celebrating wine and fabulous food served up by the area’s best independent restaurants. A Dayton tradition for over 20 years, Vail Miller Sr of Heidelberg Distributing and Mike Frank of Arrow Wine started this event to bring wine out of the wine cellars and to make it fun and accessible to all.  Now one of the most anticipated and talked about wine events, the festival will serve over 340 wines this year.  For those who prefer beer, spend time in the Belgian Beer Garden, enjoying  beers from Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe as well as a namesake beer from Goose Island- Fleur!  The party begins promptly at 1pm and serving will cease at 4pm.  Of course all guests must be 21 or over and yes, they do check ID’s!

Participating
Restaurants:
Amber Rose
Carver’s
Central Perc
Chef Paul’s Catering
Coco’s Bistro
Crocodile Louie’s
Cuvee
De’Lish Cafe
Dewey’s Pizza
El Meson
Fifth St. Wine & Deli
Giovanni’s
Hawthorn Grill
Jay’s Seafood
Jerardi’s Little Store
Mamma DiSalvo’s
Oakwood Club
Pour Haus/Scratch
SideBar
Smokin’ Bar -B-Que
Thai9
The Dock
The Wine Loft

The $60 admission ticket includes all beer, wine and food tastings as well as a souvenir wine glass and 2 souvenir beer glasses  J.t. Fedrick and the Sax Groove will be playing throughout the afternoon and guests will want to spend time perusing the silent auction.  Highlights include a week’s stay at a cabin on Lake Norris, theater & sports  tickets, spa packages, executive car detailing, wine racks, spa services and restaurant gift certificates.  The auction will close at 3pm.

Guests are encouraged to stick around for the 4pm live auction, which is truly a wine lovers delight!  Rare bottles, verticals and Chef’s dinners will be included. Proceeds from the day’s events benefit AIDS Resource Center Ohio and Culture Works.

Here are wine expert Mark Fisher‘s  Fleurs survival tips:

1.  Arrive early. The opening line is long, but event organizers cannot start serving before 1 p.m. because of Ohio laws.

2.  Go slow on the wine consumption — this is a marathon, not a sprint — and if you don’t like a wine, or just want a small sip, use the dump buckets to pour out the wine in your glass and move on. Dumping is not considered rude.

3.  When you’re poured a sample of wine — and there’s a line of folks with empty glasses behind you — for crying out loud, step out of the way!

4.   Even if you don’t intend to buy, stay the final hour for the live auction. It can feature some rather entertaining bidding wars. And you can use the rest.

5.   Leave the stilettos for another occasion when you’re not tromping around in wet grass. And while we’re giving fashion advice, don’t wear white. Doesn’t go well with red wines.

— And the most important survival tip: water is your friend. Bottled water will be available at no extra charge. Drink lots of it.

Win Tickets!

We have a pair  of tickets to give away to our readers – simply fill out the form below by Friday 5/20 at midnight and we’ll draw a random winner on Saturday.  Cheers!

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52 Butter Cafe Meals for $10

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Yes, it really will be possible to have a  lunch or breakfast every week for an entire year for just the cost of a $10 raffle ticket!  Your odds to win might be even better if you buy 3 raffle tickets for $20.  One of the Butter Cafe owners, Sarah,  will be biking from San Francisco to LA in the AIDS/LifeCycle ride June 5 -11th and the proceeds of the raffle will be split between this experience and our local AIDS Resource Center Ohio. The drawing will be held on June 2nd, so hurry in and buy a raffle ticket soon!

The locally owned restaurant, located at 1106 Brown Street opened June 10th of 2010 and has established itself as a well loved spots for locavores.  Their healthy style of cooking is vegetarian and vegan friendly, featuring tofu scrambles and vegan burritos and gluten free toast , yet has also found fans in meat eaters with their free range bacon or turkey sausage.  Their lunch menu offers an array of choices from crab cakes to reuben’s, a to-die-for mac & cheese, several salads and a homemade soup each day.  Their free delivery is a hit with many downtown offices as well as UD students.

Shopping & Cooking Gluten Free

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At the 2nd Street Market this Thursday at 11:30am Chef Joe Fish will share his firsthand knowledge on how to shop and cook the gluten free lifestyle.  He’ll share his shopping tips and opinions on the best products on the market for the gluten intolerant as well as his best recipes.

While the program is put on for free, registration is requested. You can call (937) 228-2088 to register, or register online.

A Beer Lover’s Sunday!

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Starting at noon on Sunday, May 15th The Pub at The Greene will host the 5th PUBFEST featuring tastings of 25 beers not currently on the menu.  For the $35 advance ticket ($40 at the door) guests will get a souvenir tasting glass, and 20 sampling tickets.

“Tasting tables will be set up all around the room and along with the beer there will be 4 sparkling wines, 3 rums and a buffet featuring appetizers, salads, desserts and entree samples as well,” according to Assistant Bar Manager Erika Russ.  Guests will be provided with tasting notes for each product to help them remember what they’ve tasted- often the hardiest part about these events.  The folks from The Wharf will be set up on the patio for those that would like to purchase and enjoy cigars with their beer.

Special guests will be owner and brewmaster, Mike and Kathleen Dewey, of Carmel Brewing, a family owned brewery started in 2005 in Union, Ohio. Mt Carmel’s best seller is the Amber Ale, followed closely by their Nut Brown Ale.   Let’s hope they bring some samples of their new line of beers that will feature bigger flavors and higher alcohol. The first one — Hopton — is out now.  Mt Carmel recently negotiated a distribution deal with Heidelberg and has been appearing  more often on tap around the Dayton area more and more.

PUBFEST will run from noon to 4pm this Sunday, hope to see you there!
For more information, stop on by The Pub and ask your favorite bartender!