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One of the most difficult wine pairing always seems to be the Thanksgiving meal. There are just too many different kinds of food (and too much food period) to have a pairing that is spot-on. So to solve this conundrum I went to my favorite wine columnists over at The Wall Street Journal, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. Their take? Drink American...


So after some inspiration to find a good American cab, but not something I've seen on menus and at the store, I needed to go to someone in the know - in this case it was Paul Rakovich, the sommelier at Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas whom Isabell and I met back in June. I sent Paul an e-mail asking about a great American cabernet that was a little off the radar for most. On his recommendation I ended up buy the O'Shaughnessy Winery 2004 Howell Mountain cabernet sauvignon. The wine was fantastic and did what all great wines do: it made the day, our first Thanksgiving together, a memorable one.

Here are the tasting notes on the wine:

Deep, dark ruby red color with a vibrant purple hue and an almost opaque core. Complex aromas of black cherry, black currant, tobacco, sandalwood, leather, smoked meats and chocolate. This wine has a purity of place and minerality with black pepper, orange rind and soy sauce qualities. Mixed red berry flavors and sweet vanilla cream with an excellent acid, tannin balance that lingers on the palate. An elegant yet extracted wine that is impressive upon release.

Last night Bell and I had our friends Sean and Liz O'Connor over for some appetizers and wine. It was yet another reminder that some of the best times spent are at the table with friends. The conversation was fun, the food delicious and the wine excellent. Our fare for the evening was Thai pork loins with grilled bok choy, poached shrimp in a Cajun butter sauce, spinach artichoke dip, and a peanut butter chocolate pie. To compliment the eats we had a 2005 Schweiger chardonnay, a 2002 Joseph Swan zinfandel, and a port from Dutcher Crossing.

It's been a while since I've posted on the latest food and wine experiences for me and Isabell. For good reason: we got married on September 15th!

We honeymooned in Napa-Sonoma and that of course brought about plenty of amazing food and wine experiences, not to mention a fantastic hotel we stayed in. Instead of trying to cram something about each winery into one post, I figured that I will provide commentary over the next several months as we open some of the wine we brought back. But in installment number one I will review all the happenings of our first stop: Healdsburg.

After the wedding we flew to San Francisco, hopped on the 101 across the Golden Gate Bridge toward Sonoma Valley. For the first three nights we stayed in the cool little town of Healdsburg, at the Hotel Healdsburg. This hotel was easily one of the most enjoyable hotel experiences for both of us. Amazing place. In the hotel is a Charlie Palmer (of New York's Aureole fame) restaurant called Dry Creek Kitchen. The restaurant was recently awarded a Michelin star and did not disappoint. We had a 2003 Hafner Cabernet Sauvignon that was very good.

A day latter we walked down the street to Cyrus, a two star Michelin restaurant. This is bold but Isabell and I both agreed that it was the best restaurant we have ever been to - absolutely epic. The wine we selected was a 2005 Unti Grenache and it was very lively and fun. The food, service, atmosphere, wine, and obviously the company were perfect. Definitely a evening we will never forget.

As you might have guessed, Bell and I stopped into several wineries during our time in Healdsburg. I will dedicate an entire post to our wine tasting experiences soon.

On my way over to class last Thursday at Seattle U I spotted a new coffee shop: Stumptown Coffee Roasters. I made a quick trip over during a break from class and decided to try it out. The verdict: excellent coffee! The atmosphere was what I call modern-attic - urban, industrial, but comfortable too. Perks include free wi-fi and daily cuppings (tastings).

After doing a little research I found out that Stumptown is a Portland boutique coffee roaster that has garnered a ton of accolades from the likes of Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, Entrepreneur Magazine, and USA Today. Good to have another quality coffee company in Seattle!

Last Friday was Isabell's birthday and we already had plans to have a little party at our new place. So that meant that I needed to find a good lunch spot to take the place of a birthday dinner. Neither of us had been to Tom Douglas's Dahlia Lounge, so we decided to give it a shot. The food was classic Douglas: northwest fare with interesting sauces and fantastic desserts. More on that later... Lunch rules be damned, we both had a glass of wine: Bell had a nice Cotes du Rhone that really came alive with her spicy pork and rice dish; I had a viognier that was very nice with Tom's classic crab cakes. But the real wow of the meal came at dessert. We had a pear tart with caramel sauce. Good food, good wine, good company, good times for Bell on her birthday!

After going so big on Wednesday night at Canlis, Bell and I wanted to pace down and have one glass of wine with a light dinner. We headed over to a new spot in Belltown called The Local Vine.

Be warned: wines by the glass are not cheap - look for $12-15 minimums. However, every wine they pour is both generous and more importantly excellent. A nice addition to a solid list of wines is the food, which is made by the owners/chefs of Crush. We ended up having some chorizo gulf shrimp with lime and roasted flank steak with blue cheese potatoes. Both come in appetizer-size

proportions. We are looking forward to heading back, but maybe next time with a few more friends to split a bottle.

This past Wednesday was my birthday and Isabell's is sixteen days later. The mere proximity of dates was grounds for a double celebration, so we made a reservation at a Seattle institution: Canlis. The night started out in a surprising and memorable way. We were brought two glasses of top vintage Krug champagne courtesy of our good friend Emily. Excellent stuff! After sitting in the lounge area for about ten minutes we were seated at our table; a place with a great panoramic view of Lake Union.

We began with fresh oysters on the half shell and ordered a bottle of the 2004 Ramey Claret. A silky red that was excellent to drink all night. Bell has the rack of lamb with an Oregon blue cheese risotto and I had a New York strip. Her lamb was fantastic, while my steak was good, but far from the best I have ever had. What was the best I had ever had was the service - Canlis is second to none. Everyone who came by the table greeted us by name and even our car was waiting for us, doors open when we last the restaurant. Canlis is really on top of their game.

Another note: I absolutely loved the architecture. It was built in 1950 in a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired design that is still a classic today. My grandfather was an architect and big fan of Mr. Wright, so maybe some of his appreciation for great form has been passed down to me.

Last weekend Isabell and I decided to try out a restaurant near our new place on the east side of Capitol Hill. We dropped into The Harvest Vine, a great Basque-style tapas restaurant. The place is very small and quickly fills every night, so we were lucky to grab two seats at the copper bar where we could watch and talk with the chefs. It was a lovely evening and a great place to eat - for both food and atmosphere. We dined on great white and red Spanish wines, some of the best cured meats we had ever had, steamed peppers that were the Basque equivalent of edamame, a nice filet of tuna with a vanilla bean olive oil sauce, and lastly a chocolate dessert with some dessert wine. On janari! (good food) - as the Basque would say.

Beautiful day in Seattle. Hot for the northwesterns. For me, it's 'pleasant', so that means it's still a good day for coffee. Right now I am blogging from Fuel, near the new casa on Capitol Hill. It's has a relaxed vintage atmosphere, good size (10 tables), free wi-fi, and nice ambient beats playing in the background. Oh yeah, and the coffee - it's Caffee Vita, but the barista was good; I got a nice little pine tree in my cappuccino foam. Cool.

Last night Isabell and I went out with our very good friend Emily - current assistant director of Seattle's biggest indie movie company, absolute wine stud, and major foodie. We started the night at Seattle Cellars for their Thursday night tasting I mentioned in an earlier post. We have a flight of wines from Goose Ridge Winery here in Washington - good stuff. From there we walked down to a favorite of all three of us, Matt's in the Market. The restaurant recently re-opened after closing for several months and expanding. The new place is twice as big, views are even better, and the food still fantastic (Isabell had some amazing scallops). We scored a nice off-the-menu pinot noir from Belle Ponte in Oregon. After dinner we strolled over to Tavolata (pictured above) for one more drink. This is a great Italian restaurant and really cool space.

It really doesn't get any better than good food and wine with great friends.

This post is coming live from my second coffee shop review: Cafe Dharwin on North Capitol Hill. The place is tiny (4 tables), but the barista was really nice and my cappuccino excellent. Like many places Cafe Dharwin serves Caffe Vita, but that's fine by me. Other notes: free wireless (why has Starbucks not caught on to this yet?) and proceeds of all sales go to a school in Africa. Nice work.

As last weekend drew to a close and Bell finished her third day of work at the hospital in a row, we agreed that we needed a date night. She did a little research and came up a cafe on Phinney Ridge called Stumbling Goat. Weird name, good food.

All of the food is organic and produced at small farms. The menu even lists the origin of the food. It is worth noting that we had a great wine too: Cadence - a red blend from Washington. We agreed that we will definitely stumble into this place again.

Isabell had to work today so I decided to join my good friend Celeste, a University of Washington med student, at the law library at Seattle U for some study time (I needed to write a paper for my MBA class). When lunch rolled around I walked over to a new Parisian-style cafe called Presse. The place is the latest venture for the owners of Le Pichet downtown. I had sat at the bar, had a great little lunch, read the paper, and watched the first half of the Brazil - Argentina futbol match. All-in-all it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

It would be a valiant effort to try and write about all the coffee shops Seattle has to offer in a single post. So instead I am going to keep a running diary of the places I drop into.

Today it's a great spot on Queen Anne called El Diablo. Highlights: the free internet and Mexican hot chocolate. Great stuff.

Isabell and I are moving into a new place on Capitol Hill in a couple of weeks, so our time in the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle is short. There is not a whole lot in Eastlake when it comes to food and drink, but it does have some great spots.

We noticed that in the July issue of Food & Wine magazine the country's top new chefs were listed and one was from Seattle. His name is Matthew Dillon and his place is called Sitka & Spruce - which just so happens to be one block away. It is a great little eatery with a menu of fresh local foods that changes daily. We have only been there once, for dessert and coffee, but it was enough of a teaser to make a trip back soon for the whole thing.

I have only lived in Seattle for a couple of weeks now, but have come across a great wine shop. My definition of a great wine shop is one that carries a range of wine (in a global sense), leans more towards wines you would not normally find elsewhere, and has an attentive, fun, and helpful staff willing to work with whatever parameters are given them. Seattle Cellars in Belltown is a great wine shop. In addition to excellent selections and a helpful staff, they have tasting every Thursday from 7-9. I know where I'll be spending many of my Thursday evenings...

On the one hand it feels overwhelming trying to cover every place I might go out in my new hometown of Seattle; however, I am taking some solace in the fact that this will be more of a running dairy instead of a city guide of sorts. That said, on to installment #1...

Bell and I decided to buck the Seattle casual trend, dress up a bit, and hit a restaurant we have never been to: Purple Cafe. The restaurant was big, with a pretty cool interior. Overall I liked the scene, but it was also quite loud. Food: average, but we agreed that our crab cakes appetizer was excellent. We have a nice bottle of French wine from the Languedoc Roussillon region called Soulenes. Honestly, there were many good options, as Purple Cafe is really part wine bar, part restaurant. But we literally chose the wine by picking it without knowing what to expect. Needless to say it was a pleasant surprise.

After dinner we headed over to a going-away part of a friend of mine at Twist. This was a pretty cool lounge, with a few good areas to sit with friend. The problem was that most of the lounge seating was along one wall - pretty touch to talk to multiple people when you are all lined up in a row. That said, it was a pretty cool scene and worth a return visit.

In late April of this year Isabell met me for a weekend in Houston. Most reasonable people would ask, "Why meet in Houston? It's not a destination." ... and they would be right. But after having lived in Houston for just over a year myself, I found the city is tough to beat when it comes to restaurants and the arts. Here is a run down of a few of the places Bell and I hit up - some of my Houston favorites:

~ Mark's, from chef Mark Cox. This is the best restaurant I have ever been to - hands down. Everything from the excellent and constantly changing menu of American cuisine to the great wine list to the old church-turned-restaurant atmosphere makes Mark's number one in my book. One of my good friends, Emily Resling used to be the wine director at Mark's, making each visit a even more of treat. On the night Bell and I came in to the restaurant she pulled what we both agree is the best bottle of wine either of us has ever had: a 2004 Joseph Swan pinot noir. Amazing. Emily's since moved on to a new position in Seattle (the new hometown for both of us), but remains a great wine insider for me.

~ Empire Cafe ranks right near the top of my list of favorite coffee houses. The cafe serves a great breakfast, has excellent coffee and espresso drinks and has nice outdoor patio - a must-have in Texas.

Isabell and I recently took a trip to Las Vegas with some friends. Las Vegas does not top my list of favorite travel destinations, as I am neither a big gambler nor one who loves to stay up until 4am. However, over the past few years Las Vegas has evolved into a place for top-class restaurants. So Bell and I decided we would go to Vegas not for the usual attractions, but so we could we what we do best: eat.

Here are a couple of highlights from our trip:

~ Breakfast at Bouchon, the famous younger sibling of Napa Valley's French Laundry. Renowned chef Thomas Keller offers an excellent breakfast menu - a true rarity in Vegas. The restaurant sits in a quiet courtyard area in The Venetian Towers. Bell and I didn't plan on going here... we sort of stumbled across the place. Needless to say it was a great find for two people looking to escape the noise of slot machines and eat a tasty breakfast.