I had dinner at the Trattoria last night and was gratified to see that it was hecka busy, with a short wait at times. It is an island of reasonably priced food in a sea of...overpriced food (this sentence isn't turning out all that well). The pizza is really good, I like their salads even though in their simplicity they veer uncomfortably close to a salad I could make at home in ten minutes (but I am lazy so I would rather eat out) and I like their Bohemian potato pancakes with the smoked salmon, capers, red onion, and sour cream. AND smiller declared it his favorite place in town to get a beer, which is a big deal coming from a beer lover of his caliber. By the way, he recently got the loko moko at Junes for the first time so perhaps he could describe it in the comments for those who are curious?
Mike Dunne tackles the problem of oaky chardonnay in todays column. I recently had the misfortune of trying to choke down some of this swill so I agree with him. It's so unrefreshing compared to so many other kinds of white wine. I think for the most part many California viogniers can be lumped in with the chardonnays and shoved out to sea.
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9 comments:
that potato pancacke deal is one of my favorite dinners anywhere.
-natalie
The Trattoria has clean taps & a unique (small but unique) selection. The owner prides himself on going through more than one distributor so he has something different to offer. The current selection really only has 2 beers I'm excited about but seeing as how I'm excited by alomost no beer selection in Sac that's pretty good. I can even forgive him the Pilsner Urquell which I fine near impossible to choke down. It ranks as one of my least favorite beers ever. They have Bass which is OK but pretty boring & which I don't drink mainly in honor of Chaffin who I think barfed it once & can't drink it anymore. So those 2 are just OK. They have Rogue Stout which is also just OK but it's nice to have a stout that's not watery-ass Guinness. I feel that if Rogue put half the amount of thought in to their beers as they do in to their marketing, labels etc then I'd be much happier about their success. They make WAY too many beers for the quality to be consistent. On the plus side, the Trattoria has Hofbrau Munchen which I find to be one of the most delicious German lagers EVER & when you couple that with clean taps it becomes the most refreshing beer I can remember drinking in years. They serve it in a rad authentic H.M. glass too - which is a touch I always like. I love it so much in fact that I drank 2 16 oz's of it in front of my dad! Unheard of. And the capper is that they have Maredsous Triple on draft. MAREDSOUS TRIPLE ON DRAFT. This is the closest to drinking in Belgium that you can get in Sac - so fucking delicious! Levy, I'm looking your way. Oh yeah, and in case you've gone to the Lair & gotten a Maredsous & not liked it, let me say that, not only is it not the tripel that they have there, but also the Lair unfortunately bought the dirty diaper that Ironsides used to keep in their kegs when Ironsides bought a new one. Not to totally be down on the Lair cuz they have at least 3 Belgians on draft (and Stella does not fucking count!) which is something - but their beer always tastes bad to me - not terrible but not how it should taste. And when you're paying out the ass for Belgians, you want it to be right. So yeah, I like the Trattoria. The problem obviously with drinking there is that if it's crowded you don't want to take up a table just drinking (though you all know that after a brew or 2, potato panakes WILL get ordered!) though it's often not crowded - 2:00 is the perfect time to go. And everyone that works there is really nice.
miller
but what about the loko moko? you're not busy working, are you?
Okay, so I know that I have steered you towards a chardonnay you disliked once before but..... the other day I tried an unoaked - fermented in stainless steel - chard called Mossback and it was really good. It was very similar to a dry riesling. It was supper clean and had an apple finish. I immediately thought of you when I tried it.
liv
Dude. I'm totally out of Belgium mode right now, but I am interested in trying that Lager (holy crap..have you had the Hallertauer Lager at brew it up?).
Speaking of Brew it Up:
Oktoberfest 2006 - let's just get this on your calendar right now:
the biggest and best Oktoberfest Party Sacramento has ever seen will be hosted by Brew It Up!
Celebrate at Brew It Up!
"10th Anniversary Party & 1st Annual Oktoberfest"
October 7th, 2006 ~ 10am - ??
BREWING
Start times from 10am to 2:30pm;
Reservations for 1 or 2 kettles; 2 to 10 people, fixed price dining throughout the day for just $19.95/person (3 courses of incredible Bavarian specialties)...plus brews & beers.
DINING:
11am - 10pm ~ feast on nearly 2 dozen Bavarian style appetizers, entrees, sandwiches and desserts. Special deals on multi-course lunches & dinners.
BIER:
Never before at a brewpub or single brewery... Witness, and taste, 12 different German style beers on tap at the same time, same place and from the same brewery. Brew It Up! will feature wheat beers, alt beers, marzen, pilsners, mai bock, dunkel bock, dopple bock, helles, dunkel, schwarbier...and MORE. All brewed in house, all brewery fresh, all authentic and true to style.
BIER-GARDEN:
Relax outside in our tented bier garden with 3 brewery fresh lagers on tap and enjoy brat sandwiches from grill. The Bier-Garden will be open from 11am - midnight!
ENTERTAINMENT
11am - 9pm: Enjoy the sounds Oktoberfest with traditional German bier-haus music, drinking songs, polkas and more.
All Day: Party with the DJs & staff from 100.5 The Zone as they broadcast live from Brew It Up!
9pm - close: "CUESTA DRIVE" - a favorite local party band will kick the party up and keep it going into the night
All Night: Drink specials, 3 Bars, Shot girls, Giveaways, and MORE!
I'm looking your way Smiller!
hey millsy! I think Spuyten Duyvil just opened a restaurant around the corner! Just in time for your arrival....I don't know anything about it, but it's gotta be pretty sweet, no?
-michele
Psyched! I heard their Belgian sausage gets you wasted.
Levy, I'll probably check that October Fest out. I mean, shot girls? I'm there!
miller
From the Cuestra Drive Website:
"Today Cuesta Drive continues to wow audiences by fusing Blues, Funk, Reggae, and Latin Rock, creating an original, yet seemingly familliar, style of rock and roll unmatched by today's artists."
gbomb
This music! So original! Yet somehow....oddly familair.
miller
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