But, what it lacks in its name, the group more than makes up for it with fine wines, warm friendship, a great wine education for me, and good humor. We meet at the California Café in the Stanford Shopping Center and share wine and lunch.
What makes it so educational is that each member brings a bagged bottle. After it’s poured, each person has a turn to ask the donor a question that must be answerable with a “yes” or “no.” The point of the questioning is to guess the winery, grape, and vintage and if a European wine, it’s shipper. And, of course, we should know the wines based on the bouquet and our palate but it often gets reduced to geography to narrow down the choices since there are thousands of wineries throughout the world. We have tasted wines from every state in the Union as well as most countries….What? You didn’t know that Thailand makes wine? Or Kentucky?
The Friday Group used to have annual dinners but they fell by the wayside as dinners became prohibitively expensive (corkage, private room, etc. costs). We have had dinners at Chez TJ’s, Sent Sovi, Manresa, to name a few. Our heretofore defunct annual dinner has been renewed at a place we used to use: Sent Sovi in Saratoga, CA.
Five weeks ago, the Friday Group had a fantastic meal at Sent Sovi. This time with the chef/owner Josiah Stone and and his pastry Chef, Misuzu Horne. What a memorable experience! Bill and I had met with Josiah and his restaurant manager, Nick, over dinner and a bottle of Corton Charlemagne to create the menu once I knew what magnums of wine were going to be poured from our members' cellars. That was a great meal too…if you have chance to eat there, order the duck with cracklin’s if it's on the menu...totally addictive!We started the evening with a bottle of Charles Heidsieck 1990 Champagne Brut Reims served with mini cheese gougéres.
The first dish East Coast Day Boat Scallop with Caramelized Scallop Jus and Green Garlic Soubise. It was perfectly prepared, the scallops tender, sweet and juicy and the jus and soubise well balanced for light flavors that didn’t overpower the scallops. We drank Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot 2003 Domaine de la Vougeraie and a Mt. Eden 2004 Chardonnay Estate. with the scallop dish. Both wines showed well and paired well with the dish.
Next we were served a Crispy Duck Confit "KFD." This was a pleasant surprise since the “KFD” meant “Kentucky Fried Duck.” The duck was lightly battered and NOT greasy or overspiced like KFC’s are…or at least in my memory…it’s been years since I’ve indulged in a KFC binge! We had two magnums with the duck, a Corton Bressandes 2003 Grand Cru Domaine Prince Florent de Merode and a Chateauneuf du Pape 2005 Vieux Telegraphe la Crau. Needless to say, we had wonderful wines this evening that enhanced the dinner and exhibited the generosity of the group and their cellars.
Our main entre of the evening was a Porcini Rubbed "New York Mignon" with Local Black Trumpets. What Josiah did was create a mignon type medallion out of a prime New York cut. He prefers the flavor of the NY steak but the tenderness of a filet which he is able to create with prime cuts of steak. There were 17 people at the dinner so to prepare 17 steaks cooked to order (medium rare), amazing! To go with the steak, we drank a Ridge 1994 Cabernet Sauvignon, Monte Bello Magnum and a Brunello di Montalcino 1990 Sangiovese Tenuta de Caparzo Magnum AND a Château Cos d'Estournel 1966 St. Estephe Magnum.
As you can tell from the photos, there were more glasses on our dining table than the whole rest of the restaurant! AND, I’m not done yet! After doing what we have called the” Bender Shuffle” where the men move two empty seats to their right so we have a chance to visit with new people we had our dessert, a Raspberry and TCHO Chocolate Gâteaux served with a magnum of Chateau Rieussec 1995 Sauternes .
If this menu makes you hungry, make a reservation for dinner at Sent Sovi, 408-867-3110 or use opentable.com. Josiah works hard to make his diners go home sated and happy. Service was impeccable as well as welcoming.We have found a new home (14583 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070) for our annual dinner! Thank you Josiah, Misuzu and Nick! We drank some fabulous wines, dined on gourmet fare and thoroughly enjoyed the great company!
