Weekday lunches can be downright boring. Perhaps you’ve packed a sack lunch or maybe you’ll grab a quick bite at a spot close to where you work. Whatever the case, we often find ourselves looking for sustenance to get through the afternoon and not much more.
That is, unless you were in attendance last Thursday at the Winter Wine Lunch: California Dreamin’ at Stella’s Fish Cafe in Uptown.
Stella’s Winter Wine Lunch ($30 per attendee) featured three California wines, Monte Volpe Pinot Grigio, Domaine St. Gregory Pinot Noir, and Graziano Mendocino Zinfandel, paired beautifully with a three course lunch — lobster bruschetta, grilled arctic char with roasted root vegetables and mashed potatoes, and chocolate chip bread pudding with espresso sauce.
Before each course, April Torzewski of Cat and Fiddle Beverage introduced the wine, providing background on the varietal, grower, and how it paired with each course. As a takeaway from the lunch, we noted the unusual wine pairing of a zinfandel with dessert. “We decided to have fun with the zinfandel and pair it with something sweet,” explained Torzewski. It turns out she knows her wine pairings, as the bold zinfandel was a necessary balance to the decadently rich chocolate chip bread pudding with which it was served. Certainly if attendees were reconsidering returning to work, that last course most likely sealed the deal.
If you missed this event, and are looking for a reason to play hooky over lunch, watch for future wine lunches at Stella’s in the upcoming months.