Big Fat Wine

The sun was going down over Puget Sound on Tuesday night  we, my husband and I,  picked up our daughter’s boyfriend and headed to Arnies in Edmonds.

Http://www.arniesrestaurant.com

We sat out on the patio, an exciting and risky adventure in western Washington in May, but we lucked out.  It was chilly but not cold and as we were seated the waitress let us know that it was half off wine night.  With just a few exceptions the wine was half price (bonus!).

A quick note before I give you the menu.  We never follow the “rules” of wine, well I guess I can’t say never but we don’t worry much about the “rules.”  You will notice that about 80% of the time we choose reds irrespective of what we are eating.  So with that in mind I will continue.

Here is how the evening meal played out:

Bottle number 1:  2006 Stephen Vincent California Merlot

The notes for this say “a kiss of French oak”  I would say it was more like a French kiss.  The oak really stood out.  You know there is just something magical that happens when you enjoy wine in a great location with good people and that is that you can really enjoy a wine even if it isn’t exactly what you might buy for the wine itself.

Soup:  Arnies  Clam  Chowder (Classic recipe of clams, potatoes, bacon and cream.)

Very good.  I might have enjoyed it a bit more if it had been served hot instead of warm.  Of course, lukewarm soup is one of my pet peeves.

Dinner:  Prawns  Undecided (Jumbo prawns, crab stuffed, beer-battered and grilled. Beurre blanc and cocktail sauce.)

This was a very nice dish.  Well presented, well prepared, just plain good.

Dinner 2: Pan-Seared Oysters (Petite yearlings pan-seared. Cocktail and roasted onion tartar sauces.)

Not my favorite; however, I did enjoy the flavor of the onion tartar sauce.

Bottle number 2:  2008 Mirassou Pinot Noir, California

This one hit the spot.  I wish we had bought 2 bottles of this.  It was perfect with desert and would have been perfect with dinner… and perfect for before bed and to watch a movie and to take a bath… I did enjoy this bottle for an affordable choice and will pick up a few bottles of this for the wine rack.

Desert:  Burnt Cream (A Northwest favorite. Vanilla custard with a caramelized sugar topping.)

The Burnt Cream ROCKED!  Burnt cream and coffee is about as close to heaven as you can get this side of the river Styx.

That said I do have to go back to Arnies soon because I was torn between the burnt cream and the  almond joy sundae.  The almond joy sundae features Olympic Mountain toasted coconut ice cream from the Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Company.  If you aren’t from Washington and have never enjoyed a serving of this delectable treat it’s worth the plane fare from anywhere just to get this stuff.

The service was perfect.  Her timing was the mark of a true professional.  She was there if we needed her and took care of all of our needs but she didn’t hover.

We got to meet a couple of the locals who said that the service, food and people at Arnies are always this good and that they make Arnies a regular happy hour stop.

To you all,

Love, Laugh, Learn… LIVE!