Busman's Holiday -- Part VI

Next, the winery trail, starting with the Round Barn Winery, Distillery, and Brewery in Baroda, MI.

If you like really, really sweet wines (I don't, but I won't look down my nose at you if you do), it's a great place.  But... it was busy, busy, busy with bus loads of people.  If you're at all claustrophobic, I'd go during the week, and not on the weekend.

Still, the scenery is beautiful.

Then, on to Dablon Vinyards, also in Baroda, but a wildly different tasting room experience!

We met and had quite a long chat with the owner, who also owns the artsy and eclectic Music Box Theatre in Chicago.  Then we started the tasting...

The owner shared the story of the winery name, and how they came up with their logo.

Contrails over the vineyard.

We scooped up three of their last six bottles of 2013 Cabernet Franc, and then split the fourth. Gorgeous stuff. 

Roadside Diner

I was interested in trying Village Vines ($10 for the reservation, but 30% off the entire bill) and I was ready for a girls' night out. My first choice wasn't available for a Sunday evening, but a quick choice of the remaining options turned up Azucar, which turned out to be a lovely trifecta of great wine, small plates and convenient location.

My girlfriend and I agree -- charming ambience, super selection of Spanish red wines, small but outstanding selection of cheeses, and fabulous seafood, as well as a friendly and knowlegeable bartender (ask for Michael -- he's great), made this a place we'll go back to again and again... and we'll bring friends and family, too.

Our favorite? Vieiras Salteadas -- Sea Scallops Dusted With Smoked Paprika, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, Serrano Ham With A Porcini Mushroom Sauce -- three perfectly seared scallops with a sauce I threatened to bathe in, rather than leave sitting on the plate. We also had a lovely Crema Catalana for dessert that came close to bringing on tears of joy when it hit the palate, and, if applied facially, would take thirty years off your complexion.

Directly across the street from the Logan Square Blue Line stop, it's easily accessible. With regular Sangria, Margarita, Mojito and Caipiriña drink specials, as well as a small but lovely outdoor patio, it would be silly not to try out this neighborhood gem!

Quick Stops

Giggle of the Day:

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While it may be true that you can't be dooced anymore, trashing your employer on Facebook or a blog or Twitter is still pretty damned stupid.

Employers should think twice before trying to restrict workers from talking about their jobs on Facebook or other social media.

That's the message the government sent on Monday as it settled a closely watched lawsuit against a Connecticut ambulance company that fired an employee after she went on Facebook to criticize her boss.

The National Labor Relations Board sued the company last year, arguing the worker's negative comments were protected speech under federal labor laws. The company claimed it fired the emergency medical technician because of complaints about her work.

Under the settlement with the labor board, American Medical Response of Connecticut Inc. agreed to change its blogging and Internet policy that barred workers from disparaging the company or its supervisors. The company also will revise another policy that prohibited employees from depicting the company in any way over the Internet without permission.

Yeah. But try getting someone else to hire you when they find out why you're now out of a job.
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Ooooo! Carnitas Stuffed Shells? I'm going to have to try these, as they look like a plate full of awesome.
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I wouldn't have thought of pairing wine with chicken and waffles, but apparently there are some good choices! (And who knew you'd choose a different wine for KFC than you would for Popeyes?)
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Look, Ma! No Hands Corkscrew!

For all you winos out there (and those that love to be able to demonstrate the latest in party tricks), even if you don't speak French, this video showing how it's possible to open a corked wine bottle without a corkscrew is just really cool:

Salud!

(I raise my glass to Pat Hickey.)

Whinging and Wining

I've been trying for a while to think about a way to get some of my colleagues from the various practices in my (forever unnamed firm) together over a glass of wine and a good nosh to start to get to know one another.

At the beginning of February, I offered up half a dozen bottles of my favorite winery's Pinot Noirs. A couple of friends jumped in, and we soon had some wonderful cheeses, some fabulous strawberries, and a couple of gourmet dark chocolates -- one with cayenne pepper, and one with wasabi and black sesame seeds -- add six people and we had the beautiful beginning of a night of good food, good drink and good conversation.

We did our second one tonight, featuring really good bubbly that a couple of us have been gifted with (I'm sorry -- NOBODY is meant to drink Champagne alone), and we raised the bar again. Tonight featured homemade Chambourd cheesecake with fresh raspberries in phyllo, Camembert, washed cow and sheep's milk cheese, blue-veined goat cheese, mixed raspberries and black berries, country pate, sweet salami, and five different kinds of chocolate.

We reached across almost every level in my office. The conversation was WONDERFUL.

And here's the great part: We're going to do it again. The company is NOT going to pay for it. This is an a group that sprang out of a friendship between two people, but which is going to go on to become a company tradition. The tradition will be that the company gets absolutely no say in the amount of money that's spent, the food or the booze -- only the actual participants get a say. Guests are welcome, as long as they contribute either to the food or to the booze.

You know what? I'm on to something. We had a BLAST tonight. And one of our big guys, who just happened to be walking by as we popped the first cork, has signed on to help us grow this organically (i.e., you must be a friend of a friend to get invited) from within.

I see good things for this group.

( And I may be at the bottom of the food chain... but EVERYBODY wants to be on the top of MY invite list. )