Food & Wine

Shari Sheffield • January 16, 2015

The name Mandela immediately recalls the former president of South Africa, Nelson
Mandela. The face of the fight against apartheid symbolized courage and grace in adversity.

The world mourned his death last year. But the House of Mandela – a wine label created by his daughter and granddaughter – lives on, drawing inspiration from his humanity and compassion.

Mandela’s daughter, Dr. Makaziwe (Maki) Mandela, and her daughter, Tukwini Mandela, traveled to D.C. last October to present their wines. Brought to Washington by Heritage Link Brands, their U.S. distributor, the South African Embassy and the South African Board of Trade, Makaziwe and Tukwini introduced their current releases to wine enthusiasts, journalists and VIPs at a dinner at the City Club of Washington and a luncheon at the South African Embassy.

The daughter and granddaughter duo embarked years earlier on their ambitious venture to bring the world fine South African wine. What made this idea even more remarkable was that no one in the family had any idea how to grow grapes or make wine.

What they did have was a love for their land and a strong sense of family and tradition, stemming from a long line of kings and chiefs. Their connectedness to the land translated well to wine making. The mother and daughter conceived of the House of Mandela to bring the world the beauty of South Africa in a glass.

Using sustainable growing methods and, in some cases, Fairtrade-sourced grapes, the House has produced two collections under the House of Mandela label. The Thembu Collection is the entry-level line, named after their tribe. The Thembu people are known for their hospitality. Fittingly, this line of wine is very drinkable and approachable. The second line is the Royal Reserve, a higher-quality, higher-priced line.

The wine dinner at City Club featured some standouts, many of which are available in the D.C. area. Enjoy!

Brut NV Sparkling Wine
This “Méthode Cap Classique” is a blend of the traditional grapes of Champagne, but with Petite Meunier replaced by Pinotage. Mainly Chardonnay, with 33 percent Pinot Noir and 12 percent Pinotage, this wine could be aged for up to three years. The first pressing of the juice, aka the “cuvee,” and the best juices from the harvest are used. The second fermentation process takes place in the bottle as with traditional Champagne.

Thembu Collection Chardonnay 2012
Produced from grapes grown in the Western Cape, the juice is initially fermented in stainless steel tanks. It then spends time in French oak. The oak aging provides a richness that is not heavy, but can be felt in the mouth. Upon tasting this Chardonnay, I immediately detected apple flavors. It was served with a butternut squash soup, making a superb pairing.

Royal Reserve Chardonnay 2009
Next, we were served the Royal Reserve Chardonnay 2009, representing the classic house style of their best wines, at a higher price point. It was pale yellow with tinges of green. Citrus and lime aromatics were both on the nose and detected as flavors on the palate, along with some pleasant minerality. This wine paired well with the prawns which it accompanied. It will go nicely with any shellfish dish.

Thembu Collection Shiraz 2012
The entrée course paired this Shiraz with a petite bobotie tartlet and frikkadel. Bobotie and frikkadel are traditional South African meat dishes similar in consistency to meatballs. The wine’s blackberry and dark plum flavors, along with a hint of black pepper notes, complimented the savory spices of the meat. This wine is medium-bodied and lends itself well to meat dishe. It is quite drinkable now, but has nice aging potential (up to 10-12 years, I would say).

Royal Reserve Cabernet 2008
The keywords here are spice and structure. This Stellenbosch blend is 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 percent Shiraz and 3 percent Mourvèdre. Look for hints of sandalwood along with black fruits. It is very drinkable now, with aging potential up to 10 years.

Discover House of Mandela wines at these and other establishments in Washington, D.C.:

Rodman’s 5100 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Bell Wine & Spirits 1821 M St., NW
Salt & Pepper5125 MacArthur Blvd.

Nicole Cusick •

The Grill Room at the Capella Georgetown is hosting a Pork Cook Off to celebrate a full snout-to-tail dining experience Feb. 6 to 8. Diners can choose from one of two five-course pork-filled menus to taste the difference in the eco-friendly raised and processed pork provided by EcoFriendly Foods.

Bev Eggleston founded EcoFriendly Foods in 2001 after 12 years of farming in Mendota, Va. As a farmer, Eggleston experienced the frustration balancing raising great animals and making the most out of the product he raised. This gave him a first-hand look at how small family farms have to compete with the large-scale, corporate-owned, industrial-based agriculture that seem to dominate the industry. EcoFriendly Foods offers small farmers the opportunity to take care of the business end of processing, marketing and distribution of their animals, all done in-house.

Grill Room executive chef Jakob Esko and sous-chef Robert Sargent invited Eggleston to join them in the celebration of locally raised and processed pork. The team also invited D.C. chef John Manolatos of Cashion’s Eat Place and Yvan Mucharraz from Don Manuel’s at Capella in Pedregal, Mexico, to participate in the cook-off. Together, they created a menu that features such dishes as pork shank ravioli with radicchio, rapini, parmesan and smoked ham hock cream as well as pork–rib broth with poached Jidori egg and winter truffles. Chef Esko also invented two pork-inspired desserts, including an apple tart tatin with candied pecan and bacon ice cream and a caramelia chocolate mousse with hazelnut cake and fig and prosciutto ice cream.

The pork menu is exclusively available Thursday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., when the featured chefs will be on-hand for the kick off.

Feb. 7 and 8 will feature a blend between pork tasting and regular Grill Room items during dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The five-course pork tasting menus are $95 per person (excluding gratuities.) If guests would prefer to order the dishes a la carte, they can do so on Feb. 7 and 8. Starters are priced between $14-18; the main courses are $32-38; and $10 for desserts. View the full pork filled menu at grillroomdc.com/events, or call 202-617-2429. The Grill Room, 1050 31st St., NW. [gallery ids="101616,146755,146751,146758" nav="thumbs"]

Corrie Dyke •

Meat Week, a national holiday started in Tallahassee in 2005 and celebrated in cities across the country, begins on the last Sunday in January. Kicking off this week through Feb. 2,  the week’s focus is gathering with friends in the name of American barbecue. Each city has a designated captain who creates a schedule for the week at various area restaurants. This year’s participating cities include Atlanta, Ga., Austin, Texas, Baltimore, Md., Baton Rouge, La., Columbus, Ohio, Greenville, N.C., Iowa City, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, San Diego, Tallahassee, Fla. and D.C. 

According to Meat Week’s website, the longest-consecutively-running chapters are: Tallahassee, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Mike Bober is D.C.’s meat captain. 

Vegetarians should stay home as the eight-night celebration of barbecued meats visit at least seven different  highlighted restaurants. This week’s D.C. schedule includes: Hill Country Barbecue Market, DCity Smokehouse at Showtime Lounge, Pork Barrel BBQ, Smoke BBQ, D.C. Meat Week Food Truck Face-Off hosted by LivingSocial and Mr. P’s Ribs. For a complete schedule and meaty details, visit meatweek.com/cities/washingtondc.

Corrie Dyke •

Say goodbye to your New Year’s resolutions
of eating less. Winter Restaurant
Week 2014 kicked off on Monday with a
record-breaking 250 restaurants participating in
the bi-annual week dedicated to eating your way
through the region.

Winter Restaurant Week features special
prices coinciding with the year with a prix-fixe
three-course lunch for $20.14 and three-course
dinner for $35.14 through Sunday, Jan. 19.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan
Washington represents members of the growing
restaurant industry in the District, Northern
Virginia and suburban Maryland and showcases
Restaurant Week every summer and winter
encouraging diners to “Dine Out. Eat Up.”
Most restaurants feature special menus for
the seven-days of foodie heaven, giving diners
a unique chance to try an old favorite or explore
a new option.

“Restaurant Week is a great time to take
a ride into town to try something new,” said
RAMW marketing and communications director
Kyle Rees.

New for Winter Restaurant Week 2014 is a
guidebook full of reviews from Open Table on
the participating restaurants. The book is available
at a number of D.C. hotels and can help narrow
down the overwhelming number of choices
for the week.

If looking for something new, a few restaurants
in the District are making their debut
to Restaurant Week including; Mike Isabella’s
Kapnos and G (2201 14th St NW), Alba Osteria
(425 “I” St NW), The Arsenal (300 Tingey St.
SE) and Teddy & the Bully Bar (1200 19th St.
NW).

“Restaurant week offers a great promotion
for our regional diners to dine out and try many
new and existing restaurants around town,” said
RAMW president and CEO Kathy Hollinger.
Another addition is the “Try Something New
in 2014” contest. Through Restaurant Week’s
partner NBC4, diners who “Like” NBC4 on
Facebook will be entered to win a prize package
including lunch for two at J&G Steakhouse and
two “Blissage 75” massages at Bliss Spa, both
located within the W Hotel on 15th Street, NW.
Sponsors of Restaurant Week include Meat
and Livestock Australia, Cuisine Solutions,
Open Table and American Express with media
partners NBC4, 94.7 Fresh FM and DC Modern
Luxury.

For the full list of participating restaurants, visit
ramw.org/restaurantweek.

Shari Sheffield •

I arrived shortly after its opening one recent Saturday eve. I was greeted warmly by the staff and encouraged to explore the newly opened space that is now Eno Wine Bar next to the Four Seasons Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Not many patrons or guests from the Four Seasons had ambled in yet.

Immediately, I noticed the warm wood décor. The classic Georgetown townhouse has been completely transformed into a sleek modern exposed brick space. Apparently the building is a great upgrade from a former jewelry store and a one-time doctor’s office. The second floor provides more seating and the center of this floor is cut into an atrium to showcase the massive “exploding barrel” sculpture suspended from the ceiling. People sitting at the bar look up into the shattered staves of a reclaimed oak wine barrel turned into art.

With eight wines on tap, more than 25 wines by the glass, more than 200 bottles presently in its international cellar, with the list continually growing to 500 bottles ultimately, there’s plenty of variety at Eno.

Looking at the wine menu, I was greeted by a page of cleverly named wine flights with titles like “50 Shades of Gris” and “The Other Washington.” There is also a “Cheat Sheet” in the back of the menu that describes a hand full of popular varietals and their classic characteristics to help beginner wine drinkers. What a brilliant and refreshing idea for a wine menu.

Feeling assured that the wine evening was off to a good start, the first dilemma arose. Which cleverly named flight would I choose? I decided to begin with the “Float Like a Butterfly” on the recommendation of Fabienne, the most charming knife-welding Frenchwoman I have ever met. She was running the bar that night. The name of the flight suggests that the wines in it are light in style. The first in the series was a pinot noir from Biggio Hamina Cellars in Willamette, Oregon. It was pleasant and light with a slightly oily or lanolin like mouth feel. Classic pinot noir cherry flavors were there as well.

As I chatted about wine with Fabienne, she deftly sliced charcuterie, cheeses and wonderfully fresh baguette and brown breads with her large knife for orders that steadily picked up as more guests flowed inside. I moved on from my “Float Like a Butterfly” flight, but the favorites of the trio were the Mondeuse from Franck Peillot in Bugey, France and the nebbiolo from Laretti. Mondeuse is not normally seen on wine lists here and it was chosen for its acidity and fruit to go with charcuterie. It expressed hints of cedar upon tasting. The Laretti Nebbiolo is from Piedmont, Italy, and Eno saved the best for last in this flight. The color is beautiful deep purple. Rose aromas abound. A simply delicious wine.

The next flight chosen to sample was the “Jefferson’s Heirs.” This flight’s theme features medium-bodied Virginia wines. A 2011 Cabernet Franc from Tarara Winery in Leesburg started off the line up. It encompasses all the best qualities of cabernet franc (soft tannins, understated finesse, red and black fruit flavors). It also has a bonus-a hint of mocha. Second favorite wine in the flight was the 2009 Lovingston, a merlot based blend. It tastes rustic with a mixture of blackberry notes and hint of tobacco. A pesky fruit fly tried to share this wine with me and seemed to enjoy it, too. Third was the Sangiovese Reserve from Barboursville Vineyards in Monticello, Va. This classic Italian varietal is done well at Barboursville. It has a pleasant “dusty” (think smoky) cherry nose and red fruit flavors with soft tannin.

The final wine flight was “The Other Washington.” This flight was the fullest bodied of the red wine flights. The wines hail from Washington State. They are made exclusively for Eno by Dusted Valley Winery. The flight is comprised of a cabernet sauvignon, a Rhone-styled blend dominated by grenache and a merlot based Bordeaux styled blend called Columbeaux.

Fabienne encouraged me to stay for small plates, featuring brioche grilled cheese sandwiches with duck confit and deviled eggs. And I was tempted by the extensive cheese and bruschetta flights. Everything on the menu looked so equally tempting, I could not narrow down the choices.

But when you go be sure: 1) NOT to skip out on the Chocolate Flight and pair it with “Three Kings” dessert wine flight, featuring sherry and Madeira, 2) sit at the bar and gaze up at the “Exploding Barrel” and 3) tell Fabienne I sent you. Enjoy. Cheers!

Alison Schafer •

It used to be the two “S’s,” Scheele’s and Sara’s, that kept the east side of Georgetown going. That’s where us disorganized people go to pick up a pint of milk for cereal or bottle of wine for a dinner party. Now the two “S’s” have been joined by a third, Stachowski’s, and the neighborhood is hopping.

Stachowski’s opened on the corner of 28th and P streets last April. “Initially the neighborhood was our core group,” says Jyoti Mukherjee, the store’s manager. “Now it is steady all day everyday. We probably serve about 400 people a day—people from all over, Arlington, Bethesda, Capitol Hill.”

Stachowski’s, named after local chef and owner Jamie Stachowski, is primarily a butcher shop, but it does a brisk business in sandwiches and take-out dinners. The most popular things on the menu are probably the pastrami sandwich and the grinder, but the shop sells cookies, bread and fancy sodas as well. Aside from the standard steaks, and lots of sausages, there’s also a lot of demand for pork and veal cheeks. Probably the weirdest order they’ve ever gotten was for quail gizzards.

Business is very good. So good, in fact, that there is some discussion of opening new stores in other walkable neighborhoods. “We are the right concept at the right time in the exact right place,” Mukherjee says. “Being on this corner and the smells and the life around this place–there’s a great sense of community here.”

And that is what is it all about, say the Georgetowners who rely on their neighborhood food stores. “They build community,” says Dave Salwen, a Scheele’s loyalist. “They know you, they know your neighbors, and you get to know your neighbors.”

And the stores are part of the fabric of the block. Scheele’s, which is at 29th and Dumbarton, “keeps keys, lends jumper cables, we’ve used their fax machine, done package drop off there,” says Barrett Tilney. “I even got a Christmas card this year from Ms. Lee (Scheele’s former owner)!”

Scheele’s current owner, Dong Kim, says his customers are loyal; there just aren’t enough of them. His store stocks items of acute need in the neighborhood: bagels for sleepy teenage boys, tennis balls for the avid players at Rose Park, Diet Coke for the frazzled yummy mummies. “It is important for the neighborhood,” Kim says, though he is planning to use Twitter and other social media to pull in more customers.

Sara’s, on busy Q Street, is all things to all neighbors, both a place to pick up bread and a drycleaner, shoehorned into a fairly tiny space. It, too, has a devoted clientele. “I go there a couple of times of a week,” says Ned Herrington, “mostly when I run out of chicken noodle soup.”

And (this is sort of a secret,), the coolest Georgetowners have something neither money nor fame can buy: a house account. Sara’s doesn’t offer them, but Scheele’s does and Stachowski’s is starting to—meaning you can get your morning coffee or dinner’s duck casserole without resorting to such a plebian thing as carrying a wallet.

Shari Sheffield •

Washington, D.C., is a backyard BBQ-grilling-cookout town. If there’s any little sliver of grass available in the city, folks are out throwing down a blanket on it for a picnic. Those with backyards have set up a grill and are cooking out on it or on their patios.

A perusal of neighborhood backyards will result in finding everything from space defying little picnic table top grills to massive stainless steel Viking outdoor built-ins gleaming bright in the sun. Beside most of those grills you will be sure to find long neck bottles of beer in tubs or kegs of beer. But what is the wine lover to drink?

Pairing a good wine with grilled foods or picking one to bring to a cookout can sometimes be a daunting task. The thought of trying to find a white wine to stand up to grilled meats or a red that won’t be too heavy in the summer heat can stump many. Fear not! Here is a list of food and wine parings that will make your next cookout a breeze.

There is a rule of thumb when pairing wine and food to pair simple wines with simple foods. That piece of advice goes a long way when it comes to finding the right wine to serve at a cookout. But this adage doesn’t mean you should sacrifice quality. It means you don’t have to serve a very complex wine with your hot dog or hamburger. So relax. You don’t have to look for anything fancy unless of course, you want.

The second rule to remember is that it is sometimes easiest to pair wines from a country with foods and flavors that come from the same region. Let’s say you are going to grill Italian sausage. A good wine to go with them would be Chianti. Chianti is from Italy. An Italian wine with Italian sausage. What could be simpler? Chianti is made primarily from the red grape Sangiovese. Sangiovese is very food friendly. Look for a Chianti Classico or Superior.

If you are throwing some “shrimp on the barbie,” ice down a bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris beforehand. Pinto Gris is made
from the Pinot Grigio grape. However, Pinot Gris is richer and spicier. You will experience more citrus flavors and floral aromas.
The richness will complement the smokiness of grilled flavors of the shrimp without over powering the delicate minerality of the meat.

Red Zinfandel is a truly American wine. It is generally not produced anywhere else in the world (however, the same grape is used in Italy to produce Primitivo). So, it is apropos to pair it with BBQ short ribs. The tangy smoky sweetness of the meat with marry well with the earthy, dark cherry, and pepper flavors of this wine. Red Zinfandel is medium bodied so it will stand up to the hearty flavors of the smoky grilled meat.

And speaking of meat what backyard grill master would dare to throw a cookout without a good old flame kissed hamburger? Grilled beef and red wine are a match made in heaven. But when it is ground and put between a bun with cheese, ketchup and mustard, it can be a tricky food to pair with a wine. Look to another very food friendly red wine, Rioja to complement a burger. Rioja is from Spain and it is made from the temporally grape. While Rioja has enough structure and weight to stand up to the fire charred beef and strong flavors of the mustard, it has enough milder tannins. And its traditional flavors
of berries, plum, tobacco, vanilla, and herbs will enhance the flavors of a simple burger well.

Don’t forget to cool off your reds before serving. 10 minutes in the fridge before serving should do it. Happy grilling and pairing!

Shari Sheffield •

This past week, D.C. Wine Week introduced the city’s wine loving public to an array of wines and venues. The goal of D.C. Wine Week is to educate D.C.’s population and expose local wine businesses, restaurants, and chefs to the area’s wine enthusiasts. The stars of the week were the Italians (wines that is). From chef Christianne Ricci’s Italian Wine Fest at her restaurant i Ricchi, to the Italian wines served at the week’s closing Saturday brunch at Sonoma Wine Bar on the Hill, some delicious Italian wines were featured. Lucky for us, these beauties arrived just in time to inspire great food pairings with the rustic flavors of fall.

At i Ricchi’s Wednesday night patio Italian wine fest, chef Christianne beautifully paired over 15 wines with two simple Tuscan inspired dishes: cannellini beans in a rosemary tomato sauce with grilled pork sausage and fried polenta sticks and an herb chicken with bay leaf on crostini sandwiches. Ricchi’s fare paired perfectly with the wines from the various Italian wine regions poured that eve.

Sonoma Wine Bar hosted the closing event with an assortment of brunch items from a sausage breakfast sandwich to the ubiquitous melon wrapped prosciutto, but the fare was a good foil to the three Italian sparkling wines served. The best of the Italians are below and perfect for pairing with fall’s heartier meals. Many are available locally through Schneider’s, Paul’s, Rodman, MacArthur’s, Circle Liquors and Weygandt Wines and should retail under $30. Enjoy!

Ca’ del Pucino Prosecco

This wine is made from Glera Prosecco grapes. Prosecco is a sparkling wine normally made in the Veneto and Friuli regions of Italy. This Prosecco has a fine bubble display and is refreshingly balanced. It is soft but has some nice complexity with mineral and peach flavors as well.

Lovisolo Brut Nebbiolo Spumante Rose

100-percent Nebbiolo grapes along with its surprising pale onion skin color announces that this sparkling wine something different according to the tasting menu handed out. Indeed it was for a sparkling rosé. Upon tasting look for basil, mint, cherry and strawberry flavors.

Valpolicella Classico, Nicolis

Valpolicella is a wine region in Verona, Italy. Wines from this region are simple and range in quality. This Valpolicella is rich in ruby color and flavor but light enough to be drunk alone. Drink it with charcuterie, mortadella and tomato-based dishes.

Greco di Tufo, Loggia Della Serra

This wine hails from the Campania region of Italy and is made from 100-percent Greco grapes. This white wine has wonderful floral aromas. Its acidity will pair well with shellfish dishes.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Fattoria Del Cerro

This vino is a blend of Sangiovese, Colorino, and Mammolo grapes. A clone of Sangiovese is the predominate varietal in the blend and it makes this wine very drinkable. It is smooth with black cherry and black plum flavors. Tannin is only slightly detectable. Pair with grilled meat, hard flavorful cheeses or enjoy alone.

Il Bruciato, Guado Al Tasso

A blend of 65-percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20-percent Merlot and 15-percent Syrah inspires flavors that remind you of cinnamon and all spice. This intensely colored red wine is a great go-to everyday wine. Pair with grilled meats, rustic soups, chili and grilled sausage.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Antica Antinori

This wine is made from 100-percent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Napa Valley. However, the family that makes the wines uses its Tuscan roots to create a rich Italian style wine. Mild tannins make this cabernet drinkable alone. Coco, coffee and baked black fruit flavors abound. If you want to wait to have it with food, it will go wonderfully with osso buco, prime rib and brick oven pizza.

Col Solare, Antinori & Chateau Ste. Michelle

Here is another red, born from a collaboration between the U.S. and Italy. The Washington state winery Chateau Ste. Michelle and the Tuscan winery, Antinori partnered to produce this bottling. The Col Solare is a blend comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Malbec. This wine has rich smoky flavors. The Merlot adds cinnamon and pepper spice notes to the blend. While just a touch of Malbec in the blend rounds this wine out and gives it elegance. Try steak with sautéed mushrooms, rack of lamb or game with this wine. Saluté

Marie Loiseau •

Georgetowners craving a modern twist on Europe’s cuisines need go no farther than the intersection of M and Potomac. Capitol Prague, a quaint restaurant and café duo, presents delectable European fare in the heart of the town.
Owners Bohumil Foist and Jaroslav Bosnovic, residing in the D.C., area and Slovakia, respectively, opened the eatery in May 2013. They brought on general manager Lucia Davila, a Slovak Georgetowner to personally represent the restaurant’s roots.
“It is the first restaurant of its kind in Georgetown,” Davila said. While Capitol Prague specializes in Czech dishes, it is expanding its menu to include a variety of nontraditional European favorites. “We’re more than goulash,” Davila said. “We want to have a little bit of everything.”
The restaurant is featuring Oktoberfest selections, available through the end of the month, as well as its on-going lunch combos and weekday happy hour. Choices include beef stuffed potato dumplings, beer braised pork and more. Happy hour consists of appetizers, chef’s specials, European wines, authentic Czech and Slovak beers – especially world-renowned Czechvar beer — and specialty cocktails at reduced prices. It is not limited to October and can be enjoyed 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Lunch deals began when Capitol Prague began serving lunch in September. Guests can mix and match different menu items. One can enjoy soup or salad with half a sandwich for just $9.99, or a hefty meal of soup or salad with Czech sliders or an entrée, plus coffee and dessert for just $19.99. More combinations exist, and hungry passersby are encouraged to stop in to mix and match as they please.
Georgetowner staffers walked across M Street to savor a dine-in lunch experience at Capitol Prague, close to the newspaper’s office.
We stuffed ourselves with smooth, flavored Illy coffee, large-portioned appetizers and lunch entrees. We nestled into comfortable beige seats and ordered a very rich steak tartar and potato pancakes topped with fresh, crunchy red cabbage as starters. We sampled the melt-in-your-mouth goulash as well as the halušky, an authentic Slovak potato spaetzle topped with smoked bacon and bryndza cheese. The halušky turned out to be a collective favorite.
Despite having different food preferences, we were each able to order entrees to our liking. A traditional veal schnitzel with grilled asparagus proved a bit too much to finish after appetizers and samples. The vegetarian relished every last bite of a refreshingly light buffalo mozzarella salad with avocado, drizzled with a balsamic reduction.

Hefty appetizers and entrees left no room for dessert, but we had sampled them earlier in the month. For anyone craving something sweet, options include a fruit parfait, sweet crepes, strudel, traditional bread pudding and rum-infused sponge cake.
Up the avenue, Glover Park has the venerable Old Europe Restaurant, which we also like. But Georgetown now has its own “New Europe” restaurant, Capitol Prague.

Go get a taste of Europe, and check out the Oktoberfest specials before November rolls around.

Jody Kurash •

Sherry, other than being a hit song for Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, is etched in many people’s minds as a sketchy elixir, along the lines of sloe gin, crème de menthe or anything else collecting dust in your grandmother’s liquor cabinet.

The most well-known brand is Harvey’s Bristol Cream, a product that may be the all-time king of cheesy advertising. In my childhood, long before I truly understood the meaning, I remember learning about women’s liberation from a Christmas commercial that aired in 1978 (available on YouTube). In this tacky classic, a woman invites herself to a man’s apartment so she can “slip something under his tree.”

Sherry remained off my radar for the next 20 years or so, until an accidental meeting when my boyfriend, Glenn Sorvisto, and I were on a three-week Iberian road trip. Our circular route stretched from Madrid to the Basque Country, then along the Portuguese coast and into Andalucía.

It was right after we crossed back into Spain from Portugal’s Algarve when – as happened many times during the trip – we got lost, ending up in the Sherry Triangle. In this region, defined by Spanish law, I had my first adult run-in with sherry.

Sherry is a fortified wine (meaning that extra alcohol is added), primarily made from Palomino, Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez grapes. The towns of Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María are the three corners of the Sherry Triangle. Sherry can only be produced in this region, and many of the bodegas (wine cellars) welcome visitors.

The limestone-based soil provides perfect conditions for growing these types of grapes. Sherry is aged and blended using a solera system, in which wine rotates through a series of older and older barrels.

Though we didn’t go to a winery, I got a delightful lecture on sherry from the host at a tapas bar where we stopped for lunch. After spending a day in Lisbon educating myself at the Port Wine Institute (and OD’ing on sangria everywhere else on the trip), I was eager to try something new.

As we nibbled on freshly cured ham, olives and egg tortillas, we were treated to samples of different sherry varieties. I always thought of sherry as sweet. My biggest surprise was finding out that roughly 90 percent is dry. And I discovered that, like Port wine, the flavor and characteristics of different sherries can vary tremendously.

I tasted sherries from both ends of the spectrum. On one side was fino, a very dry, light-bodied sherry, strawlike in color. On the other was oloroso: dark in color, rich in flavor and served with manchego cheese. In between was a nutty-flavored amontillado. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I finished with a cloying Pedro Ximénez sherry.

If you want to experience the warm ambiance of Andalucía, you don’t need to cross the pond. Just head to 7th Street, NW. Derek Brown, the man behind the Columbia Room and Eat the Rich, and his wife Chantal Tseng, formerly of the Tabard Inn, have teamed up at Mockingbird Hill, a ham and sherry bar inspired by their visits to Spain.

Complementing a selection of Spanish-influenced dishes and local hams at Mockingbird Hill are 54 varieties of sherry. The best way to start is with a sample flight, similar to my introduction in Spain. Or – as you would expect in a bar run by D.C.’s mixology power couple – you can order a sherry cocktail.

Tseng enjoys sherry in a number of ways. She recommends the Cheribita, dry fino sherry served over ice with orange bitters and a lemon peel. Sometimes she combines sherry with other spirits: “Sherry and vermouth, sherry and gin, sherry and bourbon, sherry and scotch, sherry and aged rum, sherry and tequila.” Says Tseng, “Sherry is simply versatile.”

According to Tseng, sherry mixes well in cocktails because it shares characteristics with many ingredients. “Sherry is super-complex and can taste anywhere from oyster shells, ocean spray, apples, lemongrass, chamomile, white flowers and chalk to almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, apricots, gingerbread, baking spices, chocolate, marzipan, figs, etc.,” she says.
“Sherry mixes with something and retains its personality. It gets along with so many different ingredients but never loses itself in them. It goes from an elegant accompaniment to the rich backbone of a drink depending on how you use it.”

Her favorite cocktail on the menu is the Bamboo, a combination of fino sherry and Dolin dry vermouth with a dash of orange bitters.

So it’s time to let go of all your sherry clichés and expand your horizons. Let the helpful staff at Mockingbird Hill guide you on your sherry discovery path. ?

The Bamboo

1.5 ounces fino sherry

3 ounces Dolin dry vermouth

Dash of orange bitters

Combine ingredients and stir. Garnish with a lemon peel.

You can try a Bamboo or a sherry flight at Mockingbird Hill, 1843 7th St., NW.