Food

Ari Post • January 11, 2016

There is a vitality and subtle whimsy at the heart of Tim Ma’s restaurants that make any experience at one of his tables a gratifying experience.

As a chef, Ma is a tinkerer, and the food he prepares is fresh, bold and always a little playful. His menus traverse between culinary traditions of East and West, classic and contemporary, finding a refreshing balance of flavor and style in unlikely places. As a chef, Ma is a tinkerer, and the food he prepares is fresh, bold and always a little playful.

The first of his dishes I ever ate was a salad of rosemary-­smoked watermelon at Water & Wall, his Ballston location, served over a green tomato puree, dotted with roquefort and microgreens and splashed with honey vinegar. It was a new sensation of flavor. It was also simple and perfect, and so it felt immediately familiar.

I have since eaten a lot of Ma’s food, and I always walk away with a hazy, full­-bellied reverie.

Right now all eyes are on Kyirisan, his first restaurant in the District, slated to open in Shaw early next year, which he is currently developing with his wife and business partner Joey Hernandez. However, just this month, he quietly opened the doors of his newest venture in his own neighborhood of Vienna, Virginia.

Chase the Submarine is a cozy sandwich shop, café and boutique market, which is serving some of the best sandwiches anywhere that Metro can reach.

Tucked in among a row of storefronts off the main drag of Vienna’s downtown, just blocks away from his flagship restaurant Maple Ave (of which he has relinquished creative control to pursue other projects), Chase the Submarine looks from the outside like a standard suburban lunch spot. But all comparisons with the ordinary stop as soon as you walk through the door.

A ceiling-­high pantry displays local beer, wine and assortments of oils and vinegars, mustards and jams, local coffee beans and other odds and ends. Over the counter, the fridge display is stacked with potato salads, coleslaws, and a spread of housemade pickled treats, from cauliflower and cukes, to kimchi and even blueberries (and they are great).

But the sandwiches steal the show at Chase. For his starting lineup of subs, Ma exercised the same tireless grit that you would expect him to exert over a full restaurant menu. Have you ever seen a deli counter with a full kitchen, an industrial gas range and six cooks on staff?

“We started with restaurants, and now we have a sandwich shop,” Ma says. “We’re sort of working backwards in that sense. And we’re bringing all those resources and practices, everything from our restaurant’s kitchen, and cramming it into this totally different environment.”

Chase has the standards: an Italian sub, a pastrami, a chicken salad, a Cubano (sort of) and a stacked vegetarian portobello. But Ma has remastered these classics in his own unique way and brought them back to life for 21st-century foodies. I don’t even like steak and cheese (sorry, Philly), but with thin-sliced rib eye finished perfectly on the grill, this sandwich was crazy good.

The Pork and Pickle is a sort of updated multicultural Cubano, with pineapple-braised pork shoulder, Dijon mustard and gooey Gruyère, topped with pickled apples, dill pickles and (get ready for this) lychee. It is about the most ingenious and tasty combination of flavors you can imagine, and I could eat one every day for the rest of my life.
And the pastrami is something you will wake up thinking about. To make it, Ma house-smokes Wagyu beef brisket, primes the bread with a blend of crème fraîche and mustard and tops it with carrot sauerkraut and pickled shallots. “We have to start curing the brisket about a week ahead,” Ma says. “Then we smoke it, chill it, slice it and touch it on the grill before serving. So you could say it takes seven days to make this sandwich.”

The menu also lets loose with outstanding Asian-inspired numbers, like a Vietnamese bánh mì made with braised pork belly, local ham, pickled daikon and jalapeño oil, and a Korean bulgogi sub with rib eye marinated in Asian pears, topped with kimchi puree and roasted scallions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the fried veal sweetbreads, served on a long bun with Korean chili paste, pickles and cabbage, is out of this world.

The average price of a sub at Chase is about $9.50. If he wanted to, Ma could remove the bread from most of these sandwiches, stack the ingredients on a plate and serve them as entrees at his restaurant for more than double the price. He probably knows this, but he obviously doesn’t care. Chase the Submarine is a reflection of where he is in his life, who he cares about and how he thinks.

“You can get a little sick of the pretentiousness of fine dining,” he says. “I have three kids now, and Joey and I can’t really take them to any of my other restaurants. Chase is a family-oriented place, a place for parents to come after work and get a bite to eat and beer, and their kids can run around and get something to eat from the kids menu. It’s for everyone, but it’s also just sort of a neighborhood thing.”

The magic of this place is that Ma so effortlessly blends obvious greatness with a “nothing special” modesty. He seems hardly aware of the ambition with which he has already fueled his little sub shop. Already there are off-menu items on a regular basis, showcasing his endless culinary experimentation. “I’m always making something back there,” he laughs. “Just ask.”

He has plans to sell rare ingredients from the back: “Things I use in the kitchen that are hard to get at the grocery store — homemade stocks, unusual cuts of meat, that sort of thing.”

Come spring, he plans to run a CSA out of Chase with weekly proteins and vegetables. There is a butcher’s-block tasting table toward the back of the bar, where he will soon debut a twice-weekly five-course tasting menu for groups of six, with wine pairings and food “inspired by the deli.” I guess we will have to find out what that means, but I’m sure it will be a hell of an adventure.

But even forgoing all of that, Chase the Submarine is something special. It’s the sort of cozy, tasty spot you hope with a guilty conscience never gets too popular, lest it gets lost in the inevitable swarm of foodie fanfare.

Forget about pop­up restaurants, gastropubs and food trucks. Chef Tim Ma has done something truly out of the ordinary and downright awesome, and it’s everything you could want it to be.

Chase the Submarine (132 Church St. NW, Vienna, Virginia) is open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. For more information visit www.ChaseTheSubmarine.com. [gallery ids="102191,131587" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

There is more pressure figuring out where to go on New Year’s Eve than on any other holiday, and eating out on New Year’s Eve usually means looking through list upon list of special dinners that every spot in town seems to offer. We compiled some of the best New Year’s Eve dinners to catch our eye this year, just to make your last meal of 2015 a memorable one (but make sure to call ahead for reservations).

Bar Dupont
Celebrate New Year’s Eve at Bar Dupont (1500 New Hampshire Ave. NW) at their annual party. Guests will ring in the New Year with a throwback to the 60s Mad-Men style, with specialty handcrafted cocktails, a Belvedere Ice Bar, cigar rollers and DJs spinning late into the night. Light bites will also be served. Bar Dupont’s location in the center of Washington’s lively Dupont Circle neighborhood and its floor-to-ceiling windows make it a great destination to see and be seen on New Year’s Eve. For more information, call 202-797-0169.

Bistrot Royal
Head to Bistrot Royal (1201 N Royal St., Alexandria, Virginia) and enjoy a three-course prix-fixe dinner for $55 per person. The restaurant will offer a variety of options including roasted beet salad with goat cheese croquette, lettuces, brioche croutons and a shallot vinaigrette, a bouillabaisse with gently simmered market seafood in a saffron-shellfish broth with fennel and potatoes topped with rouille aioli. Finish the meal with Buche de Noel with hazelnut dacquoise, giandjua filling, chocolate ganache and espresso ice cream. For reservations, visit opentable.com/bistrot-royal or call 703-519-9110.

Meet Me at Midnight: Cafe Milano’s New Year’s Eve Bash
Join Cafe Milano (3251 Prospect St. NW) for their New Year’s Eve bash: Meet Me at Midnight. For $160 per person, treat yourself to a special five-course prix-fixe tasting menu and dance the night away. The main event is 9 p.m. until the New Year. A special holiday à la carte menu will be available from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. For reservations, call 202-333-6183.

New Year’s Eve Rooftop Party at Capella D.C.

Bid farewell to 2015 in exquisite style with a multi-course champagne dinner in The Grill Room at Capella (1050 31st St. NW) hosted by executive chef Frank Ruta. With grand cru champagnes from Dom Perignon, Veuve Clicquot and Ruinart, each sumptuous course will be accompanied by premium champagnes. Then dance the night away under the luminous night sky at the Rooftop New Year’s Eve Party, complete with a Veuve Clicquot champagne bar and a signature cocktail. Toast to the New Year at midnight with a champagne toast while DJ Charles and a percussionist keep the festivities going until 1 a.m.

Dinner is $350 per person. Rooftop Celebration is $100 per person when booked with dinner. Just the Rooftop New Year’s Eve Party is $150 per person. For more information and to make reservations, contact The Grill Room at 202-617-2424 or email
thegrillroom.dc@capellahotels.com.

An ENOrmous New Year’s Eve Celebration at ENO Wine Bar

ENO Wine Bar (2810 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) is hosting their ENOrmous NYE Celebration from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wind down 2015 and ring in the New Year with champagnes from around the world. This ticketed celebration includes: a wine flight from a variety of options, a champagne toast at midnight, choice of a bruschetta flight, including prosciutto di Parma, cherry tomato, mushroom, or bean and kale, or stuffed mushrooms filled with rich, cheesy goodness and so much more. To learn more, visit enowinerooms.com/hotspots/georgetown-d.c.

See The Pimps of Joytime and The Ron Holloway Band at Gypsy Sally’s NYE Show

Come out to Gypsy Sally’s (3401 K St. at Water Street NW) and celebrate New Year’s Eve with The Pimps of Joytime. The show also features The Ron Holloway Band. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets are $30 in advance, $38 day of show. To purchase tickets, visit
gypsysallys.com.

RiverBash 2016

New Year’s Eve Party

Come ring in the New Year at the Georgetown Waterfront with Tony & Joe’s (3000 K St. NW) and Nick’s Riverside Grill (3050 K St. NW). Celebrate at #RiverBash2016, the biggest New Year’s party in Washington D.C. Tickets include a five-hour top shelf open bar, two heavy appetizer buffets and entertainment by Josh Burgess Band, DJ VIBzzz and DJ Reuben Vibes. Tickets start at $90 per person. To learn more, visit tonyandjoes.com or email Brett@nicksriversidegrill.com to receive a group promo code.

Linda Roth • November 19, 2015

The dining terrace at Westfield Montgomery Mall continues to diversify, with Asian cuisines for its next two restaurants.

B/BOP/Q Korean Fusion Eatery derives from the traditional Korean bibimbop, but with wraps, tacos and bowls (a la Chipotle and ShopHouse). This will be its first location in the U.S., with Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Honolulu also in the works. It will open across from Shanghai 66 Innovation Kitchen on the second level. Both are slated for late 2015 openings.

C-C-Changes: After completing its renovation, BlackSalt in Palisades reopened to a neighborhood eagerly awaiting its return. The bar area now has booths and art that pops … The Source recently reopened its door after extensive renovation that included both the main level lounge and upper level dining room, and a custom designed hot pot table for four … Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza, at 610 9th St. NW in Penn Quarter, has also recently renovated its look (by Green Owl Design) and its menu.

Chef and GM Update: Jason Richter has been named general manager of Restaurant Associates at the Kennedy Center, overseeing the Roof Terrace Restaurant and KC Café as well as the foodservice operation for banquets. This is the organization that serves dinner for 1,800 for the Kennedy Center Honors. Previously, he was director of hotel operations for the Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C. … Ryan Ratino is the new chef de cuisine at Masa 14, at 1825 14th St. NW. The Le Corden Bleu graduate served as executive chef at L’Auberge Provencale in White Post, Virginia.

Internationally recognized Japanese restaurant Nobu is slated to open just two blocks east of Georgetown on M Street in D.C.’s burgeoning West End, on the ground floor of the former American Association of Medical Colleges building, which will be converted to luxury condominiums. … Upstate Tavern is planning to open in 16th Street Heights at 4610-12 14th St. NW.

Openings Update: Union Social opened Oct. 23 in NoMa … American Tandoor at Tysons Corner Center opens Oct. 30 … Matchbox at One Loudoun opens Nov. 16 … Chuy’s Tex-Mex restaurant opens in mid-December, where Macaroni Grill on Prince William Parkway in Woodbridge (Potomac Mills) used to be. It will be their third location in the D.C. metro area … Dave & Buster’s eat/drink/play restaurant/bar/arcade opens Dec. 21 at Springfield Town Center … Milk Bar and Momofuku opened on Oct. 23 at CityCenter D.C. … Not Your Average Joe’s plans to open in Reston Town Center by the end of December and in Silver Spring by the end of the first quarter of 2016 … The Dabney is anticipating a late November opening. Ivy City Smokehouse, from Greg Casten and Ronnie Goodman, is aiming to open by December.

Georgetowner • November 5, 2015

Tadich Grill Family Drama Comes to Light

The daughter of one of the owners of San Francisco’s famed Tadich Grill, as well as its newly opened D.C. location, opened up to Washington Post columnist Lonnae O’Neal about being disowned by her family when they found out she was dating a black man.

Terri Upshaw, née Buich, says she met Gene Upshaw, former Oakland Raiders guard and future Hall of Famer and executive director of the National Football League Players’ Association, in 1983 when she was 23. They dated for eight months before he asked her to move with him to Washington, D.C.

She says that when her father found out that she planned to marry Upshaw, “He told me that’s it — you’re out of the family. Change your last name, and don’t ever call us again.” Gene Upshaw died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, but she has not heard from her parents or siblings since 1983 and they have not met her children.

According to O’Neal: “Upshaw, who had never spoken publicly about the rift, says she is telling this story now, in response to a reporter’s query, because with the new restaurant, she is talking more to friends and ‘it sounds archaic,’ she says.”

Following the story, Tadich Grill’s D.C. location was hit with numerous negative reviews on Yelp, many of which have been removed by Yelp as “motivated more by the news coverage itself than by the reviewer’s own customer experience,” according to the site.

Penthouse Restaurant Proposed at 5th and I

Developers of the hotel/apartment hybrid project on the city-owned site at 901 5th St. NW have submitted revised plans. They now propose 175 hotel rooms and 48 apartments, instead of the original 153 rooms and 52 apartments. They are also proposing a bar, cocktail lounge or restaurant in the penthouse area, requiring an exception to the District’s new zoning regulations, which are intended to allow only residential uses in penthouses. The Board of Zoning Adjustment will look at the proposals on Nov. 10. The development group, led by the Peebles Corporation, includes the Walker Group, MacFarlane Partners and Standard Group, with designs by WDG Architecture.

IN: Tail Up Goat

Tail Up Goat, a new Mediterranean restaurant, will open early next year at 1827 Adams Mill Road NW. The venue is the product of Jon Sybert and Bill Jensen, Komi’s former sous chef and wine and beverage director, respectively; Jill Tyler, service director from Little Serow (and Sybert’s spouse); and investor Kevin Doyle. The menu is inspired by southern Italian- and Sicilian-style cooking without being bound to a particular region or tradition. The name of the restaurant comes from a phrase that Sybert and Tyler heard in the Virgin Islands, used to distinguish between herds of grazing animals: Tail up, goat; tail down, sheep.

IN: Korean Spot Coming to 9th Street

A new Korean restaurant is set to open on 9th Street NW. Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton and Toki Underground’s Erik Bruner-Yang are the owners.

OUT: DC Coast, Stetson’s — Both Gone After New Year’s

DC Coast Restaurant, a trailblazer in terms of the culinary arts as well as urban renewal, so to speak, will serve its last meal on New Year’s Eve. The restaurant at 1401 K St. NW opened in 1998 as Passion Food Hospitality’s top performer under co-owners Gus DiMillo, Jeff Tunks and David Wizenberg, who decided during lease talks with the building’s owner to shut the place and move on. At the same time, the group said that it plans to revive its Ten Penh Restaurant, which closed at 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in 2011, at Tysons Corner in 2016.

Another trailblazing restaurant, Stetson’s at 1610 U St. NW, will close by the end of 2015, according to the Washington, D.C., Eater blog, which added: “The building and the liquor license for the U Street bar has been sold to Douglas Development. Stetson’s team did not have any information about what might replace it (Eater had reached out to Douglas Development when rumors of closing surfaced).” Stetson’s was opened in 1980 by a retired police officer. It was the first Tex-Mex saloon in the nation’s capital and is considered U Street’s oldest neighborhood bar and grill.

Charlene Louis • October 26, 2015

true fall menu is a reflection of summer toils, of basking in a fruitful harvest. After speaking to Nate Lindsay, executive chef of Jardenea Restaurant, one has no doubt that he takes the seasonal approach very seriously.

Located in the Melrose Georgetown Hotel, Jardenea is a chic, art-deco-inspired restaurant with a strong focus on local and sustainable dining. Hailing from Florida, Lindsay states that this region is one of the best for showing off a fall menu. With the definitive changing seasons and a “good mix of weather,” the D.C. region calls for a farm-to-fork menu that varies both with the temperature and with the locally available ingredients, from the fresh shoots of spring to bone braises in autumn.

The current fall menu embodies the restaurant’s motto (“The farm is the beginning of the food chain…”), starting with a curried, table-poured pumpkin bisque and a hearty kale salad that features McCutcheon’s mulled-cider vinaigrette. The chef goes on to show off one of his favorites: the seared Hudson Valley foie gras, a dish he admits to always ordering when he finds it on other menus.

Interested in trying out Jardenea’s new fall menu? On Oct. 29, the restaurant is offering a four-course “Autumn Harvest Supper.”

Throughout the evening, each course will feature a dish paired with a wine selection from a Northern Virginia vineyard. Featured dishes include Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with double-smoked bacon and exotic mushroom bread pudding and leek-wrapped beef short rib roulade with sweet potato mousseline, rainbow Swiss chard and Malbec demi-glace.

Jardenea

Melrose Georgetown

2430 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

202-955-6400

melrosehoteldc.com/dining [gallery ids="102332,125779,125774" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

“I’m nobody! Who are you?” From poetry’s edge, our senses honed to wine, we move on to the spiritual element of life. We move on to the realm of faith, toward deeper meaning, toward the simple parable, the reduction of vanity.

What do the parables, based on the things we see, mean? How should we interpret and act upon them, to what extent? What questions do they call forth for us, and how could we take these questions seriously?

I think of the form beyond the form of the glass of wine. In a longer lens, the vines grow on a particular place on the spinning globe, receiving life from the rays of the sun that shines upon the earth — the source of the sun itself an important aspect of “that which is.” Call it the divine.

This is what the guy is talking about in Corinthians, that beyond the form of the particular individual, there is that divine reality within ourselves — charitable, long-suffering — that is the form of our own form.

There is “The Grand Inquisitor” scene in Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov.” Beyond a sly self-reflective tone that any writer might find familiar, the skeptical interrogator mind is telling the spiritual mind how we’d all be better off with it. This is Ivan, the skeptic brother, talking, feverishly imagining the scene to make his point.

Fortunately for us — else such tomes might never be written — this is followed by another theme. When the youngest brother, Aloysha, views the body of his spiritual elder, Father Zosima, he, too, falls into a dream. Within it, he imagines the Wedding at Cana, the first miracle, of wine, of God’s love (Dostoevsky is careful to point this out) for human joy. Awakening from this dream, Aloysha rises as a fighter. And this is significant.

The passage speaks of the spiritual truth carried within wine, knowledge of a divine love for us, if you will, even such as we are. Wine civilizes the barbarian; it takes the civilized to the next level.

The enjoyment of wine is never far from that basic spiritual context. Wine, whatever the bottle costs, has the same effect. In France, the term for winemaker is vigneron, tender of the vines. The rest happens more or less naturally. I think of humble Eric Bonnet of La Bastide Saint-Dominique in the southern Rhône, growing up around vines, whose wines show that basic good relationship, no egos involved.

Francis came to town, they drove him around in his little Fiat. He met with the poor and children, he visited the White House, he went up to Capitol Hill, he stopped and prayed in venerable churches, he waved to us. The conversational tone of the town changed. The pundits quieted down. He reminded us of the splendor of real humility. Things got real again for a while, and it again became evident: better to serve than be served, and what wine really is all about.

Robert Devaney • October 13, 2015

There was a hurricane coming up the coast, but it moved east. The day was wet and overcast but not really raining —and the wind was coming from the north, not the south. With weather easing up, the 22rd Annual Taste of Georgetown went on as planned, thanks to the Georgetown Business Improvement District, which runs the event. It displayed the chutzpah to go ahead with the popular foodie fest—and got more publicity and perhaps more attendees, as the Taste of Georgetown seemed like the only big outdoor thing going on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Under the Whitehurst Freeway, the gourmet day offered more than 60 tastes from more than 30 Georgetown restaurants as well as a Craft Beer & Wine Garden. The foodie scene was set along K Street, right next to the Georgetown waterfront, between Wisconsin Avenue and Thomas Jefferson Street. And, yes, there was the weather bonus, a “Joaquin” ticket special: six food tickets instead of the usual five for $25.
 
According to the Georgetown BID, the following are the Taste of Georgetown winners—oh, wait, everyone was a winner—as selected by a panel of judges:

Best in Show, 1789 Restaurant;

The Sweetest Sweet, Baked & Wired;

Herbivore’s Dream Dish:  Chaia Tacos;

Carnivore’s Champion Dish:  Clyde’s of Georgetown;

Best Catch from the Sea:  Luke’s Lobster. [gallery ids="102321,126334,126315,126338,126299,126307,126322,126328" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • October 5, 2015

One of Georgetown’s most enduring and popular events is upon us and helps to kick the fall season into gear. The 22nd Annual Taste of Georgetown will be ready for sampling this Saturday, Oct. 3, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The gourmet day offers more than 60 tastes from more than 30 Georgetown restaurants as well as a Craft Beer & Wine Garden. The foodie scene will be set along K Street, right next to the Georgetown waterfront, between Wisconsin Avenue and Thomas Jefferson Street.

Presented and sponsored by the Georgetown Business Improvement District, the Taste of Georgetown was started by Grace Episcopal Church and its rector David Bird, more than 20 years ago, and one of its congregant Robert Egger, who later founded D.C. Central Kitchen. The event benefits the services for the homeless of the Georgetown Ministry Center, which is headquartered at the church.

There was a media tour last week to set the scene with visits to five Georgetown eateries. Food writers sampled the perfectly sweet Olivia Macaron (next to Dean & Deluca on M Street), the about-to-arrive Chaia on Grace Street with locally sourced food for its tacos and juices from Misfit Juicery, the classic Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place (oysters and lobsters, baby, from chef David Stein; fish tacos for the Taste) at Washington Harbour, the almost year-old Chez Billy Sud, with its delicious pastries, sausages or sauteed trout, on 31st Street and the bright Eno Wine Bar, next to the Four Seasons Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, with easy flights of wine and charcuterie from Stachowski’s and other spots nearby.

With kid attractions and other tables to check out as well, Saturday’s event is free to attend with tickets at $5 for one tasting or $20 for five tastings (online presale only), according to the Georgetown BID. Craft Beer and Wine Garden tickets are $4 for one tasting or $10 for three (also available day-of). Tickets are available onsite at the event for $5 per tasting and $4 per Craft Beer & Wine Garden tasting and will be cash only.

Presale early bird ticket deals are available at www.tasteofgeorgetown.com. Check out the Taste of Georgetown on Facebook as well as using #TasteofGeorgetown across social media. Also, visiting Parking Panda for parking reservations for a discount. For general information on getting to Georgetown, D.C., visit www.georgetowndc.com/gettinghere.

With the Taste of Georgetown, gourmands can get a great sense of each place in a matter of hours. Think of it as an early and long lunch or a very early dinner.
[gallery ids="102316,126361,126353,126369,126374,126381" nav="thumbs"]

Ted Putala • September 17, 2015

When I think of wine and what I know about it, I think of the whale. That the whale, the largest of creatures, travels the vastness of the oceans to find sustenance in the smallest is interesting. Her journey through the seas is a continuum of experience. Time passes in the deep.

So is the world of wine to us, vast as an ocean.

My earliest encounter with French culture was the poetic voice of “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.” I studied the Celts in history class. I took five years of French in high school, cultural background for an appreciation of French wine. In France, vineyards are sacred groves, protected, tended by man but largely left to nature.
Irrigation here is rare. Vines grow where they belong. France’s ban on fracking leaves the geology of the vineyard undisturbed, preserving the water, the rocks and the hills that make a beautiful wine region like Burgundy what it is. Wine experts pore over contour maps detailing appellations and cross-sections of geology in vibrant colors. Wine nomenclature is all about where the vines grow.

Each taste offers direct enjoyment of all the elements that happen in that particular place in the world where vines grow, the fruit of an entire season. A sip of Champagne excites the sense of taste. Wine stimulates us to experience the plate and the evening before us. This is how wine works, like a walk in the woods, away from secondary experiences, putting us back into nature, transporting us to the vineyard. The reality of wine is its poetry; its poetry is its reality.

Wine presents the opportunity of a gathering. The experience of a glass over dinner opens us up, bringing us together. Customs stand the test of time. Traditions are kept. There is participation, the human element. A longtime customer shows me a menu of his dinner with the Chevaliers du Tastevin preserved from 1964 as we sip from a Clos Vougeot. A hard-working economist arrives at the bar after a long day and I know what to pour him as he raises the menu. From observing such traditions, as a Melvillian anthropologist, I have learned as much about wine as anywhere else.

Summer wanes. The season of true unrushed Provence rosés with light fare, fresh produce, soft-shell crab and salads slows as we enjoy the last of the 2014 vintage at the restaurant. And across the Northern Hemisphere, harvest time of the 2015 vintage approaches, the tannins rising to protect the fruit as it ripens, a new yield of nature’s balance. The pains of summer sunburns pass, into a gentle itch.

But what do I know about wine? I know roughly what I like. That’s why I keep tasting, like the whale, as I weather and pass the seas of life. With that I’ll leave you to it, and bow to the wine expert you have within, fully equipped, ready for your own experiences, in whichever direction you go.

Ted Putala is the author of the novel “A Hero For Our Time.” He writes a blog, D.C. Literary Outsider.