Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food & drink events.
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1) On Tuesday, July 11, at 6:30pm, Legal Sea Foods in Park Square will host a wine dinner with selections from Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute‘s extensive portfolio of Tuscan wines. A Tuscan staple, the Folonari family has been making wine in the region since the 1700s. With estates in the finest appellations of Tuscany, the Folonaris produce distinctive, small-production wine that has made them one of the most prestigious and respected winemakers in Italy. Currently owned and operated by Ambrogio Folonari and his son Giovanni, the Folonari family brand innovated in 2000 by subdividing their existing estate vineyards and expanding their operations into new regions of Tuscany, allowing the family to augment their portfolio and produce a greater diversity of craft wines. By both expressing the continued innovation and creativity of contemporary Tuscan winemaking, while also honoring the Tuscan tradition and the region’s rich history, the Folonari family has cemented itself as one of Tuscany’s most distinguished winemakers, and is world-renowned for its devotion to quality and craftsmanship.

Legal Sea Foods will team up with Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari Tenute’s US brand ambassador and Italian wine expert, Claudio Andreani, to host an exclusive four-plus-course dinner featuring signature cuisine paired with his selections from the Folonari family’s collection of Tuscan wines. The menu will be presented as follows:

HORS D’OEUVRES
Lobster Cake, Lemon Tarragon Aioli
Grilled Octopus Crostini, Calabrian Pepper-Saffron Aioli
Clam Casino
Tenuta Campo al Mare Vermentino, Bolgheri, 2015
FIRST COURSE
Fettuccine with Clams (white clam sauce, garlic crostini)
Tenuta di Nozzole “Le Bruniche” Chardonnay, Toscana, 2016
SECOND COURSE
Swordfish Saltimbocca (lemon caper sauce, whipped Yukon gold potatoes)
Tenuta di Nozzole Chianti Classico Riserva, Toscana, 2014
Tenute del Cabreo “Il Borgo” Super Tuscan, Toscana, 2013
MAIN COURSE
Veal Scallopini (mushroom marsala sauce, charred broccolini)
Tenuta di Nozzole “La Forra” Riserva Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, Toscana, 2012
Tenuta La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino, Toscana, 2012
CHEESE COURSE
Parmigiano-Reggiano, Aged Cheddar, Aged Gouda (macerated berries, pancetta crisp, brioche toast points)
Tenuta di Nozzole “Il Pareto” Cabernet Sauvignon, Toscana, 2011
Tenuta di Nozzole “Il Pareto” Cabernet Sauvignon, Toscana, 2013

COST: $110 per person (excludes tax & gratuity)
Reservation required by calling 617-530-9397

2) Chef Tony Susi and the Capo team introduce the Capo Gelato Stand to West Broadway in South Boston. Inspired by the traditional Italian gelateria, the Capo Gelato Stand features an outdoor cart with over a dozen flavors of both gelato and sorbet from locally owned and operated Giovanna Gelato. The rotating flavors are made in small batches with premium ingredients, and include a mix of Italian classics as well as some custom flavors.

Sample gelato list includes: chocolate, espresso, Nutella, pistachio, salted caramel, straciatella, strawberry, vanilla, amaretto, cannoli, coconut, tiramisu.
Sample sorbet list includes: blood orange, lemon, mango, raspberry, blackberry, passion fruit, peach, pineapple.

Gelato and sorbet are available in two sizes, small ($3.25) or large ($4.75) and can be customized with toppings ($.50 each), including: chocolate tuile, espresso crumble, broken cannoli shells, amarena cherries and strawberry jam.

Enjoy the frozen treat on-the-go or in Capo’s café, located inside Capo restaurant, adjacent to the dining room. The Capo Gelato will be available this summer Thursday – Sunday from noon – 7:00 p.m. (weather permitting), and also available as dessert for dinner guests.

3) Executive Chef Josue Louis and Head Sommelier Todd Lipman of Bistro du Midi celebrate the start to summer with Bubbles on the Half Shell. Summer afternoons just got a little sweeter with the launch of Bubbles on the Half Shell at The Bar at Bistro du Midi. Every weekday from 4-6 PM, guests can enjoy $1 East Coast oysters with a champagne mignonette and explore Sommelier Todd Lipman’s favorite champagne, prosecco and sparkling cocktail selections.

Suggested Bubbles: 
--Nino Fanco, Rustico, Prosecco $14/glass, $55/bottle
--Pol Roger, Reserve Brut $29/glass, $125/bottle
--Gosset, Excellence Brut, $70/half bottle
--Ruinart, Blanc de Blancs Brut $145/half bottle
--Aubry, Premier Cru Brut $115/bottle

Sparkling Cocktails
--Champagne Cocktail Provencal $14 (Scrappy’s lavender & grapefruit bitters, muddled sugar cube)
--French 75 $14
--Cucumber Sureau $13 (Pearl cucumber vodka, St. Germain, fresh lemon & lime juice, sea salt, soda)

4) Coppersmith, South Boston’s vintage-industrial restaurant, along with Executive Chef Jason Heard, are firing up the smokers for the summer and introducing Weekly Whole Hog Roasts to celebrate the season of outdoor cooking.

Having started on Wednesday June 28, and continuing throughout the summer until Wednesday August 16, Chef Heard will tap into his southern roots and barbeque expertise to roast, smoke and offer an array of globally-influenced flavors from Latin to Asian and everything in-between. Weekly Whole Hog Roasts, using locally sourced meat, will not only have a unique theme, but will also be served with traditional side dishes that complement the theme that week. The bar will accompany the weekly roasts with cocktail specials that enhance each theme in a refreshing way.

The weekly roasts will be offered as a dinner special for $24 per person from 5pm-10pm or while it lasts.

Themes are as follows:
Wednesday, June 28th - Latin
Wednesday, July 5th - Southern
Wednesday, July 12th - Korean
Wednesday, July 19th - Chinese
Wednesday, July 26th - Jamaican
Wednesday, August 2nd - Spanish
Wednesday, August 9th - Tex Mex
Wednesday, August 16th - Hawaiian

Reservations are highly recommended. To book a reservation or for more information, please visit www.coppersmithboston.com.

5) Puritan & Co. Chef/Owner Will Gilson, Sommelier Peter Nelson and the restaurant’s talented team will soon offer guests an expanded wine list of Riesling varietals. Riesling can be polarizing, especially if the wine is sweet. Puritan & Co. invites wine novices and aficionados alike to reacquaint themselves with the varietal as it rolls out its new "Summer of Riesling" wine list.

Carefully curated by Sommelier Peter Nelson, Puritan's "Summer of Riesling" wine list, starting on July 1, will be added to Puritan's current wine list this Saturday. The list will feature primarily dry wines, most with highly expressive fruit character, and even an option made without added sulphur, Binner. The internationally sourced wines will hail from Germany, France, Austria, Italy, California, New York and Oregon.

The list will be separated into two categories- one featuring 7 more affordably priced, approachable bottles and the “$100 Club”- a selection of 5 wines that regularly cost up to $180, but are available for Puritan guests for only $100 each.

To make reservations, please call 617-615-6195

6) Boston’s sister restaurants Beat Brasserie and The Beehive are giving guests the chance to give back, as they support the Black Donkey Project and the 2017 Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) with a portion of sales of each bottle of Via Ottimista’s 2013 Nebbiolo wine going to life-saving cancer research, now through August 5.

Sold at both Beat Brassierie and The Beehive this summer, Via Ottimista will be available by the bottle, for $45, and a portion of sales from each bottle will be donated to help fight pediatric cancer, in support of the Black Donkey Project, an organization created to better the community and support efforts to cure pediatric cancer. Each bottle is created with grapes from Bee Sweet Vineyard in Edna Valley, California, and flavor notes on the wine include aromas of violet, rose, tea and a lightly savory taste, making Via Ottismista the perfect bottle for any wine lover to pair with Beat and Beehive’s creative seasonal cuisine.

A portion of the proceeds from each bottle will go directly to the PMC, a race that raises money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This charitable promotion will be available at each restaurant from now until the day of the race on Saturday, August 5.