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 Wednesday, November 14, at 6:30pm, Legal Harborside will host a four-plus-course champagne dinner featuring Dom Pérignon and the brand’s French wine aficionado, Diego Del Pino who has been extensively involved in the wine industry for more than fifteen years and prides himself on his knowledge and excitement for all wines - but especially burgundy and champagne - along with his role as managing the wine portfolio for Moet Hennessy in the Northeast region.

Beginning centuries ago, the world renowned Dom Pérignon collection derives from a young Dom Pierre Pérignon whose ambitious dream was to create the best wine in the world when he was named the cellarer of Hautvillers Abbey, located in the heart of Champagne, in 1668. Gifted with a visionary mind, Dom Pierre Pérignon created, perfected and improved on rudimentary techniques to create a wine like no other. The Abbey's holdings flourished under his tenure, in particular its vineyards. The wine of Dom Pierre Pérignon was the result of imagination, experimentation and audacity, the achievement of a lifetime dedicated to the quest for perfection. Today, Dom Pérignon is reinvented with every Vintage. Precise and tactile to the point of seamlessness, tense through rhythm and vibrancy, vigorous and fresh yet mature, intense and complex, such is the sensual style of Dom Pérignon: so inviting, yet so mysterious.

The menu for the four-plus-course champagne dinner will be presented as follows:

HORS D'OEUVRES
Cape Scallop Tartlet, White Wine Garlic Pan Sauce
Potato Blini, Crème Fraiche, Caviar
Foie Gras Terrine, Brioche Toast Point, Red Onion Jam
Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé, NV
FIRST COURSE
Pan-Seared Scallops (miso butter, crispy taro, maitake mushrooms)
Dom Pérignon, 2009
SECOND COURSE
Butter-Poached Lobster (aged parmesan polenta, chanterelle mushrooms, vanilla butter)
Dom Pérignon, 2006
THIRD COURSE
Pan-Roasted Pheasant (delicata squash pureé, Brussels sprouts hash, veal demi-glace)
Dom Pérignon Rosé, 2005
CHEESE COURSE
Challerhocker (Switzerland)
Pecorino Gran Cru (Italy)
Brebis Mousse (France)
Dom Pérignon “P2” (Plénitude Deuxième), 2000

COST: $275 per person (excludes tax & gratuity)
Reservation required by calling 617-530-9397

2) The Boston Wine Festival returns to Boston Harbor Hotel this winter with a highly anticipated lineup of events to commemorate the festival’s 30th anniversary. Chef Daniel Bruce, founder of the Boston Wine Festival, presents an all-star lineup of winemaker-hosted dinners, seminars, receptions and brunches for this milestone anniversary. For three decades, Chef Bruce and Boston Harbor Hotel have welcomed top winemakers from around the world to Boston for this one-of-a-kind celebration of food and wine. The festival is the nation’s longest running extensive wine and food pairing series, kicking off with a Grand Opening Reception on Friday, January 11, 2019 and continuing through Friday, March 29, 2019.

Celebrated Boston Wine Festival traditions like the Battle of the Cabernets (January 17 and January 18), Meritage Madness (January 25), and the Valentine’s Day Dinner Dance (February 16) return to the festival lineup this year in addition to an incredible schedule of dinners hosted by winemakers from around the globe. Noteworthy dinners at the 2019 Boston Wine Festival include Trimbach (February 7), one of two all-white wine dinners this year and hosted by 12th generation winery owner Jean Trimbach. Frog’s Leap Winery (February 14) returns to the Boston Harbor with John Williams, who is hosting his tenth Boston Wine Festival dinner since 1992 with a memorable event celebrating three decades of wine. Silver Oak (March 8) winemaker, Daniel Baron, comes out of retirement for the special evening which he co-hosts alongside longtime Silver Oak owner, David Duncan.

“For 30 years we’ve been welcoming some of the most renowned winemakers in the world and emerging talent to the Boston Wine Festival and I’m thrilled to introduce the fantastic partners that are joining us for this milestone year,” says Chef Bruce. “There’s always something new to explore at the festival, whether it’s your first year joining us or your 30th. My approach to menu creation for our wine dinners has always been tasting the wines first then developing a menu based on the flavor profiles. Each wine we’re presenting has its own story, so it allows us to create a unique menu for each dinner that really celebrates these fantastic wines and the winemakers who create them.”

The 2019 Boston Wine Festival schedule includes a new festival tradition, the first annual charity reception Uncorked for a Cause (February 15) in partnership with Share our Strength. Hosted by designer and personality, Taniya Nayak, the walk-around style event will feature wines from around the world with small plates from Chef Bruce and complete with a show-stopping wine wall auction to benefit Share our Strength and the fight to end hunger and poverty. Other notable dinners and events debuting at the festival this year include: Copper Cane (January 24), Halter Ranch Vineyard (February 13), Domaine François Villard (February 21) and DeLille Cellars (March 1).

Tickets are available for purchase at Boston Wine Festival.  Guests who purchase tickets for any 2019 Boston Wine Festival event now through December 31, 2018 will be entered to win a trip for two to Napa Valley, California for a three-night, once in a lifetime wine experience on Columbus Day Weekend 2019 (October 10 – 13). Two sets of winners will be announced at the Uncorked for a Cause event and will receive roundtrip airfare, luxury hotel accommodations, wine tasting experiences at Far Niente and Opus One Winery and tickets to the annual Frogtoberfest Dinner at Frog’s Leap Winery hosted by John Williams and presented by Chef Daniel Bruce.

All Boston Wine Festival events take place at the iconic Boston Harbor Hotel which invites Wine Festival guests to take the elevator home with special room rates available.

3) Ward 8, a Boston cocktail bar and gastropub, is turning five and celebrating the occasion with plenty of food, drinks, and fun! The Ward 8 team is opening its doors to the public and inviting guests to join them for a not-to-miss anniversary celebration on Tuesday, November 27, from 9pm to Close. The party will feature a DJ, complimentary bites previewing All Day Hospitality's newest, upcoming concept, Tony and Elaine's, specialty original cocktails, Parlor Ice Cream Co. sandwiches, and more.

To make Reservations, please call 617) 823-4478.

4) On Monday, December 10th at 6:15pm, Slow Food Boston invites you to a Shared Supper next month in celebration of Terra Madre Day! Terra Madre Day is a major Slow Food event, celebrating local food on a global scale. Every December 10th, people around the world organize parties and gatherings to celebrate good, clean and fair food: good quality and flavorsome; clean for our bodies, for animals and for the planet; fair for producers and consumers alike. This year, Terra Madre Day is focused on Food for Change, Slow Food’s international fundraising campaign to highlight the role of food as a cause, victim, and potential solution to climate change.

Join friends and loved ones for an unforgettable meal at Loyal Nine, where Chef Marc Sheehan brings New England culinary traditions to the forefront in his east coast revival cuisine. On this night, enjoy a family-style, multi-course dinner featuring menu favorites along with one-of-a-kind dishes highlighting seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. The Cost of this event is $55 per person.