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.
**********************************************************
1) Forge & Vine at The Groton Inn is offering a Winter Wine Flight special that includes (4) three-ounce pours of varietals from all over the world. Worldly wine selections include varietals from Italy’s famed Piedmont region, the Loire Valley in France, the Western Cape of South Africa as well as the Cahors region in southern France.

Winter Wine Flight 
$24 for (4) three ounce pours
Cellario e Blanco NV, Piedmont, Italy
Boschendal Chardonnay Pinot Noir, Western Cape, South Africa 2016
Chinon La Saget Perriere, Loire, France 2016
Mas de Perie, Les Escures, Cahors, France 2017

Forge & Vine’s Winter Wine Flight special will be available now throughout the winter months.

2) On Tuesday, February 25th, from 5:30pm-10pm, The Table at Season To Taste is taking a deep dive into a one night only, 6-course Black Sea wine dinner. Chef Carl Dooley is exploring the cuisines of Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia. Wine Director Jesse Eslin is excited to focus on wines from one specific spot: Georgia.

Cost: $185 per person, includes dinner, wine pairings, tax and gratuity
To make reservations, please call 617-871-9468 or obtain tickets online here

A Menu isn't available yet but I trust Chef Dooley will create an amazing dinner, and I've long been a big fan of Georgian wines so suspect Jesse will select some intriguing and delicious choices.

3) Encore Boston Harbor has announced the launch of “Taste of Encore,” new, three-course tasting menus at Sinatra and Rare available weekly on select evenings. The menus feature a choice of appetizer, entrée, and dessert.

Sinatra’s Taste of Encore menu is available Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. for $60 per person. At Rare, the Taste of Encore menu is available Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. for $70 per person.

Please note that the Taste of Encore menus do not include tax, gratuity, or beverage.

Rare Steakhouse Taste of Encore
Appetizer (Choice of one)
Chopped Salad (iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, bacon bits, crispy truffle potato, jalapeño ranch)
Caesar Salad (sourdough crouton, parmesan, lemon-anchovy emulsion)
Colossal Shrimp Cocktail (poached in court bouillon, spiced cocktail sauce, remoulade) $15 Supplement
Entreé (Choice of one)
Bay of Fundy Salmon (fricassee of confit fingerling potato, bacon, braised leeks, bourbon-pickled peppers, mustard cream)
Pan-Roasted Organic Chicken Breast (airline-cut, white bean & porcini mushroom cassoulet, wilted baby kale, herb chicken jus)
6 oz. Filet Mignon
16 oz. Rib Eye $20 Supplement
Steaks are served with grilled asparagus, Yukon gold potato purée & RARE steak sauce.
Dessert (Choice of one)
Cheesecake (mango, passion fruit, roasted pineapple)
Banana Cream pie (candied ginger)
Cost: $70 per person

Sinatra Taste of Encore
Appetizers (choice of one)
Winter Salad (seasonal lettuces, robiola cheese, compressed pear, candied pecans, mostarda vinaigrette)
Meatballs (housemade veal, pork and beef meatballs, chickpea fries, pecorino cheese)
Smoked Oyster Chowder (potato, celery, fennel oyster cracker)
Cauliflower (fried cauliflower, golden raisins, pine nuts, vegan saffron aioli)
Entree (choice of one)
Frank’s Spaghetti (housemade spaghetti, manila clams, tomato garlic broth)
Tagliatelle (traditional ribbon pasta, prosciutto di Parma, black truffle cream, aged provolone)
“Sunday” Rigatoni (braised pork, pomodoro, smoked mozzarella)
Wood-Grilled Fish (fingerling potatoes, blood orange-olive sauce)
Pork Chop (spiced grapes, guanciale lardons, Lambrusco, wilted bitter greens)
Chicken Parmigiana or Chicken Milanese
Dessert (choice of one)
Roasted Apple Olive Oil Cake (Golden Delicious apple compote, whipped cream cheese, almond crunch)
Tiramisu (mascarpone mousse, soaked lady fingers, coffee toffee sauce, chocolate crumble)
Cost: $60 per person

4) With the addition of an extra day on the calendar this year, Legal Sea Foods is adding an extra lobster to the plate of those taking advantage of its quadrennial Leap Year promotion “An Extra Day, An Extra Lobster” entree special on February 29.

The one-day promotion will offer two one-pound steamed lobsters and a choice of two sides for $29, available only on the 29th day of this month. The current market price of a one-pound lobster is $27.95. The twin-lobster two-for-$29 promotion on 2/29 will be available all day at all Legal Sea Foods restaurants (excluding airport locations). Its other concept restaurants – including Legal C Bar, Legal Harborside, Legal Test Kitchen (LTK) and Legal on the Mystic – will be on-board as well.

“This event was so popular last Leap Year that I’ve been waiting four years to do it again,” said Roger Berkowitz, President and CEO of Legal Sea Foods. “We’re doubling down on the occasion because the only thing better than a lobster is a second lobster.”

The lobster dinner features a choice of two side dishes from the following list: smashed potatoes, broccoli, French fries, onion strings, garlic leek brown rice, coleslaw, seaweed salad and jasmine rice (selections may vary by restaurant).