Thursday, May 5, 2022

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I'm back again with a new edition of Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food and drink events. I hope everyone dines out safely, tips well and are nice to their servers.
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1) Kane’s Donuts is debuting new flavors for the month for May while also bringing back some fan-favorites. The May flavors of the month include Lemon Chiffon Bar, Chocolate Cloud, and M&M. To pay homage to the flavors of spring, Kane’s is debuting a Lemon Chiffon Bar, a light fluffy yeast stick, filled with lemon pie filling, topped with a creamy lemon chiffon frosting and a dollop of lemon filling. For all the chocolate lovers, Kane’s has brought back the Chocolate Cloud Donut, a light fluffy yeast donut, filled with creamy chocolate pudding, frosted with a rich decadent chocolate frosting, and topped with chocolate pearls. Kane’s will also have an M&M Donut for the month of May, crafted with a fluffy yeast-style donut with vanilla frosting and topped with mini-M&M’s. They will be available an all locations of Kane's throughout the month of May. 

2) Krasi Meze + Wine, one of my favorite restaurants, now has the largest all Greek wine list in the entire country. It had been the second largest until Molyvos in New York City recently closed. Sommelier and Wine Director Evan Turner has grown the wine list to over 300 bottles since Krasi opened in February of 2019.  Evan wine list showcases bottles from PDO areas with a focus on the known grapes of Greece as well as those that are more rare and indigenous.

At Krasi, Evan hosts a series called Symposium Wednesdays inspired by the ancient Symposiums in Greece that literally meant "to drink with friends" and were essentially the very first wine tastings. Symposium Wednesdays offer guests exclusive tastings, flights and by the glass pours of Greek wine. This is not a stiff and stuffy wine tasting but it's a unique opportunity to check out cool grapes like Limniona that date back to more than 3,000 years ago and were written about by Homer and Aristotle - and almost became extinct. 

Here is the upcoming lineup for May and June with some notes from Evan....

MAY 11 - WINERY SPOTLIGHT: DOMAINE DE KALATHAS. Jerome Binda, the owner of Domaine de Kalathas is a wizard from Middle Earth. Or I am willing to bet a decent chunk of change that he is, as his wines are magical that’s for sure. Made on the island of Tinos, an island that also looks like it is in Middle Earth, with boulders that are twenty feet high and twenty feet long. The only grapes he uses are native to the island, organically grown, made naturally, and of course, with magic. This is the first time I have featured just one winery for Symposium and I think you will absolutely agree. If I may be so bold, they will cast a spell on you. BOOM! Dad Joke! Cheers!

MAY 25 - MARVEL SUPERHERO SPOTLIGHT. WHAT IF THE AVENGERS WERE WINES. Ok, bear with me. I have been letting my “wine mind” run a little wild lately and have been thinking about what characters in fiction would be if they were wines. The Avengers were just too good to pass up, so I had to do this. Maybe I am being Tony Stark and tinkering where I have no good reason to, but I just can’t help myself. So strap in, get ready to ride through a wine multiverse with your faithful sommelier. Excelsior!

JUNE 1 - CEPHALONIA: ISLAND OF CONTRASTS. Cephalonia might be the most schizophrenic wine location in all of Greece. The island has a myriad of native grape varieties, made into wine by a wildly diverse group of winemakers who seem to follow one of two paths: Either hyper-focused clean wine that show of bright fruit and laser-like minerality or natural wines that are so funky that George Clinton would be impressed by their groove. This will be a wild ride of contrasts so be prepared to have your mind warped a bit. Afterall, a little madness is a good thing.

JUNE 8 - NORTHEAST GREECE: ACTUALLY, THE WILD, WILD WEST. If you want to make wine in Greece and do whatever you bloody well please, go up to Northeast Greece. Between experimenting with ancient grapes and using terracotta amphorae, or deciding that emulating California is the thing, Northeast Greece is the place to be. No other region is as wide-ranging in styles of wine and winemaking. No other place has so many philosophies on what to put in a wine bottle than here. It is a magic carpet ride of flavor and nuance that must be tasted to be believed. Get your glass out, we are going on an adventure kids!

JUNE 29 - WHAT THE ACTUAL F%*@ IS NATURAL WINE? Lots of wineries these days say they create “natural” wine. Well, what does that mean? In today's symposium we will taste through and explain what natural wine is all about. Whether they are white, orange, pink, or red, heck, even sparkling too. Taste through a whole new world of winemaking where what is old, very old in some cases, is new again. It’s like “Indiana Jones”, but with wine and no snakes. You can still bring your whip though, it could get kinky.

In addition, Krasi is offering a great new opportunity as you can now buy Greek wines at retail price! at Krasi. They can now sell their wine retail out of Krasi. They will sell anything they have in stock and is not already cold unless that is to your liking. They also have a wine club that allows you to enjoy a monthly six-pack of rare goodies picked by Evan Turner. Soon, they will also be able to sell those wines online too. Such great news.

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