With most of the restrictive, covid-related regulations now lifted on state restaurants, gourmands, including yours truly, are smiling like Cheshire cats. And, with facial masks secured, we’ve also begun to once again to sup and sip at our favorite dining establishments.

That’s great news! In fact, I’ve been patronizing some of my favorite local eateries and I can happily report that the quality of the food is as good as ever. Today, I’ll tell you about two restaurants I visited and share my favorite menu items from each establishment. I’ll also suggest reasonably priced wines to pair with the menu items chosen from each of the restaurants’ “by the glass” list. In future scribblings, I’ll review my favorite dishes and wines from other area establishments. So, let’s get started.

Ristorante Abruzzi, located at 601 Morris Street in the building adjacent to Appalachian Power Park, is a culinary gem. Owned by Mark and Libby Chatfield, Abruzzi features a fine cross-section of menu selections many of which are inspired by dishes from the eponymous Italian region.

Mark’s family (on his mother’s side) hails from Abruzzi and, while he is a college professor during the day, he has always dreamed of owning a restaurant that focuses on offering many of the same foods he relished growing up. Here are two pasta dishes and accompanying wines you might like to try the next time you visit Ristorante Abruzzi:

Radiatore Bolognese – Bolognese is a thick meaty sauce that is a combination ground beef, veal and pork with just a little tomato paste to color it slightly. The radiatore are small, squat pasta that kind of look like tiny radiators and they really absorb the Bolognese quite nicely.

I suggest pairing this with Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano D’Abruzzo. This medium bodied, rich and well-balanced red wine is full of ripe cherry flavors and hails from the Abruzzi region. It is a very compatible partner to the Bolognese.

Wild Mushroom Sagnarelli – This is a lovely blend of wild porcini mushrooms, pancetta and sun-dried tomatoes in a light cream sauce. Sagnarelli is a type of rectangular, flat ribbon-like pasta which holds the sauce perfectly. My vinous choice for the dish is Mer Soleil Santa Lucia Highlands Chardonnay. From California’s central coast, the wine is round, rich and earthy which makes it a perfect choice to accompany and compliment the wild mushroom Sagnarelli.

1010 Bridge is a restaurant born in the middle of last year’s Covid pandemic. Huh? To say that owners Aaron and Marie Clark were bold might be an understatement. But with their decades of working in the restaurant and catering businesses and with the able assistance of Chef Paul Smith, that confidence to move forward in such a challenging year has been rewarded. And we wine and food lovers are the beneficiaries of their success.

1010 occupies the same physical space as the former restaurant, The Market, in South Hills on Bridge Road. Aaron Clark describes the menu as Appalachian with Low Country influences. I’ve visited the restaurant several times and I believe it is among the best eateries in the state. Here are two of my favorite menu items with recommended wines.

Cast Iron Seared “1010 Cut.” The cut of beef used is terres major and it’s about the size of a pork tenderloin. It is also the second most tender piece of meat on the whole cow – second only to the tenderloin. The dish is sauced with a cabernet Bordelais jus and accompanied by lobster mac & cheese, candied brussel sprouts and a foie-gras truffle butter. Sounds like a weird hodge-podge of ingredients, but it is succulent and delicious.

This complex menu item needs an equally complex wine. I chose Terre Rouge Tete-A-Tete which is a Cote Du Rhone-like red from the Sierra Foothills of California. Tete-A-Tete is a blend of 43 percent each of Grenache and mourvedre and 14 percent syrah and it can stand up to and enhance the flavors of the terres major cut.

Pan Seared Sea Scallops. Perfectly pan seared sea scallops with a sherry-chive pan sauce are atop Hernshaw Farms mushroom risotto and along a side of sautéed spinach. Such an opulent entrée needs a chardonnay that offers richness, but which also has contrasting and refreshing acidity to keep the dish in balance. The St. Supery Oak Free Chardonnay is the perfect choice to pair with this superb entrée.

The restaurant industry is such an important part of our community so I hope you’ll go out to support them and celebrate the end (hopefully) of a very trying time.

John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is “Augie’s World” which is a sequel to his debut novel, Augie’s War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com

My wife can really turn a phrase. She claims I avoid work as if it was a “four letter” word. I will admit, though, there are certain tasks – like cleaning out the garage or doing the dishes – which I do not willingly seek out. But give me something to cook and I am a diligent, energetic and enthusiastic laborer; give me something to grill and I’m in Nirvana!

And since the upcoming Memorial Day weekend is the official kick-off for summertime, that means we will be enjoying more of our meals in the great outdoors. That also means I can use my grill more frequently and that’s the type of work I truly love.

Over the years I have espoused the virtues of charcoal over gas grilling, but whatever your preference, nothing beats the flavor of outdoor cooking. Whether you’re searing a hunk of red meat, slow roasting a rack of baby backs or smoking a filet of salmon, grilling improves the flavor of just about any food – even vegetables. And there are myriad wine choices to pair with the foods we enjoy this time of year.

Here are a few of my favorite warm weather on-the-grill dishes, and the wines I think will pair especially well with them.

Hamburgers: I love to chop a few slices of bacon into small pieces and add them to a pound and a half of ground chuck. After pressing them into quarter pound burgers, I shake a generous portion of McCormick’s Montreal Grillmates Seasoning on them before placing them on the grill. Try pairing the burgers with zinfandel from producers such as Frank Family, Edmeades or Dry Creek. These California zins are all medium-bodied wines with delicious dark berry flavors that will accentuate the beefy goodness of the bacon-enhanced burgers.

Hot dogs and Sausages: I’m an advocate of splitting my dogs and sausages long-ways in order to get as many surfaces of the meat grilled and crisp. The saltiness and spice of these hearty tube steaks makes them a perfect match with refreshing and thirst-quenching dry roses’ from producers like Elizabeth Spenser (California) Domaine Tempier Bandol Rose (France) and Mulderbosch Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon (South Africa).

Rib eye or strip steak: Nothing is more hedonistically appealing to me than beefsteak grilled to perfection. I’ll have my beef purveyor cut my steak into one and one-half inch thick pieces and then I’ll rub them with a clove of garlic, kosher salt, coarsely ground black pepper and olive oil before placing the meat on the grill and cooking them until medium-rare. No wine is more appropriate to serve with this lovely grilled meat than cabernet sauvignon, particularly ones from northern California. Here are some of my favorite labels: Provenance, Franciscan, Shaffer, Alexander Valley Vineyards, Silver Oak, Heitz, St. Supery and Clos Du Val.

Marinated Vegetables: As an accompaniment to any meat or fish dish or as a stand-alone meal, you must try grilling vegetables. You can use any combination of the following: lengthwise pieces of red and yellow bell peppers; peeled and sliced zucchinis and yellow squash; a large onion cut into quarter inch circles; asparagus spears; hot banana peppers sliced lengthwise; a bulb of sliced fennel; a head of radicchio halved; and Portobello mushrooms cut in half. Make a marinade of extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and basil. Mix and then immerse the vegetables in the marinade for about an hour before grilling. Pair the grilled veggies with sauvignon blanc from La Crema and St. Supery (California) or Whitehaven and Kim Crawford (New Zealand).

Salmon: I love me some salmon on the grill! Brush two eight ounce, skin-off salmon filets (or a whole side of salmon) with a glaze composed of minced garlic and jalapenos, soy sauce, honey, cumin and olive oil. Brush on before grilling and then again when you turn the salmon. Salmon likes smoke and just loves sweet and heat. The perfect wine accompaniment to the dish is pinot noir. Try one of these beauties: Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve and Lange Estate (Oregon); Melville Santa Rita Hills, Domaine Carneros and Etude (California).

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and happy summertime grilling!

John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is “Augie’s World” which is a sequel to his debut novel, Augie’s War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com

I’m not a “save it for a rainy day” type of guy so sometimes being disorganized and even, forgetful, can be a blessing. Case in point: A few decades back- before my receding hairline and tavern tumor made their unwelcome appearance -I was a true gourmand. When I had the opportunity to taste a special wine (even one way before its time), I did so with reckless abandon and then just, literally, swallowed my disappointment.

Such was the case with a very storied wine, the 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The ’82 Mouton was widely considered the best wine of that fabulous vintage in Bordeaux. And then the most esteemed wine critic of the time (Robert Parker) declared that bottle to be the best Bordeaux of the entire 20th century -up to that point!

A few years before the wine was available for sale on the open market, I had purchased two bottles as part of a Bordeaux Futures program. Once a particular Bordeaux vintage is evaluated (usually in the spring following the harvest), prices are established and wine shops offer consumers the opportunity to buy Bordeaux wines at steep discounts. Keep in mind, though, that you don’t receive the wine for at least two years after you make your purchase.
So, you might imagine my surprise and elation to discover that the two bottles of 1982 Mouton that I had purchased as futures were now rated as the best wines of the century. In a fevered rush to experience the other worldly flavors of this exquisite wine, I immediately opened a bottle of the Mouton and carefully decanted it into crystal carafe. I let wine breathe for an hour before pouring it into our best stemware and then swirled the Mouton to help release the aroma.

I put my nose into the glass and sniffed…. and sniffed again…nothing! No ethereal aromas of black currants, toasted oak, underbrush, or mint either. Just a vague and understated red fruit smell. Heck, there were more vibrant aromas in grape Kool-Aid than in this wine, I remembered thinking. And then I tasted the Mouton. Tannic, tight and a bit of sour grape flavors predominated. My wife and I were both disappointed, but we persisted and drank the whole bottle over a couple of hours, hoping those two hours would coax the wine of the century to show up. It didn’t.

Over the next few decades and through a couple of moves, I misplaced and eventually forgot about the remaining bottle of Mouton. As a matter of fact, I assumed it had gotten lost or that one of my children had poached it during a raid on the old man’s wine stash. But earlier this year, I found the remaining bottle of ’82 Mouton. I decided that my wife and I would open it on our anniversary where we had booked a weekend at a very lovely southern resort. I contacted the resort sommelier and asked if he would open the wine for us, decant it and let it breathe for a couple of hours before serving it to us at dinner. Keep in mind, the ’82 Mouton is 39 years old so my concern before sipping the wine was whether or not it would still be drinkable.

But it’s amazing what a few decades of bottle age in proper storage conditions will do to allow wine from a good vintage to shine. This time the wine was everything I had expected it to be when I opened the first bottle – way too early. Aromas of tack room, mint and toast were followed flavors of dark berries, muted mocha, licorice and spice. In my experience with older wines, full flavored foods can sometimes overwhelm them, but we took a chance anyway and paired the wine with a perfectly grilled bone-in ribeye.

The result was spectacular! Remarkably, the wine is also still slightly tannic so I assume it will continue to age gracefully for at least another decade and I would love to find out. Surprisingly, the wine is still available for purchase, but I probably won’t find it at the $50 dollar a bottle futures price I paid back in 1984. The lowest price I could find online for the wine was $1750.

As an interesting aside, Mouton Rothschild has commissioned many famous artists and celebrities through the years to draw on their labels. For the ’82 Mouton, the winery asked Academy Award winning director and artist, John Huston, to paint something for the label. His watercolor painting is of a ram leaping in joy accompanied by the sun and the grape vine. Inscribed under the painting is a note from Huston to his friend and winery owner Baron Phillipe Rothschild which reads: “In celebration of my beloved friend Baron Philippe’s sixtieth harvest at Mouton.”

Word to the wise: If you really love the wines of Bordeaux, ask your wine merchant about purchasing wine futures. You’ll definitely get the best price possible. And then resist the temptation to drink the wine before it’s time!

John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is “Augie’s World” which is a sequel to his debut novel, Augie’s War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com

I know it’s weird to feel a sense of loss and to grieve for an inanimate object. Nonetheless, I nearly shed a tear when I felt compelled to euthanize my rusty old grill by burying it on Mount Trashmore – our local landfill.

However, on the way back from the malodorous burial mound, I stopped at the local hardware store and purchased a brand, spanking new Weber Performer Charcoal grill. I’ve been using Weber grills for decades because they can accommodate everything from burgers and steaks to large roasts and even 20 pound Thanksgiving turkeys. As soon as I got this shiny – but soon to be grimy- new grill assembled on my deck, I put it immediately to task. And, as it’s name so aptly suggests, the Weber “performed” flawlessly.

Today, I’m going to share a meat, vegetable and fruit recipe my wife concocted and I grilled to perfection on the new Weber. Of course, I’m also going to suggest a couple of special wines to pair with the meal that will greatly elevate this whole dining experience. And while I prefer to use charcoal, the following recipe can also be successfully prepared on a gas grill.

The origin of this dish is Cuba where a wide variety of foods are marinated in – or basted with – a sauce called “mojo” (pronounced “moe-ho” in Spanish). Here in the US, mojo is pronounced just the way it looks and it’s defined as a trait that involves a bit of magic or good luck. In the recipe that follows, you won’t need to use any mojo to make this exceptional “moho” dish.

Grilled Pork Mojo with Seared Avocados and Oranges

Ingredients:

-One pork tenderloin (one to two pounds)
-Three garlic cloves peeled
-One medium red bell pepper diced
-One-half cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
-Two tablespoons of freshly squeezed lime juice
-One tablespoon each of kosher salt and ground cumin
-One-half teaspoon each of dried oregano, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper
-One teaspoon of neutral oil – like grape seed or canola
-Eight small red and yellow bell peppers or two large ones quartered
-One orange and two ripe avocados quartered; and one lemon sliced into 1/8 inch rounds
-One small bunch of green onions cleaned

Preparation:

Combine garlic, orange and lime juice, diced pepper, salt, cumin, black pepper, paprika and cayenne pepper in a blender
Process ingredients until smooth and pour into a large zip lock plastic bag
Place pork in the bag and marinate for 12 hours or overnight
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill
Remove pork from marinade and pat dry and rub with the neutral oil
Grill peppers, avocados, green onions, lemon and oranges until seared and put aside
Grill pork until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F
Allow pork to rest for 10 minutes and then carve it into quarter inch thick slices
Place pork on a platter with avocados, oranges, peppers, lemon slices and onions around it

We accompanied the pork mojo with a side dish of spicy Cuban black beans and rice, and I opened two red wines to pair with the meal that worked exceptionally well. Both wines really enhanced the nuanced citrus notes in the grilled pork mojo. Give one, or both of these wines a try:

2010 Beronia Gran Riserva Rioja ($32) – One of the advantages of drinking Rioja is the ability of the wine to age well for a decade or more. This Spanish red is composed mainly of tempranillo and was aged in oak for three years before bottling. It is full of dark fruit flavors and just a touch of vanilla from the oak.

2016 Luigi Righetti Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico ($37) – From the Veneto region of northern Italy, this Amarone is chock full of bright cherry fruit with an undercurrent of mocha and spice. It is an exceptionally well made wine with the requisite acidity to balance the richness of the oak enhanced flavors.

So fire up the grill and try this recipe. You’ll find your Mojo with this Moho!

John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is “Augie’s World” which is a sequel to his debut novel, Augie’s War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com

The wine lexicon is full of more cryptic and confusing words than a software “Terms of Agreement” statement. You know, the one with the electronic box we’re all required to check before using the software (even though no one who reads the fine print, understands it).

Winespeak can be full of bombastic, hyperbolic, thesaurus-busting synonyms, as well as bizarre and outrageous phrases that are not only confusing, but also many times inappropriate. I’ve read words like flamboyant, ethereal or orgasmic to describe a wine. Or, incongruous phrases like “liquefied charcoal,” “wet dog,” or “mesmerizing texture” used to define the characteristics of a particular bottle. Descriptions like these do more to discourage folks from drinking wine than any fire and brimstone spouting, snake-handling preacher ever could.

So, brothers and sisters of the vine, I’m going to help you “sort the wheat from the chaff” when it comes to the language of wine. Below is a list of some of the most commonly used (and appropriate) words and phrases to describe the various attributes of the beverage we all love.

Common Wine Descriptors

Acid – Refers to the sharpness in the taste of wine. Good acid is balanced by alcohol, sweetness or both.

Balance – A wine is balanced when the sugar or alcohol and the acid are in harmony with no one element overwhelming the other.

Complex – Layers of flavor components that combine to achieve harmony.

Crisp – Refers to the acidity in the wine as in a “crisp” white wine.

Corked – A wine that has an unpleasant “wet cardboard” taste or smell. Reason is thought to be chemical changes in the wine caused by inadequately sterilized corks.

Creamy- Refers to the “silk-like” feel in the mouth of wines as opposed to the “tart/crisp” taste component.

Finish – Describes a wine that has a pleasant aftertaste and feel.

Flabby – A wine which is overly-full bodied, has too much alcohol and is out of balance. (Could also be descriptive of the image I see in the mirror every day)

Fruity – Wines which exhibit fruitiness either in the aroma or in the taste. Wine is sometimes described as tasting like a specific fruit (i.e., apples, apricots, etc.).

Mellow – An absence of harshness or tannin and a smooth wine.

Nose – A general term that describes the aroma and bouquet of the wine.

Oak – A wine is correctly “oaked” when the “nose” carries a whiff of vanilla from being aged in oak barrels. Oak flavors can overpower some wines though.

Rich – Wine is rich when it is mouth–filling, smooth and luscious.

Robust – Describes a full-bodied or possibly heavy wine.

Tannin – A naturally occurring chemical substance in grapes, particularly noticeable in red wine. Tannin can allow wine to age gracefully.

Terroir – French term for all the characteristics of the vineyard site thought to be imparted to a particular wine. It includes the vineyard site, the soil, climate and other attributes that can affect the vineyard and resulting wine.

I hope some of the words and phrases above will increase your understanding and enjoyment of wine. You might even be able to come up with a few new descriptors of your own. And hopefully, my summaries of the two wines below are understandable, appropriate and encourage you to give them a try.

2019 J. Lohr Arroyo Seco Chardonnay ($18) – This Monterey County chardonnay has aromas of just baked bread and ripe green apples. It is a creamy, but well balanced wine with flavors of ripe peaches and citrus followed by nuances of vanilla from this lightly oaked wine. Would be a lovely pairing with Chilean sea bass or chicken cordon bleu.

2017 Markham Napa Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon ($45) – Juicy and rich with chewy tannins, this full bodied cabernet from Napa is a wine you’ll want to decant an hour or two before consuming. Dark fruit like plumbs and black cherries, along with cola and tea flavors highlight this wine that would make a great accompaniment to grilled beef or lamb chops. It’s also a wine that will benefit from aging for a decade or more.

John Brown is also a novelist. His latest book is “Augie’s World” which is a sequel to his debut novel, Augie’s War. You can find out more about his novels at wordsbyjohnbrown.com