Dinner at Gina's

When you're a foodie and wino, your friends tend to be foodies and winos as well and when you have classically trained ex-chefs in your regular group? Well then, it's paradise for us who aren't.

Gina invited us over for dinner on a Friday night.

Beautiful table setting.

Her homemade olive tapenade with sliced baguette.

Yummy! (Gina sells her tapenade by the jar and it's worth every bit.)

Homemade (again) candied walnuts and cheese.

Spinach salad with those walnuts and cheese.

Tomato and mozzarella salad.

Pasta! Gina was griping that it wasn't al dente, but we really didn't care.

Medium rare steak with greens on the side.

We couldn't stop stuffing ourselves. This time it's hummus with bread.

Probably because we had several bottles of wine that night, including this Bordeaux Blanc which hit the spot.

Dessert! A selection of pies and cakes that SH brought over.

And because a homemade meal can't end without a Korean dish, Gina whipped up some bindaetteok...

...and some kimchi jjigae.

Gah, everything was delicious and we were stuffed to our gills. Many thanks to Gina, we heart you! <3

P.S. Gina sells her homemade tapenade and candied walnuts in several different sizes. If you're interested please let me know and I'll pass on the information to her. (Not posting her email because evil spambots lurk on the interwebs.)

Sending off 2010

I recently got a new haircut. Instead of going to my regular stylist, I lugged my lazy derriere to the neighborhood salon (which is 7 minutes away) and surrendered my hair to the no-nonsense-efficient-as-heck ajumma whose scissors snipped snipped snipped in a blur of metallic color. I wound up with a very proper middle school student bowl cut. The haircut isn't bad at all, it's just that seeing my old(er) face underneath that style of youth is somewhat disconcerting. It'll grow out. It's only hair.

Another year is gone. I worked hard and played hard but could've done more serious thinking, read more books, been more compassionate, exercise a bit more. Things left to do for the following year.

I've been very fortunate in many aspects of my life. I'm especiallly fortunate in the people who surround me. Family and friends who tolerate my neurotic extrovert type A personality - they are the ones who help me live my life to the fullest, however sappy that may sound.

Several of my wino friends met up for a 2010 goodbye gathering. We congregated at Doma's. Gina cooked the meal, MJ arranged and set up the whole thing, SH brought wine and gifts, I provided dessert.

And the champagne is chilling.

Gina's made-from-scratch olive pomponette was excellent.

Store bought tuna cubes (from Dongwon) were interesting, perfect canape size.

Oysters on the shell. In Korean, to differentiate them from shucked oysters, they're called 'seokhwa' (석화), literally meaning 'stone flowers'.

"Hamburg steak" under sunnyside eggs and garlic chips.

A "mess" of potatoes and cabbage - Gina's homey dish.

We had several bottles of wine that night.

Dry apple pie, peppermint and chocolate pie, vanilla ice cream,
mini peppermint and lemon meringues.


It's the year of the rabbit next year.
I had brought along a tiny bunny to photograph.
(Originally a cell phone accessory. Cut off the strap, made a cap to hide the fastener.)
Doma gave us plush bunnies that double as speakers when connected to a MP3 player.


Cheers!


May the new year bring you all the happiness and joy and growth to make life meaningful.
See you next year.

Bisty's at Omotesando Hills (Tokyo)

I had some time to kill before a dinner appointment, so I dropped by wine shop and brasserie bar Bisty's at Omotesando Hills.
I was given permission to take photos. The place was practically empty due to the odd hour.

Bisty's is one of those dispenser wine bars, where you can drink and taste various types of wines with a debit card. They have a great selection of wines from all over the world; they also sell by the bottle.

You insert your card (which you buy at the counter and can be recharged) in the slot above your selected wine and press in the desired amount into your glass. The prices are indicated by volume according to wine.

Since I didn't plan on drinking, I opted for the least amount possible and just did a mini-tasting of my own. I had two whites and two reds: Israel Yarden Chardonnay 2007, Japan Takahata Chardonnay 2006, France Vin de Pays d'Oc Alain Chabanon 2005, France Chateau Mouton Rothschild 2004.

I never had Israeli nor Japanese wine (that isn't other fruit based) before so it was a new experience.

Labels with descriptions are provided where you can write simple tasting notes. The brasserie also serves light dishes to accompany the wine and also serve other beverages. The staff are super friendly and English is okay.

http://www.bistys.jp/

Italian Bistro Red Brick

Wine group gathering at the ever accomodating Red Brick in Seorae Maeul. The food is what I call 'as is'; nothing more, nothing less than what you'd expect at a casual Italian bistro. The atmosphere is quite casual as well, so we never worry about being the obnoxiously loud group acting all snobbish while swirling wine in their glasses.

Open kitchen:

The light crispy pizzas are baked in traditional ovens.

The salmon with asparagus and eggplant. Very big dill garnish on top reminded me of Christmas. (It's practically a tree!)

I had a severe case of shaky hands that night, all the rest of the photos came out blurry. We ate a lot more than what's above, and we consumed more wines than seen below.

Red Brick

(02) 591-7878 Closed on Mondays

Their blog (Korean only) http://blog.naver.com/kittygo7

Small but delightful - Petit Cave

My wine group had its September gathering at Petit Cave, the small wine-centric sister restaurant of bistro Ottimo in Cheongdam-dong. They are in the same building, with Petit Cave aptly in the basement.

Whereas Ottimo is a light and breezy atmosphere like a seaside café, Petit Cave is like an English manor out of a mystery movie. (We were told that the furniture was indeed imported from England.)

Soft lighting + point-and-shoot camera = blurry photos

The menu is shared by both restaurants.

We started with a bunch of appetizers and some bubbly. Not champagne, but a casual Cremant d'Alsace.

The pastas were excellent. The most unique being a sea urchin and sea squirt (ascidian) pasta, which was like eating a mouthful of fortified sea. We were told that even hardcore seafood lovers had different opinions about it; an acquired taste, either you hate it or love it. I personally loved it.

Vongole pasta with a helluva lot of shellfish and salmon cream pasta with citrus fruit. The lamb was pretty good as well.

Their wine cellar was small but stocked with a great selection, with emphasis on wines from Bourgogne, which are quite popular in Korea at the moment. They had a pupitre on display.

The Petit Cave's manager and sommelier is Lee Jae Kyu, who has won awards in this field. Ultra-friendly and very knowledgeable.

What we consumed that night. Guess which one is the Shiraz. (Too obvious, eh?)

Neither Ottimo nor Petit Cave have a homepage yet. Situated in the Cheongdam district but more commonly thought as in Apgujeong, it's in the Burger King alley right across from Rodeo Street.

Reservations recommended.

Tel : (02) 518-1946 or 1947