Date Night

28 November 2009 @ 7:06 | Posted in » Culinary, New Jersey

Gert and I headed out to the Renault Winery last evening for date night. We dine here at least once annually. Autumn is the time we usually visit, but we have dined at other times of the year. Dinner is always good. Tonight was no exception.

The winery serves a six-course dinner. One selects his main course, the restaurant provides everything else. Tonight we began with a savory baklava. It was extremely tasty. Phyllo dough was filled with shitake mushrooms, pistachios, pecans, and walnuts. A balsamic vinaigrette accompanied the baklava. We were both extremely impressed with this appetizer. The wine pairing with this was the Renault’s burgundy. It’s a lighter burgundy, but quite flavorful. It went well with the baklava.

Next up was a harvest chowder. This was flavorful. A base corn chowder with root vegetables added made for a delicious soup. Not a drop was squandered as we enjoyed this course.

The third course was a butternut squash ravioli with a smoked tomato puree. It was topped with chopped bacon and Pecorino Romano. I did not have high hopes for this course, but it was right up there with the baklava. This was very creamy. Two decent size ravioli made a great mop to help clean up the puree. Excellent! The wine paired with this was the Fresello. Despite being described as a semi-dry white, I found it to be sweet. I was not a fan. This was the weak link in the entire meal.

The intermezzo was a wild berry sorbet served in white wine. The sorbet was excellent; the wine could have easily been left out. It added nothing and was consumed after the sorbet.

Next was our main courses. Gert opted for the Australian Rack of Lamb with a shallot glaze. It was served with a chestnut polenta and a marscapone honey. The lamb was excellent! Gert frequently orders lamb here and has never been disappointed. Neither of us were huge fans of the polenta, but it was all right.

I opted for the Grilled Veal Rib Chop. This was served with a roasted pumpkin risotto, Maitake mushroom, and fois gras sabayon. This was the highlight of the evening. The veal melted in my mouth. The mushrooms and the sabayon were excellent. I enjoyed the risotto, as I am a big fan, although the pumpkin could have been a bit more pronounced. There was nothing left on my plate with this course either.

The Renault serves dinner European style, so the salad course was next. Both Gert and I were taken aback by the sparse plate we were presented of romaine hearts. Frankly, it was the correct amount after our meal, but it looked odd. The dressing, which is escaping me right now was very tasty. It was topped with Asiago cheese. One of my grape tomatoes was not up to snuff.

For dessert, Gert and I opted for a slice of turnip and cranberry cake. This was a play off of carrot cake. We devoured it before I realized I had forgotten to take a photograph. Sigh . . . Obviously, we enjoyed it.

This meal was delicious. The baklava and the ravioli were wonderful. Our entrees topped the starters. Dessert was a pleasant ending. We also picked up a couple bottles of wine to bring home. Gert is a big fan of the blueberry champagne and I have always enjoyed the Royal Rouge. I figure the latter will go well with the Christmas Eve standing rib roast.

This year’s visit to the Renault was as pleasant as ever. I commented on the drive home that I would gladly repeat this meal again tomorrow evening.

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