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It's what you may be waiting for after your third course and this Planked Copper River Salmon topped with Chile de Arbol Glaze will exceed your expectations.
Photo: Brax/VPC Matrix
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Mesa Street Grill * Sublime Delights
Beyond Wine Tasting and Dinner.
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Wine tasting starts with serving the fruit of the gods in a manner that brings out the flavor to even the novice wine taster.
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Wine tasting in and of itself is a wonderful exploration of tastes. The event of blending good food with good wine builds on this success and becomes the perfect winning combination.
However, any restaurant can host... or "hold" a "wine tasting" dinner but for a truly successful and memorable dining adventure; only the very high end restaurants, professionally run and with an experienced wine steward should even attempt the marriage of the best in food and wine. Otherwise, you just end up with dinner with copious amounts of wine being consumed... which is quite different. Even so, micro-management, high prices and rude waiters don't ensure a successful effort. The proof is in the overall experience of the patrons.
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Excited patrons enjoying the enfolding of a wonderful evening.
Photo: Brax/VPC
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That said, a wine tasting dinner is the perfect feast and more people should venture beyond their normal dining parameters to partake in this wonderful celebration of life. But it's more than food and drink. The experience must be enjoyable and no one can really enjoy the great flavors and mixing of tastes in a draconian setting. Even very high end restaurant can fail at making the wine tasting dinner a memorable experience and instead turn what should be a festive evening into a stuffy or chaotic affair.
A wine tasting dinner should turn a night of dining out into a night of sumptuous gastronomical pleasures while the patrons are made to feel both comfortable, excited and special at the same time. This is achieved by a knowledgable and dedicated staff following the lead of a gifted manager who also knows how to throw a great party.
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Perfectly steamed asparagas stalks blend perfectly with the perfect coffe rubbed tenderloin topped with Bailey's Demi Sauce.
Photo: Brax/VPC |
Mesa Street Grill excels at succeeding in making everyone feel like they are at their best friends home. By all accounts, the patrons at this wine tasting event at the Mesa Street Grill were completely delighted and enraptured with the layers of great flavor, mind stopping beauty of sublime creations and service that made everyone feel special.
A wine tasting dinner, when undertaken by a unique and dynamic restaurant like Mesa Street Grill, takes quality and professionalism to a new level of excellence, ambiance and "joie de vivre".
Erin Means, son of Annette Means the owner/manager of Mesa Street Grill, said "We don't try to be educational. We focus more on allowing the patrons to experience their own pleasures". This is done at Mesa Street Grill without trying to impose a ridgid criteria by which the diners must adhere. "Every person needs to be allowed to enjoy at their own pace and in their own manner," adds Means.
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Brazilian lobster and crab bisque brings one's appetite to a perfect simmer.
Photo: Brax/VPC |
The "Wow" factor is appropriate because we want to be able to steer our readers to extraordinary dining and entertainment experiences. We want them to experience the "Wow" factor as well. Now, to be sure, this is like all other review criteria by it's very nature subjective. But, for someone who has experienced fine food and new flavors on more than one continent; our "Wow" factor is one that has to supass just good.
So, how do you rate such a complex choreography? After all, you can have food and wine at home. We came up with the perfect formula. And, we named it the Westside Rox "Wow" factor. Mesa Street Grill earned our "Wow"! rating What we mean is that this wine dinner was so beyond the everyday consumption expereince and even the dining out experience of most restaurants in our region.
"Wow" means something... so, let's just say spectacular, sublime and sensational.
It has to be really a special treat for the palate... and it has to add to the "joie de vivre". It has to make you appreciate the moment, your companions and the setting. It has to actually enrich your life. And we're not talking about getting bad service and thinking "That's so chic!".
The formula seems so simple but few restaurants can pull it off. The dining expreince at Mesa Street was not stuffy but rather was coordinated with flair and "customer is always first" attention to detail.
When we finally got around to reviewing one of the monthly Wine Dinners at Mesa Street Grill it was late and still hot outside. But, the first patrons that we interviewed, two lovely women, as we were about to enter were on their way out but, we did take note that they were very enthusiastic about their Chilean Sea Bass and how it was "the best I've ever had".
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Prepared by WL staff.
Photos: Brax/Valley Publishing Company
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Letter to the Editor, Westside Living Magazine
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