Pinchers with Bourgeois Bob

With the long Memorial Day weekend stretched before me, I made sure to get out of dodge. I had not visited my dad (aka Bourgeois Bob) and stepmom since before the Holidays, so a trip down to South Florida was the perfect destination. 

Big surprise, I was not the only person who decided to travel this holiday weekend. A mix of oversold flights and bad weather did not lend to an enjoyable traveling experience. My quick afterwork Thursday night flight turned into a Friday morning fight to an airport 2 hours from my actual destination and then a car ride across the Everglades. 

After cancellation, delays, detours and a few road bumps, I finally made it. I had just enough time to shower and throw on a sundress before my dad was ushering us into the car in order to make Happy Hour at Pinchers Crab Shack.

I love coming to Pinchers when I visit. You are guaranteed a great cut of fresh off the boat fish that is lightly seasoned with heaping side options. I hate when fish is over-sauced and spiced.

Unlike NYC, where we get excited about $1 Oyster Happy Hours, Pinchers has Oysters, Calms, Shrimp and Wings for $0.70,

I told you we rushed to make Happy Hour. We started with Oysters. Not as meaty as our Long Island Blue Points, but less salty and very tasty.

Next were the steamed clams and butter. I haven't had clams for the longest time, I had forgot how incredible they are.

I do not like wings so Dad and Denise took care of those.

I was almost too full to order, but then decided...what the heck, I'm on vacation! Dad and Den ordered the Crab Cake. They were in love with the coleslaw...another thing I hate.

I opted for the Blackened Grouper. My sides were string beans and homemade french fries. Everything was so fresh and delicious. Nothing was over sauced or salted.

The cool thing about Pinchers is it is also a fish market. Not the cheapest, but the fish is about as fresh as you are going to get.

Gosh the sun felt so good after months of frozen tundra.

Love my Daddio. More to come about South Florida adventures from Naturally Ginger and Bourgeois Bob later this week.

We may or may not have had a dinner party and invited this guy to come along.

I could just pinch your little cheeks. xoxo thanks for reading.

Rib Eye, Cornerstone & Bourgeois Bob

Hello again from beautiful Southwest Florida!

Dee & Dad during a visit to FL

This weekend, I (Dee's Dad) volunteered as a Fire Marshal at the annual ACE Classic Championship (Senior PGA players all over 50) at the beautiful Twin Eagles Country Club in Naples, Florida.

This event has raised tens of millions of dollars for local charities since it's inception. ACE is the largest property/casualty insurance company in the world, and this is one of the ways they give back to the communities they are involved with.

Imagine, me, acting as a Fire Marshal! My marshaling duties were assigned to the 18th hole, usually a dramatic spot, and it was again this year. The 18th hole volunteer's nightmare is a playoff. A playoff means we stay to the end, usually getting to dinner at about midnight (well not quite that late, but late for someone who is retired). This year, the 3 leaders were tied on the 18th tee box - OMG. Luckily for us volunteers, only one was able to make a par on the monstrous 457 yard par 4 and things were wrapped up quickly.

ACE Classic Championship winner Kirk Triplett

(photo c/o Octagon Events)

Golf was good and since it is my second favorite hobby apart from wine & food, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Let's not mention the "breaks" I took at the Charles Schwab viewing tent...I'd like to "volunteer" again next year.

Now to the point, the volunteer Marshals are fed with boxed lunches. Unfortunately, they were not quite up to "par" and we were found wanting. Needless to say I was ready to EAT by the end of the event.

Back at the homestead, our local purveyor had provided me with a 1 1/2 pound Rib Eye. This is a hunk of meat worthy of kings, queens or anyone with grilling skills. Inexplicably, I was able to do it (we had the other half for dinner this evening...num num num).

Now, what wine to have with this beast.

Many of the blessed and successful golf professionals have or own interests in vineyards from California to South Africa to Australia and beyond. Most are spectacular, but we looked to one of our favorites for this meal. 

Cornerstone Cellars in St Helena, Napa Valley, California makes beautiful wines. This night, we paired our roast with their 1995 Howell Mountain Beatty Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. The front end cherry, and the toasty tannins were brilliant. Cornerstone is a fantastic family of wines with vineyards in Napa, California and the Willamette Valley in Oregon. They make a fabulously expensive Pinot Noir...check them out if you're willing to pay the bill. It is worth every penny.

(photo c/o Cornerstone Cellars)

That's all for now. To the many of you "Up North" in the cold, our sympathies.

Talk soon.

Bourgeois Bob

Bourgeois Bob & Chateau Montelena

After chatting with my Dad earlier this week, the invisible lightbulb went off over our heads at the same time. It alerted us to the brilliant idea of having him write guest posts for my Blog. When my dad and I chat, we often talk about what we have eaten and the wine we've drank over the last couple of days. We are definitely a foodie fmaily. I honestly have learned everything I know about food and wine from my father, so there is no one else who could teach us all about posh food culture better than him. I hope you read, learn, enjoy, laugh a bit and walk away with a more refined palate. 

Me and my Daddio sailing in FL

OK don't get too used to this.

Dee suggested that I (her Father) contribute to her Blog. OMG.

I was very impressed that she initiated this, as she has plenty of creative ideas on her own, but with due respect, anything she learned about wine and food…well...

Earlier this week, Dee and I had our semi-weekly check in phone call. All was good in the World, and I was in heaven. Down in Florida, we had just roasted a 2 lb rib-eye accompanied by a 2005 Chateau Montelena Cabernet. Nums. Needless to say, I was sold on the idea of making a guest appearance on Dee's blog. After buttering me up a bit on my extensive knowledge and expertise, we decided I would focus on one of my favorite topics...wine.  So here we go...

Chateau Montelena is a lovely vineyard at the north end of Napa (that's in California). It's a bit outside the funky (is that still a word?) town of Calistoga; a great place with a spa that dates back to the early 1900s. I am still picking mud out of some orifices from my last visit. Of all the memories I have from the visit to Montelena, none will replace its charm and the memory of this lovely black swan that tried to bite me.

Chateau Montelena's Cabernet Sauvignon is an aromatic, rich, bold & full bodied red. It usually has berry notes with some cedar and spice, but the details will change depending on the year. These wines age well, so there is no harm keeping for many years before opening, just make sure they are stored properly. It pairs well with most food but best with beef and  lamb. 

Side note...I sent a bottle of Chateau Montelena back with Dee after one of her visits. Her and the NYC family opened the bottle for a Family Dinner and she reports it was out of this world.

In the future, we will explore dishes and wines that I have come to know and love. For example, the other night, I paired a beautiful coquilles St-Jacques (Gratineed Scallops) with a 2006 Louis Latour Montrachet. It was magnifique! I also hope to enlighten you to the fact that there is more to Chicken than you think. My hope is you will refine your palettes and expand your knowledge of the finer things in life. 

To wrap things up, my interesting wine fact for this post...we live in Southwest Florida and this weekend is one of the 10 top wine charity affairs in the USA, the Naples Winter Wine Festival. This event has raised more than $110 million for the Naples Children Education Foundation. See...stuff does happen in southwest FL besides retirement and bad drivers. 

Until next time...

As Sheldon says, "live long and prosper". 

As Alexis Lichine said, "Life is too short to drink bad wine."

Bourgeois Bob aka Dee's Dad

Thanks Dad.
d.eileen