While we were enjoying Vino's re-opening this past Thursday, we were invited to a dinner at HASR Bistro hosted by the Honolulu Food and Wine Society and once you have a glass or two of vino in your system, you're likely to respond "sure, why not?"... then of course you think about it on the following day... with a clear head and think... "what did we just commit to?"... Just because of the name - the Honolulu Food and Wine Society - I imagined members with 7-figure bank accounts who routinely uncorked Domaine de la Romanee Conti... several leagues above me... But then I remembered that the K's also committed to the same dinner and felt a little better...
For starters, the HFWS started with a group of people who loved food and wine (like us). They used membership dues to finance wine purchases which would be used for future dinners that members took turns organizing. Members are usually ONE guest and the guest pays a slightly higher cost than members pay for these dinners. It just so happened that several members initially said yes to the HASR dinner but eventually cancelled... so many that the HFWS thought that they might not make the minimum seating for reserving the back room of HASR Bistro. Hence our invitations.
The evening started with bubbly, an Henriot Blanc de Blanc Brut Champagne with a trio of appetizers...
The Salmon Tartare with torn bread and chive oil...
The Pork Rillette with sweet cherry and crisp shallots...
And the Blini with creme fraiche and caviar...
Of course, the T's always roll with extra credit so we shared a bottle of Guillaume Sergent blanc de blanc Les Pres Dieu... it had a rich and creamy nose with a very nice palate flow and long finish...
A bottle of 2011 Girardin Mersault Les Narvaux was then uncorked for the...
Scallops St Jacques with Gruyere and vermouth... very sweet scallops though maybe a touch too much cheese...
And of course, K uncorks a Fevre Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume...
The HFWS provided a gaggle of Bordeaux including a...
1997 Chateau Clerc Milon...
1998 Chateau Leoville Barton...
2001 Chateau Lynch Bages
And the creme de la creme, a 2001 Chateau Margaux which was rationed to a 1 ounce pour for each person (the Mrs and I consolidated our glass so it contained a "proper" tasting portion)... stilll very young and a little "hot" at this point. If you have a bottle in your cellar, I wouldn't consider uncorking it for at least 10 years!
These were served with the Steak Diane... kudos to Chef Tony Vierra for achieving the perfect medium rare... so good it almost looked sous vide...
The president of the HFWS also personally uncorked a 1993 Chateau Cos d'Estournel which was drinking very nice...
Of course "us" Vino regulars bring lots of extra credit so we uncorked a 1990 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou... nice green tobacco and dried herb on the nose with nice palate flow but a short finish...
While the K's uncork a 1999 Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru...
And Ms K uncorks a 2006 Pauillac de Latour...
We then moved on to the salad of Frisee with orange, beets and aged sherry emulsion...
Before ending with Crepes Suzette... the crepes had no color the way crepes should be cooked but they were a little dry...
And a mixed cheese platter... Which was served with a 2001 Chateau Suduiraut from the HFWS...
Along with the K's 2007 Andrew Geoffrey Diamond Mountain Cabernet Franc...
And E's Billecart Salmon Rose and K's Tendil and Lombardi Blanc de Noir Champagne...
So while the T's were initially a little apprehensive about this dinner (thinking it would be mucky-mucks in attendance), it turned out to be a nice dinner and between the five of us provided SEVEN bottles of extra credit... Maybe we should create our own Food and Wine Society... wait a minute, it already exists... The Palaka Wine Co... And the funniest thing was that after all of the members adjourned home, the five of us along with 2 other invited guests remained to enjoy the opened bottles and "closed" HASR Bistro the way we normally "close" Vino...
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