By Brian
There are places that I go to feel a certain way. To find a different mood. When I’m in a hurry and I really want to feel busy, I eat Taco Bell next to a trash can in a parking lot. I go to a buffet when I don’t know exactly what I want, and also feel like haven’t made enough mistakes yet that day. When I want to feel like I’ve got my life together, I go to The Bradley.
It is not like I ever really feel like I have my life together internally, though I’ve grown adept at giving off that impression by doing things like putting on a suit and heading out to a winemaker’s dinner, all the while thinking about my couch and a bag of Fritos. But there I found myself, toasting to the coming evening with bonafide professionals, swirling wine around my glass like I had the faintest idea of what I was doing.
Amuse Bouche- Sweet potato casserole. Roasted sweet potatoes, house made marshmallow & pecan glaze
After a few minutes of establishing just how in over my head I was in a conversation about wine production over a glass of sparkling wine, I was saved by the first course of crisps made from stuffing served with a side of sous vide cheeses paired with Orin Swift’s Blank Stare Savignon Blanc.
I want to tell a quick story before I tell you what I thought about the first course. A few years ago, my wife showed me a dress that she had just purchased that she really liked. It was a beautiful, flowing dress that looked lovely on her, because everything always looks lovely on her. But when she asked me what I thought of it, what I said was none of that. What I said was that it reminded me of the movie Casper when the dead lady floats through the window. Apparently that was upsetting for whatever reason, and what I learned in that moment is that I sometimes need to be more careful with the comparisons that I draw. In my defense, just because a particular garment reminds me of my grandmother’s doilies doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. Maybe doilies are right up my alley.
Anyway, with that in mind, the stuffing crisps and the sous vide cheese was the adult version of Ritz Handi-Snacks. Do you remember those packaged crackers and cheese with a red plastic stick for spreading that you would have for a snack at the playground with a ring of Kool-Aid on your face? While you were sitting in the sandbox and thinking about your future, you were imagining me sitting at this table, sipping wine like a big boy and eating this masterpiece. Chef Andrew Grassick was over by the monkey bars thinking about how he could turn stuffing into a cracker, and he knocked it out of the park. By the time they took the bowl away, there was no two ways about it. I had kicked off my evening by eating a bowl of cheese.
The second course was an outstanding sage and sausage raviolo paired with their Slander Pinot Noir. I am not too proud to admit that I had no idea that ravioli was the plural of raviolo, and I’m willing to bet that some of you didn’t either. My main intent is to educate and inform, so I’m glad that we could learn something together. I consider myself to be a ravioli expert simply because of the sheer numbers that I was able to put away as a child, so what stood out to me immediately is that this raviolo would not fit in a can. Given this information I’m guessing that it was prepared from scratch. Ginger was with me, she devoured hers and I barely got a bite before I looked down and she had eaten mine as well. She’s selfish like that and only annoying 22% of the time. It was her favorite.
The third course threw me a curve ball. It was mostly a traditional combination of birds with gravy, cranberry sauce and green bean casserole paired with the 8 Years in the Desert Red Blend. The deviation from the customary turducken by replacing the chicken with quail gave me some pause. Don’t get me wrong, it was phenomenal. I ate two. My hangup comes from my brain trying to figure out what to call it now that it can’t be called a turducken. Turducquail? Quaduckey? Quackgobble… whatever sound a quail makes?
The final course was a deconstructed pecan pie that looked amazing. I can’t really say much about it apart from its appearance, because I’m fatally allergic to nuts. This has given me several problems of varying severity, not the least of which is food blogging. The reality is that I am weak. Nature is actively trying to murder me to take me out of the gene pool. As of the time of this writing, nature has been unsuccessful, but every dessert menu is a minefield for me. I’m sure it was awesome. Every time that I have gotten a chance to sample Chef Andrew’s creations has left me impressed.
Now let’s talk about the wines. This was my first experience with Orin Swift. Every wine was undoubtedly impressive, and I was immediately taken by the imaginative labeling of the bottles. The Mannequin chardonnay has one of the most unique labels I have ever seen. I’m not certain if implementing branding this distinctive takes a certain amount of courage, or simply creativity that others in the industry the industry lack. On a shelf of minimalist labels, the amputated mannequin torsos stand out like… amputated torso. The tape on the bottle of Slander and the borrowed eyes on the model of the Blank Stare have an almost unsettling beauty that causes me to be immediately curious about what is inside of the bottle.
All in all, it was a wonderful evening of food, drink, conversation that I always tend to have at The Bradley, though starting out with a 15% ABV chardonnay never hurts. If you catch wind of the next winemaker’s dinner, make sure that you don’t miss it.
VIBE The Bradley Facts: The Bradley’s food is exquisite and the wine list is amazing. Chef has done a fabulous job in offering a menu that is great for all customers including gluten free & vegan. 1/2 OFF all bottles of wine every Weds 3pm to close. Chef changes up the menu about every month. They have a text club text: BRADLEY to 78816 on your mobile phone. Their wine & scotch dinners are amazing so be sure to follow their facebook page or send your email address to their text club & we will be sure to add you into their alerts. Happy Hour is listed on VIBE website here: https://tricityvibe.com/bradley-happy-hour/