Food specials return this weekend at the tasting room! We’re going to have some delicious panini options for you, courtesy of kitchen wiz Crystal! Let’s let her explain what we’ve got cookin’:
The Panini
The panini will be on Crescent Bakery peasant bread. It’s going to be a grilled vegetable panini with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a roasted red pepper mayo. The vegetables will be lightly glazed with star thistle honey during the grilling process and will include carrots, zucchini and eggplant.
Red Wine Pairing:
This panini should pair well with a lot of our products. Most reds will pair well with this but I think the Cottage Redwould be a really good pair…roasted vegetables tend to compliment the flavors of red wines. I think this combination will bring out more of what the Cottage Red has to offer for flavors and balance on the palate well.
White Wine Pairing:
I would also pair this with the Chardonnay. The crispness of the wine will contrast the earthiness of the vegetables, thus creating a sensation on the palate when all the contrasts his every area of the tongue for a unique ride of flavors.
Mead Pairings:
All the drafts will likely pair well but I feel the Wild Gingerwill be an especially good pair….ginger, being a root, is practically family to the vegetables and therefore works together on the palate in a pleasing manner – plus the ginger is a great flavor used in cooking and by drinking the ginger draft, it adds that component without actually putting it in the panini.
The Star Thistle mead would be nice along side this panini, too. It will help to bring out the light glaze of honey on the panini vegetables while keeping it balanced and not letting the honey overpower the other flavors.
There you have it! The sandwiches will be available Friday and Saturday night – and will make a great light dinner to enjoy while watching Davey O. perform in the tasting room from 6-9pm on Friday!
The “pretense-free Americana” of Davey O., a Buffalo, NY native, comes to St. Ambrose Cellars this Friday for an exciting live music event. Davey’s bio tells the story:
“It’s no surprise that Buffalo, NY born and bred songwriter Davey O. has been described by Buffalo News critic Jeff Miers as having “a journalist’s eye for detail and poet’s ear for the well-turned observation”. Embarking on a decade-plus journey that has resulted in a collection of justly-earned, highly introspective songs, Davey crafts pure Americana that is not of the social and political consciousness, but drawn from the deep well of experience and human emotion – no hackneyed story lines, no insincere polish, just an unflinching poet’s look at life. The characters woven seamlessly into stories of which the song itself becomes the soundtrack for the movie playing inside the listener’s head.
Armed with a steady, rhythmic pulse on his Gibson guitar, a battered straw cowboy hat and a no apologies rust-belt work ethic, Davey puts rubber to asphalt, entertaining attentive, diverse audiences at listening rooms, coffeehouses, nightclubs, festivals, colleges and universities throughout the Northeast, Midwest, Midsouth and Atlantic U.S. – performances that result in engagement and communion between performer and audience through story and song.”
Davey O. has appeared all over the country and we’re super excited to bring him to the tasting room. Below you’ll find some samples of his work:
Tupelo was a shy man. But he felt the burning need to express what lay inside his bottle. To spill his golden notes across the room and fill every cup with his love. He anxiously awaited his turn at the microphone. After his wife left him, he had been needing to let loose with his art a bit. Just needed someone to listen. Listen without judging. Jenni called him to the front – he ambled across the room. Being a bottle it was difficult. But he made it.
"Buttery smooth honey floating tunes
Through the skies bees zoom
pollen! oh pollen!
all abounds
to tanks and bottles and bears
and me
to the big steel tanks in great ranks
marching to mead
mead to be
a need to mead
mead needs
i mead to need to be
a mead i be
me
the tupelo
mead"
The crowd clapped politely. Tupelo exhaled. He felt better. It was time for the next act, and he had survived.
Join us for Open Mic tomorrow night – sign up at 5pm! We’ll be here with Jenni ’til 8pm! Will Tupelo Mead make his return? We shall see.
Next time you’re at St. Ambrose, we encourage you to try one of our three food plates. We offer a small, a medium, and a large option to fill your stomach up while you’re enjoying our meads.
A Little Something
$4
Includes Sleeping Bear Farms honey mustard, homemade jerky dip, pretzels, and gluten-free crackers for dipping.
A Little Something More
$8
Includes two types of local meats and cheese, along with marinated asparagus, garlic stuffed olives, dilled beets, and gluten-free crackers.
A Whole Lotta Something
$14
Includes a variety of local meats and cheeses, marinated asparagus, garlic stuffed olives, homemade jerky dip, dilled beets, brie wedges drizzled with a homemade blackberry honey topping, dilled sweet relishes, and gluten-free crackers.
As you may now, we’ve been having specials on Friday nights as well. The specials will be returning next week – with some new surprises for you all! Stay tuned all summer for some exciting food developments.
Have you been to Speakeasy, the Open Mic night series hosted by Jenni Rae? If not … what are you waiting for? Here’s a sample of some of the entertainment that you can expect:
With local music scene all-stars like Jenni, Al, our own Nathon Lane and Kirk Jones, and who knows who else stopping by, you can’t afford to miss it! It’s a no-pressure way to enjoy some mead and wine, grab a food plate, and jam with some truly talented folks. The more the merrier!
We start every Tuesday at 5PM. Clear your schedule and come out next week to join the fun.
