Quickies, Part 2

Wrapping up reports from the Kellie & Leroy visitation last week ...

ChaChah

After the trip to Lynchburg & Jack Daniel with Mark & Barbara, we got back to Nashville and retreated to our various lodgings. Following a little refresh, we  reassembled at ChaChah, where we were joined by my friend Matt. I've mentioned ChaChah before; it's one of my favorite happy hour spots. One of four restaurants owned or co-owned by Top Chef contestant Arnold Myint, ChaCha specializes in Spanish-style food. Myint definitely spends time in the kitchen and restaurant in between media appearances and charity work, but day to day the kitchen is run by Francesco Vito.

We were not there in time for happy hour, but still took full advantage of the tapas options, passing plates around the table for tastes. Tapas are the Spanish version of appetizers; small portions that you can share or hoard, as desired. There's a daily menu of $5 and $7 tapas; many of these are standards, but a few seasonal specials rotate in and out. (The $5 tapas are half price at happy hour.) In addition, the regular menu has additional small plates -- slightly larger portions than most of the tapas -- plus the entrees. For me, a couple of tapas and/or small plate selections, plus perhaps a dessert, are plenty to make a meal.

There were enough of us to cut a wide swath through the menu. We ordered drinks, a round of tapas, then when that was done, another round, ending with desserts. ChaChah's food is creative, flavorful, and full of unexpected twists. Not every single dish may tickle your fancy, but there's enough variety to find something to please most everyone. If memory serves, between the six of us we sampled the macaroni & cheese, shrimp croustada, fried plantains, lamb balls, bacon & blue cheese dates, calamari, queso fundido, elotes, and hummus. We also tried some desserts -- of course Leroy got the special dessert of the day, a goat cheese flan with beet ice cream. He declared it good; the idea of beet ice cream wasn't appealing to most of us, although I did like the sound of goat cheese flan. I had the lemon coconut cake with lemon curd; the topping of a few leaves of micro basil was unusual but delicious with the lemon. Mark and Kellie got the chocolate cannoli and Barbara tried the ripe local berries with cream cheese ice cream.

We lingered and talked and laughed, enjoying a variety of cocktails, wine, and beer as well as the food. It was a fun evening, and it was nice to be able to sample such a wide variety of ChaChah's cuisine.

Fido

Fido is a mainstay of Hillsboro Village. Located in a space that was once actually a pet store (the outdoor sign proclaiming Jones Pet Store is still in place), it started as a coffee shop that was an outpost of Bongo Java on Belmont. It had its own personality, though -- the dog theme just being part of it. Over the years they have added more and more substantial food, and you can now eat 3 meals a day in this funky, bohemian restaurant. One bonus is that breakfast is served all day, and many of the breakfast offerings are savory and quite hearty. So, you can have eggs or a bagel at 2pm or a substantial breakfast sandwich at 9am. Since many of Fido's patrons are college students and musicians, both of whom can have unconventional schedules, this is a decided advantage. In addition, many dishes are vegetarian and even vegan, so there's something for everyone regardless of diet. Finally, not too long ago they started offering a small selection of beer and wine, making evening dining that much more attractive.

Kellie had been with me to Fido several times before but Leroy had not, so I suggested we visit there for their final meal in Nashville. We met mid-morning on Wednesday. The Bongo Java-roasted coffee was delicious as usual, and we all enjoyed our various types of eggs and trimmings. I also picked up a couple of dessert bars for later; that afternoon I enjoyed one of the best cream cheese brownies I think I've ever had.

Fido is a great spot for a beverage, a dessert, or a full meal any time of day. Follow them on Twitter if you'd like to get notifications of the daily lunch specials during the week, or visit their blog at http://www.fidospecials.blogspot.com. While the regular menu has a nice selection of solid, interesting selections, the specials are where they let their creative gourmet flag fly. For example, a few of the specials last week were:

• FRIED SHRIMP, POBLANO STONE GRITS, COCONUT SAUCE habanero, onion, garlic, curtido, mango hot
• RED & GOLD BEETS, ASPARAGUS, BROCCOLI CARAMEL VINAIGRETTE red onion, pistachio, chardonnay macerated raisins arugula, radish,goat cheese
• LINGUINE, SMOKED CHEDDAR SAUCE roasted carrot, oyster & shiitake mushroom, English peas, parmesan, toasted focaccia

For more info, you can also visit my review on Trip Advisor.

All in all, we did quite the tour. There are even more excellent restaurants and foodie activities in town, and more popping up every day, so I look forward to their next visit so we can continue to explore the expanding culinary opportunities.

Come, thou monarch of the vine

I am not a wine connoisseur. I do not have a fine palate. I do not have a deep knowledge of grapes and methods and regions and vintages. I haven't drunk enough wines and made enough notes to have a broad go-to list. I do know what terroir and malolactic mean, even if I can't exactly taste them, though. I know a little about pairing wine and food. And, as the saying goes, I know what I like.

The Wine Cellar at Tracey Haus

My palate (and knowledge) HAS broadened over the years, though. Like many wine drinkers who don't come from wine-drinking families, I started out with rosé (because that's what my college girlfriends drank), and "graduated" to white zin when that was new and shiny and all the rage. Over time I tasted a bit more and learned a bit more, and slowly, slowly, began to prefer other things.

A few years ago I had the good sense and fortune to take the long-running wine tasting class at Sunset Grill in Hillsboro Village here in Nashville. They've been doing it for years, and it's a hoot. At the time they offered a weekly series starting with Wine 101 and followed by classes devoted to varietals or groups of varietals. It was in those classes that I learned the basic lingo, learned about pairing with food, and best of all, I tasted. It was an amazing experience. I learned first that I simply don't have the palate to discern peach and slate and grass and mango and fuzzy caterpillar like some oenophiles do. That's OK, because what also happened was that my palate expanded from where it had been, and in a matter of a few weeks -- no joke -- I lost my taste for truly sweet wines and learned to love those with more bite.

I also confirmed that I really, truly don't care for Chardonnay.

I know, too, that I'm never going to prefer reds to whites -- the heavy, chewy, tannic wines just aren't for me. I drink reds more than I used to, however. I still have ZERO patience for wine snobs who think that reds are the only wines worth drinking, and the rest is swill and for Philistines only. It's OK to have a preference -- I do, obviously -- but please spare me the guff about your "superior" palate and opinion. Some of the most knowledgeable wine people I know (or know of) love all decently-made wine, understanding when and where it's appropriate.

Thanks to these people I've actually come full circle and now know that brilliant roses exist, even if they are underappreciated in the US. In the same vein, I've long been a Riesling fan, despite its reputation with US wine farts as being "too sweet." Yeah, there's tons of swill made from Rieslings, and a lot of it is too sweet even for me. Yes, even the driest Riesling is a little sweet, but they can also be tart and/or minerally. That produces a great balance and complexity that works well with many types of food, especially spicy or rich dishes.

Tapas & Riesling I had recently at ChaChah

Luckily, appreciation for Rieslings has been on the rise on this side of the Atlantic, and they're getting a bit more respect. The wave hasn't hit Nashville full-force as I hope it will, but it's nice to see this wine get some props. For example, in today's New York Times Eric Asimov writes of a wine tasting they recently conducted specifically for 2010 German Auslese Rieslings, "Sweetness That Bites Back."

The article is a good quickie primer on German wine nomenclature, as well as having a nice explanation about why 2010 was a banner year for German Rieslings. (In short, they are both sweeter and more acidic than usual.) This article has made me want to swing by the liquor store and scoop up some. Of course, the Times often does tastings of wines far beyond my pocketbook, but the information in the articles can still be useful. I hope to find some worthy 2010s in my usual price range. If not, I may just splurge on their top pick (of the wines tasted), a Dr. Loosen. I remember sampling -- and loving -- a Dr. Loosen wine at the Sunset Grill classes, and at $28 it's a bargain compared to some of the other picks. Also, there are less expensive Dr. Loosens; the last bottle on the right in my wine rack pictured above is a $14 Dr. Loosen labeled simply "Riesling."

So, Rieslings, yay or nay? If you're in the nay camp, are you willing to give them another go?