This was a great serendipitous dinner with Antoine Songy, Carole and Ronnie Miller. I was out front of Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits talking with Ronnie Miller and Antoine Songy comes up to us and greets me with : " You're coming to dinner aren't you? " I said I could check at home and see if I could join him and Ronnie down at Lavandou Provencal restaurant ( a favorite haunt of mine now for the last seventeen-eighteen years that it has been open in this same location )?.
I called my wife and asked her how she was and then asked her if we had any plans for this evening? My wife heard me and said : " Oh sure, you should go!" So as we walked along I accepted and thanked Antoine as he told me that Carole was already at the restaurant and would be joining us, too. Carole works with Antoine. He's the president of operations at the Robert Kacher Selections and both Carole and Ronnie work for him.
Carole is Ronnie's boss and she's based out of Boston, Massachusetts. The last time I saw her was at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. N.W. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com and on Facebook now at : clevelandparkwine&spirits ) where I have managed the wine department now for almost eleven years. She came with owner Maurice of GOURNIER that makes a number of wines that we really like to sell from his dry rose, Merlot red, white Viognier, and Grenache Noir ) and it was perhaps Maurice's third or fourth visit to our store. He's now a dear old friend of ours.
As Antoine and I approached Lavandou he asked me if I knew Carole and I told him that yes I knew her and the last time we saw each other was when she came to the store with Maurice. When she mentioned this same event to us I turned to Antoine and said : didn't I just tell him this same thing before we got to Lavandou? He said " Oui " that it was, I smiled and we went along again at a rapid pace of conversation, sailing heartily into this evening ahead of ours ...
It's really in so many ways quite a small world.
I called my wife and asked her how she was and then asked her if we had any plans for this evening? My wife heard me and said : " Oh sure, you should go!" So as we walked along I accepted and thanked Antoine as he told me that Carole was already at the restaurant and would be joining us, too. Carole works with Antoine. He's the president of operations at the Robert Kacher Selections and both Carole and Ronnie work for him.
Carole is Ronnie's boss and she's based out of Boston, Massachusetts. The last time I saw her was at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. N.W. 20008 Tel:202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com and on Facebook now at : clevelandparkwine&spirits ) where I have managed the wine department now for almost eleven years. She came with owner Maurice of GOURNIER that makes a number of wines that we really like to sell from his dry rose, Merlot red, white Viognier, and Grenache Noir ) and it was perhaps Maurice's third or fourth visit to our store. He's now a dear old friend of ours.
As Antoine and I approached Lavandou he asked me if I knew Carole and I told him that yes I knew her and the last time we saw each other was when she came to the store with Maurice. When she mentioned this same event to us I turned to Antoine and said : didn't I just tell him this same thing before we got to Lavandou? He said " Oui " that it was, I smiled and we went along again at a rapid pace of conversation, sailing heartily into this evening ahead of ours ...
It's really in so many ways quite a small world.
We drank the BECCASSONE white Cotes du Rhone, the MAS DE BRESSADES dry red Costieres Du Nimes Syrah / Cabernet Sauvignon blend and the MAS LAVAIL Tradition dry red from around Perpignon, southwest France I believe, too.
All three wines showed beautifully, really from the brightness and forwardness of the dry white BECCASSONE Cotes Du Rhone which was full and bright on the palate with lots of natural cream and butter and no tartness or tanginess, just smooth flavors that pleased and flattered and filled the palate pretty much completely.
The MAS DE BRESSADES dry red Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon dry Costires Du NImes was the most satisfying version of this wine that I have ever tasted and I said this immediately at the dinner. It was the roundest, the fullest, the least sharp, edgy and tannic- the least like columns of impenetrable structures, the most Rubenesque and I liked it the most. It certainly was great last night and it warmed and pleased me and brought a really nice smile and sense of ease as I sipped it and snapped away with these pictures and started to draw my quick portrait sketches of Antoine, Carole et Ronnie.
The MAS LAVAIL was also quite the treat. It was not quite as full or as big as the MAS DE BRESSADES but I did enjoy it quite a bit. It's " new " to me and I will order some for the store as I know that it will work well with quite a few meals and yet it was quite nice to finish the evening with as we did and we chatted, laughed and sipped slowly knowing that this wonderful evening was finally coming to and end and that we would all soon part and go on our ways and outdoors into the chilly, biting darkness of the evening.
All three wines showed beautifully, really from the brightness and forwardness of the dry white BECCASSONE Cotes Du Rhone which was full and bright on the palate with lots of natural cream and butter and no tartness or tanginess, just smooth flavors that pleased and flattered and filled the palate pretty much completely.
The MAS DE BRESSADES dry red Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon dry Costires Du NImes was the most satisfying version of this wine that I have ever tasted and I said this immediately at the dinner. It was the roundest, the fullest, the least sharp, edgy and tannic- the least like columns of impenetrable structures, the most Rubenesque and I liked it the most. It certainly was great last night and it warmed and pleased me and brought a really nice smile and sense of ease as I sipped it and snapped away with these pictures and started to draw my quick portrait sketches of Antoine, Carole et Ronnie.
The MAS LAVAIL was also quite the treat. It was not quite as full or as big as the MAS DE BRESSADES but I did enjoy it quite a bit. It's " new " to me and I will order some for the store as I know that it will work well with quite a few meals and yet it was quite nice to finish the evening with as we did and we chatted, laughed and sipped slowly knowing that this wonderful evening was finally coming to and end and that we would all soon part and go on our ways and outdoors into the chilly, biting darkness of the evening.
It was a great evening and I think that we four all really relaxed and began to feel no pain and lots of comfort, warmth and joy as the evening wore on and our smiles grew wider and fuller, riper and as if they were in full bloom. It was fun to have this happen to each and everyone of us and to witness it in each other : a certain camaraderie that is born of feeling quite at ease with one another with a trust and a level of comfort that is there and yet hard to exactly pin-point as to how it got there and when it may exactly have started. It was there nonetheless and that became evident as the evening wore on and we all became more comfortable in our seats there at Lavandou.
Look at the beautiful golden color above of the dry white BECCASSONE Cotes Du Rhone above as it is being poured not shaken above?
I think that these pictures speak for themselves and volumes, too. Being an artist I have taken a lot of artsy photos and am quite happy with the. The ones that look all warm and fuzzy I took without using the flash on my Canon Power Shot digital camera. The ones like the one above that is clearer and more focused I took using my flash. I am happy to have both as they both render images so completely different and manage to focus and capture such different things and focus and display such different realities almost as if the two have no connection and yet they do as they both spring from the same moment, place and time here at Lavandou on Thursday evening, December 17th, 2010 between 7-10PM. Wow, it was special.
I will write more but I am going to post this now and write more about the food and about Lavandou. I had a very satisfying Soupe A'L'Onion, the Cassoulet and then some of the tasty cheeses on our cheese platter afterward. We had an excellent " new " French waiter, too and the cooking was superb. The only downer was that owner Florence was not there last night to come and join us for a sip or two at our table. A la prochain, Florence.
I love this picture of you Carole as seen through my glass of BECCASSONE dry white Cotes Du Rhone and with you holding your glass of the same wine.
Stay-tuned for more. Cheers, TONY
Oh, later in the evening Antoine asked me all about my family and asked me what meal I was missing : what was my wife making for us that evening? I said that it could be a number of tasty meals from a chili or a roast or a stew or soup. Later when I related this to her she said that I had missed a chicken dish with some home-made corn bread, too. I also asked her how " The Office " was on t.v. and she told me that it was a repeat. We like to watch that as a family together.
A couple of years ago Antoine had come to our home here in northern Virginia to spend the 4th of July with us and we really had a grand time together.
Look at that cassoulet above? It was magnificent, really the perfect meal for such a cold evening. I loved it and will definitely return for more as soon as I have a moment. It may now have to wait for January 2011. It's such a busy time at the store just now.
What an evening with French Onion Soup, Cassoulet from France's Lot region, a cheese platter, sketching quickly Antoine, Carole et Ronnie, taking pictures with my Canon Power Shot digital camera, a new French waiter and such a beautiful and warm, inviting restaurant to be in with cold and foul weather outside to chill one - all of us - to the bone. Thanks everyone, really ... thanks for the invitation Antoine. This was a lovely three hours or so that we all spent together nous quatre. Merci infinement. TONY
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