iron-horse-inn

On Saturday, February 3, 2007, Wendy & I joined Gail, Bill, Joanne, Bob, Mike, Greg, Laramie, and Mark at a table at the Iron Horse Inn for their first-Saturday Wine Dinner. While it wasn’t the best wine dinner we’ve ever attended, it was still an enjoyable evening out with good food, friends, and wine. Here’s what was on the menu:

First Course
Parsnip Puree, Vanilla Oil, Blue Crab
Lobster Cove Chardonnay
This was a nice, warming pureed soup to start the meal. Though I am not a fan of Chardonnay in general, this unoaked wine went well with the course.

Second Course
Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jelly Foie Gras
Gold Leaf Merlot
Loyal readers of this site know that I am a big fan of foie gras. However, this dish has to be considered a ‘miss’… First, the peanut butter was overpowering and the white bread didn’t add anything. The foie was good, but it was cold.

Third Course
Southern Fried Arctic Char, Smoked Trout Pasta Salad, Red Pepper Oil, Chive Oil
Four Kings Meritage
I enjoyed the components of this dish, but the combination did not add up. Eaten seperately, the char was very nice, the smoked trout pasta salad was good. Eaten together, I was left scratching my head as to the combination. The Four Kings Meritage was an enjoyable wine.

Fourth Course
Slow Braised Veal Osso Bucco, Roasted Root Vegetable “Cassoulet” Style, Pork Confit
“Handprint” Merlot
I really like Osso Bucco, and it was a perfect dish for the cold weather we’re enduring in Cincinnati right now. I missed the bones (and the marrow!) which for some reason weren’t included on the dish. The wine was a lovely compliment to this dish, and the hand-painted bottles are beautiful.

Dessert
Chocolate Fig Newton Crème Brulee
Fro-Zin Icewine
The Icewine was really, really tasty — a ‘keeper’ from this menu. The brulee was good, but overly rich.

Tonight we attended a Wine Dinner at the IRON HORSE INN. Wendy and I have been attending most of the wine dinners there for the last four years or so, and this was a particularly enjoyable one, as it contained one of the best single courses & pairings we’ve had there.

First Course:
Baby arugula salad, pomegranate vinaigrette, almond crusted goat cheese, roasted beets
2005 First Love White Wine
I am a fan of goat cheese, and this course highlighted the ingredient well. Chef Chris loosened the goat cheese with some cream to make it softer. The roasted beets were beautiful and delicious. The wine, a white blend, was decent on its own and improved with the food.

Second Course:
Blue cornmeal fried lobster tail, dueling sweet & spicy pear puree
2005 Mallee-Sands Chardonnay
The fried lobster tail with two colors of sauce around it was a simple, dramatic presentation. The lobster was tender and flavorful.

Third Course:
Candied Bing cherry duck breast, sweet potato puree, maraschino cherry drizzle
2005 Pure Love Meritage
Truly a highlight of this meal and of the wine dinners at the IRON HORSE. A lovely duck breast was properly prepared to get rid of most of the thick fat layer, then roasted and candied before being set atop sweet potato puree. A maraschino reduction was drizzled around. The Meritage (rhymes with “heritage”) wine was perfect with this course. This one, I hope, is destined for the regular menu.

Fourth Course:
Char-grilled Ribeye, wild mushroom citrus compote, asparagus, black tea Concord grape reduction
2004 Mothers Milk Shiraz
As difficult as it was to follow the superior duck course, this course made a good attempt. I thought the flavors of the compote weren’t as unified as they could be, but I understood where Chris was heading. The Shiraz was wonderful.

Dessert:
Banana Fosters Crème Brulee
2004 Carol Shelton Late Harvest Trousseau Gris
Chef Chris is exploring brulees of different types (a fact that Wendy is very happy about). These desserts tend away from my preferred dessert styles (fruit tarts and the like), but they’re still very good. The Trousseau Gris was really good without being overly sweet.

The IRON HORSE INN present Wine Dinners at 7:00pm on the third Tuesday of most months (usually not in December). Five courses with paired wines are $60 per person. Vegetarian menus available with advanced notice. Reservations strongly recommended.

This evening was the year’s last monthly (third-Tuesday) Wine Dinner at the Iron Horse Inn in Glendale, and the 14 people in our party sincerely enjoyed the event. Iron Horse blows it out a bit for the last wine dinner of the year — it’s a sparkling wine dinner, and this year’s was very, very good indeed.

Iron Horse Restaurant
The Annual Sparkling Wine Dinner

Special Guest: Jennifer Jackson with Cutting Edge Selections

First Course
King Crab, Mascarpone and Goat Cheese, Orange Yuzu Miso Sauce
2001 Marques De Gelida Brut Cava

Second Course
Steamed Blue Mussels, Smokehouse Almonds, Chorizo
2003 Llopart Reserva Rose Brut Cava

Third Course
Lobster 3 Ways: Butter Braised Lobster, Sauce a la Américaine, and Lobster Grits
2000 Huia

Fourth Course
Honey Pecan Crusted Rack of Lamb, Roasted Root Vegetables, Candied Pecan Dust
Duval Leroy Champagne NV

Dessert
Lemon Raspberry Meringue Brulee
2005 Clarte Moscato D’ Asti

Tonight’s dinner was the monthly Wine Dinner at the Iron Horse Inn. Ted, Tracy (her first wine dinner in some time!), Angel, Mike, Greg, Wendy, and I met at ‘the Horse’ to partake of the following menu:

The Iron Horse Restaurant
Treats From Our Cellar 2
August 15, 2006

First Course
Roasted Prawn, Apple Fennel Leek Compote, Chives
2002 Robert Weil, Riesling Kabinett, Rheingau, Ger.

Second Course
Chilled Sweet Potato Bisque, Cumin Scented Goat Cheese Crostini
2002 Dutton Goldfield, Syrah, Cherry Ridge Vineyard, Russian River Valley

Third Course
Moroccan Lamb Cassoulet
2001 Cadence, Ciel du Cheval Vineyard,
2000 Chateau St. George, St. Emillion, Fr.

Dessert
Black Forest Crème Brulee
Jonesy Old Tawny Port

We had quite a day planned today — Wendy & I, along with friends Mike & Angel, were going to see Vance Gilbert play at THE HOOD TOUR in Cincinnati’s Eden Park then go to dinner at the Iron Horse Inn. We were excited about both parts of the event — first, seeing Vance. He’s one of our favorites and we hadn’t seen him for some time, so were looking forward to it. Secondly, there are some new menu items we wanted to try at the Iron Horse Inn so this felt like an opportunity to do so.

The plan was this… Everyone would meet at Angel’s apartment at 4:30 and then drive down to the park in one car. When Wendy & I arrived at Angel’s, there was a very sick raccoon lying in the driveway. As Wendy stated, healthy raccoons don’t just lay around like that. Wendy called animal control to help him on his way. After Mike arrived, we headed to the park. When we got there and picked up a schedule of the acts, we saw something that caught our attention. Vance was scheduled to perform at 4:30 (it was nearly 5:00 at the time). However, Tracy Walker, a local singer/songwriter, was performing (and was very good). Worried that we’d missed him, we asked a staff member and found out that Vance’s flight had been delayed due to bad weather, so he wasn’t there. Undaunted, the four of us walked around the Mirror Lake at the park and had a nice time listening to music from some of the other, non-Vance, acts.

After a while, we decided to head toward dinner, so we dropped Mike & Angel at Angel’s apartment (so they could get their cars) and headed up to the Iron Horse Inn, where we had a very nice dinner and got to try several of the new menu items, including Stuffed Risotto which made for a great four-person appetizer. We hung out at the bar listening to Jeff play the piano. Wendy & I snuck off around 12:45 and came home!

This evening, a large group of us (Ted, Angel, Cindy, Denise, Mike, Greg, Parnell, Raven, Heather, Brian, Milan, Mike, Nicki, Wendy, and me) went to the third-Tuesday Wine Dinner at the Iron Horse Inn. Wendy & I have been attending this monthly event as often is we can (which is most months — thank heavens for a consistently scheduled event!) for the last 3.5 years or so. It’s great food and great wine at a great price, and we always have a blast with our friends.

The Iron Horse Restaurant
Treats from the Cellar Dinner
July 18, 2006

First Course
Seared Scallop, Savory Dried Fruit Rice Pudding
2004 Solo Rosa, California

Second Course
Macadamia Crusted Halibut, Demitasse Salad with Mache, Watercress, Green Grapes, Ricotta Salatta, Roasted Garlic Oil, Basil Oil
2002 Fiano Di Avellino, Collio Di Lapio, Italy

Third Course
Lamb Spring Rolls, Plum Sauce
1999 Shardana, Sardinia

Fourth Course
Grilled New York Strip topped with Gorgonzola Cheese, Purple Peruvian Potato Salad, Caramelized Onion Gravy
2003 Alexander Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Dessert
Mexican Mocchachino
2002 Tandem Peleton, California