Well the kids are at Camp Grandma & Grandpa this week. It is weird to be at home without them for so long. And it is soooo quiet. I miss them like crazy but we know they are all having a great time together; we are having a great time too. We have golfed (I tried to golf), gone to a concert and went out to a fancy dinner.

About a week before the girls were set to leave I was scrolling through Instagram and saw a post from one of our favorite restaurants, Olive + Oak. They were having a special Sonoma Wine Dinner on Monday, July 23rd. Well, the girls would be gone so we didn’t need a sitter. I emailed, there were still seats available… we got a table! What a great way to kick off our kid-free week!

I was so excited I wore a dress!  AND heels!  I even tried to use a flat iron on my hair. That last part didn’t go so well but at least I tried. Husband got home from work, we grabbed an UBER and headed to Olive + Oak. As soon as we walked in we were each handed a glass of rosé. Idlewilde Rosé to be exact. It was heaven!

The whole dinner was amazing and each pairing was done to perfection. Even wines that weren’t necessarily my favorite when sipped alone were excellent with each dish.

The meal started with Grilled Chanterelle Toast with Scribe Estate Sylvaner.

This was actually my favorite dish of the entire evening! I loved it! My husband liked it too but not as much as I did. I think I could eat this toast all day, every day. This was my first time having a Sylvaner wine. This particular Sylvaner I would describe as sharp and acidic. It was not my favorite by itself but it was excellent with the toast!

Next came the Swordfish Polpettes with Wind Gap “Soif” Old Vine Red.

These were basically swordfish meatballs. They were good but my favorite part of this dish was the charred eggplant agrodolce. So Good! Agrodolce is an Italian sauce that measns sour (agro) and sweet (dolce). mmmmm…. The wine is a young wine, similar to Beaujolais and is best served with a bit of a chill on it.

Then we had Agnolotti with Arista “Russian River” Pinot Noir.

Fabulous! Agnolotti is kind of like ravioli in that it is pasta with something folded inside of it. Everything about this was great! And I really enjoyed this wine, both by itself and with the pasta.

Mangalista Pork Rib with Arnot-Roberts “Sonoma Coast” Syrah was course #4 and wine #5.

The rib was very good but in my opinion the Carrot Risotto stole the show, And it is the first time I have ever in my life liked fennel. Well done Chef!

The finale was Squab with Carlisle “Carlisle Vyd” Zinfandel.

So, I had heard of squab but didn’t remember what it was exactly. We googled it at the table. Basically it’s baby pigeon. I’m never afraid to try anything but man do I hate birds. Especially pigeons. My fear of birds began with pigeons. The baby pigeon was fine. The sauce was amazing and the side dish was absolutely fantastic: foie gras, black truffle and potato. Divine! And this wine was my favorite of the entire evening by far. The others were all very good but this was in a league of it’s own. We bought four bottles to bring home.

I realize I must be slightly annoying to go out to dinner with- taking photos of everything and making notes.  This is what my menu looked like by the end of the evening.

So, thanks to my husband (and the people sitting on either side of us) for dealing with me.

Being inspired by the evening, the very next day I made an agrodolce caponata. It was good, not great. My husband liked it and I think it has a pretty traditional flavor. But, I want it more eggplanty. I’ll keep tweaking and get back to you.