Friday, May 22, 2009

Seven Sparklers in Manhattan

So, what was the special "French themed" celebration my daughter and I went to in Manhattan to celebrate her upcoming Master degree graduation that I hinted about in my last blog post?

It was a champagne tasting event hosted by Gotham Wines at the Rouge Tomate restaurant located at 10 East 60th Street, in midtown Manhattan!

I read about the tasting in the New York Times newspaper and called for reservations right away as I knew my daughter and I would love to take part in this fun event!

Champagne first gained world renown because of its association with the anointment of French kings. It is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation, and is produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, form which it takes its name. Champagne has been associated with luxury, festivities and rites of passage.

The event took place in the lower lounge of the Rouge Tomate. It was our first visit to this large and beautiful restaurant and lounge. The restaurant follows a healthy nutritional cuisine under the acronym of "S.P.E" which stands for " Sanitas Per Escam" or "health through food" and was developed by chefs and nutritional experts for balanced and optimal nutrition through sourcing, preparing and enhancing.

The principles are explained as:

"Sourcing: by selecting ingredients seasonally, locally and with a focus on nutrition.

Preparing: using cooking techniques that preserve the integrity and nutritional qualities of the ingredients.

Enhancing: optimizing nutritional value by synergy of the product combination and menu diversity."

It sounds like an interesting philosophy for restaurant cuisine and I'd love to go back one day to have dinner at this establishment.

The tasting was held in a relaxed walk-around format, allowing the guests to take time and enjoy, and enjoy again, the champagnes.

We were given a booklet describing the different vintages and their description and suggested order of tasting, with a place to record our own notes.

I purposely blurred the next few photos as I did not ask permission to take photos of the Sommeliers pouring the champagne, and of the other guests, but it will give you an idea of how the tastings were done. I'd say that at least a hundred people were guests at the event.

The seven champagnes available for tasting were:

Moet Imperial

Moet RoseMoet Imperial

Moet Grand Vintage 2000
Dom Perignon 1999

Dom Perignon 2000

Dom Perignon Oenotheque 1993

Dom Perignon Rose 1998

Selected canapes were also served during the champagne tasting, prepared by Rouge Tomate Executive Chef Jeremy Bearman.

Here are some that I was able to take photos of:

Duck Pate with Rhubarb and Pistachio

Beef Crostini with Caramelized Spring Onion and Horseradish

Avocado Torchon on Toast with Tomato Marmalade

Jumbo Asparagus Spears with Crab Almond .

There were also stuffed dates, with goat cheese and pistachio, and steamed pork and vegetable dumplings. Everything was delicious!

The event lasted three hours from 6PM till 9PM. It was wonderful to try the different vintages of champagne, some of which we would never be able to afford to buy. We are not connoisseurs of wine or champagne by any means, but we did learn a lot at this event and were happy to find out that we actually preferred the least costly champagnes!

A wonderful part of the champagne tasting was the gift bag were given on our way out. It, alone, was worth the price of admission!

It was a gift box of Dom Perignon 2000 champagne with two wine glasses!

The champagne tasting was a perfect "mother and daughter" outing that made us feel elegant and pampered for the evening. It was also a wonderful way to celebrate a very happy occasion, and now we both have a very special bottle of champagne to share at our next happy event!
Thanks for coming along with us, and "Cheers!"

30 comments:

joe@italyville said...

looks like you had a great time... and a wonderful way to celebrate!

Linda Lou said...

I AM SO JEALOUS - WHAT A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE FOR YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER!! GREAT MEMORIES AND LOTS OF BUBBLY!

Vee said...

Now that does sound and look like an elegant evening. I'm glad that you two were able to enjoy it. What a delightful take home gift!

Carol Murdock said...

Pat...how wonderful for you and your daughter! Congratulations to her on that Masters!!

That Beef Crostini and the Avocado Torchon look tasty!


I have a bottle of 1975 Dom Perignon that my college English Comp teacher gave me. I'm saving it for a celebration of my first published novel, which was her request.

Hopefully, it won't be before I'm too old to enjoy it!!

Carol Murdock said...

Oh...I forgot to say this. It took me seven trys to get on your blog.
People are having the same problem with mine. You have to keep clicking the green back arrow from the error page and eventually it will let you stay on the blog.

Beverly said...

Pat, this must have been wonderful. And, your gift was wow!!!

I'm so glad you two shared this special event and time together.

Brenda said...

Great post and pictures, Pat! What a wonderful way for you and your daughter to celebrate. And Dom Perignon in your gift bag? It doesn't get any better than that...LOL!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to your daughter and to you. What a wonderful treat to share. As usual your photos are perfect. I surely enjoyed this.
QMM

Judy said...

How neat to be able to share this special event with your daughter. It looks like it was all pretty special...right down to the 'gift pack'!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

Congratulations to your daughter. You picked a PERFECT way to celebrate. wish I could have tasted some of those Dom Perignons, but maybe I'm not missing so much after your comment on less expensive champagnes.

Nola said...

Oooh, how posh! I don't know much about champagne, but I recognize the names of them as very pricey! The canapes look scrumptious, too.

Jojo said...

Congratulations to your daughter and you! What a wonderful celebration and I am so glad you were able to capture some photos. The food looked incredible and by the time I scrolled down through the photos and read "dates stuffed with goat cheese and pistachios" I needed a snack! Just to be able to try that many champagnes was a treat. Thanks for taking us along on the celebration.

imjacobsmom said...

What a neat way to celebrate. I'm not that into wine or chanmpagne and I think that I would have enjoyed this also. The canapes looked delish and you received that gift bag at the end - how cool! Congrats to your daughter! ~ Robyn

Tara said...

Oh, Pat! What a great afternoon for the two of you!

Unknown said...

Pat,
This is a great idea for a celebration! I know she will always treasure the memories made that day!

Congratulations on her accomplishments!
:) Diane

Claudia said...

What a perfect monent (or moments) - being able to share all of that with your daughter. I wanted to partake.Haven't been able to "get on" to most blogs and it seems (yay) Blogger has fixed it. Missed you.

Joanne Kennedy said...

What a fun and different thing to do. I swear NY has the best things going on all the time! I know I say this all the time but come on! It's so true!

What a super give away bag too!

Hugs,
Joanne

Gracie said...

This sounds pretty nice! I've been only twice in my life at a wine testing, and I did enjoy every moment of it! I'm not a pro either, but learning the method and the reasons a wine is what it is, it's so very interesting. Thanks for sharing this special moment.

Sue said...

Pat, You find the most interesting and amazing things to do, experience, and share. I am living my life vicariously through you! LOL I'm glad you both had a lovely time; give your daughter good wishes from me. Hugs, Sue

Joyce said...

What a fun Mother-Daughter evening out. Best wishes to your daughter as she graduates.
Joyce

Anonymous said...

A nice way to spend time together :)
-xox

~Cheryl said...

Nope---did not even come close to guessing what you were up to! What a wonderful evening to experience with your daughter. Nice parting gift, too!

I also want to let you know that a kitty cat tagged my garden gnome, and to keep things going, I tagged you. I hope Bo or someone else is eager to play! Please visit me for the details and have fun! :)

Paz said...

a wonderful & fun time!

paz

black eyed susans kitchen said...

That was a wonderful idea for a celebration! Looks like you and your daughter had a great time.
♥, Susan

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

May you have a wonderful Memorial day weekend my friend...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

The Quintessential Magpie said...

Oh, how delightful, Pat! This looks like a wonderful event, and that FOOD! YUM!

XO,

Sheila :-)

Anonymous said...

What a special occassion. The food looked delicious. I think I would've been reassured too to know that the expensive stuff actually tasted better. :-) Thanks for sharing.

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

OH MY! I would have gone for the gift alone! Sounds/looks like you had a wonderful night out...this is the perfect mother/daughter event, to me.

p.s. Eek! I just realized...literally reading this post...that I am so busy I completely forgot to do my DB project! YIKES. Guess I'll sit out 'til next month...

Lavinia said...

I would have so enjoyed that "affaire du champagne". I can't think of a better way to spend time!

Kathy said...

Cheers Pat, this was the perfect way to celebrate with your daughter, the food looked delicious too. Kathy.