Chocolate, Wine, and Boobies

Posts on this blog and twitter about the Ghirardelli Intense Dark Pairings event are based on an advertising relationship. I have been paid to host and promote the Intense Dark Pairings event for Ghirardelli. I also received a discount from District Wine along with a bottle of wine as a raffle prize. However, the opinion about the Ghirardelli products and the District Wine are all mine. Mine!

Ghirardelli is supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by donating $1 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation for each code entered from the specially marked Intense Dark chocolates. As a part of this promotion, I was contacted to host an Intense Dark Pairings party, tasting the Intense Dark chocolates and pairing them with food and wine.

I lost my mother and a good friend to cancer. Any fight against any kind of cancer is my fight. Instead of just calling a few friends over to my house, I wanted to help spread the word as much as I can. So I reached out to my blogger friends and tweeps. But now I'd need a cozy venue for all my fabulous guests.

A wine tasting party that feels like it's being hosted in someone's (really nice) living room? Naturally, I called Mark and Angela at District Wine in Downtown Long Beach (@districtwine). They were more than happy to play host to an all-girl afternoon out. (Well, almost all-girl. We did have a Token Male...) They even threw in a bottle of wine for my raffle.

Annette (@dananner) is a happy camper!

Some of us started the party started a little early with District Wine’s Sunday special, $9 bottomless mimosas. Mark mentioned that the orange juice was just for color, and he wasn't kidding. The pour was generous and the glasses were never once empty. I'd definitely come back some other Sundays for this!

What made our tasting party even more special was that my friend Melissa (@melissakeyes), a breast cancer survivor, shared her story.





For the pairings, I received a guide of food and wine pairing suggestions which were put together by Leslie Sbrocco of Thirsty Girl. You too can host one of these tasting parties at home. The party planning kit, and tasting guide and videos are on this website. I am also giving away a mini tasting kit. Read on for more details.

Anyways. I passed Leslie's list along to District Wine along with some chocolate samples, and they came up with their own selection of wines. And here is our menu.

Ghirardelli® Intense Dark™ Evening Dream: 60% Cacao
District Wine's Pick: Frogmore Creek Iced Riesling, Tasmania
Food: Dried apricot

While the Riesling goes well with the wine and the apricot, it brings out so much of the apricot that the chocolate was more of the supporting actor. Still good though. One of the crowd's favorites.

Ghirardelli® Intense Dark™ Twilight Delight : 72% Cacao
District Wine's Pick: Taft Street Zinfandel, Russian River Valley
Food: This would've been paired with fresh raspberries but I forgot to bring them. Boo...

Another pleasant pairing of chocolate and wine here. But neither was memorable for me.

Ghirardelli® Intense Dark™ Midnight Reverie: 86% Cacao
District Wine's Pick: Layer Cake Malbec, Argentina
Food: Salted almonds, parmesan, and water crackers

Home run all around! The high cacao content makes the chocolate almost savory. Something magical happens with the chocolate, the parmesan, and the Malbec. Red wine fans all agreed this would be the wine they'd drink any day of the week. I would also suggest that you try this chocolate with some prosciutto. I had some at Cochon 555 and it was wonderful. I was thinking about bringing some for the tasting but I didn't want to scare my friends. LOL.

Ghirardelli® Intense Dark™ Toffee Interlude: Toffee bits and caramelized almonds
District Wine's Pick: Taylor Fladgate 20 Years Tawny, Portugal - OR - Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout
Food: Plush Puffs Vanilla Bean Marshmallows

The surprise hit of the evening was the Plush Puffs (found at my favorite store Fresh & Easy). Folks were nibbling on them even before our tasting began and there was nothing left afterward. I can only imagine what the toasted Puffs and this chocolate would taste like inside a S'mores! They're already magical in their respective raw form without the Graham crackers. Mark and Angela gave us a choice between a port or a beer here, and I chose the port. It just brought it all home perfectly.

My friend Jennifer also took fabulous photographs of the event. You can find the rest on her Facebook album.

It was a great afternoon of discovering flavors of Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolates, finding new wines we love, making new friends, and raising awareness for breast cancer.

Look on twitter for #TGTaste and/or #IntenseDark for great coverage. I will update this post with links to the coverage from my fabulous guests as I get them.

• Our cancer's butt kicker Melissa: Wine and Chocolate: Ghiradelli Intense Dark Chocolate at District Wine
  
• Paulette (@girlplusfire/@pfont): Fighting Like a Girl: Ghirardelli & Vino at District Wine.
• Rachel (@theartmuse): Intense Dark
  
• Tamara (@divacowgirl): Hope
• Veronica (@lbcshopper): Intensely Delicious Wine Pairing

Melissa and I with Mark and Angela, owners of District Wine

INTENSE DARK CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY!

Be ready to join the Intense Dark Tweet Chat on October 5 at 5 p.m. PST hosted by Thirsty Girl (@beathirstygirl / #TGTaste). Enter to win your own mini tasting kit! Leave a comment down below (make sure to leave your valid email address) to throw your name into the hat to win a Ghirardelli Intense Dark Pairing kit with a pairing guide, wine charms, samples of Evening Dream, Twilight Delight, Midnight Reverie, and Sea Salt Soiree.

ETA: Congratulations, Alana (@AlanaGarrigues)! You've won the little pairing gift box! :)

"Ritual"-istic Dining

Yet again, Justin and Olaina staked out a great place to eat to take me to in North Park area of San Diego. The first time we went was late Wednesday night. We all ate lightly. But I was so hooked and they couldn't stop thinking about the food either so we returned on Friday.

The place is living up to its name for my brief stay in San Diego.

Ritual Tavern with subtitle of "Taps and Cookery" was a perfect place for foodies and beer snobs alike. You walked through the door; one side is the bar and the other is the restaurant.

It definitely feels like a real pub over on the bar side. Local brews on tap and 30 some bottles from all over the world. I mean, there is even a gluten-free beer! The staff is definitely knowledgeable. (I think our bartender and server on Friday was Chris...?) Olaina asked him to recommend a beer to go with her bread pudding with bourbon sauce. He suggested St. Bernardus Apt 12. The match was so perfect the girl washed the whole hefty piece of pudding down with that beer. Need I say more?

Over on the restaurant side, it was definitely cozy. Playing up pub grub to a few notched down from snooty gastropub, the food here is just divine. They use local and organic produces and make their own condiments. And the price is definitely reasonable. Actually, if they would charge more--not that they should--I would totally pay for it.

The first time I was there, I ordered shrimp scampi appetizer which was cooked with garlic, butter and, not with white wine but sherry. was served up with plenty of sauce and grilled ciabatta to sop it up with. I damn near bit the waiter's hand off when he tried to take my plate away as left the bread in the bowl to soak up very last little bit of yumminess. THAT was just how good it was. And of course, I came back two days later to once again have it for dinner.

Justin ordered the beer battered vegetables. Light, crispy, not oily. Veggies were cooked just right, still had a bite to them. Simple. Perfect.

And Olaina? Well, you already read about the bread pudding and the beer. :)

As mentioned, we returned 2 days later for a sit-down dinner. Just couldn't resist.

We ordered the cheese board to start with. With a side of blackberries and raw almonds, three artisan cheeses for the day was Cashel Blue Irish Farmhouse Cheese, Cahill's Irish Porter Cheddar, and what I jotted down as "Beamish Gouda", aged for 18 months. The herbed goat cheese was from Santa Barbara and had a great zip to it. I can eat that cheese board for the rest of my life.



For dinner, I ordered the scampi, of course, and their special of oyster rockefeller. It was economical for oysters. And then I realized that they did have a fresh oyster bar Thursday. Indeed, I was suckered into having not so fresh seafood, but I was a very happy sucker. The oysters maybe tiny, but the flavors of the crumbs and everything was great.

Justin ordered the gluten-free shepherd's pie with Niman Ranch lamb and beef. I have had several different variety of the pie before, but none like this. This is essentially a crock of fall-off-the-fork tender lamb and beef stew, topped with mashed potatoes and baked. I am drooling just thinking about the flavors.

Now, our dessert girl went with butternut squash soup and the sea bass special with fennel something something reduction. (I didn't jot that one down). The soup came in drizzled with olive oil. It was light and butternutty. The sea bass was cooked to perfection, piled high with baked (or boiled?) purple potatoes. It was fantastic.

Finally, we did share the bread pudding. Spicy, custardy, and not overly sweet or rich. We nibbled on the pudding while continuing our conversation and people watch. It was a perfect end to a perfect visit in San Diego for me.



And a beginning of a brand new habit.

Why does San Diego have to be so far away?!?!?

Pillaging Downtown LA

"Where are we going to lunch today?" asked CLo.

It was an unsolved mystery even when CLo, me, and Eva started walking out of our office building on Friday. Like a sign from God, CLo's brother was there and he told us about one of the new joints in Downtown LA.

"It's a pirate bar and grill," said Mario. Obviously, he had my full attention.

The X really marks the spot for Redwood Bar and Grill on 2nd and Broadway. I mean, the X is on their awning. You can see it a block away.

They opened their door appropriately on Talk Like A Pirate Day in September. The "nautical themed" spot is on a little dimmer lit side but makes it perfect. I felt like I just walked into either a saloon on a pirate hideaway or the captain's quarter on the Burly Mermaid.

The menu has a great variety at a very reasonable price for being a Downtown dig. The most expensive thing on the menu is $14. I mean, $10 burger is THICK and comes loaded with fries.

Eva and I split their special, pork roast sandwich topped with sweet potato chips and a side of frieds. (Oh...the dream I have about those damn chips!) CLo had the Waldorf salad. Mario had the variety fried cheese--mozzerella, fontina and majon with a side of chipotle aioli.

Everything we ordered was fantastic. The pork was tender. And I like I said, those damn chips! CLo salad was mighty tasty. The fried cheese? Oh. My. God! The aioli brings it all home. Actually Eva and I were stealing some of that smoky and spicy goodness for our fries as well. Heh.

The brew selection is also impressive. On tap are Guinness, Downtown Brown, Stone, 1903, Sierra Nevada, Heff and something else. The bottled selection is even more extensive. Duvell and other ales galore. What more could a snooty, beer loving, one-beer wonder ask for!

But like what I told Dev, the co-owner. Pirate themed bar that serves Guinness on tap? And that sweet potato chips? You guys have my soul. (And I haven't even tried your sweet potato fries or mussels and chips yet!?)

The Redwood definitely earns Captain Bubbles' seal of approval. Yarrrrgh!