East Bay/Bay Area offline

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21

Please put Karen and I on the list, pending final selection of the date.

22

Alan, it would be great to see Karen at the next one. And you can come too!

Andrew [cheers.gif]

23

I’ll just drop her off and wait outside champagne.gif

24

I’m good on a Saturday, but own 0 Italian wines. So like Larry, my only story would be where I sourced the bottle. So hopefully that’s okay.

I’m up for Syrah/GSM (French.US) or a look into 2004 (10 year) Napa cabs. These bottles actually have a story for me.

25

Hey John, that’s totally fine! I’m sure you’ll bring great wine! We will do Rhone style wines next time.

26

So, looking up-thread I don’t see a date. Still deciding between the 22nd and 29th of March?

27

Hi everyone!
We are less than a month out (final date March 22nd!) and I wanted to get a final count.
Here is who I have so far:

Ami and Paul
2002 Dal Forno “Monte Lodoletta” Valpolicella Superiore
2009 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva

Karen and Deni (bringing Brunellos)

Steve Witt +1

Andrew and Xiaopei

Larry and Lori

Tom +1

John +1

Richard

I believe Walter and Alan had conflicts?

Let’s start posting what we are bringing too.

We’ll let you know final venue shortly!

Looking forward to this!
-Ami

28

Yep, my wife is still performing that night, so I hope everyone has a great time.

29

Hi,

I haven’t been to one of your events but would love to join if possible. Room for 1 more?

  • Richard
30

Unfortunately, Becky and I are not going to be able to attend. The 22nd is Prom Night for our daughter, and we will involved in some prom festivities instead. We will catch you on the next one!

Thanks,
Ed

31

Definitely Richard!
Sorry to miss you two, Ed. Catch you on the next one.

32

I too am sorry we will be missing some folks; however, if we continue to get together and share great wines and friendship, the group will continue and so will the events, so there will be other opportunities!
Now, I need to get off my behind and do my job and check corkage systems so we can choose the venue! [oops.gif]

Salute! [cheers.gif]
Andrew

33

I’ve exchanged a few e-mails with Terra Mia but through busy schedules we haven’t been able to nail down any details. Daniele suggested I stop by the restaurant next Sunday or Monday to talk face-to-face.

34

So I sat down with Daniele at Terra Mia tonight and it boils down to a a couple issues:

Banquet menu vs. full menu: He says we can order off the menu for a group of 15 max. Larger than that is just too difficult for the kitchen. For larger groups, they offer several family style menus here: http://www.terramialivermore.com/Uploads/Menus_for__Party.pdf

Personally I think the family style menu is ok, specifically Banquet Menu #4, as long as Gnocchi Gorgonzola is one of the entree choices:

Banquet menu # 4
Starters
Choose two
Insalata Caprese - Sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella, e.v.olive oil and fresh basil
Caesar Salad = Romaine salad heart with homemade caesar dressing (made with raw eggs)
Calamari Fritti - Deep fried calamari served with marinara sauce on side
Bruschetta di Piselli e Tartufo = Blended green pea cream, truffle olive oil and shaved parmigiano cheese on homemade toasted bread

Entrees
Choose two
Ziti alla Calabrese - Pasta sautéed with pork sausage, mushrooms and red wine tomato sauce
Gnocchi Gorgonzola - Homemade potato dumpling sautéed in gorgonzola cream sauce
Ossobuco di Maiale al forno - Natural pork ossobuco stewed with mixed blended vegetable sauce
Salmone alla Livornese - Fresh salmon sautéed with capers, garlic, black olives and tomato sauce

Dolce (Dessert)
One choice
Tiramisu’ - Lady fingers soaked in espresso and brandy, covered with mascarpone cheese and topped with coffee powder
Bigne’ Terra Mia - Homemade cream puff, topped with dark chocolate

Coffee
Family Style or Buffet Style
$ 35.00 per person for Dinner Plus tax (9.0%) & gratuity (18%)

Private room vs. general seating area: They have 2 private rooms, one of which holds 60 and one of which holds 50 - too big for our group. On any night besides Friday or Saturday, they’re fine to give us an entire room with no minimum. On the weekend, they would have something like a $1500 minimum which is too high for our group. The other option is to seat in in the general area, which would require splitting the group between 2-3 tables, which is not ideal. However, for Saturday the 22nd, as long as one of the private rooms is not booked he can let us have 1/3 or 1/2 of one of the private rooms with no minimum, but we’ll need to share it with other guests.

Corkage: I asked him for a flat rate per guest assuming an average of 1 bottle per. I’m hoping he comes back with something like $10-$15 but he’s going to discuss it with the owners and see what they say, with a promise to e-mail me tomorrow with more info, and to confirm that both private rooms aren’t booked for the 22nd.

It looks like what we’re shooting for is Banquet menu #4, including tax, 18% gratuity, and corkage around $60/person all in, with the open question of private room on a Thursday or Sunday vs. sharing at room on Saturday the 22nd.

What say you Berserkers?

35

I’ve heard back from Terra Mia on corkage, they want $15/bottle, no flat rate pp. Do any of our other options do better?

36

Larry:

Thanks for doing the leg work! Sorry I have been away from this thread, and I don’t think I can do any better somewhere else corkage-wise on short notice. We probably can order a few whites off their list so that may help…
I do not think we have 15 people, so we can order off the menu. Xiaopei and I are in! And I know Tom G is in for 2 as well.

Please, everyone, let’s get a firm count so Larry can make the reservation asap!

Andrew

37

Sorry this is last minute, but here is one other option: Banquets — Massimo Ristorante

I asked about corkage and it’s $10/bottle if we buy a few off the list (in addition for each bottle off the list a corkage fee will be waived for one of our bottles.) They will do the banquet menu for 12-15, or if we are 12 or less we can order off the standard menu. The major caveat is that the banquet room is booked already by another wine group (?!?!?! can we make this into one big party?), so we would be at two tables of 6-7.

Thoughts?

38

John - I think notice is too short for the 22nd but let’s keep it in mind for the next event.

I’d like to get a final count and make the reservation today. I’m geared up for the Italian theme!

39

Sounds great Larry.

Let’s start posting what we are bringing.
We are bringing:
2002 Dal Forno “Monte Lodoletta” Valpolicella Superiore
2009 Castello di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva

40

For what time should I make the reservation?