Yes, that’s $24 per, not $24 total. I’ve edited to clarify. And I told her 8 diners, 8 bottles to be brought in, and she didn’t flinch at the quantity and said it would be fine. I didn’t literally ask if there was “no limit” but it sure sounded like as long as we wanted to keep cracking bottles, they are willing to keep charging corkage for them.
I agree re off the list, but since she offered I’m passing it on.
I’m assuming we’re all good with this plan. I don’t know the area, so if there’s a more corkage-friendly option or a more convenient location, etc., let me know (soon, though, please) and I can cancel. Otherwise, 7pm at Basin it is.
We also don’t need more than one dessert wine, so please let me know your thoughts on the Dettori. If no one else wants to bring a stickie, I’ll bring that. If anyone else does, I’ll bring the Rioja instead. Is everyone OK with the Spain/Italy theme?
I don’t go out in that area much. We’ve done wine dinners at Red Hot Wok in the past. Very low key, bring your own glasses type place. Corkage was something like $10. Order tons of food and tip very well and the bill is low. Authentic food, biergarten style layout.
Haven’t been to Cafe Torre, but have had some of their food at the wine shop next door. Iirc the owner is Croatian. Food is excellent, owner is a wine geek. I believe he now fully owns the wine shop/tasting bar next door. Worth looking into.
If you want to consider Asian food, there is a place in Los Gatos called Golden Triangle that is BYO with zero corkage. The food is quite good and I think some could be wine-friendly.
Craig is this the new place that replaced the Swiss place that replaced the kebab place? I haven’t been, but I’d prefer it to $24 corkage and personally I’d prefer the food, if the restaurant understands and agrees. I also think we’d be appreciated. Parking would be easy, Walgreen’s/Safeway. But it’s even further from the earlier events.
Asian is fine with me, I drink red wine with Chinese all the time. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Edited to add - Do they take reservations? If we’re bringing our own stems, I will also need a local to cover me in that department… ![[thankyou.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/df165fe9c1593d19166ae7e1ffe5e272089cc07b.gif "thankyou"){kind=small}
This also sounds intriguing. They are closed today, I can give them a call tomorrow, unless anyone else knows the guy and it would be better for you to call him. Location is great (for me, anyway).
In the meantime, I have RSVP’d for Ridge’s “First Friday” tasting. Once we have dinner time and location set, I may cancel if there’s not enough time for that between Mount Eden and dinner. But if there is time, as a member, I am allowed to bring one guest. So if any of our crew wants to be my “guest” for that, let me know. First to respond, I guess, except preference given to those who can’t make the Mt. Eden tour. I know many of you are probably members yourselves, so maybe a few more can RSVP as well can we can all just caravan over there from Mt. Eden, time permitting. Spit buckets essential, of course.
It replaced Nasch which was Austrian, but I think it’s what you have in mind.
It’s actually 4 passes per member for First Friday. I have my guest covered.
I’m game for Asian. $24 for Corkage at Basin will add up. Do love their food but its not BYO friendly
Sean
I called Cafe Torre. Normal corkage is $27.50 (odd figure), but he’s going to “talk to the boss” and get back to me and I’ll let you know what they propose. If that’s their normal deal, I’m not optimistic.
In the meantime, if someone could confirm that the Asian place will take a reservation for us, that would be great, and then we can decide. I’m less enthused about their free corkage if they don’t take reservations and we’re just rolling the dice at 7pm on a Friday night.
No word back from Cafe Torre yet. Any word on Golden Triangle?
Cafe Torre still hasn’t called back so I think we can write them off. As of now I still have the reservation booked at Basin, awaiting word from the locals that Golden Triangle is a go. Anyone working on that?
I’ve been called back to Taiwan so I’ll have to drop out. I believe Golden Triangle will take a reservation, though. If you go, one thing I’d try is the Chicken Biryani. It’s not exactly traditional but it should go well with red wine. You can ask them to limit heat on all dishes.
Servings seemed very large as well. If you are sharing everything and you order appetizers I don’t think you’ll need one main dish per person.
Thanks Craig. Dave this is your event so you decide where we are eating. Golden Triangle sounds like they’re about to become wine-friendly.
GT is fine. I’m dealing with parental prom issues this evening. Can someone call and make a reservation? I will take care of cancelling the other one.
I’ll visit GT in person with an offer they can’t refuse. Seriously it would be easy for me to stop by this coming week. If for some reason I think it might not work I’ll let everyone know. Dave maybe don’t cancel yet.
Great, thanks George!
George, any success with the “pop in” this week?
All, should we resume discussing wines? I will have to pack my bottles for this trip on Tuesday night. I’m still good to bring the Rioja or Sardinian dessert wine I mentioned earlier (1997 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904 or 2007 Dettori Moscadeddu), or I can go back to the drawing board if we want to go in a different direction. Sometimes with Asian food a big beast works better as a red wine match. I could pull an older Paloma merlot, or a young Turley zin, or an adolescent SQN Grenache, all of which would meet that description. I wouldn’t, though, want “an evening with 7 huge red wines” - I think more than a couple in that style would get overwhelming. Of course “surprise me” is as good a theme as any…