Victor, Meet Spoils

The show is not up, but the hard part (painting the wall piece, building the frames for and framing the drawings) is done. I don't love hanging shows on the day of the opening, but that is often the way it works out happening. I missed out on the big town Halloween event, but it was worth it, and I ended up making dinner too- two whole days earlier than I thought would be possible.

It was super-simple, but oh so good. The first red meat I've had in two weeks, and the first wine also. You betcha, gosh darnit, also. And worth the wait. A fat top sirloin, rubbed with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence, seared hard on both sides in a little butter and then covered, on low, for a couple of minutes more (there was no time to sous-vide it) and served atop our own potatoes steamed and mashed with whole local yogurt, olive oil, parsley, and truffle oil, plus a flourescent green mash of frisée and endive with lots of garlic, lemon, and more truffle oil. I drooled the pan drippings around the plate to finish it.























And the wine... I rummaged through the boxes I liberated from the cellar in Vermont, and happened upon a bottle of 2000 Château Giscours (two, actually.) So to celebrate, I opened one. And a humble yet refined meat and potatoes meal like this never cavorted so sportingly with vinous escort as did this one. I don't buy Bordeaux any more- my taste has moved on, and the stash will keep us in special occasion bottles for a good time to come- but for sheer grapey, cedary, boisterous steak-humping hedonism, nothing else delivers quite the same level of elegance and impact. This one has the lovely stony Margaux quality, and the tannins are soft but can clearly go for years more. Delicious. I got out the big glasses to amplify every nuance. It's a 3ème cru, but punching above its weight.