The Iron Chevsky Wine Blog

Following up on the previous post , I am happy to report that Donato Enoteca remains not only one of my favorite places to eat, but amongst the top two best Italian wine tasting venues of the year (along with the venerable  Tre Bicchieri ). And when you factor in the laughable admission price for this caliber of food and wine, and the convenience of being able to order anything you taste at or under retail (rather than restaurant) prices, this is by far the best quality and the funnest Italian wine tasting event of the year in the Bay Area that I know of. Here are the highlights and faves: Note #1: For the first time, I tried La Fiorita Brunello 2006 - never heard of it before - delicious, with hints of strawberries, and relatively approachable at this young age, very pretty wine, although I didn't dig the label (but who cares!). Note #2: Produttori del Barbaresco, though missing a photo above, was excellent and IMHO is probably the best value (under $30) from ...

Author Dianne Hales writes : "Italians say that a good meal requires two arts: the art of cooking and the art of eating. I would add a third: the ever-so-scrumptious art of talking about what you have eaten, are eating or are thinking about eating. In Italy food and language meld together as smoothly as cacio sui maccheroni (cheese on macaroni). Both boast a rollicking history dating back to ancient times. Both vary greatly from region to region, even from village to village. Both reflect centuries of invasion, assimilation and conquest. And both can transform daily necessities into joyful celebrations." Last night while having a business dinner at Donato Enoteca , I saw the proof of Dianne Hales' insight right before my eyes. The 4 of us told the server: "Just bring whatever Chef Donato decides!" (5 mouth-watering dishes followed, plus a dessert platter! - for such an insanely low price that if I tell you, they will have to shoot me!) Somewhere around 10:30pm,...

As we get older, birthdays, once glorious events of our childhood, no longer seem to have the same appeal. Instead of growing up, we just get older - what's there to celebrate?! So we downplay each year's advance, and reserve the occasions to round dates. But when those come around, we often find ourselves too swept up in the hurries, worries, chores and routines of our lives to really enjoy with our hearts and souls. Until this time. The Place Donato Enoteca - this is my new dining home outside of my wife's kitchen. This place which opened just several months ago in downtown Redwood City cannot be described in terms of yelp stars or carefully crafted food and wine adjectives. It's more like one of those places that you read about in memoirs of people recalling their mother's cooking in a small town in Italy when they were a kid. It's not what they feed or pour you there (which is phenomenal, of course), but it's how it makes you feel when you are there, a...

OMG! Last night my wife and I and another couple visited Donato Enoteca in downtown Redwood City for the first time (since the pre-opening party a couple of weeks ago). This was our first opportunity to really experience Donato's (owner and head chef) cuisine and Eric Lecours' (wine director) wine since Donato Scotti left La Strada 2 months ago, the leading Italian restaurant in Palo Alto, to launch Donato Enoteca. I could write a review ten times longer. But alas, got things to do, places to go, people to see. So I will keep it *relatively* short. Neither myself nor our friend (a CEO and founder of a publicly traded company) are slouches when it comes to food and wine appreciation. From the moment we walked in, we were basked in warmth of the staff and the satisfying deliciousness of the every single item that was served to us - from the (free) pesto dip and bread to the fabulous (and incredibly reasonably priced) Nebbiolo d'Alba that complimented our courses to perfectio...