February 02, 2003
Boston Wine Expo Weekend
This weekend we attended the Boston Wine Expo with some friends. We got a great package deal to stay the night at the Seaport Hotel which is attached to the convention center. We started the day with breakfast at Harvey's, and then drove down to Boston and got checked-in. Never having been before, I don't think any of us were quite sure what to expect. Would it be like the tech trade shows, where in order to get the coveted t-shirt (well, sip of wine) you have to politely chat and pretend to be interested in the product for a few minutes until they say "Hey would you like a t-shirt?" Nope.
As you file into the hall, you are handed a commemorative wine glass which includes two little chocolates (which I promptly ate, lest they melt in my pocket) and a pink slip of paper with numbered step-by-step instructions on the proper way to taste wine. The last step: "And Spit! Not only is it acceptable, it's correct!". Uh-oh, I might be in trouble if spitting is correct with this crowd... As it turns out, I saw only two spitters the entire 4 hours (one of which could impressively spit into the bucket from about 2 feet away, so I figured he must be a professional).
Inside, the tables (unlike the tech shows there are no booths really, just tables) are basically arranged together by country or region, although California and France take up the majority of the floor. You walk up to a table, stick out your glass and say "May I try the Shiraz please?". Glub-glub They pour a good 2-3 sips, you take a sip (or 2 or 3) and dump whatever might be left into the bucket, then pour a little water from the pitcher, swirl it in your glass, dump that, and try the next wine. My wife and I eventually found it's most effective to work as a team: I get glass #1 filled with cab, she gets glass #2 filled with zin, we sip, swap, sip, dump, rinse, take notes and protect each others elbow space.
By the time 5pm had rolled around, we had tasted maybe fifty wines, and taken notes on about thirty-five. Out of all the people drinking we saw only one person, sitting against the wall, her head in her hands, looking as if she'd had a little too much at a frat party. While the EMTs attended to her, a group of wary convention center staffers watched her intently from a few feet away, no doubt hoping she'd puke into the bucket and not on the carpet.
We tasted a lot of very interesting wines, and most of them seemed to be pretty inexpensive—but unavailable in New Hampshire. I am glad my wife had the great idea of bringing a little notebook, because in retrospect I can not remember a single new-found wine I liked with two exceptions: (1) 
Bear Crossing because their label has a Koala bear on a yellow diamond road sign; and (2) Four Vines Winery, because the wine was great, but mostly because the guy pouring was very strict about the 4-step tasting process we had to go through to discover the wines, and he also was extremely earnest in educating us on the correct terms to use when describing flavor, after we offered some adjectives he did not like: "You know I don't like to go off on people for what they say they taste but..." He was real tragically-hip looking too: with just little tuft of hair under the lower lip—he could have been a hip web designer. In an ironic twist, this guy will be coming to our favorite Dover restaurant to present a wine tasting in March... he'll be on our turf then. :)
After the tasting, we had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. We drank only water. We then headed over to Finale for dessert, mainly because I knew they offered great desserts, and each had a suggested pairing with a dessert wine. We haven't had much in the way of dessert wines, so we wanted to give this a try. I had a great Caramel Carnivale with a port, and my friend had a Sour Apple something with an ice wine. I really liked the port, and look forward to sampling some more.
Sunday, on our way out of Boston, we stopped at the always fabulous PF Changs for lunch. Mmmmmmm. They have simply the best Chinese food, and I wish they would open one in Portsmouth, and if you do too, you should tell them. If your not sure or have never been there, you should trust me and tell them anyway. We indulged in a round of colorful-sweet-girlie martinis (my step-father would be scandalized to know) with lunch, all of which was great, and then hit the road to head back to the great white nothern state of the free-or-the-dead.
Back in September 2002 I emailed PF Changs and suggested they open in Portsmouth. I thought it was pretty cool I got what seems to be a real response (not form letter) from the CEO:
Thanks...I will forward your suggestion to our real estate team...thanks for the thought.
Rick Federico
CEO
I too sent an email and got this response from their Guest Relations Manager:
"Thank you very much for your note and suggestion, we are looking in your area at this time. However, we have not secured a site. I will forward a copy of your note to our real estate team for review."
Great news! We should all request portsmouth as a location, or the "site" could end up in Nashua or Manchester...
Maybe we should start looking for commercial space for them and email them when we find something.
David, I'm glad you dug the wines. Sorry I pissed off your wife and friend. My goal is always just to educate and adventure through the world of wine, hopefully in an entertaining way and not pissing off too many people:)...... I wouldn't say "trendy", I've been doing it to long... I prefer "tragically hip",which is just as bad, but implies I wear too much black and want a Ducati. I look forward to the wine dinner in Dover, please wear black:)........ PS. I Loved SNATCH... for a real treat check out the director's first lower budget crack at the genre, LOCK, STOCK & TWO SMOKING BARRELS
Well, OK, I ammend my comments on Christian. He's obviously not a jerk or he wouldn't have a sense of humor... I guess I mistook over-earnestness of education in a crazy-busy setting for "jerk". Koz told us last night that he was really a good guy too. I do stand by my statement that he could be a web designer, although he's got a point on the word "trendy". Look forward to seeing him at CCB; we'll be the people describing how much we like this sweet, green, band-aid wine.
Of course, really, Christian was one of the smartest marketers there, because out of all the wines we tasted, we distinctly remembered him and his vineyard.
Wow! Who woulda thunk that he'd find your blog? Maybe I'll go mention his wines in my blog but say something nice so he thinks I'm cool. :)
I am shocked by comments on this post in conjunction with the post on Pesce Blue. Here we are begging a national chain restaurant to come to our community and at the same time badmouthing a local restaurant without ever having been there. What does this say about us?
Steve.... Andi... are you two room mates and sharing the same computer, or just one guy changing names so it looks like you have more supporters? Either way, it's nice that you're coming back to keep up on the latest posts! At this rate I should sell ad space.
Read it again. I never badmouthed the restaurant. I do certainly object to the original article's statement that it is the only worthwhile place in Portsmouth, but I don't have a single bad thing to say about the restaurant itself. And who said I've never been there?
And, who cares if it's a chain, as long as it's good? Here's a shocker: I like Starbuck's too!
If your argument is that we should support local people and their businesses, fair enough, but from what I've read the Blue guys moved here from elsewhere.
Smith & Wollenski (sp?) is also a chain. There's also a three-site chain of mexican restaurants in Utah (who'se name is elluding me at the moment.. "Fuentos" or something like that) that is excellent. There are local places like Lindburgh's that are fantasic. There are also local places like the Shallazar that are less than optimal (in my opinion anyway -- I hope the folks at the shallazar don't start getting all smarmy on this list now, too).
I like Starbucks for their no-nonsense approach to "desert" coffees. Thick, sweet, flavor, ice. Yum. I like Breaking New Grounds for a good cup of coffee or a place to sit and write (althugh Starbucks will win there too as soon as they put in a WAP).
My point? I love PF changs too, and anyone who gets in the way of a Chang's in portsmouth is on my black list: when I open my own chain of high-fallutin' invite-only sweedish sushi/martini bars... you will not be allowed to sit in my $625 chairs :-)
(the above post was written *entirely* in jest, and after a rather stiff Manhattan. Any insults that seem to be directed towards real people are purely coincidental. No animals were harmed during the posting of this comment)
I'm for the local guy too, but not when their coffee tastes like the grounds should have been dumped two pots ago. I'm a coffee whore and I don't care where it comes from as long as it is good, strong, and consistent... and Starbucks pretty much covers them all. Why should I have to lower my bar to support the local establishment when it should be up to them to raise their bar. If a chain can satisfy me, then so be it (that goes for anything). On the flipside I can think of a handful of other Italian restaurants I'd go to (for example) before stepping into Olive Garden. And just for the record, I will lower my coffee requirements when there is a good greasy spoon breakfast involved ;)
I'm surprised we don't run into each other more with your breakfast choices! Have you tried Young's in Durham?
I'm a Breaking New Grounds guy. Even though I don't go there every day, I brew their espresso in my own machine every morning for a red eye.
I was always a Ron's (in Dover) person myself since I moved here in '94. One, because they were in walking distance (important when hung over), and two, because they had really good (cheap) food.
Now that Ron's is now Robin's, the food is still good, but just not Ron's level. Ron's used to use red potatoes (skin on) for their home fries. Robin's uses normal Russets that are barely cooked.
I would be open to try other breakfast joints (like Young's), but breakfast out for us is usually a once a week spurge (watching the weight), and involves me running out of the house (un-showered, w/baseball hat) to get take out (being careful to be in & out before people can point at me in disgust and shield their children).
I will keep Young's in mind though as sometimes we have guests up, and the Dover breakfast scene really dries up on Sunday (although we recently discovered Robin's Sunday breakfast buffet is surprisingly good - for a buffet).
To any Doverites out there that enjoy Robin's, if you just want to eat breakfast, and don't care about eating there (and waiting 20-30 mins for a seat on a Sat), try the take-out. It usually takes 10 mins from call to being ready... sometimes I can't even get my shoes on and drive there fast enough.
Oh, Currants in Portsmouth is good too for a little more upscale (but not too upscale) breakfast.
In Dover, the Firehouse does a nice Sunday brunch buffet also, although I haven't been in over a year. Jake's does good takeout, if you can fight your way through the line at the door to pick it up. JR's also does takeout, although the quality of their food seems to be hit-and-miss.
Firehouse has done the "3 strikes/your out" with us in our book. The past few times I have gone for dinner I have received sub-par service and paid too much for sub-par food. My wife has actually gone there additional times for lunch and one time had to return a salad (because the leaves were brown)... how can you not get a salad right? Granite Rant has even gone there recently for the first time and vowed never to return. It is a shame because the building and decor are great. Maybe you can work on your buddy Koz to take it over, or influence someone else from the Academy to.
Funny story: One cold winter night, my wife and I were out shoveling snow for the oil guy (long story) when this woman, in her early twenties, dressed up in a short dress, thin long coat, and high heals comes walking up to us. My wife and looked at her in disbelief because a) it was freaking cold out, and b) we live on a dead end where no one stops by. She introduced herself and asked us if we had been to the Firehouse before. We said we had (but suppressed our opinion). She then asked if we would interested in a coupon for the Firehouse. Well the look on her face when we politely said no was priceless, she was stunned, and asked us if we had been there lately? We both said yes, politely expressed our opinion, and declined the coupon again. She walked away (in her heals, on the ice) in utter amazement. I secretly hoped she relayed our decline to the owners, and the owners started to question how they could be better... but I doubt that it ever happened.
Bah! Only a complite an totle idiotte wuld like the decor of that place.
I know what you mean about the decline. The last time we went was when we couldn't get into CCB. We ate upstairs at the Firehouse, and while my food was great, my wife's Chicken Marsala (a dish we had had there before and really liked) was almost like a thick and hearty chicken stew. I will give them another chance though, if for no other reason than I am desperate for another good place in Dover.