Below, every picture tells the story.

Pre-game: The chef explains the menu. He said: "This is not necessarily indicative of what will be on the menu at Spoon." Yeah, sure!

Main line: Mushroom Cappuccino

We had to drink this . Sommelier Scott Barber recommended it.

Novelty: Smoked Trout Roe and Smoked Uni with Duck Egg & Bottarga. This arrived with a transparent lid, revealing the swirling smoke within.

Main Line: Pan Roasted Arctic Char with Spring Pea Emulsion, Pea & Pearl Onion Salad with Truffled Pea Tendrils. Tom Spicer's pea tendrils atop the crisp wild arctic char.

Novelty: Homemade Fusili with Red Wine Braised Octopus Spicy Tomato Sauce & Bone Marrow. Could Octopus go mainstream in Dallas?

We didn't get drinking orders from sommelier Scott Barber to drink this, but we did share it with him.

Main line: Pan-Seared Braised Beef Tongue with Potato Purée & Wild Mushroom Ragout. Indicative of how a good chef can elevate beef tongue to the approachability of a standard muscle cut.

Unfortunately my dessert of Peanut Butter Mousse, Chocolate Peanut Crumble, Cocoa Nib Coulis, Caramel Cream & Chocolate Ice Cream was eaten too quickly for my camera to capture it.

I was an invited guest at this event. Great service was provided throughout the meal by the staff of Milestone Culinary Arts Center.

With Spoon Bar and Kitchen due to open this summer, Tesar may host  three more underground dinners in the interim. E-mail here to get on the announcement list and expect all of them to sell out.

Wednesday, February 22,  7pm: Honig Vineyards at Bailey’s Prime Plus with winemaker Michael Honig.

Thursday March 1^st, 6:30pm:  Paraduxx and Duckhorn at Ruth’s Chris in Dallas and Arlington.

Tuesday March 28^th, 7pm: Krupp Brothers at Nana with winemaker Tres Goetting.

Full details below.

BAILEY’S PRIME PLUS HOSTS HONIG VINEYARDS WINE DINNER

Four-Course Dinner with Winemaker Michael Honig

WHAT:

Bailey’s Prime Plus at The Shops at Park Lane will serve a special four-course menu from Chef Grant Morgan featuring the wines of Honig Vineyards on Wednesday, February 22 at 7 p.m. for $85 per person (plus tax and gratuity).

Bailey’s Wine Director Jennifer Jaco will welcome winemaker Michael Honig who will discuss the wines with diners.  A leader in sustainable farming, Michael sits on the board of directors of the Napa Valley Vintners Association, whose mission is to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley appellation and its wines. With his seemingly endless energy, Michael is often referred to as “the James Brown of the wine industry” and spends 75% of his time out in the world introducing people to Honig wines.

MENU:

Pan Roasted Sea Scallops, Water Cress Salad, Ruby Red Grapefruit Emulsion

Honig Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley, California 2010

Agnolotti Pasta, Braised Lamb, Wild Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions

Honig Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Premier Napa Valley’, Napa Valley, California 2002

Japanese Akaushi New York Strip, Grilled Radicchio, Huckleberry Marmalade

Honig Cabernet Sauvignon ‘Bartolucci Vineyard’ Magnum, Napa Valley, California 2004

Rhubarb “Sponge” & Cream

Honig Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest, Napa Valley, California 2008

RESERVATIONS:

Space is limited, reservations are required. For reservations call 214.750.8100.

WHERE:

Bailey’s Prime Plus Dallas at The Shops at Park Lane

8160 Park Lane, Suite 130, Dallas, TX

www.baileysprimeplus.com

Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Duckhorn Wine Company Celebrate the Exclusive Vintage Pre-Release of Paraduxx Across 81 Locations on March 1

Orlando, Fla.–— On March 1, Ruth’s Chris (www.ruthschris.com) will proudly partner with one of the legendary names of American winemaking when it holds Duckhorn Portfolio Wine Dinners in 81 locations across the United States. These exclusive dinners will feature signature Ruth’s Chris dishes paired with four of the most iconic wines from the Duckhorn Wine Company portfolio. In addition to Duckhorn Vineyards acclaimed Three Palms Merlot, which helped to establish Merlot as one of the New World’s great wine grapes, the event will feature the Goldeneye Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, Migration Russian River Chardonnay and the highly anticipated new vintage release of the Paraduxx Z Blend.

More details and reservation details at…

http://www.ruthschris.com/rsvp/duckhornwinedinner

Nana Holds Wine Dinner with Krupp Vineyards Winery

Join us for a special wine dinner featuring Krupp Brothers Winery on Wednesday, March 28th at 7:00 pm.  This event entails a dinner prepared by Nana’s Executive Chef, Anthony Bombaci; prepared with a array of Krupp Brothers wines. The winemaker, Tres Goetting will be in attendance. Experience an evening of fine dining with a panoramic view of Dallas from the twenty-seventh floor of the Hilton Anatole. The dinner will cost $150.00 per person, not including tax and gratuity.

Krupp Brothers Winery was founded after two brothers endeavor to achieve their goals. Jan and Bart Krupp, were businessmen who both shared a passion for wine. The brothers faced hardships at the beginning of their journey, but through perseverance they were able to succeed, and Krupp Brother’s Winery was born. Today the winery is a limited production artisan winery with hand crafting delicious, complex, wines from their world-famous Stagecoach Vineyard. They specialize in Bordeaux and Rhone varietals that were selected from some of the best blocks of our mountainous, rocky vineyards.

Though young, Tres Goetting is already a seasoned veteran of Napa and Sonoma’s wine industry. Tres joined the Krupp Brothers team in August 2010. A Napa Valley native, Tres spent the last six years as associate winemaker at Ladera Vineyards where he crafted award-winning wines from Napa’s rugged hillside appellations. Tres also honed his skills at St. Clement Vineyards, Domaine Carneros, Yorkville Cellars, Cosentino Winery, Tulocay Winery.

Nana is a restaurant with an inimitable sense of luxury and wonder, where its service, panoramic view of the city, and upscale American cuisine created by internationally-acclaimed Executive Chef Anthony Bombaci are simply astonishing. Hours are Sunday through Thursday from 6pm – 10pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm – 10:30pm. Nana is located on the 27th floor of the Hilton Anatole Hotel at 2201 Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX 75207. Reservations are available by calling 214.761.7470.  For more information and the menu visit www.nanarestaurant.com .

Werley confirms California Cabernet is the most popular wine category among the patrons at Pappas. So popular that she said she would have to check her records to find which of several also-rans came in second (white Burgundy is the likely contender). It was fitting that this tasting of a dozen Cabernet Sauvignons should focus on California. Nine of the wines in the tastings were produced in California.  Those choices were rounded out with one Ozzie wine, a rosé from South Africa, and a sample from Washington State.

Follow me.

My faves were the 2007 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “SLV”. Napa Valley, 2005 Geyser Peak Winery Block Collection ‘Walking Tree’, Alexander valley, Sonoma, 2008 Lewelling Vineyards, St. Helena, Napa and the 2011 Mulderbosch Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon, South Africa. The latter is a very unusual treatment of the bar room bruiser of red grapes. It is a delicate and aromatic rosé ideal for spring days on the patio (they are coming back, honest!). All of the wines served are available on the Pappas Bros. wine list.

While Pappas’ wine team poured the wine to patrons from three serving tables, the wait staff toured the room dispensing heavy hors d’oeuvres. Tickets were $55, which is typically the price of these monthly events. To hear about future events, e-mail arobinson@pappas.com and ask to be put on the list.

Two forays into their deep wine cellar are coming up in March: On March 2^nd a Beringer Wine Dinner with winemaker Ed Sbragia and Fred Dame MS. On March 23^rd What Would You Drink: Favorites of Pappas Bros. Sommeliers? is the next in the monthly tastings series. Call (214) 366-2000 to make reservations. A sellout for both is assured.

Bailey's Prime Plus Execuchef Grant Morgan

Execuchef Grant Morgan and sommelier Jennifer Jaco have settled in to their relatively new jobs at Bailey’s Prime Plus. Earlier this week, Bailey’s held a media dinner at their Park Lane location to showcase their new winter menu and tell us about enhancements to the wine program.

The wine program enhancements are exciting. The number of selections on offer has doubled from 300 to over 600 and Jaco is now building a series of ‘verticals’  (i.e. several vintages of the same wine) to offer depth as well as breadth. These numbers are in the ballpark for receiving a ‘Best of Award of Excellence’ certification from Wine Spectator magazine. There are only 907 restaurants in the world with this designation or better (and only 5 in Dallas) so it confers considerable prestige. The other side of the wine program is the acquisition of some interesting bottles from ‘off the wall’ places. She served us some with the meal (more on that below). The bottom line is that Bailey’s is serious about the quality of their wine program.

Jump for the bounties of winter. (But first a juicy tidbit: Jennifer Jaco is the girlfriend of Michael Ehlert, the chef Ed Bailey lured from DBGB Kitchen & Bar in New York. I spotted Ehlert in the kitchen at Bailey’s where he’s busy testing his menu for the soon-to-open The Chesterfield.) Okay, let’s eat.On the food side, Bailey’s is first and foremost a steakhouse and will not waver from that commitment. However, non steak eaters are by no means second class citizens. Grant Morgan showed how to present non-standard proteins in a fashion to create broad appeal. The positive reaction of our group to the duck breast, for example, is likely typical of how Bailey’s diners will see it.

On to the menu, which we present in 5,000 words (i.e. 5 pictures).

Raw Bar: Shrimp, Oysters, Crab Claws, Clams, Lobster Claws + Three Dressings

The remoulade sauce was especially good. This dish was served with sake, not wine. Masumi Arabashiri, Jumai Ginjo.

Mushroom Ravioli, sage Brown Butter, Chestnut, Aged Sherry Vinegar

Served with 2010 Chapoutier Belleruche Blanc, Côtes du Rhone. Look for southern Rhone whites on wine lists for crisp, earthy whites that go with non-red sauce pasta dishes, poultry and seafood. They are often lower priced than mainstream varieties like Chardonnay.

Scallops: Roasted Apple Purée, Butternut Squash, Black truffle Demi

Served with 2010 K Vintners Viognier, Columbia Valley, WA. Founded by former rock band manager Charles Smith, K Vintners wines have  become a cult phenomenon.

Broiled Venison Chop: Caramelized Turnips, Carrot Purée, Black Pepper Demi

There was a choice of main course. I had the venison and thought it wonderful. The extensive use of root  vegetables at this time of year is very good thing to see. It was served with 2009 Prima, Toro, Spain. A 90% Tempranillo/10% Garnacha in a highly extracted style. Can be drunk now or given a few years to soften.

Pan Roasted Duck Breast: Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Caramelized Onion, Cranberry Reduction

I did not taste this unfortunately. It was paired with 2006 Fontinafredda Barolo, Piedmont, Italy. Welcome in showing a little age but needs more time.

Michael Ehlert is slinking around Bailey's kitchen getting ready for The Chesterfield.

The winter menu is available now at all four Bailey’s Prime Plus restaurants.