Did Someone Say Food? And Beer? Sign Us Up!!!

Food & Beer Pairing; Provisions Gourmet Market; Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Having previously tried one of the wonderful Food & Wine pairing classes being offered by Provisions Market in conjunction with Angela Ortmann (http://www.stlwinegirl.com/), Jay and I were more than happy to hand over the remnants of our vacation fund in order to experience the same type of format paired with glorious beer. Once again, the price per person to attend was $25, an incredible bargain considering the tastiness of the food and the generosity of the beer samples ... of which there were seven.

The first beer of the evening was their reception beer ; this made Jay and me both very happy because we didn't even know there was going to be a reception. They offered everyone a small glass of Bell's Winter White Ale - Bell's is located in Michigan, in case you were curious. This beer was nice and light but also had a bit of spice to it - it tasted great. And the staff was terrific about offering refills to those guests who wanted a bit more. Bravo and thank you for your generosity!

The Winter White was the only beer that I neglected to photograph - abject apologies to you all for my shortcomings!

Our first course once had all managed to seat ourselves was a Fontina & Arugula Salad with Blackberry Vinaigrette paired with Cantillion Saint-Lamivus (Belgium). They served the beer in a champagne flute and you will see from the picture below that it looks a bit like a sparking wine - it reminded me of a darker, heavier, more sour version of Rosa Regale. It's actually a Lambic and definitely had a tart, sour taste that I found unappealing. However, once paired with the blackberry vinaigrette used on the salad it transformed into a very smooth, lightly fruity tasting beverage that I really enjoyed.

This was the first time I'd ever tried a Lambic, which is brewed only in a certain region of Belgium near Brussels. The beer is produced by spontaneous fermentation if my notes are correct, and that is what gives the stuff its distinctive dry, somewhat sour taste.

Silence of the Lambics


Fontina & Arugula Salad


Our second course featured two beers, both IPAs, paired with Chicken and Sausage Gumbo. I am not a fan of IPAs - India Pale Ale - they are usually bitter and very hoppy and I just don't enjoy the flavor. We were served two of them to demonstrate a point, which was that while most IPAs need food to mellow their intensity some actually are drinkable (and tastier) without food. Color me surprised when I tested this theory and found it to be true. Who would have guessed that the Scientific Method could be applied to beer tasting? HAHAHA!!

The first beer pictured below is Southern Tier IPA (New York) - this one was puckered fish-lips bitter. To each his own but I don't see how people can drink a beer like this without some kind of food to cut that taste. The second beer pictured is the Avery DugganA Double IPA (Colorado) - and for some reason I liked this one a lot better on its own than I did with food. Just call me a fickle mush head.

Southern Tier IPA

Avery DuganA Double IPA


The first IPA definitely tasted better with food, especially something spicy like the gumbo pictured next. While the flavor of this dish was good, I didn't really care for it and thought the rice was undercooked. It was my least favorite dish of the entire evening. Strangely enough the second IPA didn't taste nearly as good to me with food as it did without. Like I said, earlier ... fickle mush head!

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo


Next up was Wiener Schnitzel with Gruyere Spatzle paired with Great Divide Tripel Belgian Style Ale (Colorado). The beer is pictured below and was one of our favorites - initially sweet it had a slightly bitter aftertaste which wasn't nearly as noticeable with food.

Great Divide Tripel


You will no doubt notice that I neglected to mention a third food item with our wiener schnitzel. Actually I didn't forget - there was no mention of a fried egg anywhere on the menu and it was a complete surprise. The presentation reminded us of a dinner item we had at Le Atelier in Las Vegas last year in a deconstructed / reconstructed kind of way! And just to show you all that I harbor no illusions about myself ... I thought wiener schnitzel was some kind of sausage ... I had no idea that it was some kind of flat meat dipped in bread crumbs and fried. You can laugh - I did - but since I don't eat German food all I can tell you is that the word wiener only means one thing in my world and it's usually prefaced by the words Oscar Meyer!

I loved the egg and thought the schnitzel was OK - the spatzle wasn't very good. By the time it was served it had congealed a bit and was lukewarm. In a word: gacky!

Wiener Schnitzel, Spatzle & Egg


Our fourth and favorite course came next: Baby Bison Burger with Tomato Relish paired with Morke Beer Here Pumpernickel Porter (Denmark). When Jay and I think porter we usually think dessert, so this pairing surprised us but it worked really well. And thumbs up on the bison burger because it was awesome - tender, juicy, and flavorful without being overpowering. The sweetness of the tomato relish worked really well with the porter. Once grilling season gets here (c'mon May!!!) I think we're going to have to try grilling some of Jay's signature ground-round wine burgers with a side of porter!

Pumpernickel Porter

Bison Burger with Cheese

The evening finished with dessert: Chocolate Bread Pudding with Vanilla Bean Mousse paired with Dieu du Ciel "Aphrodisiac" (Quebec). I had high hopes for this dessert and was a little disappointed - the bread pudding was pre-formed into something resembling a cupcake and its texture was cakey rather than light and custardy as I've come to expect. And you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought vanilla cream mousse was ... ummmm, I dunno, vanilla in color as well as taste. That mousse looked and tasted an awful lot like chocolate to me! It was good but not nearly as good as it could have been; then again, for the price, I shouldn't really complain too much. As for the beer, it was served two ways: slightly warmed and in a cute little plastic coffee cup and chilled in a champagne flute. The point behind doing this was to draw our attention to the fact that the aroma and taste of the same beer were very different when served at varying temperatures and can be used to complement food accordingly. It was a cool idea that we'd never considered but I guess it makes a lot of sense now that I think about it since the Europeans don't usually drink their beer chilled like we crazy Amerikanskis do.

Warmed beer

Chilled Beer

Chocolate Bread Pudding with "Vanilla" Mousse


They gave away cool beer glasses as door prizes - everyone was told to grope the underside of his / her chair and those lucky few would win a giftie. Woo hooty hoo ... Jason and I both had a golden ticket! We were nice, though, and gave one away to some people sitting at the table next to us - no need to be greedy after all. So check out our cool pair of glasses below!

We also bought two bottles of beer from the evenings program: The Great Divide Tripel and the Pumpernickel Porter. We also bought a full-sized bottle of Navan because I tried it last month while we were on vacation and liked it so much I needed to have some for our home bar. Navan is made by Grand Marnier - it's Madagascar Vanilla infused Cognac and it's quite the taste treat, especially if warmed up just a wee bit to release the vanilla. And it smells really good, too!

Tripel

Porter

Navan

Sushi in Stinktown - We Have a Winner!!!

After what has felt like an eternity, Jay and I finally found a decent sushi place not very far from our homestead on the outer fringes of Stinktown. Kitaro Bistro of Japan has been in business for at least a year but for some reason we never dined there - probably because of our snooty bias against purveyors of sushi in Stinktown, most of whom just can't compare with the fishie culinary joys we've experienced in Florida. The restaurant has a sushi bar as well as a main dining room and a hibachi area. They also have an extensive bar menu with a nice selection of sakes, which we will no doubt have to sample when we pay them another visit.

Honestly, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry when we first entered the restaurant - the hostess asked us if we were there for the all-you-can-eat buffet.

BLEH, NO!!!

We're here for sushi and nothing but sushi; seat us at the bar and let us rrrrrevel in the rrrrrrraw and wrrrrrigling fishes that taste so good nobody can eat just one order. It was really kind of sad ... all the patrons there were gorging themselves at the buffet which was mostly fried foods, some of which I'm not even sure were Japanese. Jay and I were the only two people at the sushi bar and apparently the only two people in the entire restaurant ordering sushi. And let me tell you ... we ordered sushi!!

Actually, before we ordered sushi we ordered a drink - a potent and very tasty beverage called the Volcano for Two. For the bargain price of $13 we were served a huge bowl filled with light rum, dark rum, triple sec, pineapple & orange juices, Meyers dark rum, Creme de Almond, and a splash of Flaming Bacardi. It's hard to tell from the pictures I took, but the shot of rum was ON FIYAH!!!

We loved this drink - it was potent and tasty and so much fun to share, especially with straws that were something like two feet long.





Once the alcohol was taken care of, we placed the first of our two sushi orders. In the picture below there is salmon, tuna, and hamachi nigiri, a spicy tuna roll (four pieces on either side of the platter near the nigiri), a pink lady roll (four pieces on either side on the back of the platter), and a rainbow roll.

The Spicy Tuna Roll included tuna, cucumber, green onion, mayo, smelt roe, and spicy sauce. It was very good and not nearly as spicy as I thought it was going to be. The Rainbow Roll, which is something we order almost every time we go out for sushi, was a traditional California Roll wrapped with salmon, shrimp, tuna, red snapper, and avocado. While this was tasty, I thought it was actually the weakest entry on the plate; it just didn't wow me like it has when we've tried it at other sushi places. However, the Pink Lady Roll made up for it - the roll was smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, tamago, and black caviar wrapped in soybean nori instead of seaweed. I am a big fan of the soybean wrapper because it's much easier on my tender tummy and we always try to order at least one roll like this when we can. Our only complaint with this particular roll was that it was a bit heavy on the cream cheese, which we though overpowered the rest of the ingredients. The nigiri, by the way, was everything that I hoped it could be and more.

We were so happy with the first batch of fishie goodness that Jay and I decided to place a second order ... cause we're incredible hogs and that's just how we roll. The picture below includes another soybean nori roll - the Yellow Rock, which was crab rolled with crab, smelt roe, scallion, and spicy sauce. This was good, but for some reason this time it was incredibly spicy so I didn't eat much of it - I don't think Jay minded finishing this one on his own. We also ordered two more pieces of tuna nigiri, two pieces of smoked salmon nigiri, and one piece of eel nigiri. The tuna was wonderful - sweet and light - but I didn't like the smoked salmon at all; it was too salty and fishy for me. And while I'm not opposed to eel I don't really like it very much so Jay had that one all to himself as well.

The last item we ordered was all for the hubby because I knew he wanted to try something weird and scary that I wouldn't necessarily enjoy. To that end he chose the King Kong Roll which was soft shell crab, cooked shrimp, asparagus, crab stick, and radish sprouts topped with eel sauce and spicy mayo. He loved this and said it was incredibly tasty. I, of course, didn't try it; my favorite type of sushi remains nigiri and I don't care for rolls that have a lot of sauce ... I am not, and never have been, a sauce kind-of-girl. But for those of you who enjoy some sauciness with your fishies this would be a terrific selection for you.

All in all we felt that Kitaro gave us everything we've been looking for in a local sushi joint - good service, fresh fish, and lots of variety. We definitely plan on dining here again when we start jonesin for the raw fishies again.

Spanish Wine Dinner

Ya Ya's EuroBistro - Saturday, September 26th, 2009; Chesterfield, MO

After years of traveling to other cities for wine dinners and booze tastings and yum-yums and generally tasty treats, I finally realized that Stinktown might actually have a few establishments that offered similar culinary entertainments. My research over the past six months or so has led us to some wonderful meals as well as some that we'd just as soon never speak of again. This particular dinner came to my attention, through of all places, the Stinkown Post Dispatch. Somewhat skeptical I called the restaurant only to find out that yes ... they were hosting a five-course dinner for $55 per person and miracle of miracles it was going to be held on a Saturday night!!!

Well, split us in half and call us a party of four because this time we're bringing friends!

And of course, being the worry-wart that I am, I promptly began to develop knots in my tummy: what if we'd just convinced Anila and her hubby to join us for a dinner that turned out to be something awful like that night at Soulards; what if they totally hated the meal; what if the restaurant served the wine in the wrong glasses??? My fault ... it would totally be my fault because I've been going on forever about how cool it would be if the four of us could share one of these dinners and if it bombed there would be no one to blame but me since I'd chosen it.

I have Grimace to thank for the over-developed sense of responsibility and the accompanying digestive ulcerations.

Just wanted everyone to understand why I was so anxious for this evening to go well. And it did, but we'll get to that momentarily. First, I'd like to share some really cool pictures of the weather at our house that afternoon about an hour before we left. Or, given the way the Crohn goblin has been this month, you might say that the photos are representative of the turmoil in my intestinal tract - haha!!

Stormy Weather ... where's Billie Holiday when you need her?





The storm didn't end up being nearly as bad as it looked - no cloud rotation thank goodness - but it produced some wicked lightning and thunder and a heavy downpour for about 30 minutes. Two of the neighborhood kids were out playing stick-ball while this unfolded and another child, only about four years old, was driving her motorized kiddie jeep around the cul-de-sac while holding an umbrella over her head. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight - on the one hand she presented a really comical image, but on the other hand that umbrella was an electrical conductor that could turn her into baby-shish-ka-bob in a heartbeat. What happened to the days of parents telling their children it's not safe to play outdoors in a thunderstorm, especially with lightning forking across the sky?

Thankfully no one on our street was turned into a Post Toastie by a random lightning strike on this day. Jay and I were able to leave the confines of outer Stinktown and cross the river with light hearts and empty bellies. Anila and Artan were already pulled up to the bar by the time Jay and I arrived, and we quickly joined them. Jay started the evening off with STELLLLLLAAAAA and I opted for a Manhattan. Mmmm, the bartender made a wonderful drink - not flat or flavorless or weak - strong with just a hint of sweetness.

There is one thing about these dinners that annoys me and it's this: they all indicate that there is a reception in the thirty minutes leading up to dinner being served, yet the only reception I've ever seen has been the party at the bar that Jay and I and our friends make. The word reception implies that there may be a free drink in the offing or perhaps a platter of passed yummies - if you're really lucky maybe it will be both; but to arrive in time for the reception only to find there isn't one is as frustrating as walking with a rubber crutch.

After spending some time chatting with our friends, we decided that we should grab a table and were promptly seated by one of the wait staff at a lovely, comfy booth that easily sat all four of us. I asked permission to post a picture of Anila and Artan so everyone can see what a handsome couple they are. Anila and I met at work - we've been in the same department for just over six years - and she is a great co-worker and friend. She and her hubby are originally from Albania and the history geek in me always wants to pepper them with questions about life in the former Soviet Union but then I worry that I'm being too nosy so I don't ask very much. They are also very accomplished and talented cooks; take it from Jay and Bendy, who have been treated to a meal ala' Anila and Artan, these two could open a restaurant and knock your socks off with their culinary and artistic skill. Jay and I are decent cooks, but these two put us to shame - they can cook.



It's Jay and Bendy ... getting ready for a pre-Food and Wine Festival gastronomic test run!



The first wine of the evening was Vina Esmerelda and for all intents and purposes was a Moscato. I found this to be an interesting choice because in our world, Moscato is usually a dessert wine ... not always, mind you, but a lot of the time. It wasn't a bad wine, but because it was being served in the "joker" glass ... read: not Reidel or even a proper flute or Riesling glass ... it didn't have much of an aroma. I didn't find the taste very appealing either, until the first course arrived.

And speaking of the first course, it was just what you might expect for a Spanish wine dinner: Tapas! In the picture way below all this text you will see a plate with four items - from left to right they are: Spanish Flatbread, Caracoles on Tomato Toast; Crab and Chiles; and Cured Ham with Peaches. In regard to the last item the menu indicates peaches but we all agreed that we were served pears rather than peaches, which are pretty much out of season by now.

While I liked the flatbread, I did have to pick out the anchovies and pass them over to Jay. I tried anchovies a long time ago and just didn't care for them - too salty and too hairy. I didn't touch the tomato bread tapas at all because it was loaded with s-car-go and Bendy doesn't do snails. Checking out was was left on my plate I reached for the folded, thinly sliced cucumber stuffed with crab and garnished with a cute little cherry tomato slice. Confidently I popped that whole sucker into my mouth and proceeded to chew. I then felt it was my sworn obligation to warn my tablemates that that crab had been spicy and I did so, while coughing and wheezing and drinking lots of cool water.

They all looked at me like I was a fool ... which I am.

"It's supposed to be spicy - it reads on the menu that it's crab and chiles."

"I guess I forgot. I didn't see any chiles when I picked it up."

Jay points at his plate and says, "That red garnish is a chile slice."

My eyes bugged out of my head and I said, "I thought it was a baby tomato! I ate the whole thing!"

The rest of the table dissolved into laughter. And who can blame them? I swear it was an innocent mistake. For one thing, I don't eat chiles because the Crohn goblin and spicy foods loathe each other and I don't like the aftereffects of their intestinal smackdown. For another, the lighting was a little on the dim side and I really don't see well; I think that mistaking a chile slice for a cherry tomato slice is perfectly reasonable for a woman who can't see past the end of her nose without prescription magnifying glasses. Once I was able to breathe properly I laughed, too; and we all agreed that the tapas was a lovely and unexpectedly amusing start to the meal. It was flavorful and colorful and definitely had us looking forward to the next course.

Our second course was listed as Missouri Aquaculture; this translated to the following: Fresh Water Blue Shrimp, Golden Trout, Heirloom Tomatoes (no chiles?), Late Summer Beans, Saffron, Chiles (I knew it was too good to be true!) and Olive Oil. This was served with a wine called Nora Albarino - a Spanish white wine that pairs really well with seafood. It was on the dry side but I find that as I get older I like that in a white wine.

As for the dish, I had a hard time eating it because the shrimp was still in the shell - it was a generous portion for sure but it didn't take long for Jay and I to decide that I'd better pass on this one or I was likely to end up eating shrimp shells because of the dim lighting. And eating a shell usually leads to disaster the likes of which you do not want to hear about. I really enjoyed the trout - it was light and sweet and a real taste treat. Jay liked this course a lot, especially the giant shrimp which he said was crispity and crunchity with lots of creepy feelers attached for effect.



A little surprise showed up at the table after we had finished the second course. It certainly didn't qualify as a palette cleanser ... I suppose we could call it a reverse amuse bouche. You can't tell from the picture below, and neither can I, but we were each served a skewer that had lightly breaded lamb tongue, lamb balls, and lamb liver.

Yes, I said balls ... as in this lamb was of the male persuasion.

I am not a big lamb eater ... just don't care much for the taste which to my relatively unsophisticated palette has a very strong, pronounced, almost gamey flavor. But I'd promised Jay that I would at least try everything placed before me this evening and so I went ahead and took a nibble of the tongue. It wasn't bad ... almost reminded me a bit of foie gras. Next up ... the balls! These were also surprisingly good; pardon the cliche but they tasted like chicken. And finally, the liver which was dense and heavy and just not to my liking one single bit.

Jay commented that the liver was quite distinct in flavor - something that people would either like or not like ... no middle ground. And in case you were wondering ... he liked the liver just fine as well as the other two "leftover" pieces that we Americans typically don't want anything to do with.



The third course was Ozark Mushrooms: Shiitake & Oyster Varieties with Aged Cows Milk Gouda, Farm Egg, and Smoked Pimenton Essence served with a Sierra Cantabria Rioja. Awwwww, crap! I may have agreed to try everything but I draw the line at mushrooms ... I already swallowed a chile by mistake and I just ate the private parts off a lamb, surely that counts for something? I hate mushrooms ... loathe, despise and abhor them ... never shall they cross my lips.

I will admit that I did enjoy the presentation, however; first the bowl with all the ingredients was placed before us and we were sternly advised not to touch anything because the the soup was on its way. Then our server returned with a tray of small, metal creamer pots and proceeded to pour steaming, mushroom-ey broth into the bowls. I did take a small taste of the broth and found it far too salty and rich for my taste; Jay finished two bowls of soup and pronounced them "so shroomy; so good!"

The wine, for what it's worth was a fruity Spanish red with what seemed to me a medium body; I really enjoyed it and thought it tasted great even without food.

The fourth course was Heritage Pork: Slow Cooked Pork, Heirloom Legumes, Handcrafted Bacon, Spanish Chorizo, and Wilted Greens served with Abadia Retuerta Rivola. By the way, the Stinktown translation for this dish is "Fancy Schmancy Pork and Beans." I took three shots of this one because it contained so much stuff that it was impossible to show it all with one picture.

This was really tasty and a very imaginative take on a traditional American comfort food; I especially enjoyed the chorizo sausage which Jay introduced me to a few years ago - it's spicy, but it's a mild spice and it has great flavor. Jay ended up finishing much of this course for me because it was just a little too rich and heavy for me and my tender tummy. The wine ... the rivola ... was excellent; a deep, dark red with lots of fruit and spice. It was definitely heavier than the previous red but I still liked it quite a bit. For you wine drinkers out there who enjoy big red wines I think you would like this one.

And finally there was the conclusion: Dessert Tapas which included Honey Nougat, Almond Cookies, Blue Cheese, and Raisin Ganache with Sandeman Oloroso Sherry. Jay and I also each ordered a cappuccino and they were fabulous - those almond cookies tasted great after soaking in their cappuccino bath. I don't recall much about the nougat but the ganache was too sweet and lumpy. And I know you guys will think I'm yanking your chains but I actually liked the blue cheese with the sherry the best of everything on my plate. And let me tell you about the sherry ... it was bliss! I'm not usually a fan of sherry ... I prefer tawny port ... but this was lovely. A gorgeous amber color with hints of gold, I thought it tasted like warm honey - smooth and slightly sweet. I would definitely buy a bottle of this to keep in the house ... as soon as space becomes available!

We were among the last guests to leave that night - the chef stopped by to talk with us for a bit; he was especially interested to know our thoughts on the surprise plate of "spare parts." The manager also stopped by to tell us that they were hosting a German Beer Dinner in late October. At first Jay and I were tempted to reserve a spot, but the menu is way too weird and funky for me to enjoy. We are holding out for the dinner Ya Ya's is supposed to host in November that will feature French wines ... we loves us some French wines baby, so as long as Jay doesn't have to work we're going to strap on our feedbags and chow down! We're hopeful that Anila and Artan will want to join us for this next culinary adventure ... I will do my best not to embarrass myself or them by eating garnishes best left undigested.

All I can say is that this is the best wine dinner Jay and I have attended since we went to one that Oceano Bistro hosted back in April. Everything was as good as I hoped it could be - wonderful and attentive service; imaginative and well prepared food; great presentation; and a personable management team. Ya Ya's is on our short list, and that's saying something, especially in Stinktown.

Wapango!!!

What's a Wapango, Anyway??? Saturday, September 5th, 2009, Chesterfield, MO

Not surprisingly, it took me a while to warm up to the idea of eating at this establishment. Anything of a South-of-the-Border origin tends to bring out my defensive eating tendencies. Inflammatory Bowel Disease and over-spiced food are not a blend guaranteed to bring digestive happiness for me or the hubba, who has to deal with me while I deal with spicy-butt. But thanks to the very positive reviews from some friends at work and a handy-dandy Restaurant.com gift certificate, Jay and I took the plunge into the world of Wapango, where they do their best to blend the cuisine and cooking styles of Mexico, Cuba, Central and South America in a way that isn't too weird and scary for Midwesterners bred on cow.

According to their menu, which is varied and quite appealing even to a picky Crohn like me, the name Wapango has its roots in the Huapango, a dance that is very popular in many Latin American countries. I'm cool with that as long as dining here doesn't result in my doing the toilet two-step all evening. The restaurant is located in Chesterfield Mall and I think the decor may actually be somewhat bright and lively but I can't say that with any certainty because they dimmed the lights at 3PM to enhance the "mood" according to our server and it really felt like we were sitting in pre-thunderstorm gloom for the remainder of the meal. I'm all for mood lighting when appropriate, but when the interior is so dim that walking outdoors turns daylight into a solar version of the ugly lights then it's too damn dark to eat.

In short, you may want to take a flashlight with you when you dine at Wapango, or perhaps a kerosene lamp.

Once we were seated and placed a drink order, our server quickly returned with some fresh rolls, butter, re-fried black bean spread, and something green that Jay said was similar to chimichuri sauce. The rolls were wonderful - hot and doughy and glistening with a last minute application of garlic oil.



Our beverages arrived shortly after the bread: I ordered a Pearl Plum Vodkarita - pearl plum vodka, triple sec, fresh lime juice, and sweet and sour served up in a sugared rim. It could have been too sweet but ended up being the perfect blend of sweet and tart thanks to the lime juice. Jay ordered a Dos Equis Amber - it was beer, what else can I say?

There was an appetizer option among the many choices on the menu that really grabbed our attention - it sounded like a lot of food but would give us a chance to sample a couple of different items and we loved its name ... The Carnivale! For the bargain price of $16 this awesomely presented treat includes an empanada de queso (a handmade turnover stuffed with a blend of three cheeses); Colombian arepa (white corn cakes topped with shredded pork, black beans, and Mexican crema); red corn chicken taquitos (fresh roasted chicken rolled inside a red corn tortilla with chile-orange mojo, Mexican crema, and pico de gallo); and tortilla crisps. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it?

It was. And wait until you see how they presented it ... Check out the pictures!

We had to take two pictures of it just to give everyone a better idea of how they bring it out to the table. It's so unique I really think it deserves its own theme music ... maybe something along the lines of Tequila or The Girl from Ipanema. In the pictures that follow, you will see the cheesy empanada and the chicken quesadilla, the chicken taquito, the tortilla crisps with cheesy salad sprinkled across them, and the arepa both whole and then split in half.

All of these items were very tasty and included with the selection was some pineapple salsa and even more re-fried bean stuff. My favorite was the cheesy empanada which was stuffed with a lovely, mild, gooey cheese blend in a warm, flaky turnover. I could have made a meal out of these, they were that good. The other selections were also good but some of them had a little too much crema or shredded green stuff and I had to be careful about eating too much of it. Still, everything had great flavor and it was a really fun presentation.

For my entree I ordered the Empanadas de Pollo, Queso, y Puerco (chicken, cheese, and pork) which was served with golden rice, deep fried plantains, and a wee little container of even more black beans (mmmm, the musical fruit). I was too full from the appetizer to eat all of this, so I took care of the cheesy turnover and had our server pack up the rest so Jay could eat it for lunch the next day while he was working.

Jay ordered the Crab and Spinach Enchiladas, crab and spinach rolled inside handmade spinach crepes topped with spicy cream sauce and served with golden rice and South American slaw. Jay said this was one of the best items he's eaten in recent memory - he would order it again and would suggest it to someone else if they asked him for a recommendation.

We were way too stuffed to order dessert, but our server brought out the dessert tray just to test our resolve. I must admit there were some tempting items like chocolate fritters with caramel dipping sauce, but we just couldn't eat another bite. Some day we're going to stop in for happy hour and order drinks, ceviche, and dessert ... not necessarily in that order!

All in all this was a very satisfying and surprising meal - lots of inventiveness and flavor without setting our tongues and tastebuds on fire. Yep, we will definitely be paying Wapango another visit and if they're a chain that happens to be located in your town we suggest you pay them a visit, too.