Great. April 9th at 7:30PM at Johnny V on Los Olas it is. I will speak to Johnny V to see if he is interested in giving us his suggestions as to a menu once we decide on the wines that we are bringing. I spoke with the sommelier and the glasses and decanters should not be a problem.I doubt that the owner, Bob Woltin will be able to join us the enter event, but I'll see. So far the definites seem to be Rothko (2), Board-O (2), Gary(2), Emilio(2). Awaiting Mjbleck and Marlen and ??

Awaiting further thoughts.

PS -Anyone attending the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on Miami Beach 3/5 - 3/7

I'm still here and keeping up on progress, but can't promise anything until closer to the date. April can be a pretty busy time for me, but if I can free it up you can put me down for two (2).

Jc, why don't you join us?

I've been to a bunch of offlines and they seem to be either highly organized or bring whatever you want. Either one actually works well, but Since we'd probably like some white wine first, we'll need to arrange that. If you want to do one varietal of red, that is possible, or we could bring several. With the number of people we seem to be having, it'd probably be best to bring two bottles of each wine. If we have a single person, maybe that person could bring a dessert wine. Since we are arriving on the 6th, I don't think three days is sufficient for an aged Bordeaux to rest after a flight. Last time, we had ten days before the dinner, so the 1978 Margaux stood up undisturbed before decanting. Soince I'll need a relatively sediment free wine, I can bring Zinfandel, Syrah/Shiraz, or Pinot Noir.

At this point, we might handle a lot of this through group emails. gary, if you post your email address here, we can all email you to start a group contact list. If you'd prefer not to post your email address here, feel free to contact me at chemocurtis@hotmail.com.

Just one more sip.

Thanks Board-O, would love to, but Mona Lisa (my wife) and I will be out of town. We did meet up with the Rothkos at Disney World earlier this year for a quick get together.

Gary: We might be going to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival on that Saturday, if I can avoid having to drive down there. Yuck.

Anyone interested email me at chemocurtis@hotmail.com. I will send all the email addresses to gary44 who is making the arrangements. So far I have gary44, Rothko, and Emilio. Anybody else, email me.

Just one more sip.

Gary, Jcocktosten,

I won't be attending the Festival this year for reasons I posted here. If you do go please post your experience and if things have gotten any better since the first year.

I still think the best event in South Florida is Project Newborn which is usually the second Sunday in November. As it gets closer I'll post a thread with all the info and if anyone is interested in attending we can arrange to meet. This is a really nice tasting and much better/easier to attend than the SoBe Festival IMHO. (It's a charity event that gets very little publicity)

Emilio, I agree completely about Project Newborn. I missed this past one, but attended the November, 2002 with pyang. I hope to make it back down there for this year's event. Please let me know as soon as you hear anything about signing up.

Just one more sip.

I'll definetely post as soon as I get the specifics which is sometime in October. They usually have it the second Sunday in November, and I heard some of the organizers said they may not have it on the cruise ship this coming year but that remains to be seen.

Thanks. As soon as you know the date, please let me know. I have to make flight arrangements.

Just one more sip.

I’m sorry guys, but I’m afraid I am not going to be able to attend in April after all. I do hope to attend the next gathering.

Sorry you can't make it. If you change you plans, let us know.

Johnny V was great. The stemware was correct. The sommelier was very nice and polite.
We brought wine and were not charged corkage (bought a bottle as well). The menu is fabulous. Make sure you're seated in the back.
I had the venison chop and sausages which was out of this world. Everything ordered was outstanding.

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http://seattle.vinocellar.com

Sounds great! I am looking forward to the dinner on April 9th.

Gary also sent me an email of an article on the restaurant, which was quite favorable also.

I read that, too. I printed it out to read closer to the ate of the dinner.

Just one more sip.

Johnny V's must's on the menu are the blue corn calamari; the dolphin; portabella pancakes; the venison entree; the shrimp app and the chocolate cake -- the malted milk ball ice-cream was sublime.

We ate at Max's last night and corkage was $12 (gal told me on the phone $14 ) Great meal, lovely evening with that huge moon over the ocean. Diver scallops, Paella, lobster bisque (not too good), blue-corn calamari (again), delicious creme brulee. Service was excellent.

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http://seattle.vinocellar.com

All very nice things to hear. I had read that article that Gary sent also and like Board-O will read it closer to the date.

QOH,
Corkage was only $12.00 at Max's??? I'm surprised, but happily so! Thanks for the recommendations for Johnny V's. Looking forward to the dinner!

Just bumping this up, so any newcomers might see it.

Hey, run, don't walk, the Lord & Taylor in Boca is closing forever this weekend. Great stuff.

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http://seattle.vinocellar.com

QOH,

Uh oh....did you really have to mention that?!? Now I'll have to hide this thread from my wife!

Don't worry, too late, all the good stuff is gone.

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http://seattle.vinocellar.com

... since all you South Floridians are gathered here, can anyone give me some food & wine tips for Marco Island?

I'm going to be there for a week (3/6 - 3/13), and am not sure what my best dining options are. I've heard of a few places up in Fort Myers, but am looking for all the advice I can get.

Any help that you S. FL dwellars can offer on my Gulf Coast dining options will be greatly appreciated!


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cheers, y'all!

stemor,

I'm sorry but I can't really help you here. I go to Sanibel Island every year but I haven't been to Marco Island in many years and don't know of any good places to eat there. Would be interested in knowing if there are any but my guess is that most of the better places are in the Ft. Myers area.

Bump

Time for another bump...

See you in ten days.

Just one more sip.