Summer Wines: Martin Códax Albariño

I was recently invited to Row 34, a restaurant on my “must try” list, to learn more about the 2012 Martin Códax Albariño.  At first sip, I was on board and after a meal of pairings I decided that I would definitely add this as one of my summer wine staples.  It has a really clean, bright taste with the crisp dryness that I like, but not too dry so those dinner guests, or I just was in the…

11/22 - 12/8: 30 MILES (x6 4-MILERS + x2 3-MILERS)

I turned 1 year older on 11/28 :)

...so my folks took us out for dinner at Steel & Rye, in Milton (photo 1) / all of us were so impressed w/ this place / kicked things off w/ terrific, Moroccan-style lamb meatballs lightly packed w/ harissa, served in a hot skillet surrounding a poached, runny egg + topped w/ a sprinkling of pine nuts and drizzle of Greek yogurt; also ordered mussels--splendidly plump, and stacked in a smoky lobster broth brimming w/ morsels of chorizo / both dishes were phenom / for a main, I ordered a whole roasted fish--branzino, a Mediterranean seabass--w/ fennel, olives, and tangerine, and couldn't stop loving how damn delicious it was w/ every bite / cocktails were great--tried the Lionheart w/ Rittenhouse, allspice dram, maple, and a hint of lemon oil / gigantic space, packed to the gills--after our meal, it's easy to see why / free valet parking and totally worth the drive (you can also take the red line toward Ashmont and get off at Central Ave., a 2-minute walk according to Google maps)

 ...then we headed to Rochester, NY for Thanksgiving and into the weekend, and John's folks took us to their friend Janine's newly opened restaurant, AVVINO (photo 3) / our meal was fantastic, start to finish: a PEI oyster w/ BBQ foam and pork belly bits; perfectly seared sea scallop w/ golden beets; quail stuffed w/ itself alongside creamy leeks / and two incredible, cult wines from Paso Robles: Linne Calodo's Contrarian and a beautifully bedeviling Saxum Heart Stone / excellence all around, and cheers to the bartender who let John, his brother Michael and I linger bar-side late, long into the night (photo 4)

...and then we came home on Sunday, unpacked, frowned into our empty fridge, and hustled through the rain to Row 34, Fort Point's new kid on the block / opened by the owners of Island Creek, the oysters were predictably outstanding--we sampled the buttery bivalves that made these guys famous; their immediate neighbors, the Row 34s (which--our server explained--are farm-raised on beds that never touch the ocean floor, lending them a nuttier finish); and marrowy Sunken Meadows from Eastham / their fluke crudo sprinkled with pistachio was lovely, along w/ their coconut milk-kissed mango and scallop ceviche / their white wines were perfectly, exquisitely chilled / layout is stylized, new penny-pretty / ...yet there's an intimacy that's lost w/ such high ceilings, and in its sheer enormity, it's hard to grasp the PR'd down-home, "casual" feel / although their menu is straightforward, this is still upscale, it's still (rightfully) pricey, fresh fish / feels more Seaport than Fort Point, but I suppose those lines blurred long ago / am curious to see how the menu, space and bevvies evolve (it's beer and wine only, for now)