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Jujube Recession Dinner Review (14-Apr-09)

chris wrote this on April 18, 2009

Charlie Deal, the owner and head chef of Jujube restaurant in Chapel Hill, has for some time now hosted  a series of economically priced “recession dinners” at Jujube. For $40, a patron gets 5 – 6 special courses not found on his usual menu, paired with a half glass of an alcoholic beverage. Many times the  food is based on a theme, as with his vegetarian dinner, while others are based on the drinks (cocktails for one and sparkling wines for another). More often than not, Charlie just decides on courses he wants people to try and works with Drew and Thomas from Hope Valley Bottle Shop to pair each dish with a value priced wine. Charlie himself even comes to your table to talk about each pairing before the course is served. Not bad for only $40! Regular guests of Trianglevino.com know that Leandra posts the dates of Jujube’s recession dinners as soon as they are available. On Tuesday April 14th I attended the latest five course recession dinner with the following wine / food menu:

Shrimp Toast with shaved radish salad
-Broadbent Vinho Verde NV, Portugal

“Chicken and waffles”
-Villa Wolf Rose of Pinot Noir 2007, Germany

Pork Confit with Asian pear and cabbage
-Hugel Gewurtztraminer 2004, France

Chicken Mole Poblano with crispy hominy
-Independent Producers Merlot 2007, Washington

Sticky toffee pudding
-RH Buller Victoria Tawny, Australia

What follows is not a review of the wines or of the food (which is always excellent), but of the pairing of each wine with its dish.

1st Course: B+

The Vinho Verde was very traditional in its style, with tart flavors of grapefruit, lemon zest, and pear combined with its signature spritz of bubbles. The shrimp toast had, as one would expect, a salty, “shrimpy” flavor to it. The wine added nice acidity to the dish, complementing the salty flavors of the food. However, both the shrimp toast and radish salad flavors were very delicate and needed a wine without so much sharp acidity; each sip essentially cleansed your palate of the dish’s flavors. A Chablis (or any lighter style white Burgundy), a Muscadet, or even a lighter bodied Riesling might have been better choices.

2nd Course: C

The light bodied rose served with this course never had a chance against this dish of good ‘ol southern comfort food. The chicken was breaded and fried, served with sausage gravy and thinly sliced waffle fries with asian seasoning. The wine was cold but couldn’t overcome the heaviness of the food or add any complementary flavors. A non-rose Pinot Noir or other light red would have worked better.

3rd Course: C-

Another mismatch. The bad part of this pairing was that the dish itself gave all the necessary hints of the type of wine you want to go with it. Cured pork jowls with asian pears; salty, meaty pork complemented with a light, refreshing addition of sweetness and acidity. So what wine do we get? A viscous, dry Gewürztraminer full of spice. You might as well have been drinking water because the wine had no flavor after the pork takes over your taste buds. This dish needed a high acid white wine to cleans the palate (like the Vinho Verde from the first course), a sweet wine to cut the saltiness, but is also heavy enough for a bold red wine.

4th Course: C-

I hate to be so negative, but this dish had no business being on a wine pairing menu. Don’t get me wrong. The dish was fantastic and was actually a sneak preview of the food that will be served at Charlie’s soon to open Mexican restaurant “Los Perros”. Its everything you want from Mole Poblano, lots of flavor and spice. But too much spice for a wine. Maybe the traditional “sparkling or sweet wine with spicy food” might have worked, but all you really want is something cold to quaff after a mouthful of this dish. I know its a wine review, but a crisp, clean finishing lager would have been perfect.

5th Course: A-

Desert with a  dessert wine. How can you go wrong? The toffee pudding was traditionally “cake-like” rather than the jello instant pudding style. The pairing was perfect. The thickness of the pudding muted the intense jet fuel-like alcohol from the ”port” and the Victorian Tawny added nice a hint of raisins to the sweet toffee flavors of the dessert. Could have gotten a higher rating with a more concentrated port but still deserving of a thumbs up!

If you have never been to one of Charlie’s recession dinners or to Jujube I strongly suggest you go for a meal. The food is excellent and I cannot wait to dine at the new Dos Perros when it opens!

-Chris

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