WTN: Bojo w/mac&cheese; LI,Rhone, Languedoc w./Indian

Since Monday I had gone to city for Spanish meal, we moved our Meatless Monday to Tofu Tuesday. But Betsy had rehearsal and I decided to just cook with what was at home, so no tofu. 6 cheese & mushroom mac and cheese, cabbage with caraway, salad. Wine was the 2008 JP Brun/Terres Dorees "L'Ancien" Beaujolais VV. After a bit of air really showing well, spicy red raspberry/cherry, freshly turned earth, medium to light body but with concentration and a long finish. A-/B+

We both had big days Wednesday, decided to try Orissa, a new restaurant in town, Indian with a wine bar (?!?!). We just ordered 3 glasses:

With steamed calamari in a red chili, lemon, and roasted garlic sauce (my favorite dish of the night), the 2008 Bassac "Isa" Blanc.
Rhonish, floral and slightly oily, peach fruit. Good acidity for a southern wine, tasty. B

For mains, I got lamb korma and she got lamb chops with a tomato chutney and garlic spinach, we shared garlic naan. We each had a glass of red:

2007 Estezargues "Gres St. Vincent" Cotes du Rhone  
Ripe and full, herby, modest acidity, nice length. B 
 
2007 Pellegrini Vineyards Merlot
Coffee and a little burnt rubber on the nose. Low acid, soft, not my style. A bit stinky, seems slightly off (maybe bottle open for a while?) C+
 
Nice enough restaurant, though the owner's mother was on duty as chief schmoozer and could use hints of when to visit table (NOT to come chat the second the main courses arrive), though she was nice. Happy to have another option in town.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.  

Nice notes as always. I really need to try a JP Brun one of these days.

Re. the Indian restaurant, is it in the city area or in the Dobbs Ferry/Westchester area? And how were the naans? Naan and tandoor-cooked kebabs are the two aspects of Indian food I have not been able to find any good sources for since moving out of Chicago (and unfortunately neither can be replicated at home).

Naan was most disappointing part of meal. Usually if I'm disappointed, it's because it's soft and doughy. This was thinner and crisper, but bland and I thought maybe the garlic has been minced way ahead of time and dried out. Calamari was really good, lamb korma was competent, chops were ok though well done (hard to get medium rare with single chops), but chutney was great, naan was disappointing

Oh, and it's in Dobbs Ferry. I'm not thrilled with it, but it is a possibility on a night when we're too tired to cook (the space is nice, but I also saw people picking up orders).
*Dobbs has multiple pizza and takeout Chinese places, but for other restaurants:
*couple pub/burger places
*couple old style Italian American (I just don't go out for that)
*one place by river with decent seafood etc, but a little expensive for what you get (that said, spectacular view, and a lot better than the Chart House that was there before, which proved the axiom "the better the view, the worse the food")
*one ok greek place
*one really good, well priced, inventive Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, it's small, with hard surfaces, and very popular, so always packed and noisy.

So even a middling Indian is a plus for variety. Of course, a short drive brings other possibilities.

Oh, and one humorous moment I forgot. Someone asked waiter about a white on list, he said " oh, it's very nice, with lots of duckberry." (I'm assuming someone told him to say gooseberry)

Oh, and one humorous moment I forgot. Someone asked waiter about a white on list, he said " oh, it's very nice, with lots of duckberry." (I'm assuming someone told him to say gooseberry)

LOL!! Of course, as we all know, in Dobbs Ferry there's only one foodie dining destination: Betsy's dining room, with Dale as sommelier

Mark Lipton