Amid Worcester’s shifting culinary landscape, Via Italian Table prides itself in offering a measure of tradition. Count on Via for new twists on old family recipes and the distinguished wines that compliment them served by candlelight. For seven consecutive years, this giant of Shrewsbury Street has received the Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. Select a bottle of the 2014 Meiomi Pinot Noir and prepare to immerse yourself in a rich marriage of raspberries and mocha.
Start with the Beet Salad, served with whipped goat cheese, balsamic reduction, fresh arugula, and fried garbanzo beans. Chevre has been known to overwhelm many a wine pairing, but Meiomi’s alluring bouquet of ripe wild berries rounds out the pungent aroma of the creamy goat cheese. Meiomi’s toasty oak notes harmonize with the Beet Salad’s crisp garbanzo beans and each juicy sip enhances beet filled bites of candied wet earth.
Order the Braised Short Ribs and get lost in new depths of the Meiomi Pinot Noir. The dish is served with potato gnocchi, tossed with walnuts and arugula, then finished with a light gorgonzola cream sauce. Meiomi offers hints of cola and spice to enhance the bold profile of robust shiitake mushrooms that give the Short Ribs their character.
Meiomi totes this Pinot Noir as both luxurious and approachable; the same could surely be said about Via Italian Table.