Tag: walnuts

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Luxurious and Approachable Pairings at Via Italian Table

Via's Braised Short Ribs pair well with the Meiomi Pinot Noir.

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.

Via's Beet Salad, which is served with whipped goat cheese, balsamic reduction, fresh arugula, and fried garbanzo beans pairs beautifully with the Meiomi Pinot Noir.
Via’s Beet Salad, which is served with whipped goat cheese, balsamic reduction, fresh arugula, and fried garbanzo beans pairs beautifully with the Meiomi Pinot Noir.

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.

 

 

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Chicken Le Mirage

Chicken Le Mirage from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

Chicken Le Mirage from Le Mirage on June Street in Worcester

Worcester has its share of “genre restaurants”; if you want Italian, there are eighteen readily available. Pizza? More than twenty. Japanese? A dozen. But if you are looking for Middle Eastern or Mediterranean there is a small handful and even less if you are also looking for BYOB. Le Mirage is one of them. Located at the corner of Chandler Street and June Street, the only thing that might be considered small about Le Mirage is it’s physical space—and that’s a good thing.

I always find that if there is a dish that shares the name of the restaurant, it’s usually its signature. With the Chicken Le Mirage, they couldn’t have chosen a better representative. Modestly described as, “sautéed chicken with walnuts in a gorgonzola cream sauce,” they couldn’t undersell the dish any more.

An oversized portion of penne doppia rigatura pasta is served with moist, plump chicken medallions that are perfect both in size and flavor—seasoned with a light Italian seasoning that introduces a familiarity with the pasta. The Gorgonzola cream sauce had the optimal viscosity with a rich, bold, deep flavor without being too intense. The walnuts added a complexity and sweetness to the dish that offsets any bite that the Gorgonzola brings to the cream sauce. Topped with crumbles of Gorgonzola that melt into the sauce, there couldn’t have been a better way that completes both the appearance and depth of flavors.

The flavors and textures of this dish were addictive and define gluttony: although my stomach said to stop, my five senses would not allow me to leave anything behind, even though half of this dish would have easily satisfied my appetite.

I have a general rule of thumb with restaurants: try something different each time. Sadly, I will break my own rule during my next visit to Le Mirage. –LV