Skinny Wine & Book Event

May 14, 2013 By 2 Comments

 Several weeks ago, I was invited to attend a book & wine event at a local restaurant I’d been dying to try downtown.  Not just wine- but low calorie wine.  And not just another diet book, but one that focuses on real foods for real people. We could taste these new wines & meet the author, Christine Avanti.

 The event took place at the patio at Haven, which a very popular restaurant that focuses on locally grown and organic fare.

 I was intrigued by this “diet” wine, which was offered in 3 varietals & had fewer calories than regular wine.  I was a bit disappointed that there was actually less alcohol (to reduce the calories), but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the wine tasted.  I tried the Thin Zin, Slim Chardonnay, and the Mini Moscato and the Chardonnay was my favorite, but I thought the Skinny Thin Zin was very drinkable too.

Quite a few people showed up to meet Christine & try the wines.  I was excited to see several familiar Houston bloggers in attendance & had a great time catching up with them.

 Christine was lovely to meet- she answered tons of questions and is really passionate about whole foods and getting rid of all the toxic things in our diets.  We snacked on several tasty treats that were from recipes in her book.

It was a really informative event to attend- I learned quite a bit about Christine  her book, and the Skinny wines.  We’ll definitely be headed back to Haven to try dinner there some evening- sans camera crew of course!

I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, but I’m very much looking forward to it & I know that eating (more) clean is becoming an increasingly important thing to me.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hubby is getting some exciting projects at work – always happens right before we head out of town.

Filed Under: review, wine

Flyte Wine Bar in Nashville

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Back to our weekend adventure in Nashville, we decided to continue our wine bar adventures and try Flyte.  Hubby had been there before on a business dinner & had the opportunity to “sit behind the curtains” in the kitchen, but snagged a cozy both on a Thursday evening.

 The restaurant had a more traditional bar section and then also a dining area, even though my iPhone didn’t take very good photos in the low light.

 Ki loved the way their wine menu was laid out- easy to navigate and extremely descriptive, plus it was reasonably priced and quite diverse.

Everything on the menu was locally sourced and our meal was delicious, if a bit eclectic for my personal tastes.

We started out with “The Stranger” wine flight after we were given a complimentary glass of champagne, and then moved onto a delicious bottle of Chenin Blanc.

 We shared a delicious cheese & meat board to start our night & finished off with an incredible chocolate mouse.  It was a wonderful & quiet night out in Nashville before we headed downtown to listen to live music.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Another whole week at home, mostly working on new house stuff & getting ready for our big trip.

Filed Under: Married Life, Travels ->, wine

Philppe Wine Dinner

April 6, 2013 By 1 Comment

 Earlier this year, I was excited to see on Houston wine blogger, Vineslueth, that Philippe was hosting a guest sommelier series of wine tasting this spring.

 We’d never diner at Phillipe & we learned that Phil’s Wine Lounge had been renovated in the last year & was quite a hopping place to meet for business cocktails and other intimate meetings in Houston’s Galleria area.

 In addition to the cozy booth areas, there is a regular bar set-up, a community table where our tastings took place, and the main restaurant was upstairs.

 We arrived to find a table for a small group all set up for our tasting & meeting other wine affectionados was one of our favorite parts of the evening.

 With each tasting, we received a delicious cheese plate with some extra tasty nibble- I can’t remember what the green appetizers were, but they were yummy.

 The decor of the restaurants was every European and intimate, and they offered a large private rooms for parties.

 With the table set, we each received a tasting sheet- with the names of the wines we were tasting & room for notes.

 We attended the “new” Chardonnay’s wine tasting & the sparking wine dinner- both of which we enjoyed greatly.  I would probably list Chardonnay as my least favorite varietal of the major ones, but we tasted some really delicious Chardonnay’s that were making me consider giving it another shot.  The sparkling wine dinner was also awesome- I loved the variety of sparkling wines we tried & I’m excited to venture more into these types of wines as the summer approaches.  We really enjoyed meeting the guest sommeliers from some of the best Houston restaurants & can’t wait to go back to Philppe for dinner in the near future.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  Perfect Saturday- working out, reading, nap, shopping, and catching up on errands.

Filed Under: wine

Solea Cafe & Wine Bar

March 15, 2013 By 2 Comments

We attended an event in town last week & had the opportunity to try yet another Houston wine bar, this one called Solea Cafe on Shepherd.

 

Always excited to see outdoor & patio dining, especially during this beautiful spring weather that we are having right now.

 

 The only drawback is that Shepherd is VERY busy and the traffic can be quite heavy, especially during nightly rush hour traffic, but the couches are a nice touch.

 Inside is a variety of tables & booths with a stage in the corner.  It’s really challenging to find live music in Houston, so I’m thrilled to see they have artists on several night a week.

 The do have a dedicated bar area & I’m really happy that they offer a full liquor bar and not just beer/wine.  It makes a great pick when I go out with people who don’t drink wine.

 The happy hour menu offered some good deals & they have a nightly recurring special.   I wouldn’t give the bar high marks for wine selection, and our server wasn’t the most knowledgeable

 Solea has been open almost a year & it was encouraging to see a good crowd there early on a Thursday evening.

 We at off the tapas menu & had several round,including the calamari & flank steak- both of which were delicious.

 There were no private rooms, but this little side area offered some privacy & a more relaxed setting.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Excited to get off work early after a long week of work & traveling. 

Filed Under: houston, review, wine

Sonoma Heights Wine Bar

November 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 We haven’t been visiting nearly as  many Houston Wine bars as we did in the past few years, but I was excited to get out several weekends ago to the newly opened Sonoma Wine Bar in the Heights.  It’s just around the corner from my old house & I was excited about a swanky new place with a great rooftop bar. Sadly, the rooftop wasn’t open when I was there because they only had one bartender in the early afternoon.

They have a smaller patio off the back, but it was still a bit warm to be sitting outside at 2PM in October in Houston.  The inside is decorated with gorgeous shades of purple & grey in the little living room area.

We’d stopped in here on a Friday evening several weeks back & the place was packed, even during their soft opening.  The bar was full, enjoying the view out towards Studemont.

 They have a very nice snack/appetizer menu, and a somewhat limited regular food menu (but I think they may be expanding it soon).  It’s bright & airy, with high ceilings in the main seating area.  The wine selection was pretty good, but the parking in the area can be difficult when the place gets crowded.

Overall, really impressed & I imagine we’ll be back there quite a bit in the future- especially on days we can enjoy the rooftop.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Tickled pink with about 90% of the election results from last night!

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