This is how it’s done!

For Matt’s 33rd birthday he requested I make lobster rolls from Thomas Keller’s (of Bouchon & French Laundry fame) lobster rolls from the Ad Hoc cookbook. I was a little leery at first because while I admire Keller’s precision and formidable skills his recipes seem a bit unnecessarily complicated. Turns out it was no big deal. The work is all in the prep (hello picking 5 lobsters) and then assembly. Plus you end up with tons of shells to make stock for a winter fish stew.

Matt brought a gorgeous Champagne that has a great balance between dry and citrusy and bready, toasty notes. Larmandier-Bernier ‘Terre de Vertus’ NV is a naturally made, grower Champagne that retails for $78.99. It is a Brut Nature Blanc de Blanc which means no sugar was added during fermentation (also called dosage this is a common practice for many Champagnes, some more than others) and it was made from all Chardonnay grapes. The result is a superb wine that reminded me why Champagne is so special.

Quite simply, it all rocked.

This is how it’s done!

For Matt’s 33rd birthday he requested I make lobster rolls from Thomas Keller’s (of Bouchon & French Laundry fame) lobster rolls from the Ad Hoc cookbook. I was a little leery at first because while I admire Keller’s precision and formidable skills his recipes seem a bit unnecessarily complicated. Turns out it was no big deal. The work is all in the prep (hello picking 5 lobsters) and then assembly. Plus you end up with tons of shells to make stock for a winter fish stew.

Matt brought a gorgeous Champagne that has a great balance between dry and citrusy and bready, toasty notes. Larmandier-Bernier ‘Terre de Vertus’ NV is a naturally made, grower Champagne that retails for $78.99. It is a Brut Nature Blanc de Blanc which means no sugar was added during fermentation (also called dosage this is a common practice for many Champagnes, some more than others) and it was made from all Chardonnay grapes. The result is a superb wine that reminded me why Champagne is so special.

Quite simply, it all rocked.

This past April I took a trip to Spain (partially solo, the other part with my brother Luke) and explored as much as I could of Madrid and Barcelona. No trip of mine is complete without looking up hot restaurants and exploring the food. Did I tour wineries? Nope, this trip was about anything but work. Of course I can’t help notice things that relate to work along the way, and this is a topic I knew I had to blog about when I got back: Wine Lists.

One would think that being in a country that produces so much excellent wine would mean that every place I went would have wonderful, interesting wines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the places I went to eat the wine selection was mediocre at best with lots of mass produced juice featured prominently. While this seemed surprising at first when I thought about it made sense. These wines have known brand names, most restaurant owners know little about wine (this seems to be universally true) and putting together a great wine list is serious work. It requires wine knowledge, research, good relationships with small distributors, the aptitude to bring in wines in multiple styles and price points and a little bravery to feature wines that need to be explained to be appreciated. One exception was Bar Mutt in Barcelona. The food was divine, the wine list fantastic (recognized many of our labels) and the service dismal. Oh well, can’t wine them all.

So the next time you visit an independent restaurant with a great wine list keep all that in mind when you order a bottle. A great wine list is a thing to be appreciated all on its own.

This past April I took a trip to Spain (partially solo, the other part with my brother Luke) and explored as much as I could of Madrid and Barcelona. No trip of mine is complete without looking up hot restaurants and exploring the food. Did I tour wineries? Nope, this trip was about anything but work. Of course I can’t help notice things that relate to work along the way, and this is a topic I knew I had to blog about when I got back: Wine Lists.

One would think that being in a country that produces so much excellent wine would mean that every place I went would have wonderful, interesting wines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many of the places I went to eat the wine selection was mediocre at best with lots of mass produced juice featured prominently. While this seemed surprising at first when I thought about it made sense. These wines have known brand names, most restaurant owners know little about wine (this seems to be universally true) and putting together a great wine list is serious work. It requires wine knowledge, research, good relationships with small distributors, the aptitude to bring in wines in multiple styles and price points and a little bravery to feature wines that need to be explained to be appreciated. One exception was Bar Mutt in Barcelona. The food was divine, the wine list fantastic (recognized many of our labels) and the service dismal. Oh well, can’t wine them all.

So the next time you visit an independent restaurant with a great wine list keep all that in mind when you order a bottle. A great wine list is a thing to be appreciated all on its own.

Let’s celebrate love!

We have been hard at work on a great menu for Valentine’s Weekend and wait until you see it. It is prix fixe for the first three courses and the desserts are all new. We will have great wines just to pair with each course, to celebrate and just enjoy.

We are accepting reservations so please call as early as possible, 540-373-3338.

Our Valentine’s Weekend Menu –

Starters
Arancini, Fried Risotto Balls w/Virginia Grayson Cheese
or
Kyle’s Famous Baked Oysters with Creamy Bacon and Leeks

Soup/ salad
Roasted Tomato Soup
or
Fennel and Arugula salad

Main Dish
Sweet Paprika Garlic Chicken w/ Pasta
or
Tenderloin Tagliata

Desserts (not inclusive in prix fix dinner)
Buttercream Frosting Whoopie Pie
House-made Icewine Marshmallows

$35 per person, not inclusive of dessert, wine flights, tax or gratuity.

We will also be offering a flight of wines to pair with each course.

kybecca Consolidates Retail Stores To Downtown Location

As a result of Ukrop’s closing kybecca has decided to consolidate the store at 4264 Plank Road with the original location at 400-402 William Street. Ukrop’s was the anchor tenant that provided traffic and synergy, and their closing has made this location redundant. Our last day at the Plank Road store will be March 2, 2010.

Our downtown location of kybecca wine bar & shop will absorb the inventory, web store and services. All gift cards sold remain effective at our downtown Fredericksburg retail shop and wine bar. We look forward to placing our full attention and resources into making kybecca wine bar & shop a continued success.

Thank you to all who patronized the Plank Road location and voted us once again ‘Best Wine Selection’ for the Fredericksburg Guidebook’s Freddy Awards. We will continue the tradition of sourcing the best small producer wine and beer and knowledgeable customer service that kybecca has built its reputation on.

Cheers
Kyle, Rebecca & Matt

P.S. From now until March 1 all cigars, magnums and glassware are 25% off.

Last night I sat down at the wine bar with my good friend Kellie to have dinner. This is always a risky proposition because the unspoken rule when you own/run a restaurant is if you are on the premises and needed, you are working. However I really wanted to eat the menu for restaurant week. Kyle had been working on it diligently and I had sampled enough of his trials that I knew it was going to be really good. So I took a chance, picked out a bottle for us to share and sat down.
It is always a challenge to pick out one wine to go with several courses, and mostly nearly impossible. However I had just tasted this new Spanish wine that had really impressed me and thought it’s weight just might do the trick, even with the beef.
Ovo is a new import to the US and the kind of wine only a small, devoted wine shop can sell. It is a varietal not too many people have heard of (Albarino), from a relatively unknown region (Rias Baixas), that retails for $30 ($45 in the wine bar). Not exactly a slam dunk in the world of wine sales, but I had to bring it in even if I was the only one drinking it. Albarinos tend to be very fresh, clean wines with a zippy backbone and lovely orchard fruit aromas. This one is left on the lees in open cement containers for 6 months to become this rich, mellow white with flavors of pear, almond, orange peel and candied citrus. It is bone dry and unusual in the best possible way.
I am happy to report it went perfectly with all three first courses and stood its ground with the truffle-butter tenderloin very well. What this proves is that the rules of wine pairing can be broken, you just have to know when. That’s what we are here for.

What does this have to do with wine? Well, nothing but I thought it was really nice.

Wishing you
In your busy life,


Time for Relaxation


Good Sleep

Good Health with Exercise

Someone to Dance With

.. a Bit of Adventure

Good Looks


But Most of All …

I Wish You Lots of Bear Hugs

And The Comforts of Real Love

Many Blessings…


May you always have love to share, health to spare, and friends that care.

But watch out for those darn penguins!

Do you ever feel like doing this to someone?

It’s no secret we are avid home cooks. In fact after all this time it is still our favorite thing to do and even better when we take home a wine that really sings with our dish.

Last week I made a creamy seafood pasta with American scallops and Alaskan wild-caught Salmon fish roe from Vital Choice (a seafood website I highly recommend), you can see the result to the left. I am the pasta queen. Having cooked for 5 to 7 people for years now, I have made lots of pasta, some fancy some some not. This one was made with fettuccine cooked just under al dente and then mixed into cream, grated sheep’s milk cheese (I used Hirtenkase from our shop), lemon juice, white wine, lemon zest, pink flake salt (also from our shop) and scallops. Top with salmon caviar and you have perfection. The trick with this kind of pasta is timing. Don’t let the pasta sit dry while you work on the sauce, and serve immediately once the consistency is correct (creamy, not too thin or thick).

The pairing with the Pierre Frick Sylvaner is what knocked our socks off. This Alsatian wine is another gem from distributor and importer Williams Corner wines. Pierre Frick is a pioneer of biodynamic farming in Alsace, starting the practice in 1981. All wines are certified biodynamic and fermented naturally with wild yeasts and spontaneous fermentation. Minimal sulfites are used – 15 parts per million where the maximum allowed in Alsace is 200 parts per million. Unlike some other Alsatian producers the Pierre Frick wines aim for low alcohol and terroir-driven wines, so while each wine shows its varietal character they all have an underlying signature that speaks of their terroir. This dry white showed lovely ripe apple, mineral and soft citrus flavors that made our dish really come to life.

We will be sampling this wine at our William street store December 11 from 4-8p and the Pierre Frick Muscat at our Plank Road store (same time).

It’s true. This year we threw up our hands and decided we weren’t going to try and figure out what people wanted but what we wanted to sell. Our Thanksgiving Picks are a bit reckless but we have a solid defense, they are all fabulous food wines that will play nice with your Thanksgiving meal. In fact we went so far as to not include a Pinot Noir. Scandalous! What we have are wines we love, want to drink and feel really good about selling because they come from real winemakers who still produce from their land and hands. No big box store (or fancy grocery store) can say the same.

In fact Northern Virginia Magazine came calling to see what we were doing and ended up writing about it, check it out here.