We decided to use a portion of the long Thanksgiving weekend to drive over and wound up staying at the Marcus Whitman Hotel (http://www.marcuswhitmanhotel.com/). The room was lovely and centrally located in the downtown area within walking distance of wine tasting rooms and amazing local restaurants.
On the way to Walla Walla we stopped in Prosser and tasted at Willow Crest Winery, Apex Cellars Winery and Milbrandt Vineyards. Willow Crest had a lovely reserve Chardonnay and Milbrandt (www.milbrandtvineyards.com) with a fantastic 2009 Estates Tempranillo.
Walla Walla has four distinct tasting areas appropriately named: Western, Eastern, Southern and Downtown. We began in the Eastern district which is situated right next to the regional airport. There appeared to be nothing going on, but we started wine tasting anyway hoping for a couple of new favorites. Our first stop was Trust Cellars (www.trustcellars.com). The tasting room is tiny, but packed with excellent wine. We enjoyed talking to the owner and walked out with a lovely 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Our next stop was Dunham Cellars (www.dunhamcellars.com). Every wine we tasted was amazing. I had seen their wines before and knew we could get them at Costco, so we skipped the purchase and left the tasting room which was full of wine club members who were hoping we were eavesdropping on their conversation about how great they were. Sigh... I would consider joining their wine club though just to own some bottles from the small batches that sell out.
Back in town we hit Seven Hills Winery where again we tasted some amazing wines. They are also available at Costco and I was hoping to find some smaller wineries that I might not be able to find in stores at home.
Our favorite winery, of the small amount that we were able to get to before closing time, was Otis Kenyon (http://www.otiskenyonwine.com/). When you walk you see the distinct bowler hat perched on a wine barrel near the register. Then you notice that the tasting table is wooden planks set atop more wine barrels. The mirror on the wall is framed in re-purposed boards from old barns. They were pouring only five reds, no whites (love this place!) and each one of them was so unique and incredibly yummy! We stayed, we savored and we even tasted some twice before buying. I purchased the 2008 Syrah. A must if you are in Walla Walla! Rumor has it they also have a tasting room in Woodinville, WA.
As I mentioned previously, hubby and I love to eat local as much as possible. At Trust Cellars we asked the owner if he had any great dinner ideas. He explained that there is a new restaurant in downtown on Main Street called Public House 124 (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Public-House-124/153888451332351). He said to go straight to the back and sit at the bar...no, not that bar...the bar at the kitchen, so we did and we were definitely not disappointed.
The place was packed when we arrived but we walked to the back as if we had been there many times and knew exactly what we were doing. Two chefs were madly cooking away and the smells coming from the kitchen were divine! The menu is full of small specialty items from small plates to sandwiches (burgers) and main courses. The wine and beer menus are full of local labels from both WA and OR.
My eyes and salivary glands quickly gravitated towards four items:
Pork Belly
Slow roasted pork belly with maple butternut squash puree, and topped with a crisp apple salad
No, I'm not that good...the menu is posted on their FB page. Have I mentioned that I love the show Top Chef? Of course I haven't...I've only been blogging for two days now. I love the show Top Chef! I can watch the marathon days that they have before each new season starts. It drives hubby crazy! Anyway, the chefs are always cooking pork belly and the judges are always raving about it...or the chef completely screws it up and a judge says, "Pork belly is my favorite thing. I heard you say the words and I began to salivate, but I have to say I am completely disappointed. You really screwed this up. Please pack your knives and go". Ok, so I made that up, but doesn't it sound a little bit like something Tom or Padma would say?
Pumpkin Salad
Organic sugar pumpkin salad with fried goat cheese, local greens, candied pumpkin seeds and toasted pumpkin vinaigrette
Kraut Kruga
German dumpling stuffed with sweet onion, cabbage, Red Poll beef, and horseradish creme Fraiche
Truffle Fries
Served with garlic aioli dipping sauce
So are you feeling my dilemma? These are all just small plates. The lamb on the main course menu looked amazing and the beef they were cooking up under our noses was slathered in an herb mixture that looked like it would taste spectacular.
I ordered up a glass of local cab sav and settled on the pork belly. Hubby ordered buttermilk fried chicken sliders that were served on homemade biscuits which are not on the menu this week. And what they came with were truffle fries! See, somehow I had to try the truffle fries. They were great, but not as savory as my pork belly.
The pork belly was perfect! They had been slow roasting it all day and before serving it they seared it in a hot pan. There was too much sweet maple in my squash puree, but the tart of the crisp apple salad with the pork and squash was an excellent balance. I could have ordered another but I was completely satisfied!
As we had been up since 4:30am that morning, it was off to bed for us. Stay tuned for my take on Red Mountain aka Benton City, WA.....
Enjoy!
Kirty :)
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