Tuesday Night Flights at Remedy Wine Bar

Want to know the sure way to spot a food blogger? Just observe our wacky eating habits – no one is allowed to touch their food until photos are snapped, we move food around awkwardly so it looks better in pictures, we’re constantly on our phones updating Twitter and Instagram.

If you ask our followers, it’s either great because we’re sharing our experiences, or admittedly really annoying if you ask our dining companions.

But that’s one of the best things about going to food blogger events, like last week’s wine tasting with Little Green Pickle at Remedy Wine Bar – we all are on the same page. No judgment about too many food photos there.

Plus, it’s a great way to make friends with other local bloggers:

–          Doniree of Nomadic Foodie

–          Annie of Serious Crust

–          Amy of Drink Portland

–          Kelsey of Ladies in Navy

And it is so fun meeting people you follow in the virtual world in real life. It’s almost like meeting a celebrity, you know all about them but have never seen them in the flesh. Perhaps that’s a little creepy. Nonetheless, it was so great to see these ladies:

–          Missy of Mrs. Maki Cooks

–          Jane of In the Pink and Green

–          Beth and Omeica of Talk Eat Drink Portland

It was one of the easiest and fun “networking events” I’ve been to since we all have one big interest in common: food. We talked easily for hours about cooking, restaurants, blogging and our love of food. No need to change the subject. It was a blast.

And yes, there was also great food and wine. That never hurts.

Located on the North Park Blocks in the Pearl, Remedy is co-owned by Michael Madigan, who also owns KitchenCru and Bowery Bagels, and Dan Beekley of CorksCru, all three of which are right around the corner. They recently opened up this beautiful space in what was once a small art gallery.

We got a wonderful tasting of Malbecs from Argentina, part of their Tuesday Night Flights series which offers two sets of three wines to show the differences between similar wine varietals.

Dan is unsurprisingly incredibly knowledgeable, yet completely approachable and unpretentious when teaching about wines.

I am a total novice when it comes to wine (I truly am one of those people who thinks “Pretty label? Fun name? Not terribly expensive? That’s the winner!”), so this was a really fun way to experience a variety of similar wines and learn more about what makes them different.

After the flight of three wines, I decided my favorite wine of the night was the Altos las Hormigas Reserva 2009. Granted, I know I’m still a long ways from being good at choosing wines. But now I know that I can just swing into Remedy or CorksCru and have Dan point me in the right direction.

The food was fantastic. Chef Ingrid Chen has an impressive resume of including Clyde Common, Aviary and Olympic Provisions. So it is no surprise that she makes some delicious snacks to complement Remedy’s wine selection.

In particular my favorites were:

–          Cheezy Bits: like little homemade Cheese-Its topped with Rogue Creamery’s powdered blue cheese (which I coincidentally tried for the first time at IFBC)

–          White Bean Puree Tart Flambe with Delicata Squash, Onion and Lardons: there isn’t much about that ingredient list that can make this dish go wrong.

I think Remedy’s website summarizes what they do best:

“It’s 4pm. You got to work at 6:00 this morning to catch up. You’re whipped. You just want to sink into a nice loveseat and have a glass of wine; maybe you want to chat with a friend, skim over your iPad, or read a book. You can’t make decisions, but you also don’t want to be at home alone. You just want someone friendly to put a glass in your hands and say, “Relax and enjoy. I got you covered.” This is a typical weeknight at Remedy, a new kind of wine bar.

It truly is like that too – friendly, comfortable, with a mix of patrons from a girls night happy hour to a woman working on her laptop. She was on to something. If I have to work at 7pm, I want to do it with a fabulous glass of wine at Remedy Wine Bar also.

BIG, BIG THANK YOU to Little Green Pickle, especially Jannie and Chloe for the invite and to Remedy Wine Bar for all the great food and drink! You all are the best and keep me very full and spoiled.