Dinner in Santa Barbara...

Last night, my youngest daughter, Jamie and I drove to Santa Barbara with our Honda Odyssey filled with a mattress, computer desk, clothes, etc to move my oldest daughter, Michelle into her new apartment.  One of Michelle's roommates met us at the door and soon after Michelle arrived with another friend.  The van was unloaded very quickly and food became the top item on our to do list.  We invited Michelle's roommate; her other friend left for work.

We went to Ruth's Chris Steak House at the La Cumbre Plaza and have a fantastic evening.  For one, I was in the company of three very bright young ladies who, we learned later, had garnered quite a bit of attention from the males working at the restaurant.

We were greeted by manager Kris and our very attentive and friendly server, Nicole.  Upon request, Chris was gracious enough to waive the corkage fee for the 2006 Denner Ditch Digger that we brought along.  Hospitable folks indeed!

Rather than order separate dinners, we decided to get several items and share.  This way, we could sample a variety of flavors and not walk out completely stuffed - easy to do here because the portions are very generous and the food so tasty that it's hard to stop eating it!

We started with the shoestring potatoes... a nice crunchy beginning to go with the first pour of the Ditch Digger - a fabulous wine, by the way - one that is filled with spicy, peppery, and dark fruit on the nose... tastes amazingly smooth just out of the bottle, then wham! - boysenberries and heck... I don't know... the wine simply explodes and seethes with flavors so mouth watering, almost Gothic, flavors of dark chocolate, pepper, mocha, and boysenberry pie!

Oh, back to the food.

We shared the seared ahi tuna - so tender and flavorful in a nice bed of ginger sauce... so refreshing... and a side note: the wine didn't back down for a second.

All the while, Nicole mentioned that we were the fun table and the one that the male servers wished they had.  Imagine me, two of my daughters and one of their friends... and I was completely enchanted listening to the three of them converse - oh yeah, I chimed in now and then but they have such incredible imaginations and were smiling all around... this is what great meals are made of.... the food is the soundtrack to the conversation!

Three of us ordered salads, with Jamie declaring that she would just help with what we couldn't finish... smart move.  These are man-sized salads with plenty of garden fare along with some nice touches around the fringe with miniature onion rings, or even Cajun spiced pecans.  Yummy!

Then came a single - what looked like 20oz - rib eye steak and the mushroom caps.  I challenge anyone to pair something like this with a big bold and elegant red from Paso Robles, such as the Denner Ditch Digger, and not moan in ecstacy!  Unless you really need to, there's no reason to buy steaks for every person (NFL players and others who burn calories on a sub-atomic level excepted) - each bite goes a long way.  The taste is incredible... for lack of a more explosive term... culinary bliss-ness!

The grand finale?  Two desserts - Chocolate Explosion (not on the menu) - an indescribable chocolate cake oozing melted dark chocolate, decorated with caramel and vanilla ice cream.... heck, I hope I remembered it well enough... then the Cheesecake... one of the best I've ever tasted... so creamy... and with a raspberry drizzle... drizzle... drizzle... (okay, it's nine a.m. the following day and I'm ready to go back already... )

Alas, the wine was gone... the dessert half gone... the smiles still there, the conversation still there, and a wonderful sense of.... wow!  What a fantastic way to celebrate or even just hang with family and friends.  Yeah, it's about the food, but it's more about the people. 

After dropping Michelle and Arielle off at their new apartment, Jamie and I drove back to Los Angeles and got home at midnight... and that was it... lights out... sweet dreams...

And here I am writing about it.

Thank you Kris, Nicole, and Ruth's Chris for a fantastic evening. 

You rock!

Cheers :)

Denner Syrah.... Ruth's Chris Anaheim...

What a combination... last night, one of our daughters flew in from Berkeley to be with her sisters for the youngest 8th grade graduation.... upon leaving the airport, we stopped at Ruth's Chris in Anaheim....

And I just 'happened' to have a bottle of 2006 Denner Syrah with me.... go figure!!!

First off, high compliments to the folks at Ruth's Chris.... we arrived at 8:30 p.m. and didn't leave until almost 10:30.... and, amidst what was obviously a very busy evening at the restaurant, the level of service and hospitality bestowed on us was top notch all the way. Not to mention the wonderful food.... shoestring potatoes, grilled ahi tuna, new york steak, stuffed mushrooms... and on and on... the flavors were incredible....

... and the 2006 Denner Syrah went perfectly with the meal. It's such a big jammy wine that, at first, one might wonder if there's anything but an over the top fruit bomb... but the finesse is exemplary... the finish just keeps on giving... delicious!

Kudos to both Ruth's Chris and Denner Vineyards for contributing to a wonderful evening out for our family.

Cheers!