Sunday, October 28, 2007

Zinfandel Grille: Gold RIver

Zinfandel Grille
2220 Gold Springs Ct
Rancho Cordova, CA 95760
916.852.0214
http://www.zinfandelgrillegoldriver.com/

Kobe steak



Pork Loin

Bread Puddin



I started of the night with a glass of wine. I feel lucky that there are so many good wineries in California. The Zinfandel Grille features local wines, this is one of the things I really like about this place.

The wine I had was:

2005 VENTANA PINOT NOIR

“Our Pinot Noir was harvested after a long mild growing season just perfect for this varietal. This resulted in a wine that has an explosion of vibrant cherry flavors with a delicious hint of milk chocolate. Lengthy barrel aging in French Oak for over 18 months gives the wine structure and vanilla tones. This food friendly Pinot Noir will be a very pleasing accompaniment to almost any entrĂ©e from almond encrusted salmon to duck in cherry reduction sauce.” Link

This was a nice wine. It was smooth with a little bit of the cherry. I could not taste the milk chocolate because I do not think my palate is that sophisticated or they have a very imaganitive author. J It was very drinkable and went well with my pork loin.

These are the entrees we had:

Grilled Kobe Steak with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and baby summer squash. The steak was seasoned an cooked perfectly as requested, medium. It may be time to change the menu soon, baby summer squash in late October? Hmm. Nonetheless this was a good dish.

Grilled Niman Ranch Pork Loin: Served with creamy Parmesan polenta and baby green beans.
Topped with roasted nectarines.

I ordered this minus the polenta and substituted the garlic-mashed potatoes. I had a very bad experience with polenta once so I try to avoid it. I just do not like polenta or risotto. This was delivered as requested: medium rare. I like my pork medium-rare. The picture does look quite pink, but it was cooked just to perfection. The roasted nectarines sweetness complemented the pork and the green beans were cooked al dente. Another good dish.

White Chocolate & Cherry Bread Pudding warm and moist bread pudding. With fresh cherries and the perfect touch of white chocolate. Served with vanilla gelato.

Can we make it three in a row? Yes. Warm bread pudding with chunks of white chocolate mixed in…yum! The chunk of white chocolate provided a nice textural contrast to the bread pudding. The cherry gave just little extra tartness/sweetness in every few bites. Topped off with a vanilla bean gelato pulled the whole dessert together.

I am not quite sure why this place is not packed on a Saturday night. I suppose everyone goes downtown to have dinner. I have always been happy with the rustic, simple, properly cooked food at the Zinfandel Grille, both this one and in Sacramento.
My rating = 15/20 = Very Good. I would miss a Chicago Bears game to eat here.

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