Gearing up at The Grind!

Drink ‘em if you got ‘em, because we have a lot to cover this week. From famous acts to kitchen construction, from new wines to a wine tasting in conjunction with The Fudgeboat, there is a lot of information to impart. A glass of wine may help. Or three.

Anyway, let’s start at the beginning. We received our construction schedule last week, and it appears we will be ready for a soft open at the beginning of May. Demolition starts next week, and we expect to have our grand opening on May 15 – which just so happens to be our one year anniversary. So, start the countdown, and go ahead and get your appetite fired up.

We had a good wine tasting Thursday, and then some special entertainment on Friday. Dave and Jeremy played (and they always sound great together), but during one of their breaks, a duo by the name of “Everly” got up and cranked out a few of their originals. They are preparing for a show in Nashville, so asked us if they could use The Grind for practice. You can check out their music here:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=426946527

You may recognize Joy, as she is about to enter her seventh season as one of the lead actors on “One Tree Hill.” She loves our place (yes, some actors have good taste!), and we love having her here. She and Amber have fantastic voices, and they got a great response from the audience. We told them they could practice here anytime they wanted.

Dave was back Saturday night, and had some enthusiastic fans, and there was a fair amount of wine flowing. We had walked in the Lo-Tide 5K earlier in the day, finishing almost last (although our walk did involve a pit stop at The Grind – wink, wink).

Even though the test kitchen was not open this week, Chef Ed did delight us with an amuse bouche, consisting of pumpernickel bread, bacon-infused cream cheese (yeah, go ahead and think about just that for a minute), a slice of green apple, and topped with his soon-to-be-famous “Three Mile Onion.” Susan did her annual German pot roast, which includes a gravy with ginger snaps. So we ate until we wanted to invade France. Fortunately, we were too full, so we drank their wine, instead.

As the week began, we found ourselves at Empire’s Wilmington wine show, tasting 31 wines before I decided my palate was amply coated. Susan and I participated in the Sommelier’s Challenge, which was a blind-tasting of six Rieslings. We had to try to identify numbered glasses against six AVA’s across the world. Susan, who rarely even tastes the whites, won the challenge, over about 12 or 13 other people. Even our reps got a kick out of that, because when they come to taste us on wine, she refers to the whites as “meatloaf.” I will let her explain that to you. After the tasting, we went to Caprice Bistro for some snails and steak frites, and a Sonoma pinot noir. Sorry, but after Willamette Valley, I find it hard to truly appreciate a pinot noir from any other region…the Oregonians seem to have mastered that temperamental little grape.

OK, now for the week ahead. I will be doing Thursday’s tasting, in association with our friends at The Fudgeboat in Carolina Beach (they are located on The Boardwalk, at the end of Harper Avenue). We will pair different chocolate treats with different wines, including an almond champagne, a fume blanc, a cab, a syrah and a zinfandel. This tasting will include some of our glass list favorites, so you will get to see how wines you may already enjoy pair with food. And if you haven’t tasted them, then you are about to find out why they are some of our customer favorites. This will really be a fun tasting, apart from simply being delicious…so, check it out!

As for inventory, The Other is back in, and we picked up a couple new cabs (really nice ones, in the mid-20 price range), as well as a new blend. We also replenished a lot of regular wines, as we have had a couple weeks of serious wine-drinkers in the shop.

So, the shelves are full, the weather is warming, and good food is on its way. Come on down to 2 Wine Guys @ The Grind and let us pour you a glass.

Shawn