For our final courtyard stop, Maria and I were lucky enough to visit this Midtown hotspot with none other than Rick Kushman himself. The three of us met for lunch on the patio and I have to say that Aioli has one of the nicest patios in town! Sitting on the patio, surrounded by foliage and listening to the sound of the pretty tiled water fountain behind us, it was almost impossible to believe that we were dining on one of the busiest corners in Midtown.

After noshing on a few baskets of bread with a dipping sauce that reminded us of hummus with a kick of spice, I decided to order one of the daily specials, a chicken salad topped with grilled bell peppers and shoestring potatoes. Maria opted for the vegetarian sandwich special and Rick went with the lamb sandwich which he described as having a subtle Mediterranean spicing but calling out for a glass of Pinot Noir to go with it. Both sandwiches came with side salads and were served on grilled bread that tasted like a delicious cross between pita bread and pizza crust.

Chatting away over our meals we agreed that Aioli likely is one of the best-kept courtyard dining secrets in Sacramento.  The inside of the restaurant looked just as welcoming including a cozy bar area in back. Lucky for all of us that weather reports look like we’ll surely have at least a few more weeks of patio-dining-acceptable weather – at least for lunch!

By Liz Conant

Aioli Bodgea Espanola
1800 L Street
Sacramento, CA
(916) 447-9440

As you can see the Jerusalem Wine festival was a total hit, and this picture curtsey of Jerusalem.com did not even show the huge crowds that came to the Israel Museum on Tuesday. Working with the wonderful and talented Holding the Sun productions, I got a press pass and go the festival two nights instead of the usual one. Well to sum up the 2009 festival there were good points and well not so good points.

First way too many people showed up, I cant blame them its a wonderful event. But the booths were clearly not capable of handling all of the drinkers much less to actually talk and describe the wines. I think the wineries also expected a good showing and only brought the lower level of wines, I dont think I tried very many  new other than the new Tabor sparkling wines which tasted horrible. However, I was pleasently suprised by the Golan, pino noir which they chilled and was light a refreshing. Other notables was the Yatir , Sauvignon blanc with an amazing fruity fragrance. Kinda felt like ambrosia. To me the wine festival is a way to taste wine that would not normally buy and the crowds did little to further that end. Yet the music was great, the view spectacular and the wine as always are good even if i have had them before .

The last bothersome point for me was that there was only one food option was Tnuva cheese, something I could have bought at my supermarket. Now cheese is a great accompaniment to wine, but I would have liked to have seen more variety. Three years ago they had a whole food court with plenty of options where everyone found something they liked. And heck maybe if there was more food people would be crowding the wine booths.

Still for 60 sekels its the best game in town, my husband suggest that the wine makers have another wine festival with a higher ticket entry but will get a more reserved and dignified crowd. Maybe you never know?

also here is a picture of David Rhodes he is an expert at wine.  We had a great time chatting at the wine fest, also took some awesome photos check them out at his blog at  travelulah.com

Hallo Freunde von Weinheiten

Das 2008 haben wir mit einer eher ernüchternde Dolcetto Blinddegustation beendet, so können wir genussvoll ins 2009 starten.

Wir haben folgende Blinddegustationen für das 2009 geplant:

Wir würden uns freuen wenn Euch das Programm zusagt und Ihr den Jahrs-Mitgliederbeitrag  von Sfr. 150.- (inkl. Wein, Käse und Brot und Raummiete)  auf unser Postkonto 87-741707-2 (Weinheiten, 8001 Zürich) , bis zum 1.1.2009, überweissen könntet

Gruss und schöne Festtage

Beat und Pascal