Valentine's Day 2019

My wife and I decided to spend Valentine’s Day at a winery, so we made reservations to stay at the Inn at Ponte Vineyard.  I was unable to make dinner reservations at their restaurant, so we opted to try South Coast Winery’s Vineyard Rose restaurant.  It was incredible.
First off, there was the noise – or lack of.  As you can see in the picture below, carpeted floors, sound-absorbing cloths on the ceiling, and individual booths dampen the sounds so much that you really do not hear anyone speaking at nearby tables.

Then, there was the music – two guitarists at first, with a violinist joining them later.  Without the din of loud talking we could really enjoy the music.

Of course, the dinner wouldn’t be particularly special if the food was just so-so.  It was not just so-so.  It was not good.  It was not great.  It was spectacular!!!  The first course was a crab salad, so good that my wife, who really does not like crab, enjoyed it.  Second course was even better, lamb over some kind of ravioli.  We had options for the third course – either filet or scallops.  My wife opted for the filet and I went with the scallops.  Both were incredible.  The presentation on all of the courses was incredible, as seen in the final dish, a lemon tart, shown below.

Of course, we had local wine with the meal.  Now South Coast is the sister winery of Carter Estate, ergo wines from both wineries were available.  Having just visited Carter’s we knew what we wanted, their 2013 Sangiovese. Served at the perfect temperature, it was a perfect wine for the meal.  As a side note, for some reason our server thought that the Sangiovese is a Spanish grape.  We were quick to point out that it is an Italian grape.  Where are the sommeliers when you need them?
This was not an inexpensive dinner -- the food alone ran $100 per person – but for a once-a-year experience well worth the money