Revamped Menu and Patio at Sadie Kitchen and Lounge

Sadie Kitchen and Lounge has gone through many chef changes since its opening, and most recently they also revamped their patio dining area to be more lounge-like, although dining tables for larger parties still remain. The lights adorning the walls and trees make this a romantic dining spot at night.

The current chef is Jonathan Moulton, who most recently was at Early Bird in Orange County. He brings many Southern comfort food to Sadie, like these decadent buttermilk biscuits with "red eye butter" ($3)

What is red eye butter, you ask? It has what you love most in the mornings: coffee and bacon!

While many chefs have come and go, mixologist Giovanni Martinez has always remained. Much of the drinks menu remains the same, but there are also many new and seasonal drinks - and they're all excellent. I loved the Negroni Sour (gin, vermouth, campari, nettle cordial, lemon)

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Cozy Comfort at Tart Restaurant

Tart Restaurant on Fairfax had been around do a while but I've always looked over it. Upon walking in for the first time I was pleasantly surprised at how cute the place is.

Both the indoor and outdoor dining areas are charming
Owl lampshades!
 

Biscuits and butter to start

From the appetizer (they're rather big appetizers) we tried the Shrimp 'n grits (beer braised white shrimp with andouille sausage, okra, cheddar grits, topped with sunny side up egg - $12)

They flavor is pretty different than the usual shrimp and grits, but mmm... cheddar grits and runny egg!

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Winemakers Roundtable at Temecula Valley's 4th Annual CRUSH

I had been to Temecula once before this year, but I didn't explore the wineries much and did not realize that the Temecula Valley Wine Country does have good wines. This year I had the opportunity to go on a media trip (thanks to Temecula CVB and the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association) and visited a lot of wineries, in addition to attending the 4th annual CRUSH gala.

View of Temecula Valley from Callaway Winery

This past September marked Temecula Valley's 4th annual wine event, CRUSH, and it started with a Winemakers Roundtable discussion and wine tasting before the main gala.The roundtable took place in the beautiful barrel room of Callaway Winery.

There were 4 winemakers/winery owners, a wine writer, and the owner of a vineyard management company on the panel. During the panel discussion they talked about their personal history and the growth of Temecula Valley. A lot of people think that Temecula Valley cannot grow good wines because it's so hot, but according to these guys the heat during the day is just fine. Temecula still gets chilly at night and the temperature difference between daytime and nighttime is large enough to allow growing good wines. (Still, they admit that the recent humid monsoonal nights have been problematic).

OK, more on the panel later. Wines first. During the discussion we tasted four wines, one from each of the wineries sitting on the discussion panel.

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