The Happy Hour Tour: Get Your Drank On: Vino California 2013

We are ready to celebrate Vino California!

Vino California is back! The five-day celebration of food & wine is recognized as one of the largest native Italian wine extravaganzas on the West Coast - bringing together Italian winemakers, sommeliers, and chefs to promote fab eats & sips (or guzzles for the Happy Hour Tour :) at great locations throughout LA.

Setting the Scene

Inside Osteria

The fest wraps up on Friday, but there’s still time to check out its nightly Happy Hours at Locando Del Lago and Bar Toscana featuring Italian spirits and exclusive cocktails. Check out happenings here. As part of the fest, longtime HHT pal Carrie and I hit a special wine & dinner pairing at Osteria Mamma! I hadn’t been to the restaurant before and was totally charmed by the evening’s end! How couldn’t you be with this fantastic line-up?!

Pre-Appetizer Round - Aperol Spritz with Prosecco served with Italian bread and tomato sauce

Antipasto - Crab with cherry and orange salad paired with Gran Cuvée Rose Brut

The delicious sweet flavors of the fruit paired well nicely with the light and fun Rose Brut champagne.

Primi - Risotto with black cuttlefish ink paired with Chardonnay La Monacesca

I’d never had squid ink before and I’ve gotta say I was a fan of the savory and salty risotto and the texture of the calamari-like cuttlefish.

Secondi - Grilled Scampi served with polenta and grilled vegetables paired with Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi Classico superior
This dish led to a new word to describe Carrie and I - “Trassy!” We had felt like such classy wine drinkers before we got a little trashy trying to eat the scampi. But oh it was sooooooo good and the white wine paired terrifically.

Pasta - Tagliatelle with porcini mushroom and truffle oil paired with Tintilia del Molise
Loved this awesome mushroom pasta served with our favorite wine of the evening, the excellent Tintilia del Molise, a red wine from the Molise region of Italy.

Dessert - Tiramisu paired with Moscato Fior D'Arancio
OMG, we were so full by this point - but passing up tiramisu with sparkly bubbly champagne should be a criminal offense (if it’s not already :). Delizioso!

Even though the pairing was created specially for Vino California, we still wholeheartedly recommend checking out Osteria Mamma for a fancy Italian Dinner!