3rd Corner Wine Shop and Bistro

Review #62

3rd Corner couldn’t have come at a better time for the blog.  This weekend happened to be the weekend that one of the California’s top wine connoisseurs is coming to town, and I got him to join tonight’s blog: my dad.

You know that feeling you get while being at a nice, big library?  The incredible quiet insulation from all of the books.  The feeling of peace and comfort while being surrounded by all those incredible pieces of work.  That’s how I felt at 3rd Corner.  Our table was nestled alongside the back wall of the bistro, with beautiful bottles of wine for sale all throughout the middle.  I felt engulfed in comfort while being surrounded, almost hugged, by all those wine bottles.  Very nice atmosphere indeed.

We started off with a hummus plate appetizer to share.  It was nice with delicious olives and flavorful feta cheese to accompany the tasty, homemade hummus topped with a sun dried-tomato tapenade.  We devoured it and ordered another.

We also ordered the Fried Brussels which we have been getting at almost every restaurant that offers them.  They just never get old.  But now I can tell the great ones from the mediocre.  These tasted delicious, but didn’t make me sing show tunes.

Dad had fun picking out our wines.

He started us off with a Puligny-Montrachet white wine and a little history about it. “The Montrachet comes from the same grape as your Chardonnay but is grown in the Burgundy region of France.  This wine is a White Burgundy. The White Burgundy isn’t oaky or buttery like California wines.  Although top Montrachets can get up to a thousand dollars a bottle, the Puligny is a good value at around a hundred.”  I took a sip.  Bliss.  Pure bliss.  I LOVE THIS WINE!  But my server was quite stingy on the first pour, so I helped myself to one that appropriately fit the size of the glass they gave me.  Much better.

I do enjoy a nice glass of wine or three, but I have zero taste when it comes to good wines.  I know what I like and the bottle can cost $5 or $500, I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy both in my time.  But Dad knows his stuff.  He ordered, and we drank.  Cheers!

As we drank our heavenly wine and nibbled on the decadent apps, my friends started to ask Dad some questions.  And with each sip, Dear-Old-Dad’s lips got a wee bit looser.  For instance, when Julie asked what I was like as a child growing up, instead of,” Kori was a wonderful child.  Cute, gregarious and spunky”, she got, “Oh, Kori was a slob.  We couldn’t take it so shipped her off to boarding school.”.

The meals arrived.  I ordered Pan-Seared-Scallops because scallops and I are lovers.  These scallops were superb. Cooked to perfection.  A beautiful sear on the outside, and a center so soft and wonderful, it melts in your mouth.  The potatoes and green beans served with them were fine, but on a lower level of these scallops.  I left those over and just enjoyed a meal of perfectly seared scallops paired with wine from heaven.  Not a bad dinner I would say.

Hubby ordered Wild Mushroom Pasta with Scallops.  He loved it.

The next wine was another White Burgundy.  This one was a Meursault. ” It’s rich and expressive and offers a slightly more fruity experience. With some spicy notes at the finish” says Dad-The-Sommelier.  I would have described it as, “Whooo weee that’s good!”.

And with that second bottle came lots more personal, private information about me that my poor friends were captive to.  Such as, “I can’t believe Kori left her oldest home alone with his girlfriend tonight while we are here.  Because I’m sure the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and when she was his age, well I found her and this boy…..” “OK DAD!” I interrupted, “That’s enough about me, how is everyone’s food?”

Debbie ordered The Goat Cheese Salad with Salmon.  Everything was deliciously on-point.

Dad ordered Free Range Pan-Roasted Chicken cooked “cremated”.  My Dad likes everything burnt to a toxic crisp.  The blacker the better. He was going for this:

But he was served this:

It was hardly burnt or crispy, as I’m sure the poor chef just couldn’t bare to murder this beautiful bird.  Luckily, Dad loved it as is.

Although we were all too full or too drunk for dessert, we ran into some friends having some as we were leaving.  They were demolishing the Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with vanilla gelato, strawberries, caramel and whip cream. I’m pretty sure it didn’t suck.

By the end of the night my friends had learned a great deal about me.  Most of it was untrue, but I just didn’t have the heart to correct him anymore. For instance I heard him tell everyone that I failed out of UC Davis vet school (No Dad, I never actually applied to vet school, remember?) But what I said was, “Well, at least all that Animal Science I studied is really being put to great use in my cooking skills at home.”(That joke flew right over his silvery head.) But he also bragged about how smart I am, how much my friends love me and how proud he is of the boys and husband I’ve raised. (It’s not like Hubby came right out of the box this way you know!) Aw shucks Dad!

Bottom Line:

3rd Corner is a beautiful place to enjoy excellent food and wine.  Dad lives in LA and says this meal would have been twice the price there.  Most LA restaurants have a double to sometimes triple the mark up on wine you buy while 3rd Corner just charges the cost of the bottle plus a modest corkage fee.  He thought this was quite reasonable.

All of the food was very good, just what you would expect at a nice restaurant like this.  The scallops were as good as any I’ve ever had.  I especially love integrating the bistro into the wine shop.  The atmosphere here encourages you to relax and drink wine. I will be dreaming of running through the hills in Burgundy, (kids are left at home on this trip), the sun warming my back.  I am surrounded by grapes, drinking Montrachet after Montrachet after Montrachet.

---

Next week’s blog will be at on Sunday, November 25th at 5:30 pm

Lotus Cafe and Juice Bar

https://www.lotuscafeandjuicebar.com/