The Restaurant Guys

Tuscan Wine and Burgers with Anastasia Mancini of Buccia Nera

Tuscan Wine and Burgers

with

Anastasia Mancini

of Buccia Nera

 

$59

Some Tuscan wines are profound and meant for long-aging and serious meals. Some are like a Tuscan summer day, simple, bright, delicious and quaff-able.

 

We love the wines of Buccia Nera and have been buying them for years. They are friendly and delicious and surprisingly complex. They are also inexpensive and great values. These should be your Italian house wines this summer. 

 

Our Maitre d' and wine steward, Beverly, was in Tuscany just recently and made a special trip to the estate for a visit with Ms. Mancini. We just found out that she will be in town only briefly, so on Monday May 15, we're hosting new kind of wine tasting for us.

 

Not just a tasting. Not quite a wine pairing dinner.

 

At 6:15 we will gather in the cellar with Anastasia to enjoy a tasting of her wines with antipasti, cheese and some good conversation. At 7 PM, we'll move to the dining room and sit down where you can choose either a Stage Left Burger for dinner or a Crabcake. We'll grab whichever wine you want to drink with dinner and maybe even try one or two side by side. We'll have Zabaglione for dessert and with that we will finish with Vin Santo (and Biscotti of course).

 

This is going to be casual and laid back and fun, and you will find your house wines for the summer.

 

Wines

Donna Patrizia Toscano Bianco

 

Amadio Toscana 2009

Camprianese Toscano Rosso 2013

 

Chianti ‘Guarninte’ 2015

Sassocupo Chianti Superiore

 

The Preakness with Dale DeGroff

 

 

Stage Left 25th Anniversary Weekend

Gamblers, Whiskey & Flying Horses

Cocktails, Stories and The Preakness

with Dale DeGroff

Saturday, May 20

 

Dale DeGroff, father of the modern cocktail renaissance, helped us put together our first cocktail program in 1993! That made Stage Left one of the first bars in the country to join the contemporary cocktail movement, and the first in Jersey by about 15 years!

 

It's only fitting that Dale help us celebrate our 25th anniversary with a cocktail party and a talk on his twin passions of whiskey and horses.

 

After Dale's Stories, we'll stick around and watch The Preakness! 

A very special event indeed!

 

Event from 4:30 - 6:30 PM

Preakness Post Time 6:20

 

$49 per person

Plus tax and service

A Wine Dinner with Cathy Corison

Cathy Corison

Wine Dinner

Friday May 19, 2017

Anniversary Weekend! 

 

Left: Our partner Lou, his wife Daina and me in Cathy's Kronos Vineyard 2000.

In the old days, when everyone was making turbo-charged juice-bombs that showed well at tasting, Cathy was making thoughtful and restrained wines that were often overlooked by critics and a public that favored power over elegance and quality.

We're very proud that we saw that quality and we bet on those wines (and drank them) year after year. We used to run vertical selections going back a decade and we would preach the gospel of restraint and character. Well times have changed and Cathy is the darling of the wine press and trade and consumers. You can no longer buy 3 or 4 back vintages from the winery. You're lucky to get any at all!  Did Cathy start making better wine? No. The press and trade finally wised up to some of the most delicious and age-worthy wines in the New World. 

Cathy does not forget her friends though. She will be here to help us celebrate our anniversary on May 19th. She has been unbelievably generous in opening her cellars to provide us with a vertical selection of her two cabernets going back to 1992, the year of our founding.

This will be an exceedingly rare collection of back-vintages, spanning the life of the restaurant. Cathy will lead a sit-down, vertical tasting of her wines from 6:30 to 7:30. Dinner will commence at 7:30.

 

A seated tasting in the Cellar

6:30 – 7:30

$100

 

2006 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

2004 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon  

2001 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon  

 

2012 Corison Napa Valley Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon  

2008 Corison Napa Valley Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon  

1998 Corison Napa Valley Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon  

 

1 oz Portions

  

Dinner

Hors d’Oeuvres (7 PM)

For those not attending the tasting

Prosecco

 

Macadamia Encrusted Tuna with Mango Chutney

From our 1992 Dinner Menu

2014 Corazón Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer 

 

Wagyu Beef with Ramp Pesto

2013 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

1992 Corison Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon MAGNUM (2 oz)

 

Double-Cut English Lamb Chop with Mint Jelly

New Steakhouse Item from our Current Menu

2013 Corison Napa Valley Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (3 oz)

2000 Corison Napa Valley Kronos Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (3 oz)

 

Orange Lace Cookies with Mascarpone Mousse

 

$225

(Tasting not included)

Mothers Day at Stage Left and Catherine Lombardi

 

Dinner in Catherine Lombardi

We're seating for dinner from Noon - 8 PM. 

 

Brunch in Stage Left from 10:30 - 1 PM. 
Brunch is $39.95 per person and includes our wonderful dessert bar. 
Kids under 11 pay their age. 

 

Dinner in Stage Left from 3 - 8 PM.

 

Stage Left Brunch Menu

First Course Selections

Lobster Bisque

Market Fruit & Berries

Hamachi Crudo

Shaved Carrot and Frisee Salad

BBQ Shrimp

Warm Duck Confit Salad

Cured Salmon

Everything Bagel Croutons

Main Course Selections

Sunny-side Eggs over Lobster Potato Hash

Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Omelet

Raisin Hazelnut French Toast

Seared Salmon

Seared Wagyu Flat Iron Steak

($25 supplemental)

Chicken Breast

Flat Iron Steak and Eggs

Braised Lamb Shank

Wood Grilled Burger

Dessert Bar

Assorted Cookies

Crème Brûlée

Cheesecake

Lemon Fruit Tart
Coconut Sabayon

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Chocolate Cake
Tiramisu
Cherry Bread Pudding
Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake**

Fresh Spun Ice Cream and Sorbets**

**These Items are not available at the dessert bar,

Please ask your server.

Wine Dinner with George Hendry

 

George Hendry

Wine Dinner

June 9, 2017

 

George Hendry is one of the smartest men making wine anywhere. Not just because he is a nuclear physicist, not just because he's farmed the Hendry Ranch since before the Korean War, not just because he has managed his vineyards and wines as both an artist and a scientist, but because for 20 years, the wines have been extraordinary.  
 

This year, we were unable to get George in March like we usually do. We're touched that he's making a special trip out East just to meet you! Be here onJune 9!

It's an honor and a privilege to host him and his wines once more.  On Tuesday, June 9th, George will be here to host a dinner and tasting. The menu is below and the wines for the tasting will be settled by next week.  This dinner is always extremely well-attended, so please reserve early.
 

 Hors d'Oeuvres

Rose 2016, Albarino 2016, Pinot Gris 2016
Unoaked Chardonnay 2015, Cabernet Sauvignon 2013,

Merlot 'Block 13' 2013, Pinot Noir 2013, Cabernet Sauvignon, 'HRW' 2014,
Red Meritage Blend 2013
 
Crawfish Tart with Melted Leeks and Butter
Chardonnay, 'Barrel Fermented' 2014
 
Fettuccine with Wild Boar Carbonara
Primitivo 'Block 24' 2014

Deconstructed Beef Wellington

Cabernet Franc 2010

Cabernet Sauvignon 2013
 

Cheeses with Truffle Honey
Zinfandel, 'Block 28' 2014
Zinfandel, 'Block 7 & 22' 2014

 

$149 per person

Plus tax and service

Easter at Stage Left or Catherine Lombardi

Easter Dinner at Catherine Lombardi: 1-6 PM
In Catherine Lombardi, we celebrate Easter as Catherine Lombardi always did, with a full dinner.  In addition to our regular a la carte menu, we will have specials like Spring Vegetable Minestrone, Asparagus and Ricotta Ravioli, Lamb Shank, and of course Easter Pie (aka Pizza Rustica, aka Pizza Gain).

 

Easter Brunch at Stage Left: 11-2:30 PM / $39.95 / Kids 12 and under pay their age
In Stage Left, we celebrate with Easter Brunch.   It's not buffet (except for the awesome dessert table). It's a lovely, civilized a la carte, 3-course brunch with an Unlimited Dessert Bar.  Check out the menu below.

 

First Course Selections

Lobster Bisque

Market Fruit & Berries

Hamachi Crudo

Shaved Carrot and Frisee Salad

BBQ Shrimp

Warm Duck Confit Salad

Cured Salmon

Everything Bagel Croutons

Main Course Selections

Sunny-side Eggs over Lobster Potato Hash

Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Omelet

Raisin Hazelnut French Toast

Seared Salmon

Seared Wagyu Flat Iron Steak

($25 supplemental)

Chicken Breast

Flat Iron Steak and Eggs

Braised Lamb Shank

Wood Grilled Burger

Dessert Bar

Assorted Cookies

Crème Brûlée

Cheesecake

Lemon Fruit Tart
Coconut Sabayon

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Chocolate Cake
Tiramisu
Cherry Bread Pudding
Molten Valrhona Chocolate Cake

Fresh Spun Ice Cream and Sorbets

These Items are not available at the dessert bar,

Please ask your server.