Better Late Than Never: Paesanos Midtown

My husband and I met 4 years and 7 months ago. You know how I remember that? Because he was exactly 7 months late taking me on our our 4th Annual First Date Anniversary dinner. I suppose I should cut him some slack considering we had a few other things going on these past 7 months (two weddings and a trip to Italy to name a few), but that's just not my style. So finally my prodding wore him down and last night I got my date night!

Our first date was at Paesanos in Midtown Sacramento, one of my favorite restaurants for a number of different reasons.

Common sense dictates that the entire point of a restaurant is to enjoy the food, but Hubs and I have our own ranking systems and food is not even in the top 3. As far are we're concerned it goes:

1) Patio

2) Service

3) Wine List/Beers on Tap

4) Food

Paesanos aces all four categories (heated patio+string lights=extra credit).

They are known for their pizzas, but everything is pretty damn tasty. True story: On our actual first date we only ate bread and were so wrapped up in conversation we forgot to eat dinner. So every year we order the bread as a nod to that fateful night, but have since wised up and now order actual dinner. This time we split the Sicilian pizza (onions on half!) which was salty and spicy and chewy like a good pizza should be. The wine list is short but sweet (Lambrusco, anyone?), and their beers are the the good microbrew kind you find at a lot at places that have a little hipster in their bloodline (Racer 5, Great White and my personal fav, Monkey Knife Fight).

My choices were a glass of Boeger Barbera and one of the Graffigna Malbec (see previous Malbec-related post). Both were good, neither were great. I ran into the unfortunate case of being served bottles that had probably been opened over the weekend and tasted a little stale. Nothing to write a blog about, as they say. Oops.....

Seriously, though, go to Paesanos if you're in the area and looking for a casual, fun and delicious meal. I've even heard the inside is nice, but you'd be hard pressed to find me anywhere but the patio!

What I Wore:

BTW, how fabulous is this jacket? This is one of the treasures from my shopping expedition at H&M this past weekend. I wore it to our date and I'm officially obsessed. I love me some ruffles on my jackets! The next time I wear this I'll pair it with a scarf. Oh, the possibilities....

Question: What would you wear this with?

Jacket: H&M (also available in black)

New Wine: 2008 Pascual Toso Malbec

Taste: This was a little lighter than the Layer Cake Malbec, more medium-bodied but still rich. At first it was floral and spicy, then became very sweet and lingered. After drinking for a while, the spice became stronger,. BF liked it, though not as much as the LCM.

Enjoyed with: Louisana Hot Link Sandwich and brownie bites

Experience: We bought this at Costco for around $9. Had it a few days and BF suggested we drink it while watching a movie. I love it when he does that. Watched Zombieland, pretty good movie. Goes great with a Malbec. :)

The Great Malbec Search

My Corona-loving Boyfriend freely admits the first time he ever drank a full glass of wine on purpose is upon meeting me. At first he was tolerant, as men always are in the beginning. He would look sceptically at the wine I poured for him as if it was neon green and boiling, then put it up to his pursed lips and might have let a drop or two past before wincing and returning to the cool comfort of his Corona. I learned quickly that glasses of wine were not going to get me anywhere with him. After all, if I couldn't get this man to drink wine, our future together looked rather bleak. (Don't get me wrong, I love a cold beer as much as the next red-blooded American, but I couldn't picture a lifetime of romantic evenings by a crackling fire with a bucket of Bud Light at our sides.) I shifted my attack plan from glasses to tastings. It was simple, really. Every time I would drink a glass of wine, I would ask ever so nicely that he taste it. For me. Please. Pretty please? And being the fantastic guy he is, he would oblige. There were countless grimaces and frowns and rolled eyes, as expected, but then something crazy happened. Raised eyebrows. The true sign of surprised pleasure. He would taste, the eyebrows would kick in, and he eventually began to admit the wine was "not bad". Mission accomplished. Sort of.

Fast forward a couple years to a dinner out with friends. (In case anyone actually reads this and happens to live in the Sacramento region, it was Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills. If you continue reading you will no doubt hear about it again, as it is one of my favorite places.) Fellow Winos, they perused the wine list and picked out a bottle of 2008 Layer Cake Malbec. I wasn't sure I had ever had a Malbec before, so I was interested, and my boyfriend went along with the group and gladly accepted an entire glass. Big step. Imagine my surprise when the eyebrows went up and instead of "not bad", he actually liked it! He really, really liked it!

If my memory serves me correctly - but let's be honest, there was wine involved so I'm not counting on it - we went through the first bottle and ordered a second. I guess that's what happens when you have four people drinking, instead of three and one guy downing import beers.

So I rushed to BevMo, signed up for the club card, and stocked up on 2008 Layer Cake Malbec. At $16.99 it's a decently priced wine and with the club card it's usually on sale for less. I did find it at Raley's/Bel Air and I believe it was an even better price.

So I now try to keep at least one bottle in the house for those nights when he feels like wine. And every time we see a Malbec, we grab a bottle and try it out. So far nothing has beat the Layer Cake, but he drinks the new bottles every time. I'm not sure who it makes happier, him or me. He loves the wine and I love that he loves it.

He would kill me for saying this, but the guy likes sweet wines, which is why he loves this wine. It is pretty sweet, but full-bodied and dark. Kind of like him....

Our search for more Malbecs will continue, and we welcome suggestions! :)

Article to check out: The New Black - 6 Things You Should Know About Malbecs