Don't go to Jersey! - Currents

Cheers, July-August, 2002

For wine, that is. That's what Philly restaurateur and wine director at Fork Roberto Sella tried to convince his customers in promoting a recent wine dinner. Restaurant owners and wine directors in Philadelphia, the biggest city in the market controlled by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, frequently face difficulties in sourcing wine and hear from customers that near-by New Jersey restaurants and wine shops offer greater range and value.

For the dinner, Sella and co-owner Ellen Yin paired eight wines priced under $20 in stores with a four-course menu of light fare to show that consumers could emulate Sella and gather great wines from the state system, a unique display of cooperation between the state and operators, who more usually can be hard discussing the difficulties getting a range of wines under the system. Sella paired a 1998 Fritz Dutton Ranch Shop Rock Chardonnay and 1998 Bruno Giacosa Barbera d'Alba with saffron risotto balls with pancetta; and a 1999 Mary Daniel and Denis Carianne Cote du Rho ne Villages Grenache Blend and 1999 Raspail Ay Gigondas Grenache Blend with lamb kabob with Thai basil mint coulis.