While Lori and I were in the Santa Ynez Valley for the Wine Bloggers Conference, we took ourselves out to dinner to celebrate our anniversary. My brother and his wife recommended the Mirabelle Inn Restaurant, in nearby Solvang, where they had eaten within the last year. With no other information to go on, and because our tastes are similar, we went with it. Great choice.
It turns out that the Mirabelle has a tasting menu, including wine pairings. The menu for our meal is shown above, including the wine pairings, which we had. Photos of the individual dishes are below. Each dish and wine were great individually and paired together. It’s hard to say which would be my favorite. Maybe the ceviche, as I’ve long held that I could live on ceviche and margaritas and nothing else. But the duck was so good, not too sweet, and they gave us a spoon for the sauce. The lamb was cooked perfectly, and I didn’t care how fancy the restaurant was (maybe 8 on a 10 scale), I was going to gnaw on the bones. I’m not a real lover of white chocolate, nor of flan, but perhaps the best course was the dessert with the Muscat.
The Mirabelle dining room is quaint and small, with only about 12 tables. If you’re in the area, I’d highly recommend making a reservation at the Mirabelle for dinner.
L’Chaim,
Larry