Family Night at First Mile

Every month or two, we have a family pickle ball night, where the five adults go play pickle ball for a couple of hours (and get beat up on by Melissa). This is always followed by going out to dinner, and this time, we headed over to a local favorite, First Mile Kitchen. The ambience is spot on, their food is ridiculously good, and Serenity’s service was excellent.

Their menu has so many wonderful options, it’s really hard to choose! After two hours of pickle ball on a hot and humid Friday, Bart decided to go light. He chose the Grilled Salmon Salad with field greens, roasted beets, goat cheese, asparagus, apple butter, roasted sunflower seeds, and lemon vinaigrette. I was as beautiful as it sounds.  To match this, he wanted a white wine, but it needed stand up to this flavor-inspired salad. He decided on a 2022 Christophe Patrice Chablis.

Chablis is made from Chardonnay, and it’s located in the northernmost region of Burgundy, France. It’s grown in a cool, northern climate in limestone-rich soil, and it is typically not aged in oak, giving it a crisper minerality than most Chardonnays. It still has the apple character, but more green apples and riper citrus notes. This one actually had some surprising creaminess to it, compared to many wines from Chablis. On the finish, it had a gun flint minerality.  Yes, it was more elegant and complex than he expected, but this was a nice restaurant, and the wines were selected by an in-house sommelier! This was a beautiful pairing with both complimenting and contrasting components. A pairing not to be missed.

Katie had no qualms about going for heavier food, despite the heat. Actually, she and her brother couldn’t decide if they wanted Pasta Bolognese or Red Wine Braised Short Rib with

 mashed potatoes, crispy Brussels sprouts, smoked carrot, cranberry demi-glace, and fried sage (is your mouth watering yet?). So, they did the only thing they could do: get one of each and split them. Actually, the kitchen split both onto two plates, and somehow it looked like they both ordered two full meals!

With the meatiness and earthiness of all that food, Katie chose the Chateau Bourdieu from Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux, France.

This is on the right bank of Bordeaux, which means that it is primarily Merlot. This wine in particular is 87% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Cabernet Franc. This is an earthy wine!! It makes you think of eating blackberries right out of the field that are perhaps a little dusty (in a delicious way). There’s just a hint of dark chocolate in there as well. It was a great supplement to the food, particularly the short rib! This is something we’ll need to revisit soon.

You cannot go wrong with a meal any time of day at First Mile Kitchen. Go treat yourself to a real food experience, and hit up their sommelier, Yannic, for wine pairing ideas!