Kurt Cyr, Jay Zaltzman, Fazeli, and an Israeli Grill...

One of the things we've been excited to do is engage some our Mood Wine fans; to encourage them to play with some wine, and let us blog about the experience... SO THIS IS THE FIRST ONE!

Peace!

It was a groovy evening...

JUMP AND JOIN THE FUN!

 First, let me introduce you to our hosts for the evening...

L-R, Jay Zaltzman, me, Kurt Cyr

Jay is a marketing consultant, and Kurt is a designer with a fun design blog that you should check out... DESIGN FURNACE. Jay and Kurt are also the guys who spearheaded the New Years Eve concept for Palm Springs... The OLIVE DROP. We totally got into it, and hope it truly becomes an annual tradition!

Anyway, they invited us for dinner. We brought the wine - Fazeli Cellars Yalda. This Rhone style blend of Syrah, Grenache, and Mourvedre will be one of the three big reds in our first Mood Wine Club.

We arrived at their VERY COOL home all set and ready, including the Egyptian linens that Kurt proudly haggled over price while visiting a bizarre in Egypt... 

Are you hungry yet?

Both Jay and Kurt are serious cooks and wanted to serve us an Israeli grill in honor of Jay's Israeli upbringing. We started with appetizers that included pickled vegetables and this amazing little middle eastern delicacy... 

Baba Ghanouj

Baba Ghanouj is a dip prepared with roasted eggplant; similar to Hummus, but replaces the garbanzo beans with the eggplant... it's one of my favorite dishes, so needless to say, I was happy!

Jake and I love getting to know new people, and experiencing their vibe in their own environment. I love learning new things... hoping to ward off dementia for as long as possible, and they say constantly learning is a sure fire way!

So in addition to a new culinary experience, we learned about the Barcelona Chair....

SUCH A GREAT FLOW and COOL SPACE!

According to Kurt, the Barcelona chair was designed for the German Pavilion at the International Exposition of 1929. It was designed by the famed Bauhaus architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and his long time companion Lilly Reich - talk about Modernism icons! 

Kurt went on to explain that these chairs were designed to encourage a certain posture. They encourage the person sitting in them to shift into an arm over the back, legs crossed sort of relaxation - which is EXACTLY what I was doing while he explained this... SO COOL!

Posture Perfect in the Barcelona

And Jay being the good host, sat on the foot stool, fortunately he managed to talk expressively without spilling a drop...

Jay Sure Can Hold His Wine

Anyway, after enjoying our first glass of wine and appies, we headed to the table for the main event. It had just been pulled from one of these WAY COOL retro ovens...

Hmmm, one for Jay and one for Kurt perhaps?

I'm sure there's also a story behind the dining room chairs, but I was interested in only one thing at this point...

LET'S EAT!!!

And eat we did! If this is the way a regular Jewish boy from Israel eats... sign me up...

Hummus and Pita

Hummus and Israeli Salad...

Israeli Salad

And something I've BLOGGED about several times... a staple in my spice pantry... ZA'ATAR... if you want to learn more about this wonderful spice just click on the link...

Jay and Kurt make their own... it's mixed with olive oil and becomes a table condiment

Their home and the table was so beautiful Jake was in photographer heaven - even the glass of sparkling water turned into a piece of photographic art...

Sparkling Water and Olive Oil Vessel

But the main event was the Israeli Grill...

Isreali Grill

And it paired BEAUTIFULLY with the Fazeli Yalda...

A DREAM MATCH

The wine is from a winery with a story inspired by ancient Persian culture - Yalda is the Persian celebration of Winter Solstice, celebrated on or around December 20-23. The meal was Israeli cuisine... talk about bringing two ancient cultures together in harmony... The rich smokiness in the wine danced beautifully with the bold roasted flavors of the dish... YUMMY!!!

Thanks Jay and Kurt! Sure hope this becomes a regularly occurring event, I mean after-all, we also need to work on our Olive Drop techniques!

Oh, and thanks Jake for taking all the pictures, your empty seat makes a recurring appearance in your shots. But without your sacrifice there wouldn't have been shots like this...