We have been to the pizza place and also recently went to B&B in Vegas.  So how would Osteria Mozza compare? We managed to obtain a difficult to obtain reservation when someone canceled.  We packed up a nice 96 Brunello ($20 corkage) and headed out.  Typical HW set up...loud, tables close together.  And they were playing 80's rock.  We ate to foreigner and Blondie.  Funny.  Foodwise, started out great.  Starters were fried pig trotter, grilled octopus, and burrata on leeks.  Pig trotter was reminiscent of scrapple (maybe there is someone out there from philly who knows what I am talking ...

Attended one of the most remarkable birthday parties ever, at the legendary Urasawa in beverly hills.  The birthday family reserved the entire restaurant...10 people at the bar, 2 at a table.  One seating per night.  The experience was reminiscent of Alinea in that it was an amazing dinner and a Cirque du Soleil-like foodie show all in one.  There were about 10 appetizers, 20 individual pieces of sushi, and about 2-3 desserts.  In total, yes, it was the best sushi I ever had.  But if I were to dissect each individual piece of fish, I would have to say I had comparable quality at other high-end sushi places.  The main sushi differentiator here was that EVERY piece was at least as good as the best I ever had anywhere else. 

But trancending the sushi were the small plates.  Especially memorable was a shabu-shabu-like dish involving kobe, lobster, and foie gras.  ...

One of the wines we brought back from a recent trip to Tuscany was a '93 Cerbaiona Brunello.  Now I knew I loved brunello, but I am only recently getting into older wines.  My comfort zone and passion typically lies with burgundy or barolo, but this wine....OMG.  I heard 1993 was one of the best years for brunello, but never got to experience it until now. 

I am not good at tasting notes like the fancy stuff you see in Wine Spectator or erobert parker that often reference obscure vegetation, industrial chemicals, and various land and sea creatures.  But I ...