What Goes with Sharples?

Introduction: Sommeliers of Sharples

Let’s face it. No matter how much we collectively whine about specialty bars, Sharples food is probably going to stay the same quality until your graduation. Instead of complaining about the phở in Phở bar, the jerk chicken in Caribbean bar or the fish in Seafood bar, we should probably be thanking the dining hall staff for never once making us go hungry. Still, no such accomplishment can change the fact that we students live and thrive in the first world and that the majority of our complaints arise from problematic luxuries such as too much to eat and too much to learn. Inspired by Greg Lok ’04, founder of WineHappy.com and Co-founder and CEO of DealDecor.com, this blog challenges those students disillusioned by comparative disadvantages of a Sharples meal plan to explore and enjoy Sharples dining with a wine and bar pairing.

We call ourselves the Sommeliers of Sharples, but we aren’t wine experts. And we aren’t promoting illicit activity or unhealthy dining. We’re just students, wine lovers and foodies changing up the ordinary with added flavor and collective buzz. For the next few weeks, Ivana Ng’12 and I, Cindy Luu’12, will be finding wines to pair with selected Sharples menus. As we dine with our friends and guests, we’ll be discussing, comparing and sharing information about featured wines. We’ll write about our adventures of wine pairing at Sharples and post weekly on the Phoenix website. If you’d like to join us in futures dinners, send an email to cluu1@swarthmore.edu or like SwatPhoenix on Facebook and we’ll keep you posted!

February 9, 2012 | 1 comments

One Fish Two Fish Catfish Bluefish

Every year St. Petersburg, FL receives massive downpours on hot summer days that cause the sea levels to rise and detention ponds to fill just enough for last minute vacationers to indulge in refreshing and carefree waterfront activities, marking the onset of another unforgiving hurricane season. Imagine laying on cool white pillows of sand, feeling the gentle breezes of incoming mid-level tides and listening to the intermittent sound of groups of families young and old joyously brawling over bright multi-colored floaties in a shore of miniature waves reflecting crystalline sunshine — like a thousand tiny buoys made of the highest quality crystal. Picture the bulbous beads of water clinging to your skin against unrelenting gravity to complement your fresh sun-kissed tan peeking out from a warm cozy towel to give justice to the accentuated definition of every muscle in your body. Nature permeates all aspects of a tropical Florida summer.

Usually, at about the third or fourth consecutive day that our thermometers tell us it’s too hot to leave the house, the weather gods have mercy. Our storm drains overfill with thick mucky conglomerations of rain, motor oil and stray pieces of mixed grasses left behind by low-wage lawn care professionals graciously willing to serve a busy rise in business clients in enduring 100+°F heat and 100% humidity to make up for income in the past months. Occasionally, in neighborhoods marked by low elevation and high flooding threats, the decreased oxygen in the runoff causes catfish to walk off onto the streets. On July 15, 2008, these curious creatures arose from overnight muck of our storm drains in my hometown, St. Petersburg, as uniformly synchronized scale-less gray bottom feeders, slithering in mass across muddy streets, each pushing its sensory barbels against receding water while sliding its elongated body against concrete pavement as if it were an iconic pre-planned celebration, a nearly 50 year invasion of Florida aquaculture. B…

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February 9, 2012 | 0 comments

Spicing up Pasta Bar with a Rioja Wine

“Pick food to go with your wine, not the other way around.” These are the wise words of Levi Dalton, a seasoned sommelier based in New York City. Cindy and I lived by this advice last week when we chose Wednesday night’s Pasta Bar to complement our glasses (really, cups—and paper ones, at that) of Campo Viejo Rioja Reserva 2006.

First of all, this wine is delicious on its own. And at $14, it is worth stocking up for those late-night problem sets and Jersey Shore re-runs. Produced by the Bodega de Campo Viejo, an established winery founded in 1959 in Spain’s famous Rioja region, the Rioja Reserva 2006 is a Tempranillo-heavy blend with a bit of Graciano and Mazuelo grapes. It is a full-bodied wine with a dry yet sweet concoction of delicate aromas. Angela Meng ‘12, a guest at this week’s dinner table, said that when she swirled her cup, “the scent of berries and trees came to mind—a great reminder that summer is on the way.”

After a semester in Buenos Aires and too many glasses of Malbec wine, I’ve grown accustomed to very dry and bitter reds, but the juxtaposition between the fruity flavors and the smoky aftertaste in this Campo Viejo wine was really quite refreshing. Even a white wine-loyalist with a sweet tooth can appreciate this wine’s bright notes, earthy undertones, and lingering spice.

We decided to pair this magnificant Rioja with Sharples’ infamous Pasta Bar for a number of reasons. We thought that the dryness of this wine could counterbalance the starch but also complement the acidity of the tomato-based sauces. Among our guests, we had some vegetarians as well as particularly health-minded foodies, so I heaped loads of wholewheat corkscrew pasta onto a plate, and ladled a generous helping of tomato sauce and creamy white sauce on top. One of our guests, Adam Chuong ‘12, has an affinity for spice, so we also added heaps of red pepper flakes.

Coupled with the slightly spicy Rioja, the pasta had an extra kick that lingered at the b…

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February 16, 2012 | 1 comments