If You Go* What: Grape Escape wine auction and dinner.* When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday.* Where: Cafe Roma, 220 N. Ocoee St., Cleveland, Tenn.* Admission: $95.* Phone: 423-339-5745.GRAPE ESCAPE MENU* First course: Seared tuna spring roll with cilantro, fresh lime and rice noodles with curry pineapple sauce. Wine: Ballentine Chenin Blanc 2007 from Napa Valley.* Second course: Pan-seared scallops with house gnocchi (potato dumpling), Benton’s Farm smoked bacon, gorgonzola cheese and raspberry demiglace. Wine: Benovia Pinot Noir 2006 from Sonoma.* Third course: Braised veal shank with gremolata, kalamata olives and herb-roasted potatoes. Wine: Rosenblum Zinfandel by Snow Lake Vineyard 2005.* Fourth course: Blood-orange sorbet with chocolate banana bread, blackberries and toasted hazelnuts. Dessert wine: Ballentine Zinfandel Port 2004 from Napa Valley.Source: Chef Peter Spinks
Oenophiles, mark your calendar: A wine dinner and auction takes place Sunday night that pairs new, never-before-served dishes with the wines for which they were specifically created.
That’s what makes Grape Escape one of the most popular fundraisers for the Museum Center at Five points in Cleveland, Tenn.
The wine dinner has been held each of its seven years at Cafe Rome, according to Lisa Lutts, museum director. Only 72 tickets are available, based on the restaurant’s seating.
“I go through and taste the wines before I make up the menu,” said chef Peter Spinks. “I write down notes and ponder the tastes on my palate, then I start thinking about those flavors and what foods they’d go with.”