It was an uneventful ride the rest of the way with
nice clear weather so excellent vistas of the Chugach
mountains and its Turnagain Pass. We docked at Bob's
for an afterparty/preparty of wine to neutralize all
that beer from before.

Columbia Stone Cutter red blend 11 - the winery is
kind of cagey about the formulas of its blends - it
won't tell you what's in the Milestone, for example,
so one suspects that it's a mishmosh of whatever they
have left over; but as this is pretty obviously a Rhone
style, it admits to Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, not
giving away any secrets, as most Rhonish wines are.
This had a fine balance between earthy and fruity,
dried and fresh, tart and tannic vs. smooth; it was at
its perfect age with everything in proportion.

The Carlin de Paolo red blend (Barbera and Dolcetto) 16
was a major disappointment, as it seems to have been
toned down for the American palate - too much obvious
fruit going to oxidation too soon because of too little
tannin; surely it had been made for immediate consumption.
Most of those who had some liked it; I thought it was a
betrayal of Italy and wine in general and was not
surprised to find that it was a Vino Volo import. Not
that that company is bad, but its offerings are designed
for quick consumption, and this had been cellared for a
year more than the wine was designed for.

Dinner was at Suite 100, in the first floor of a South
Anchorage office building. It's decorated in a hybrid of
steakhouse chic and hipster pickup bar; despite that
silliness, it's not unwelcoming, not unpleasant, and the
food's pretty good.

Being eight, we were seated at a long table near the
front door. This was fine, but one of us didn't show up,
and the collision seat (nearest the door) was eventually
vacated to everyone's happiness except the restaurant's.

There were Chinese nachos, 4 to an order, with minced
American wagyu in a slightly spicy soy-ginger-hoisin-
sesame sauce with Asian-vegetable slaw, on fried wonton
wrapper "tortilla" chips; these were topped with a small
sprinkle each of melting cheese and of sesame seeds.
These were okay, the seeds beneficial by adding character
- for once -; normally they are of an extraneousness. The
wagyu contributing just grease, nothing exciting in texture
or flavor - otherwise it could have been $1.99 shaved steak.

Instead of a main I had an appetizer feature of clams and
mussels in a spicy white wine sauce - this was overloaded
with hot pepper, which was not bad, and with diced tomato,
maybe half a can, which was not good - I left most of the
tomato. The clams were small manilas, fresh and pretty good;
the mussels were not sufficiently debearded but otherwise
ditto. It was represented that the shellfish were local.
The portion was generous as an appetizer and almost adequate
as a main course.

I was supposed to share Lilli's prime rib, but even though
it was medium-rare rather than the rare that she requested
(the waitress said, apologetically, that they were out of
blue rare), it was so delicious that she ate almost all of
her sizable slice, leaving me only with a spot of gristle,
which I enjoyed, and a lump of fat, most of which I didn't
eat, being a good boy for once.

Bob D had the pineapple-ginger flank steak pinwheels, which
he pronounced superb and wondered how he could get the recipe.

Francine and Bob E had salmon and halibut, respectively; they
didn't say much, but their plates were pretty clean afterward.

Bob W and Big Chris both got the rack of ribs - Chris ate all
of his in a flash, and when Bob stopped halfway, longingly
eyed the remaining pile, so Bob said, oh, no, that's my
lunch tomorrow, and so it was.

None of these people are food sharers, so I can't report on
these great-sounding dishes. If Bob D nad offered me a taste
of his, I could probably have told him how to prepare it.

Francine had scoped out the wine list beforehand and
pronounced it uninspired (it's reputed by locals to be one
of the best in town), but it turns out that the corkage rate
had gone from $10 to 20 a bottle, so we decided to order
from the list, which turned not to be so lackluster as the
picture she'd painted.

My choice was the Kiona Lemberger 15, a bargain at $28 (it
retails at 15 or 16), a surprisingly balanced fruity but not
too much so, acid but not too acid wine that went superbly
with the roast beef and (Bob said) with the ribs.

For the sea creatures, Trimbach Gewurztraminer 11, with its
peachy and tropical tastes with a touch of honey and spices,
went very well, though after half a glass I switched back to
the red because of the preponderance of tomatoes in my dish.

Nobody had room for dessert, so the bill, though large, was
not overstuffed.
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