Dine + Wine
Wine Time
by Trevor Burton | Photography by Trevor Burton
On the Nines Delivers
NOVEMBER 2018
70 LAKE NORMAN CURRENTS
t would be easy and simple to describe the food and the wine that my wife, Mary Ellen, and I had when we spent an evening at On the Nines. Both were superb. But it was the whole package that the food and wine were surrounded by that made our evening so special. It’s all about the service. Our server and the restaurant manager were attentive without being intrusive, which is quite a trick. It felt like the staff had a lookout on duty to raise a flag whenever either of us, or any other guest, looked like we had a question or needed advice. A simple example, there was an item missing from my wife’s main dish. She was just making a comment to me about it when up popped our server to ask if there was a problem. It was remedied instantaneously and without any fuss. Other examples. Wine was served in an attractive wine glass, not something sturdy that looked like it came from an industrial catalog. Water was delivered to the table in an attractive Bormioli-type, glass swing-top bottle that you used to get your milk in way back in the day. Everything
was executed to perfection to create something greater than the sum of its parts. This is more than good staff and good training. It’s a philosophy that owner Chris Boukedes has and that is imbued throughout the organization. Very nice. But, let’s focus on food and wine. This is a top-of-the-line bistro; the theme here is simple food, well prepared from fresh ingredients. The wine list fits right in. It’s large enough to be interesting, and it’s a size that’s not intimidating. I was in the mood to start my meal with a glass of white wine. What jumped out was a Pinot Gris from the Willamette Valley region of Oregon. This region is famous for its red wines, Pinot Noirs. But the white wines are right up there, and this one hit the spot. We shared a dish of Shrimp Provençal as an appetizer — jumbo shrimp cooked in garlic, capers, lemon and white wine. I might have chosen another wine to go with this dish, but the Pinot Gris was too tempting and it paired pretty nicely. When it came to the main dish, I went right to the “Other Reds” section of the wine list.
The whole package is part of the deal here
That’s where you Trevor Burton tend to find an opted for a interesting wine, Syrah from Santa Ynez usually at an Valley in the attractive price. Central Coast This time was no region of different. I opted California. for a Syrah from Santa Ynez Valley in the Central Coast region of California. Santa Ynez Valley, made a huge contribution to Californian wine history, as the cult 2004 movie Sideways was set and filmed there. This wine doesn’t have the depth and oomph that you would normally expect in a Syrah, so I avoided going the Nines feel like a high-end for a thick, juicy steak. Instead, I went for grilled Paris bistro. And, as I said before, if you wrap that up in a lamb chops. They were just right — another example of bundle of service and attention something greater than the to detail, you’re in for a great sum of its parts. experience. Wonderful. The culinary part of our evening was over the top. That’s On the Nines thanks to the expertise of Chef 205 Golf Course Drive Mooresville Steve Jordan who combines www.ontheninesbistro.com expertise and care to make On
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Experience When It Counts
124 E. Plaza Drive, Suite E | Mooresville, NC 28115 | 704.664.6464 | www.WheelerCoCPA.com