Ernie and I went up to Brooklyn, NY, to visit our son a few weeks ago. It was a busy weekend, but quite a lot of fun. He showed us “His Brooklyn”, as opposed to the Brooklyn that Ernie remembers from when he was a kid. We spent our time in Williamsburg, which is a very young, energetic place with a lot of great bars, restaurants, and boutique hotels.

Our son took us to two restaurants that he and his girlfriend really enjoy. The first night it was Oregano’s. This is a busy little Italian restaurant that uses extremely fresh ingredients to create their menu. We were very fortunate to have a seat right in the window - which was great because we could look out at the freezing night but stay nice and toasty warm inside. Our wine - a 2013 Sicilian Nero d’Avola called Scurati Terre Siciliane by Azienda Agricola Ceuso. A really nice wine - full-bodied, great tannins, perfect for the cold night. In fact, it was so nice, we had a second bottle! The four of us had a variety of dishes from great appetizer specials to pasta to beef to pizza, and the wine was perfect with each. Nice place - we’d like to go back.

Our Sicilian wine and the lovely setting at our table by the window of Oregano.

The next night, we opted for a French evening, Juliette Restaurant. This place is much larger than Oregano's, and since it was a Saturday night, extremely busy. Again we had a variety of foods, this time with mussels marinière, grilled halibut, grilled hanger steak, and beef short rib stew. We decided on a 2014 Le Colombier Vacqueyras by Les Vignobles Mourre. This wine was 80% Grenache and 20% Mourvèdre. Again, a very nice wine - it went very well with the beef dishes, and the two seafood eaters enjoyed it with their food.

The variety of dishes at Juliette Restaurant.

All in all, a great time. We really enjoyed the weekend, we bonded with our son again, and we got in some great sightseeing of the surroundings. We’re looking forward to our next visit!