Darren Delmore's Platinum Plates of 2024
It's that time of year where I try to make sense of all the food pictures on my phone and my newly XL shirt size. My nationwide travels selling Tablas Creek take me into phenomenal restaurants of all kinds, spearheaded by passionate people putting out platinum plates best paired with wine. 2024 was chock full of revisiting some classics and new discoveries, and this list represents a very small fraction of memorable meals worthy of being on here. I hope this activates your appetite, and you go support your local favorite restaurant soon. I'm already hungering for what I'll find in 2025.
The Spoon Trade, Grover Beach, CA
Jacob and Brooke town enjoyed some National limelight recently on Guy Fieri's TV show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives", and if you saw it, you'll see how much complexity is behind their take on comfort food. This Tri-Tip Tartare has been on the menu since day one, served with tonnato, parsley, and buttery slices of grilled sourdough to slather it all upon. Brooke's wine list is just as contemplative, with an ahead of her time focus on wines in keg, and boasting a vertical of Tablas Creek Terret Noir.
Lupi and Iris, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I spent my birthday in Milwaukee this year, which you don't hear too often. In my favor, the "evening shift" was hosting a five wine/six-course dinner at Lupi and Iris. I snapped only one picture, in between chatting up tables and introducing the wines, and aside from a later course with braised rabbit, this pairing stole the show. Seared sea scallop, caramelized fennel, Wisconsin sweet pea puree, and citrus beurre blanc, served with 2022 Patelin de Tablas Blanc.
Merchant, Madison, Wisconsin
Curd nerds, hear me out. I'm good with a bag of Wisco string cheese from a grocery store, but I'm awfully down with these elevated cheese curds at Merchant in Madison. A bonus was their American Wine Night they were rocking for most of 2024, urging their guests to drink domestic.
NOSA Kitchen and Inn, Ojo Caliente, New Mexico
Chef Graham Dodds has a tiny, 12-seats-a-night culinary gem an hour outside of Santa Fe. When in the land of enchantment, go lamb if you can. You're in New Mexico Dahl sheep country after all. This drippin' shank was full on last supper status, served on a bed of Taos fall mushrooms and dreamy polenta.
Pennyroyal Farm, Boonville, CA.
My family was blown away by the entire experience at Pennyroyal Farm in Anderson Valley. They are a creamery, a kitchen, farmstead, and a vineyard/winery. The food menu is farm to table at its finest, and this estate grown cauliflower soup was as delicious as it was beautiful, not to mention the cheese and charcuterie board with house made cheeses and pickled things that we could barely put a collective dent in.
Truly Pizza, Dana Point, CA.
Chef Chris Decker is a legend at fermentation and, I'll say it, a bonafide pizza celebrity. After meeting and tasting through all of our current releases back in early 2024 after Truly had just opened up, he sent me off "with a snack" that he went back and personally whipped up. I popped this box merging onto the I-5 North and nearly hit the hazards to pull roadside. No dough bones remained when I was finished. This buzzy hotspot became our biggest Patelin de Tablas Rosé account last year, and is a must for any pizza aficionado.
Gralehaus, Louisville, KY
I'm happy to introduce you to the juiciest, fluffiest, bubbliest breakfast sandwich in the world, served in an old funky church with the best coffee in town. If this thing puts you to sleep there are three epic rooms to stay in upstairs (which I did). Upon waking, traverse the mellow, grassy courtyard behind Gralehaus to the newly opened Bar Grale (wine bar and bottle shop), focusing on organically grown wines. You might not have to go anywhere else in all of Louisville, save for the nearby grave of Muhammad Ali to pay your respects.
Juan Jasper, San Diego, CA.
Tiny Juan Jasper in North Park San Diego is a place where you can grab a bottle of wine off their wall to uncork at a minimal markup, and even pick out a steak from the butcher case for the owner to sear up on the spot. With two close buddies in tow in December, my friend Rogel pulled out an absolute legend from his slick, black, assassin-looking wine and stemware case - 2005 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape - to match with this decadent monster ribeye.
Hope you're hungry, and that you might find yourself at one of these excellent spots sometime soon. For me, off to get this Ozempic prescription filled. Happy 2025!