Okay so just where do all you people eat at.!?

[sail7seas]

Different strokes for different folks. I would not be able to swallow a bite that cost me $75:eek:. Are you kidding me? I think the only time I ever paid that much for a meal was my High School Reunion. I think Cagney's was $20 on NCL when we went, and only did that once.

 

 

Dining here on the East Coast is very expensive. There are few restaurants in Boston for a 'good dinner' vs pizza or burgers or other very casual dinner that cost less than $75 pp. If the restaurant requires reservations and a great many in Boston do, it is likely that will be the cost...... if not more.

 

[slidergirl]

DH and I dine out often but never at Chiles, Olive Garden, Outback, Applebees or the like. We don't care for any of those fast food sort of chains. We don't dine five star as a regular weekly activity either though we certainly do dine five star periodically.

 

DH and I enjoy privately owned small local restaurants, specialty restaurants, family owned restaurants and those that are usually only known to the locals. :) We like wholesome, fresh cooked, fresh ingredients, and places that don't mind accomodating special requests such as hold the onions, please.

 

 

I'm sure you are talking about the "make your own rating" 5 star establishments and not the Michelin 5 star ratings;)

I don't do chains because, fortunately, living in my small town we only have one chain, Ruth's Chris. Everything else is locally run. Love it. I have to drive down the canyon to the "big city" to find the mainstream chains, and I'll only drive down once a month if I must.

That said, on a cruise, I actually gravitate to the buffets. I am a big fan of salad as my entree. I like being able to go to the buffet and create my salad, greens, veggies, a protein. I can change them up every day.

I went to a specialty restaurant on both Princess and NCL. On Princess, it was the Bayou on the Island Princess. Meh. The best thing about it was the small jazz combo playing during my dinner. On NCL, it was the Italian restaurant. Having never been to Olive Garden and only been to the Macaroni Grill once (on business trip), that specialty restaurant was below it in quality. I do better Italian (I make a fantastic marinara that my now-ex used say was better than his moms and on par with his Italian nannas). I tried the MDRs, but I didn't like the drawn out process and it was not fun to try to explain to the waiters that I wanted two or three of their salads put together on a plate and brought to me at "entree" time.

 

I'll stick to my personalized salads at the buffet until I find something worth changing for on another line.

[greatam]

Even Peter Luger (which I think is the only steakhouse that merits a Michelin star in the US--and only one at that) just isn't all that fantastic to me. I can get a NY strip or petite filet of grass fed prime angus, grill it up, add a truffled red wine reduction, and throw together whatever sides I'm in the mood for, open a bottle of really nice aged wine, and have a great meal at home for a fraction of the cost and for me, less fuss than getting dressed up and going out.

 

We haul meat for some of the better meat houses in NYC so I have access to Prime grade meats at a decent price if they are available. Otherwise, aged Prime is as expensive as going to one of the better steakhouses and YOU have to cook it. We do a fair amount of business with Weischel and Strassburger. Strassburger sells online and through Williams/Sonoma. At $43 per pound for prime, aged rib eye, I will go out to eat, thank you.

 

The last 150 pounds of prime I bought for home use in January cost me just slightly less than $14.00 per pound, I had to haul it, get it butchered and it still isn't dry aged. Darn good meat but that dry aging does make a difference. I left an 8 pound piece of prime rib in the refrigerator wrapped in gauze for 11 days trying to replicate the dry aging process. Weischel told me it would work. Well, I guess it was a little better but certainly not the quality of theirs or Strassburgers dry aged beef.

 

This should interest you: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/jobs/strassburgers-chief-on-a-5-generation-family-business.html?_r=0

 

I can remember when they were still in the Harlem meat market, I was still driving a truck myself, I delivered their swinging beef every Monday morning out of Iowa, Suzy was just a a little kid and Daddy WAS NOT going to let her be part of the meat business. They thought I was a real oddity being a female truck driver so became friends with the entire family. Things do change in business although meat, trucking and produce are still very, very male dominated businesses. Suzy is one of the very few women meat company owners in the USA. And there are only three female produce company owners that I know of-Dianna Hirschbaum in Hunts Point created a real stir when she took over her uncle's business about 15 years ago. The Market went so far as to almost boycott her to run her out of the Market.

 

 

 

PS--have you had the Kobe at the Old Homestead? It's a bit dear for my budget--I'd rather have a grass fed Prime Angus and spend the savings on a fantastic bottle of wine to go with it. :)

 

At $300-350 for the meat??? and everything else extra. I will put the money into a trip to Japan where you get real Kobe. A lot of the Kobe in the USA is Wagyu Kobe which is the US version. They are raising a lot of wagyu in Colorado and Montana. You are going to laugh but there was a place in AMARILLO TX that served REAL KOBE 8 years ago. $100 for the meat, veggies and salads extra. But it was REAL (I had them bring out the boxes) and it was darned good. Evidently, they no longer serve REAL Kobe, just wagyu kobe. Kabuki Steakhouse North side of Amarillo.

[ducklite]

I'm sure you are talking about the "make your own rating" 5 star establishments and not the Michelin 5 star ratings;)

 

There is no such thing as a Michelin five star rating. Their stars only go to three.

 

AAA has a five star rating, but it is not nearly as discerning as the Michelin requirements. Michelin visits multiple times, and doesn't identify themselves. AAA calls and schedules a visit, allowing the restaurant to be on their best behavior, and has over all looser standards. I'm dining at a AAA four star tonight that "might" garner a single star from Michelin.

 

I'll stick to my personalized salads at the buffet until I find something worth changing for on another line.

 

That's where sailing a small ship where you can meet with the chef to discuss your wants/needs is preferable. :)

[YubaSutter]

 

My wife and I enjoy very much to dine out at least twice a week and eat at mainstream restaurants such as Chiles, Red Robin, Olive Garden, etc. I think that the food on NCL is very comparable to those restaurants.

 

 

If those are the types of restaurants you really enjoy and NCL is comparable to those restaurants, I will never sail NCL. Those restaurants are 1 step up from McDonalds.

[ducklite]

We haul meat for some of the better meat houses in NYC so I have access to Prime grade meats at a decent price if they are available. Otherwise, aged Prime is as expensive as going to one of the better steakhouses and YOU have to cook it. We do a fair amount of business with Weischel and Strassburger. Strassburger sells online and through Williams/Sonoma. At $43 per pound for prime, aged rib eye, I will go out to eat, thank you.

 

I have a way to get it here in the Orlando area at just above wholesale price. ;)

 

The last 150 pounds of prime I bought for home use in January cost me just slightly less than $14.00 per pound, I had to haul it, get it butchered and it still isn't dry aged. Darn good meat but that dry aging does make a difference. I left an 8 pound piece of prime rib in the refrigerator wrapped in gauze for 11 days trying to replicate the dry aging process. Weischel told me it would work. Well, I guess it was a little better but certainly not the quality of theirs or Strassburgers dry aged beef.

 

I pay about $28 a pound for dry aged grass fed prime strips. The place that I procure it from does the aging in house, which is why I pay a bit over wholesale. It's a legal but kind of "back door" deal.

 

At $300-350 for the meat??? and everything else extra. I will put the money into a trip to Japan where you get real Kobe. A lot of the Kobe in the USA is Wagyu Kobe which is the US version. They are raising a lot of wagyu in Colorado and Montana. You are going to laugh but there was a place in AMARILLO TX that served REAL KOBE 8 years ago. $100 for the meat, veggies and salads extra. But it was REAL (I had them bring out the boxes) and it was darned good. Evidently, they no longer serve REAL Kobe, just wagyu kobe. Kabuki Steakhouse North side of Amarillo.

 

Actually the Kobe there is the real deal--they are one of the few restaurants in the US that actually do serve imported Kobe. The USDA slightly changed the import ban in August of 2012, and a small amount is allowed to be imported every year. That said, I'm still not willing to spend that kind of dough for a piece of beef.

[ducklite]

Dining here on the East Coast is very expensive. There are few restaurants in Boston for a 'good dinner' vs pizza or burgers or other very casual dinner that cost less than $75 pp. If the restaurant requires reservations and a great many in Boston do, it is likely that will be the cost...... if not more.

 

 

It's equally expensive in Southern California, which is where that poster is from. I'm dining in LA next month and have budgeted $350 for dinner for two, not including wine.

[slidergirl]

There is no such thing as a Michelin five star rating. Their stars only go to three.

 

AAA has a five star rating, but it is not nearly as discerning as the Michelin requirements. Michelin visits multiple times, and doesn't identify themselves. AAA calls and schedules a visit, allowing the restaurant to be on their best behavior, and has over all looser standards. I'm dining at a AAA four star tonight that "might" garner a single star from Michelin.

 

 

 

That's where sailing a small ship where you can meet with the chef to discuss your wants/needs is preferable. :)

 

I know about no M5 - I just always laugh when people talk about a "5 star" experience, especially on a cruise ship:p

 

I work in the hospitality business. Some of the restaurants attached to hotels and resorts I've worked at (and currently do) have AAA four star, with one having 5 stars. You are right about the non-secret shopper aspect of AAA. We always know what day they are coming (and sometimes the name of the inspector) in advance. For the hotel, management always makes sure that they schedule their "best" employees at each department for those days and, in my experience, go over what the inspectors will look for and want to be extra careful that all the marks are hit (i.e., mention guest's name 3 times in conversation, no use of contractions or slang, always end with an anticipatory remark). Same with the restaurant - make sure you best servers are there and the Chef is cooking that day, not just the kitchen team. Once the inspector is gone, it's back to business as usual. It makes for a very skewed rating.

At least Michelin and Forbes (used to be Mobil) do their inspections unannounced - they announce their presence only after they have completed the process. I had one at my place last week.

I actually did eat at a Michelin 3-star once - Le Bernadin in NYC. I did lunch, so it was only about $120 for my meal, including wine and dessert :eek: I had a chance to get a solo reservation at La Pergola in Rome (the only Michelin 3 star in Rome) in May, but it's dinner only and there was no way I had the money to do it.

I'd love to do a small ship cruise, like Windstar or Seaborn (I know an executive pastry chef here in town who did work on Seaborn). But, I'm afraid I'd have to either win the lottery, Publisher's Clearinghouse, or find a sugar daddy ;) They are a little pricey for a solo traveler...

[OCruisers]

I think you have to take opinions on food with a grain of salt.

 

Very, Very, Very True, Kirk!

 

LuLu

~~~~~

[Sipsey]

I am not much of an Olive Garden fan, but I think they must be doing something right. We were going to eat there a few months ago on a Saturday evening, could barely find a parking place. The waiting area and bar were full, people were sitting outside on the curb and sidewalks waiting. I asked about the wait time and was told 45 minutes. That, in my experience, usually means at least an hour and a half. We went to a locally owned Greek/Italian place instead and probably paid a little more money but got seated right away.

 

Maybe not all locations are like that, but the one here is very successful.

 

As far as paying $75/pp to eat dinner, let me think about that.......NOPE, don't think so, thanks anyway!

[Zach1213]

I am not much of an Olive Garden fan, but I think they must be doing something right. We were going to eat there a few months ago on a Saturday evening, could barely find a parking place. The waiting area and bar were full, people were sitting outside on the curb and sidewalks waiting. I asked about the wait time and was told 45 minutes. That, in my experience, usually means at least an hour and a half. We went to a locally owned Greek/Italian place instead and probably paid a little more money but got seated right away.

 

Maybe not all locations are like that, but the one here is very successful.

 

As far as paying $75/pp to eat dinner, let me think about that.......NOPE, don't think so, thanks anyway!

 

They're very successful. So is McDonald's. Doesn't mean it's good or that I want to have it on vacation.

[Winnigirl]

Our first cruise was on the Norway - back when "fine dining" was still the norm - and it really was. Waiters in white gloves, multiple courses, servers who would very deftly remove your lobster tail from it's shell. It was wonderful. We also had wonderful food on the NCL Jade right around the time My Time Dining came into being. Most of the food at the various restaurants was excellent as I recall, so we've had good experiences with NCL. Both these cruises were quite some time ago, so I have had no recent experiences on NCL ships. The food on our only Carnival Cruise last Sept. was dreadful, except for one dinner of short ribs. I only remember it because it was the only meal I actually enjoyed. After a few bad experiences we never eat at the buffets anymore. Because we live in the urban area of our city we are lucky enough to be able to walk to a lot of little bistros and cafes in the area, when we dine out, so we don't frequent chain steakhouses, etc. very often. Except on July 12. Our younger daughter fell in love with Red Lobster at the age of 3 and we must celebrate her birthday there every year. Actually, I kind of look forward to it.

[CapeCodCruiser]

I know about no M5 - I just always laugh when people talk about a "5 star" experience, especially on a cruise ship:p

 

I work in the hospitality business. Some of the restaurants attached to hotels and resorts I've worked at (and currently do) have AAA four star, with one having 5 stars. You are right about the non-secret shopper aspect of AAA. We always know what day they are coming (and sometimes the name of the inspector) in advance. For the hotel, management always makes sure that they schedule their "best" employees at each department for those days and, in my experience, go over what the inspectors will look for and want to be extra careful that all the marks are hit (i.e., mention guest's name 3 times in conversation, no use of contractions or slang, always end with an anticipatory remark). Same with the restaurant - make sure you best servers are there and the Chef is cooking that day, not just the kitchen team. Once the inspector is gone, it's back to business as usual. It makes for a very skewed rating.

At least Michelin and Forbes (used to be Mobil) do their inspections unannounced - they announce their presence only after they have completed the process. I had one at my place last week.

I actually did eat at a Michelin 3-star once - Le Bernadin in NYC. I did lunch, so it was only about $120 for my meal, including wine and dessert :eek: I had a chance to get a solo reservation at La Pergola in Rome (the only Michelin 3 star in Rome) in May, but it's dinner only and there was no way I had the money to do it.

I'd love to do a small ship cruise, like Windstar or Seaborn (I know an executive pastry chef here in town who did work on Seaborn). But, I'm afraid I'd have to either win the lottery, Publisher's Clearinghouse, or find a sugar daddy ;) They are a little pricey for a solo traveler...

 

Just to clear things up - AAA awards Diamonds and a AAA Five Diamond is difficult to get - there are very few.

 

We definitely tend to eat dinner in the Specialty restaurants & MDR - not a buffet person when on vacation.

 

That being said - we love the steakhouses on the cruise ships. You pay dearly for prime beef and the price there is reasonable.

 

We also enjoy the Chef's Table's - again reasonable for the meal you get. Some folks are b@tching about Carnival's switching to the Wagyu short ribs - but I love the flavor of a well prepared short rib so no complaints from me.

 

We also had a fantastic dinner at Le Bistro on NCL.

 

I loved all of the dining choices on the Epic - I think we only ate in the MDR 3 times on an 11 nt cruise.

[sail7seas]

It's equally expensive in Southern California, which is where that poster is from. I'm dining in LA next month and have budgeted $350 for dinner for two, not including wine.

 

 

Boston is not quite $350 unless ordering a very pricey wine or many cocktails. It isn't as though that is the finest restaurant in town..... that is the price for most of the 'good to very good' restaurants. Yes, you can eat for less but not at the places most of us like to try. :) A moderate priced wine and it's about $275 including tip.

 

[SantaFeFan]

It's equally expensive in Southern California, which is where that poster is from. I'm dining in LA next month and have budgeted $350 for dinner for two, not including wine.

 

You most likely will be dining at a "trendy" restaurant, one that people go to show off, not one that is particularly known for the food. My wife and I dine out in LA often and we have had some excellent meals for under $100 for the two of us. Not being wine snobs, we are perfectly satisfied with a $40 bottle, and avoid the overpriced vintages that in my opinion are barely better than what we order. A fine meal at an excellent restaurant, with wine, for under $150 or much less. So what if the restaurants we dine at aren't the places where the "beautiful people" tend to eat. Those places satisfy the ego rather than the palate, and at a high premium to boot. You are paying for the name, not the quality.

[firerunner]

I like food

 

all food

 

I will try anything once

 

my problem with eating out is I love to cook ( i make sour dough bread my sour dough starter is about 10 years old and ARGH bread at restaurants is just BAD) BUT this is my problem

 

hubby will say lets eat out

 

sure i say where

 

 

he says I dunno Olive Garden and then I say..but I can cook what they offer BETTER at home and cheaper..so we stay home and I cook.

 

I find now when we go out, that is my standard, is the food BETTER then what I cook..if not..we stay home..

 

 

we have been staying home ALOT LOL

 

but on the cruise..again i like to try everything some is good..some is not, I take it with a grain of salt..i know what to expect on a cruise and I know some will be better then what I can make..some wont.

[pris993]

I'm not a real picky eater but I have found some food items on ships that I didn't care for. For example, on my last cruise the creme brulee was always runny in the middle(and it is my favorite desert) so after the first two times I got a different desert (not really a hardship). I have almost always eaten in the MDR for dinner unless I was tired or not feeling well. I have yet to pay extra to dine in a specialty restaurant.

 

I found the Celebrity food quite good although that was a few years ago. I think you will be impressed with Celebrity in all areas.

 

Hope you have a great time!

 

We are seasoned cruisers, on 9 different lines over past 30+ years. Over 45 cruises. Recently we cruise primarily Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard... just did a NCL cruise for the first time in 10 years.

 

To answer your question, we eat at home, we cook. I know that is rare these days. Consequently, we eat better at home then we do on any cruise. We don't cruise for the food.

 

Consequently, we sometimes have a good breakfast and a good lunch and skip dinner when cruising. We find we can generally get what we like for these two meals either from room service and the buffet or some combination of the two. We generally book a balcony cabin or mini suite, so we prefer to eat our meals in our cabin. If we do go to the MDR or a speciality restaurant then we expect very good service and we are very selective about what we eat, generally fish or a veal chop.

 

We feel there is a lot of hype over cruise food. Years ago it was better than today.

[SnowDiamonds]

I think you have to take opinions on food with a grain of salt.

 

 

Agree. I love those restaurants mentioned, and I love expensive high end restaurants in SF, supposedly some of the best food around. I was on NCL Spirit a couple years ago and I loved the MDR food and a couple of the other restaurants. I expect there will always be items that do impress and those that don't. I don't eat more than a bite of those. Save room for later and save calories for delicious treats. I'm never hungry on a cruise...

Even on the crappy Carnival cruise I was on several years ago, where room service sent us stale hydrox cookies and hockey puck brownies in our "assorted dessert platter" we had about 65-75% good food as opposed to the bad.

 

To answer your question, explore and eat whereever you want so you can form your own opinion :)

 

and do order a BLT, chocolate milk, chips, and leftover desserts as a midnight snack from room service. Has not disappointed me yet. knock on wood (even though I don't believe in that) ha ha

[slidergirl]

Just to clear things up - AAA awards Diamonds and a AAA Five Diamond is difficult to get - there are very few.

 

We definitely tend to eat dinner in the Specialty restaurants & MDR - not a buffet person when on vacation.

 

That being said - we love the steakhouses on the cruise ships. You pay dearly for prime beef and the price there is reasonable.

 

We also enjoy the Chef's Table's - again reasonable for the meal you get. Some folks are b@tching about Carnival's switching to the Wagyu short ribs - but I love the flavor of a well prepared short rib so no complaints from me.

 

We also had a fantastic dinner at Le Bistro on NCL.

 

I loved all of the dining choices on the Epic - I think we only ate in the MDR 3 times on an 11 nt cruise.

 

There are definitely few 5 Diamond restaurants. We have one in town. All of the restaurants linked to the resort hotels in town are also rated 4 Diamonds. But, the process is still rigged with the pre-announcement of the visit. Of course, you have to be decent in the first place. But, you can stack the deck to have better odds of getting or keeping your diamonds by making sure your best staff is on hand the day the inspectors are in town. With Forbes and Michelin, you don't know when they will be there so you have to put out your best every day. So, if you want to know the true quality of a hotel/restaurant, I would put more faith in the Forbes ratings than the AAA ratings. That's just my opinion from my experiences dealing with both.

 

Ducklite - where did you dine when you had Joseph Keller as chef? I got to have a charity dinner a few years where he was the "celebrity chef". Turned out he was friends with a local chef here that was hosting the dinner. It was the first time I had bone marrow - oh my!!!

[marco]

I've been traveling on ships now for over 40 years. I think a lot of folks who rate cruise ship food so poorly either have been cruising for many years, or remember hearing about what dining aboard a ship was like years ago. Most were equivalent to a 5-Star land based restaurant and now most are equivalent to Olive Garden, Chili's, Outback, Red Lobster etc . None of which are "bad", and in fact I enjoy having dinner at those places but they are not special, gourmet, 5-star dining........and pretty much.......neither are cruise ships anymore. I think most now are pretty much comparable to those banquet/wedding facility "factories" that have sprung up pretty much all over the country.

[cruisemom42]

I'm not going to disparage other folks' restaurant choices...

 

But to get back to the poster's original point about NCL's low ratings and comments about their food: Yes, food is subjective. But on the other hand, when one reads comments repeatedly about how NCL's food compares with that of other lines -- and looks at overall ratings for NCL in the industry -- it's a bit hard to pass it off as just "subjective" that NCL's food, at least in the MDR, is not on a par with some other mass market lines.

 

I have also read posts, from someone in the cruise industry, about how much each cruiseline spends per day on passenger food. Granted, the numbers are a couple years old now, but NCL ranked near the bottom.

 

All this together says to me that if enjoying good food is important to you, NCL probably isn't the right cruise line.

 

For myself, I had an absolutely terrible experience with NCL years ago that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with service. It was never made right and for that reason alone I will never spend another dollar with NCL.

[gymbomb]

I agree with the OP. We dine out about once a week at places like Outback, Olive Garden, Chilis, etc. We usually eat in the main dining room for dinner, although we also hit the buffet and a specialty restaurant now and then. We have been very satisfied with the food on NCL, Royal Caribbean, and Princess. I think this is one of those things where both personal preferences and expectations vary a lot.

[starwhite3]

When I first started cruising in earnest in 2007, I tried Carnival a couple of times. Food in MDR was marginal, meat was always tough. The only thing sensational was the chocolate melting cake. I switched to NCL, went on a couple of cruises, food in MDR got progressively worse. Meat was tough and inedible. Even DBF who eats any meat ever put before him complained about his sirloin steak. So that was it for NCL. I believe the meat in MDR on the mass lines is all about the same...poor. I refuse to pay extra at the specialty restaurants. I'm happy to say that the meat on the smaller ships is much better...on Swan-Hellenic it was all delicious, fresh and served hot.

[pris993]

We are seasoned cruisers, on 9 different lines over past 30+ years. Over 45 cruises. Recently we cruise primarily Princess, HAL, Celebrity, Cunard... just did a NCL cruise for the first time in 10 years.

 

To answer your question, we eat at home, we cook. I know that is rare these days. Consequently, we eat better at home then we do on any cruise. We don't cruise for the food.

 

Consequently, we sometimes have a good breakfast and a good lunch and skip dinner when cruising. We find we can generally get what we like for these two meals either from room service and the buffet or some combination of the two. We generally book a balcony cabin or mini suite, so we prefer to eat our meals in our cabin. If we do go to the MDR or a speciality restaurant then we expect very good service and we are very selective about what we eat, generally fish or a veal chop.

 

We feel there is a lot of hype over cruise food. Years ago it was better than today.

 

To further clarify our recent experience on NCL, Jade -- we went to the MDR for lunch first day and for dinner the first evening, on an 11 day cruise. From that point on, we skipped it... we were not impressed with either service or food. Service was very slow, staff would say yes to any request and simply not follow through. We found ourselves asking 3 times for any request. We knew before we went that it is freestyle, basically that means first come first service. It is not possible to negotiate a set time with the Matre'd... in the MDR. Easy decision for us, we skipped the MDR the remainder of the cruise. We saved money on this cruise for sure. Food in the MDR/buffet was not good enough to motivate us to try a speciality restrauant either. We had a wonderful mini suite cabin, enjoy it and meals from buffet and room service... worked out fine. Would do the Jade again, if the itinerary was right with the expectations we would not bother with the MDR or speciality restrauants.

[ducklite]

You most likely will be dining at a "trendy" restaurant, one that people go to show off, not one that is particularly known for the food. My wife and I dine out in LA often and we have had some excellent meals for under $100 for the two of us. Not being wine snobs, we are perfectly satisfied with a $40 bottle, and avoid the overpriced vintages that in my opinion are barely better than what we order. A fine meal at an excellent restaurant, with wine, for under $150 or much less. So what if the restaurants we dine at aren't the places where the "beautiful people" tend to eat. Those places satisfy the ego rather than the palate, and at a high premium to boot. You are paying for the name, not the quality.

 

We're eating at Providence, a Michelin Two-Star. Michelin doesn't award stars to restaurants with bad food, service, or ambiance. I don't really care about "beautiful people" and have walked right past celebrities and not known who they were, so that's certainly not our reason for dining there. For us it's all about the food. As wine collectors, our palate is fairly sophisticated and we have very strong preferences in wines--particularly when pairing them with a meal of that caliber.