So good!

Bayta

252 Hollywood Road

Post Master of Wine intro course and the 2 MWs + 13 or so potential students head over to Bayta, the latest resto from the guys and gals behind La Cabane.

Shyntia of La Cabane very kindly chose a “pet nat” which, apparently, is quite popular in the US “peyt naaaaaaaht”.  Pet nat is abbreviated for petillant (lightly sparkling) and natural (minimal intervention in wine making- nothing added or taken away except perhaps a bit of S02 at the very end to help stabilize) and is another word for method ancestrale for sparkling wine production.

Orange to brown in color depending if you got a top or bottom pour, full of cider, yeast and totally funky notes, no one could have guessed this was a Riesling, which totally didn’t matter as this racked up some serious awesome points.

A bit lactic with tons of brown sediment (no disgorgement) this was super fun and totally crushable.  I highly recommend if you want to try something totally out there and different. 

Oh my the food.  There’s a 3 course pre fixe.  I started with the asparagus cannelloni which was super fresh and light followed by the sea bass which was smothered in coffee and absolutely to die for.  Super balanced with just the right amount of crunch from the cauliflower, this is the dish I will totally  come back for.

We finished with some comte cheese (12 month) and a date square that was just the right amount of sweet that left you full but not bursting.

I should also mention the bread as seen next to the Mullineaux, which was one of my favorite wines of the night (they very graciously let us bring in some wines).   Chef Pauline makes a new bread everyday and we were lucky enough to get a spicy chick pea version.  So delicious.   

Cheese and a really cool orange wine.  Orange wines are made from white grapes that have been produced in the way of red wines, that is to say, they are fermented on their skins.  This imparts tannin which gives a really cool chalky texture.  This Malvasia hails from Slovenia on the Italian border, was aged 2 years in Acacia wood, and was super tasty.  Yeast, fruit on the back palate, tannin, and a really nice complement to the nutty cheese.

Did you know there’s a shortage of 24 month aged Comte?  If you see it now don’t buy it as it’ll either be poor quality or a scam.  

There’s the tasty date log.  Perhaps that’s not the best name for it..Anyway, my least successful wine of the night was this Chinese Vidal ice wine.   I fund it very waxy like a liquid crayola, not in a good way, with some green notes.  I suppose this proves that sugar cannot fix anything…

Anyway, get to Bayta.  The food is clever, well executed, and from super high quality ingredients.  Pair that with the knowledge and enthusiasm of the staff and a knock out wine list and you have yourself a solid night out.