The Delaney House
3 Country Club Road, Rte. 5, Holyoke, 532-1800
Dinner: Mon.-Sat. 5-9 p.m., Sun. 4-8 p.m.; brunch, Sun. 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Entrèes $12 to $30
Drink like a Pro Night, $30 per person
Reservations recommended.
Unfortunately named, “Drink like a Pro” conjures up images of such food pairings as beer nuts and hard boiled eggs, but Italian Night at the Delaney House’s “Drink like a Pro” fixed-price special was anything but. Wines were paired with a first course of calamari salad followed by a pasta course of penne carbonara with peas and pancetta, a main course of chicken saltimbocca (Italian for “jumps in the mouth”) and for dessert, tiramisu.
The Delaney House, a place that does everything from fine dining, brunch, weddings, meetings of the Rotary Club and room service for an adjacent hotel, has been quietly offering four courses with liquor for $30 per person. If you’ve ever eaten at the Delaney House, no matter who was in charge, you’ll know that this is a good deal. In January, the theme was Italy and the drink red and white wine from the wine producer Castello Banfi of Montalcino, Tuscany.
Outside in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the temperature hovered just below freezing, but inside over 100 people raised their glasses to the whites and reds that were fueling their enthusiasm. The man from Banfi described each wine’s origin from a lectern he shared with Charlie, the bar manager, who was dressed in a stretchy black-and-white striped unitard (“I’m supposed to be a gondolier,” he said).
The pasta course was excellent. Penne carbonara with peas and pancetta featured a variety of cheeses spiked with salty ham, and the peas were cooked to perfection. Rose was the Banfi choice for this dish. The wine combines Sangiovese, Cabernet, Sauvignon and Merlot grapes—not bad if you like rose, but nondescript.
Spicy Italian salad with fried calamari was the second course. It was somewhat unconventional in that the breaded squid was doused in dressing on the bed of greens; perhaps grilled squid would have been a better choice. But the dressing was spicy and excellent. This dish was paired with the principessa gavia gavi (pear, citrus and top notes of almond) which sounded better than it tasted.
The third course, chicken saltimbocca with a red wine reduction over a Portobello mushroom and sausage polenta, was awesome. It was paired with a Chianti Classico Riserva which referenced flavors of vanilla, cocoa and spice.
Typically polenta, the Italian version of cornmeal, is served in a pretty yellow shape of some kind with grilled edges and a soft interior. In this case it was neither yellow nor neatly formed, and had the appearance of grits. But appearances aren’t everything and this polenta had some soul to it in flavor and consistency.
Layers of sponge cake with custard and jam made a delicious tiramisu, but the wine was outstanding. Described as a soft, semi-sparkling white wine that was “in expression” a champagne (but not from the Champagne region of France), the Maschio Prosecco was not at all sweet and a perfect finish to the meal.
Drink Like a Pro has moved from one of the restaurant’s smaller rooms to one that seats over 100. It is selling out by now, so if you want to get in on Mardi Gras night next month or Irish Whiskey Night in March, call soon.•
marynelen@gmail.com
