Lunch w/ wine

PF Chang's has a really good deal on wine flights: choose any three wines available by the glass & get three 2.5-ounce pours for $9.
Of course, I pick from the high end, and the pours often tip a bit over 2.5 ounces.
Today I had a Viognier blend from Treana, a New Zealand Pinot Noir and (my favorite) a Hess cabernet sauvignon.
For food, I got the shrimp with lobster sauce, a large portion and brought half of it home.

Fun & healthy lunch @ PF Chang's

This weekend I met one of my favorite former students -- the beautiful June '09 grad, Reagan Russo (top) -- for wine and healthy food at PF Chang's in Hyde Park. Of course, Chang's is a national chain and an experience similar to ours can be had in multiple locations.

We both wanted a lunch that wouldn't be full of fat and calories, and our server steered us through the best menu choices. Reagan had the lettuce wraps -- which, if you ate the whole thing, you'd be going overboard by our standards. She was able to feel satisfied after eating about half of the filling, so she brought the rest home.

I had my standard order of the Buddha's Feast (pictured), steamed rather than stir-fried. (I've had it both ways.) With brown rice and added shrimp -- it comes with tofu amid the crisp-tender veggies -- and plenty of added soy/mustard sauce, the dish was delish.

Of course, most of the fun was in seeing Reagan again after too long. But we also were happy to have selected a good-for-us meal.

Wine Flights at PF Chang's -- DEAL!

I took my mom to lunch at PF Chang's -- had not been in perhaps a year -- and discovered their new-ish deal on wine.
Chang's has always had a lot of nice wines by the glass. As with most restaurants, the good stuff is pricey. But here's the thing: you can select any three wines from the extensive by-the-glass list to make up your flight. The official pour is 2.5 ounces, and the price is $9 no matter which wines you select.
We were just at 20 Brix, a wine-oriented restaurant in Milford, and their "taste" size is 2 ounces, with prices all over the place--you can easily pay $4-$5 there for one two-ounce pour.

I was not intending to have wine at lunch today, but simply could not resist this offer.
Furthermore, the bartender was a little generous with those pours--I don't think anyone is back there measuring.

I had a marvelous flight of Adelsheim Pinot Gris, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc and Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay ($11 a pop there if you just want a glass of that), served in the cool tower pictured here (not a great photo, though, sorry).
Our server said they'd had this deal for almost a year.
I say, go for it before someone in top management realizes that this is a bargain for the discerning wine drinker!