Belly’s Wednesday Wine & Food Pairings (and Concert Review!)

Greetings my dozens of faithful readers. I hope you will be enthused to discover that, after a long hiatus, BWW&FP has returned! And this might truly be my favorite one yet (though it has some stiff competition), for a couple of reasons: I was dining with my very good friend, Samantha, and after our meal we took in a wonderfully fun concert. Who knew venturing out of one’s parents’ basement and interacting with people could be so enjoyable?

Let’s begin as did the evening in question: with a hearty meal combining Percheron white ($7.99; a Chenin Blanc-Viogner blend from the Western Cape of South Africa) with a hefty burrito from Honest Tom’s in West Philadelphia.

Our banquet was impressively flavorful. The well-seasoned meat (I had pork, Sam had chicken) was deposited amongst a mélange of perfectly pasty guacamole, melt-y cheese, fluffy rice, fresh salsa, and beans. As you may be able to tell, the textures of the burrito shined through almost as much as the flavors, which were set off like firecrackers with the addition of some of the best hot sauce I’ve ever tasted.

To stand up to such robust repast, the wine needed to be versatile, but possessive of a strong backbone: the Percheron fit this bill perfectly. A moderate measure of sweetness ably rounded off the spicy saltiness of the burrito, while the confident, understated firmness of the elixir – which I attribute to the Viogner portion of the blend – held its own against the arsenal of flavors and textures bundled into the tortillas. I would like to take the opportunity here to tout the virtues of Viogner generally, as I feel that it is a somewhat underappreciated variety. In my experience, Viogners have offered an ideal balance of sweetness, force, and subtlety that, when pulled off with particular aplomb, can be astonishing. Throw in a luminous golden hue and a rich bouquet, and you end up with some damn fine wine.

Energized and intoxicated by our banquet, Sam and I ventured to Union Transfer to enjoy the music of Electric Youth, Anoraak, and College. Billed “The Drive Tour,” due to prominence of the College-Electric Youth collaboration “A Real Hero” in the recent Ryan Gosling movie, the show could more accurately be described as a tour of the Valerie Collective, which is an association of mostly French musicians that make 80s-inspired electronic music.

When we arrived, Electric Youth had already begun their set. Bombarded by a strident synthesizer, entering the space took on the feeling of traveling twenty-five years into the past. However, far from being hackneyed, the energy and charisma of this group, particularly that of Bronwyn, the lead singer, made the nostalgic sound fresh and exciting. Take a look at the group performing “Right Back to You.”

 It also doesn’t hurt that Bronwyn is beautiful, as you can see.

I should note that, by mentioning her attractiveness, I in no way intend to take away from her talent and vivacity, all of which combined to truly enthrall the crowd, including Sam, who developed a girl-crush.

Next, Anoraak took the stage. Those in attendance that may have been unfamiliar with the group were offered this helpful introduction: “Hello! We are Anoraak, from France.” This goofy straightforwardness is evident in their music, which is concerned with little else but fun. Their set closed with an epic, seemingly endless assault of throbbing bass, laser-guided synths, and a herculean effort from the drummer, referred to more concisely as Anoraak’s remix of Xinobi’s “Day Off.” Here’s a video of them performing it in Paris, right before the start of the US tour.

How the surfeit of hipsters in the crowd refrained from dancing furiously is beyond me. However, judging by the girl in the polka-dot dress in the front row of the Paris show, perhaps their lack of movement was a good thing. (I’m sorry. I really don’t mean to have a go at that poor girl. She’s getting down and doing what she feels, which is great. But still, what is the deal with the hands?) In any case, I didn’t care that those around me were too cool or unable to dance, and by the time these fantastic frogs exited the stage I had worked up quite a sweat.

The show concluded with College, who offered a seamless, psychedelic meandering through tunes from the various EPs and albums he has released. This was a more forthright techno performance than the others, with the artist hunched over his computer and synthesizer, while trippy projections flowed about behind him. The lone bit of human vocals in College’s set came when Bronwyn joined him to perform the aforementioned song from the film that gave the tour its moniker. It was a moving performance in which the chanteuse displayed her ability to make more than glittery synth-pop. It also helped to slow the pace of things nicely and transition from dancing back to normal walking around as the evening wound to a close, like a cool-down jog after a hard run.

All in all, it was a great experience and I cannot recommend enough the wine, food, and the show. For my friends in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chapel Hill, you can and should catch the tour when it comes to your city.