Luna’s at the Savoy Bistro
Just up the street is a Vineland restaurant stalwart, the Savoy Inn. It’s a family operated business that has withstood the test of time (and Covid). It was, for a long time, both a venue for big events (like weddings and retirements) and home of the Bistro, a restaurant serving Italian-ish food. They opened Luna’s as a fresh start in a bid to keep up with many local restaurants unveiling outdoor dining options, starting with nearby Villa Fazzolari.
The dining al fresco revolution was welcome; Rhonda and I have been lucky enough to visit Italy twice, both peripheral to Y2K, and lamented upon return back to the States the lack of outdoor dining options that didn’t involve picnic tables and custard. Everywhere we went in Italy, there were restaurants on busy Roman streets with casual tables scattered just outside the storefront. We would find ourselves having pizza and wine for dinner, or a couple of beers, the docle vita expanding languidly into the evening hours.
Luna’s is a little affected: there are aesthetic attempts at making it look like a clam shack, or a landmark spot on a shoreline barrier island road. It’s none of those things, of course, but it also has its own collection of dishes and drinks that suggest an otherness from the Bistro.
It was a cool and raining evening, but it was still a lot of fun to commune around the table and enjoy the fresh air. It really is a nice spot to sit outside, sip a glass of Sauvignon Blank (see below), and be with the whole fam.
Sauvignon Blanc
I am guilty of having been a red-wine-only person for a long time; I don’t know where or why that happened, but for many years, a glug of red was my go-to with dinner or a meal out somewhere nice. The Bota Box in the pantry was always a red. This, after a long stretch of preference for whites, probably because I ate fish and veg mostly peripheral to finishing college; I adopted a low-fat vegetarian diet, punctuated by fish for dinner when I’d have a chance to dine out. I fancied Alsacian rieslings at the time, having read that James Joyce favored the varietal.
The gateway wine for me was rosé. I always thought the varietal was a sweeter wine, but I tried a few and loved the lightness of the wine, but appreciated the tartness and body. And having been down the white wine road before, I knew that certain dishes, such as raw oysters, beg for the crisp minerality of a thoughtfully crafted white.
As is my lot in life, I yammered on and on to Rhonda about how good the rosé at Bellview Winery was, after trying a glass at a celebration of life for a former colleague there in the fall of 2023. By that Christmas break, I’d managed to get her over to Bellview, and that’s exactly what she had. That has become our go-to when we visit, in fact.
At home, though, and often when we’re out to eat, we’ll get a bottle of chardonnay. Rhonda likes the oaky, buttery versions generally speaking, and I enjoy them too. But I have an adventurous palette, and on occasions where she’s having a beer or something else, I will wander to other varieties.
We took Joe to the nearby Pickwickian for a bite Thursday, and Rhonda ordered a beer. I decided on a class of their house Sauvignon, and it was really nice. (I tend to order their half-chicken when we go there, as it’s pretty guilt-free for bar food.) It was light, crisp, tart–perfect with the chicken. And last night, we joined my parents at Luna’s to celebrate Joe’s girlfriend’s earning her associates degree and I had a couple of glasses there. And Friday night, Rhonda made mussels here at home with some nice bread, and steamed the mussels in some J. Lohr Sauvignon Blanc, which paired nicely with the shellfish.
Meditation
Did you know that the incessant flood of language that besets you when your mind wanders is one, totally normal, and two, not something you have to allow to run your life? Sam Harris thinks so. Meditation is hard.
Thronefall
Plants vs Zombies was all the rage back in 2009, and was my introduction (but not initiation–I never played it) to the tower defense genre. I did enjoy a couple of titles, though: Kingdom Rush and Iron Marines. I preordered Thronefall so that I’d have it at debut. I played through the training mission and it was a blast. I suspect it’s a great intro to the genre, but enthralling for seasoned vets as well.
