By Dustin Payne
If you have ever wandered into the Johnny Carino’s Italian Grill that resides near the corner of Valley Mills and Lake Shore Drive on a particular Tuesday evening, then you might have noticed the white linen cloths draping the tables, short tea light candles burning dimly, and a well dressed waiter holding a microphone and discussing a particular bottle of wine.
If you have stumbled upon this sight, then you became a witness to one of the many Wine Dinners that Johnny Carino’s hosts every last Tuesday of the month. I was curious as to what one might expect when attending one of these events, and so I stopped by to see this dinner in action, but more specifically to see what’s going on at Johnny Carino’s.
The meal began promptly at 7 p.m. and started with an appetizer of sorts, the Tuesday that I attended tomato basil bisque was being prepared, and it was served alongside a glass of Banfi Vineyards Chianti Classico. The wait staff announced the dinner item before serving, and began to pour the wine as another one of the members of the wait staff gave a detailed description of the history of the wine being served.
As the patrons were enjoying each other’s company and finishing their first course, one of the wait staff was walking around refilling drinks and engaging in conversation with the guests. However, soon after the first course was finished, the second was being served and a new wine being poured. Again, there was a member of the wait staff discussing the bottle we were about to drink, but this time it was a Pinot Grigio. I found that the dinner alternates between red and white wine in order to cover a multitude of varietals, and that each bottle is specifically picked to best suit the dish that is being served.
As the next two courses were served, I couldn’t help but think that what is going on at Johnny Carino’s is something special. The quality of the service, the value of the food, the passion of the patrons, and the creativity of evening had me flabbergasted. I knew that I had stumbled upon something that not a lot of people in Waco know about, but should.
I talked with the front of house manager, Marcos Avila, about what Carino’s plans to do with their Wine Dinners as they move into 2014.
“We are hoping to make it grow, and grow, and grow, so that it has a good impact on the community," Avila said. "You can come into Johnny Carino’s and enjoy yourself so much that you don’t feel as if your eating at ‘just any other restaurant’ in Waco.”
As the dinner came to a close, the general manager of Dillard’s stood up and briefly discussed some of the specials that his store was having for the holiday season, and then fittingly gave away, at random, two baskets filled with expensive colognes and perfumes, and a fifty dollar gift card to three of the lucky patrons that had been selected. Though I didn’t win a basket or a gift card, I still felt that I had won the evening.
Wine Dinners are the last Tuesday of every month. You can call Johnny Carino’s and sign up to attend. The cost is $40 a person.
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Follow Dustin on twitter @createdlove.
