[photo credit: Explore Tock]
Doors open at 6 p.m. both nights, with the first set at 8 p.m. Dinner and the show cost $100 plus tax and gratuity, or $90 for Bacchus Wine Club members; a show-only ticket is $45 with a two-item minimum purchase, the restaurant said.
Hamilton, a drummer born in Richmond, Indiana, who went on to Indiana University, brings bassist Jon Hamar and pianist Tadataka Unno, the trio the restaurant bills as the return of “the hoosier legend.” Unno, born in Tokyo in 1980, has played with the group for years; Hamar also anchors the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.
The three-course prix fixe built around the shows opens with panko-fried avocado, daikon salad, shiso leaf and a miso ginger vinaigrette, the restaurant said. Diners choose between braised short rib in tomato red wine sauce with roasted potato and carrots, or boneless roast chicken breast with macaroni and cheese, sautéed snow peas and tarragon sauce. Dessert is pineapple upside down butter cake with sweet sour cream.
The month turns Italian a week later. On Sept. 17, the restaurant hosts “The Italian Job,” a wine dinner with three visiting producers: Susy Ceraudo of the Calabrian organic estate Ceraudo, Guido Dispenza, sales and marketing manager of the Brunello di Montalcino estate Mastrojanni, and Domenico di Luccio, representing Dirupi and Mariotto. Pairings run from a Calabrian rosato through a Brunello di Montalcino served with braised oxtail and white cheddar grits. The cost is $125 plus tax and gratuity, or $110 for wine club members.
On Sept. 19, pianist Timothy Durkovic presents a classical chamber program with violinist Jessica Guideri and french horn player Laura Brenes, featuring works by John Williams, De Falla, Schumann, Ewazen and Brahms. Dinner and the show cost $85 plus tax and gratuity, or $75 for wine club members. The prix fixe menu has not been announced.
The second Italian night follows on Sept. 23, when Chiara Damilano, export manager and a fifth-generation member of the Barolo family estate Damilano, guides a dinner of five courses paired with six wines. The restaurant said the estate was founded in 1890 in the Langhe and that the centerpiece pour is the 2022 Damilano Barolo Lecinquevigne, which it describes as a 95-point wine. Tickets are $125 per person plus tax.
The month closes on Sunday, Sept. 27, with a free 90-minute staged reading of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” billed by the restaurant as “Much Ado About Nuthin’.” Doors open at 6 p.m. and the reading begins about 7 p.m., with the kitchen serving a limited menu in between. The cast has not been announced. Donations are pay-what-you-will and go toward future theatrical productions at the restaurant.
Bacchus Kitchen + Wine Bar is at 1384 E. Washington Blvd. It opened in 2015 under Chef Claud Beltran and serves dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with midweek hours varying.
