What goes with kielbasa? Sokolowski’s University Inn starts wine tastings: Restaurant Row

by Joe Crea/Plain Dealer Food and Restaurants Editor

Lots of places hold wine-tasting events. The only reason I’d single out one of them is because I don’t usually associate Sokolowski’s University Inn with pairings, but that’s what’s on the horizon for Bernie and Mike Sokolowski’s humble house of homespun fare. “I went out to Napa Valley about three years ago with my old college friend, Dave Rogers,” says Bernie, “and while I was falling in love with the whole Napa thing, I thought, ‘Why not? Why can’t we pair our food with wines?’ I think University Inn should show more taste in wine and not just randomly picking wines to sell based on price. I really want our customers to have a stuffed cabbage they can’t get in any other restaurant in the city and enjoy it with a wine that makes them go ‘Wow!’ ” So at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, the University Inn will pair some of its most popular dishes — among them, stuffed cabbage and flank steak entrees — with at least five specially chosen wines. Rogers, who happens to be an area physician who bills himself as The Wine Snob, will moderate the pairings. “He’ll also talk about the benefits of wine in terms of health and the practical side of what to look for when you’re shopping for wine,” says Sokolowski. “He’s very witty and good-humored, and we won’t be doing tiny little pours served with cubes of cheese — we’re doing it University Inn style, not like some tastings when you leave hungry and thirsty. So this will be a really fun evening.