‘A memorable experience’: Wine challenge among ways Truluck’s tries to make every day a special occasion

Some restaurants just give off that “special occasion” vibe.

You get that feeling the minute walk into Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood & Crab in Rosemont. A piano player provides ambiance in the lounge as the underlit bar gives off a warm glow while guests enjoy wine and craft cocktails.

From there into the dining room you’re greeted with grand chandeliers and fresh red roses at each table popping against the crisp white table cloths.

“We’re a special occasion place. Every time we have a guest walking through the door, they’re giving us a chance to celebrate milestones, birthdays, anniversaries,” beverage manager David Talacha said. “We really want to create a memorable experience and stay alive in people’s memories after they leave the restaurant.”

But while they embrace being a place for people to enjoy those milestones, they also try to be a place where you can enjoy special time with no occasion and still have it be memorable.

One of those ways is their annual “Sommelier’s Secret White Wine Challenge,” which runs through the end of the August.

The rules of the challenge are simple — order a $15 mystery glass of white wine. If you guess the exact wine, it’s on the house.

Simple, but not easy. It’s not just wines that are normally offered by the glass; it could be anything off their wine list. But they do give you some hints, like eliminating chardonnay as an option. That leaves you with about 20 wines from which to choose. Fortunately it’s open book and you can consult the wine list.

“You’d be surprised, some people come in, they taste the wine, they're like, ‘I know what it is’,” Talacha said. “Some people’s palates are just absolutely amazing.”

That being said, after two weeks of the contest, only two people had guessed correctly. But winning isn’t everything.

“It elevates the way we make connections with people because we get to share how they can improve their wine knowledge,” Talacha said. “It’s fun when you get like a party of six because then it creates a challenge between the people at the table. It’s interactive, and then we come by and crush their hopes and dreams if they don’t get it.”

It’s not really that extreme, he said.

“Occasionally we’ll give them a little hint, try to steer them in the right direction,” he said.

The best part of the challenge is even if you lose, you win. The bottles used in the challenge would all price out more than $15 a glass if they were offered that way.

That value is something general manager Blake Goldie said they try to provide their guests every day.

“We have to give people a reason to actually want to come out, and we have to make it worth it for them,” Goldie said. “Our service and our food speaks for itself, but then we try to make it better with things like free valet and our Summer of ’92 menu, all in a beautiful space like this.”

The first Truluck’s opened in 1992, hence the Summer of ’92 menu.

The three-course prix-fixe menu features a starter, entrée and dessert for $59.

Starter highlights include prime beef meatballs, shrimp cocktail and a burrata and stone fruit salad, served with shaved prosciutto and a delicate honey vinaigrette.

The menu features seven entrée choices including a sesame-crusted tuna, seared rare and served with Parmesan mashed potatoes, a tamari reduction and a flavorful wasabi sauce. The Ōra king salmon, which Goldie characterized as “the Wagyu of salmon,” is served on a bed of couscous with cucumber, baby arugula and tomatoes, tahini and lemon vinaigrette.

In addition to the Summer of ‘92 menu, the Rosemont location, which opened eight years ago, is the only one in the brand’s 13-restaurant lineup to offer the TRU Fare menu — a year-round menu with entrees that range from $28 to $44.

Choices include pastas like pappardelle Bolognese, seafood dishes such as jumbo shrimp scampi and prime beef, including a steak frites with truffle fries.

The bar also features a nightly happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. with half off handcrafted cocktails, premium spirits, select wines by the glass and fresh oysters.

“It’s all so we can make sure that anybody can come in and enjoy the full experience we offer for an approachable price,” Goldie said.

rwest@dailyherald.com