Adventures in cooking eating: Lobster stuffed potato skins (also stuffed with jack, cheddar and cream cheese, bacon and seasonings), jumbo sea scallops in a light wine butter sauce served with asparagus and shredded hash brown potato casserole covered in melted sharp cheddar, and two glasses of Riesling from Cooper’s Hawk

I took my mom to Cooper’s Hawk in South Barrington for her birthday Saturday night. We walked up to one of two wine bars just inside the door to do a tasting before dinner. For $7, we started off the night right by splitting a tasting where we each tried four wines. I tried a sparkling almond-flavored wine, a Riesling Gewurztraminer, a red Barbera and a blueberry-flavored dessert wine.

The service was friendly, the food was satisfying — but the wine was great. We also got to try a free complimentary sample of a red wine straight from the barrel that had never been bottled.

We had a wonderful time at the restaurant, and I highly recommend it to fellow wine lovers. They have a few more locations in the suburbs and the city alike.

As you can tell from the above photos, I really like seafood, potatoes and wine. I mean really. And after this weekend filled with food, let’s just say I’m actually looking forward to pilates class tonight.