By Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Where to live it up on Thursday:

Thursday is the night that winemakers visiting for the Cincinnati International Wine Festival bring their wines to fine-dining restaurants. Chefs participating in the annual wine-dinner night take up the challenge of creating a menu to go with their assigned wines. Though the prices are in the special-occasion category, they are good bargains as they obviously include some great wine.

The restaurants and wineries:

• $100: J's Fresh Seafood with Rombauer and Ferrante; Jimmy D's Steakhouse with La Crema; the Palm Court at the Hilton Netherland with MacMurray Winery; Scalea's with Seghesio Winery; and Gini Winery.

• $125: Aioli with El Coto.

• $150: The Celestial with Caja; Jeff Ruby's with Koves Newland Vineyard; Sturkey's with Decker Wines and Washington Hills Cellars; and Tournament Player's Club at River's Bend with Bucci and Terrabianca.

• $200: Maisonette with Chappellet Vineyard and Schug Carneros Estate; and Jean-Robert at Pigall's with Michel-Schlumberger.

Dinners at Carlo and Johnny, Daveed's and Morton's are sold out.

Chef Vik Silberberg at the Celestial in Mount Adams has some super-Tuscans from Caja to create a menu around, and his menu includes one course of veal cheeks, veal loin and veal sweetbreads with sweet potato puree and Perigord black truffles. Another is lamb rack with baby spring artichokes, garlic puree, and nicoise olives. Elsewhere on his menu will be osetra caviar, tuna tartar and crispy skin sea bass. The Celestial dinner will feature Joseph Spellman, a Master Sommelier known for his work at Charlie Trotter's in Chicago.

Executive chef Bertrand Bouquin of Maisonette, downtown, was inspired by the dry fruit flavors of the 2000 Chappellet Old Vine Cuvee to create a foie gras terrine layered with dried apricot and served with frisee, almond and port reduction. He has included from the restaurant menu a lobster salad with mango, endive, shaved fennel and hazelnut dressing, plus some new items from the spring menu: tournedos of striped bass and stuffed lamb tenderloin. Visiting winemakers will be Steve Tamburelli from Chappellet and Michael Cox of Schug.

Julie Francis of Aioli, downtown, is doing her first dinner for the festival. She's working with five Riojas from Spain's El Coto. She's fashioned a Spanish-inspired menu to go with them, including a ceviche with roasted peppers, a tortilla Espanol with chard, leeks and Spanish cheese. To go with two big, peppery reds, the Cota De Imaz Gran Reserva 1994 and Coto Real Reserva 1997, she's serving a chili-rubbed ribeye with cabrales mashed potatoes and a currant/pepper jus.

All dinners are at 6:30 p.m. To make reservations, call the Wine Festival at 723-9463.(Don't call the restaurants.) For more information about the Wine Festival, including the Grand Tastings 6:30-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday the Albert B. Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center, downtown, log on to www.winefestival.com.

E-mail pcampbell@enquirer.com