In the Kitchen

FROTB (Frequent Readers of This Blog) know that I have a restaurant fantasy that occasionally rears it's creative head (see right-hand side of the blog, My Restaurant Fantasy). Well, I'm happy to report that this Friday, my itch will get scratched... at least a little bit.

Myself and chef Diane De Filipi will be creating a four-course Italian family-style meal for up to 16 people as part of the Wine Country Inn's Ode to the Olive Celebration this weekend. Diane and I have crafted the menu, found wine pairings, and come Friday, we'll be cooking, serving, and pouring. (She'll take the lead, of course, but hey -- I'll be apron clad, too!).

This is an idea/fantasy I've had for quite some time: to serve dinners to Wine Country Inn guests in the Inn's common room, family style (one long table), with a roaring fire going. Should be quaint, cool, and, we hope, fantastic food and wine. Anyway, here tis the menu:

Antipasti Course
"La Panzanella"
Tuscan bread salad with fresh tomato, garden vegetables, and fresh basil, tossed in a robust style with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a hint of aged balsamic.

Prima Piatti
"Risotto Ala Piemontese"
Imported Arborio rice blended with fresh porcini mushrooms, saffron, white wine, shallot, and Parmesan cheese. Finished with a well-rounded Extra Virgin Olive Oil drizzle.

Secondi Piatti
"Chicken Cacciatore"
Traditional "Hunter's Chicken" browned in a savory style Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and simmered in a tomato and white wine reduction sauce. Includes coarsely chopped carrots, red onion, fresh porcini mushrooms and black olives.

Dolce
"Olive Oil Cake with Ricotta"
A delicate white cake, baked with a light and fruity style Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and filled with a cream of imported Ricotta Cheese, vanilla powdered sugar, and Sultana's (raisins)soaked in Vin Santo.

Come, eat, enjoy!

Don't Miss this Dinner!

All, there is a fantastic, truly once-this-year (if not longer) dinner coming up that you can be a part of.

On Saturday Sept 19 beginning at 6:00 p.m., there will be a fantastic Bale Mill Harvest Dinner put on by Michael F. of Silverado Brewing Company, his cooking crew, and with ingredients from his Beer Belly Farms. Every ingredient and every dish will be as sustainably produced/grown as possible.

Highlights include a Mulefoot (heirloom) Hog roast, fresh corn on the cob, a delicious Gravenstein apple cobbler, and much much more. And of course, there will be fresh local beer and wine from neighboring wineries.

Bale Mill is located on Highway 29, approximately halfway between Calistoga and St. Helena. Tickets are $75 per person, and can be purchased online here. For more information, send an email to Kellie at kanderson@parks.ca.gov. A portion of the proceeds will be used to help preserve and protect the Bale Mill.

I'm going. Hope to see you there, too!

Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park

3369 St. Helena Hwy, St. Helena, CA 94574

(707) 942-4575

Chickpea Heaven

Had a great breakfast at the Wine Country Inn today with new friend Christina J (who, btw, writes a cool mostly-wine-though-some-foodie-type-stuff-too blog, Wacky Wine Sense -- check it out), and as we were talking (mostly about, uh, food and, well, wine), it struck me -- great food and wine are fabulous, but what really makes these come alive, so to speak, is when you share them with someone. This is actually one of the reasons I believe I enjoy writing here -- it's my way to share, if not the actual experience, then at least some of the sights and sounds and smells.

More sharing: was fantastically lucky recently to have my good friend, Jim S, treat me to dinner at The Restaurant at Meadowood (see pic above). Meadowood, of course, is a very high-end resort tucked away in the Napa Valley, and its restaurant, run now by super-up-and-coming-no-he's-arrived chef Christopher Kostow, ranks by most of those in-the-know as the second best restaurant in the Napa Valley (behind only the one-of-a-kind French Laundry).

Wow. No, double-wow. Dinners options consist of three separate tasting menus -- small bites of delicate, impeccably prepared treats, such as Truffle Glazed Sweetbreads, Lobster roasted in Nori Salt, Squid and Egg, Pain Perdu and Cherries, and so on. My two favorites were a selection of four different types of Foie Gras (see pic above), and, the winner, Jim and I both agreed: The Shelling Bean Broth, with avocado expum, fresh chickpeas, and cilantro flowers (see pic below).

Now, Meadowood is not for the faint-of-wallet. But if you can splurge. Go. No, run. Fantastic setting, amazing food, impeccable (there's that word again) service. Oh, yes: and be sure to take someone to share it with.

R.I.P. GG's and P's

Am sad to report that my favorite Santa Rosa restaurant, Pizzio's, at Fulton and West Third, closed its doors at the end of June. P's was never in a great, high-traffic location (it epitomized, to me, the neighborhood joint), and didn't have a separate room, for special (and high dollar) occasions; instead, it survived by a loyal local following. The economic downtown, however, apparently proved to be too big a hurdle to clear. I will miss Pizzio's. (WHY didn't they hire a marketing guy?)

I won't miss GG's Earth and Surf, a very -- in my opinion -- pretentious place in downtown Santa Rosa that lasted maybe six months. I met the owner and was NOT impressed. I hate to dish dirt, but for those interested, check out all the rumors, innuendos and tidbits at Bite Club. (WHY didn't they hire a marketing guy?)

So what do I do when I feel down? Why, grab a beer at Silverado Brewing Co, of course!

Brewer's Dinner--Wow!

Had a fantastic dinner last night with G. at Silverado Brewing Company's Brewer's Dinner, in which owner Michael F., head brewmaker Ken Mee, and Chef Bernardo combined to create a five-course dinner, with a beer pairing for each course. Highlights included a Porcini Mushroom Risotto (Pale Ale), Cedar-planked Wild Pacific Black Cod (Wheat Ale), and an Organic Mixed Berry Crumble (Hefeweizen). Great food and beer, great people, and a lot of laughs -- what more could anyone ask for?

The next Brewer's Dinner will be in October, for SBC's Oktoberfest celebration. Stay tuned for more info about that. For now, here are some pics from last night. Enjoy!

Three Amigos

Chef B

It's All About Mee

Glasses

The Cod

TRIPLE-fisting?

Brewer's Dinner

Am looking forward to a special Brewer's Dinner later this month at Silverado Brewing Company. SBC chef Bernardo Ayala and Head Brewer Ken Mee are working on, as I write this, a special five-course menu in which SBC beers will be paired with (and used in) each course. Also, following the theme of It takes a lot of great beer to make good wine, there will be many Napa Valley winemakers in attendance.

Don't miss this opportunity for a unique food, beer and fun event, as seats are limited to just 40 lucky people.

Details:

Thursday, June 25, 6:30 p.m.

Silverado Brewing Company, in St. Helena

Cost is $65 pp

To grab your seat, call the Brewery at: 707-967-9876.

I'm Back!

Sorry, folks (and especially Jimmy Z). Lost my EMAF mo-jo there for awhile. But starting to get the juice back, as they say (not the A-Rod kind), and ready to dive in again. (In fact, the CARDS are coming better too -- look out, May 15; I'm going for the sheer blitz, the no-holds-barred pop-the-cork-and-duck type of thing).

Some cool events, for when I win a WSOP event or two:

The Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival

Weekend Der Spontane Gisting

Ciao, all.

Fantastic Dinner

Had a fantastic dinner recently during the Wine Country Inn's Return Guest Reunion. Chef Bernardo Ayala of the Catering Company at Silverado Brewing Company prepared a wonderful meal: Maine lobster salad, pan-seared filet mignon, and, for dessert, dagoba organic bittersweet chocolate cake with raspberry ganache and passion fruit coulis. Wonderful! We also had wines from Benessere Vineyards, which make Italian varietals in the Napa Valley. All in all a wonderful time: great food and wines... and new friends from all over the country.

Thoughts of C in 2009

Happy New Year from Every Meal A Feast land. While I have many food and wine "resolutions" for this new year, at the top list certainly is a visit to the two-Michelin-star Cyrus Restaurant in Healdsburg. With a certain birthday coming up in February, let's just say that wheels-are-in-motion for a wonderful dining adventure there soon. More details -- of course -- to follow soon.

Ciao.