Mastro Scheidt Carnevale Dinner

After two solid days of preparation, the entire Mastro Scheidt Family pulled off a private Carnevale dinner, celebrating the "end of meat" just before the Easter Season.

The private dinner included nine (9) courses for each of the 12 guests. Wines were paired with each course, including our favorite Chardonnay from Bacigalupi Vineyards and a wine from David's personal cellar, a 2002 Rafanelli Zinfandel.

 

Sourcing the ingredients, like Community Grains polenta, Marin Sun Farms pork belly, ox tails, bone marrow, and veal, not to mention all the cheeses (yes, you Emily, they loved the Red Hawk) and various mushrooms was great fun. 

John ran the front of house the entire evening and took care of all the wine service. My father made his first ever chocolate mousse (he learned how to "fold" properly) and made sure my outside kitchen stayed busy, and my mother interacted with each of the guests from beginning to end. Additionally, friends of my parents helped expedite and clean during the entire service and were crucial to the evening. Many thanks to them.

Naturally, I'd like to thank our gracious hosts and each of the guests for their participation, enthusiasm, and healthy appetites.

The Mathematician, The Butcher and The Artist

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it.’ Salvador Dali

The “Corner Table”, near the wine counter in the Hidden Villa Hostel dining hall on opening night of Eat Retreat was a special place for me to eat. I was meeting new people, drinking wine, and eating grilled lamb. The night was going well.

Photo by Jessie Friedman of Andrew Plotsky, Butcher

The Corner Table of Tina, Kristen, Andrew and I begin to dig a little deeper into food and philosophy, as the Napa Zinfandel I poured lubricated the wheels of thought and conversation. 

At some point, Andrew asks Tina “What does a food stylist do?” (I find the most innocent of questions to be the best). With numerous follow up questions from Andrew in an attempt to define “food stylist” with the specificity and exactness of, well, a skilled butcher cutting up a lamb.

Photo by Heather Irwin of Andrew Plotsky, Butcher

My gut said that defining a food stylist might not have an easy answer. Like asking an abstract painter to define their profession. How does the abstract artist describe their trade or skill? How is a food stylist described and where do I apply for that job?

If someone asks Andrew what he does for a living; the answer is both obvious and practical to both the butcher and the by-stander. Butchers cut up lambs, pigs, and cows into edible cuts of meat for people to consume. The job of Food Stylist probably wasn't around 4000 years ago. 

Tina did her level-best after the initial question salvo from Andrew to describe the challenges of “styling food". At this point, I didn’t know if I should have felt sorry for Andrew or Tina.

I’m a numbers guy, not an artist. I’m logical. I like process. As the by-stander in this question and answer period to define a food stylist, I tend to side with Andrew by asking basic questions, cutting to the bone, if you will, on how to define the process and expose the edible muscle of the food stylist.  

Then Tina said something that helped me (I won’t speak for you Andrew). It was Mathematical. Tina talked about dimensional space. Not only did Tina speak of the dimensional aspect of plating food, but translating color and atmosphere to the 2-dimensional observer. Taking photographs of a 3-dimensional product in the kitchen and translating dimension and depth into a simple, flat picture in a magazine or on the internet.

Eureka!

Arrangement on a plate, light, shadow, and color.

That's physics! All tangible, all mathematical.

So part of the answer on what a food stylist does is mathematical (thank heaven!). But part of it is art. Look no further than to Justice Potter Stewart regarding (food) pornography  “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.”

I suppose we all know what well styled food porn is these days…we know it when we see it. And no manner of questions or answers will begin to explain what we see. But, I thank you Tina for saying, indirectly, that mathematics has something to do with it. And since I looked at your website when I got back home, your food is styled very well because it makes me, well...hungry. 

Photo Below from Teaspoon Styling, Tina Bell Stamos

My second story is entitled, Ninjas, Knives, and Cameras.

Cial’edd in Dialect or Panzanella Salad to others

I love summer. I love tomatoes. I love bread. 

Cial'edd is one of my favorite dishes to assemble. I didn't say cook, because there is nothing to cook. One of the most simple preparations around.

Cut fresh, garden ripe tomatoes. Tear a handful of fresh basil. Use day-old bread and rip it into pieces. Add a hint of salt, a copious amount of olive oil, a dash of red wine vinegar, a few slices of Pecorino and toss the whole thing through. Wait about 10 minutes for the flavors to meld together and serve.

Welcome to summer!

Hostage Sauvignon Blanc and Mastro Scheidt Cabernet Team Up

Only two wines were featured at an exclusive dinner party of 100 guests; Mastro Scheidt Proprietor's Reserve 2007 and Hostage Wines Sauvignon Blanc 2011.

Personally, I was pleased with being able to recommend the Sauvignon Blanc from Hostage. I only met Jeremiah and Elizabeth about a year ago at a blind wine tasting group in Healdsburg. Jeremiah's no-nonsense style of evaluating the wines he was tasting was similar to mine, up-front and blunt. Elizabeth's evaluation was deeper, less given to whim or her "first sip".

So when I finally tasted their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, my initial reaction was one of delight. This is really tasty! But it was more than that. This is the style and type of Sauvignon Blanc I remember drinking years ago, before we were inundated with Kiwi Blanc. I'd almost forgotten how good a Sauvignon Blanc from California could taste on a 90 degree day. How complementary it could be with food, rather than just a pre-dinner wine.

The Hostage Sauvignon Blanc was an expression of both the up-front, no-nonsense style from Jeremiah and the complexity from Elizabeth.

It got me thinking about Sauvignon Blanc again and that's why I recommend it.

Here is a little background on the wine. Paraphrasing a bit from their website, Jeremiah and Elizabeth purchased a unique clone of Sauvignon Blanc, called Sauvignon Musqué, from a vineyard in the Russian River Valley Appellation. This particular clone has to be picked at optimal maturity in order to capture its incredible tropical aromas and flavors. On a cold morning, right before a storm rolled in, we harvested the fruit and put it straight into the press. From there, we racked the juice into neutral French oak barrels to ferment. It remained in barrel until bottling last February. 

www.hostagewines.com

Pigs & Pinot 2012, Healdsburg

One of the premier, if not THE premier event in Healdsburg, is Charlie Palmer's Pigs & Pinot. Local chefs and several guest chefs participate in the event each year. I was fortunate enough to attend this year and brought home some of the food in pictures.

Scopa's Bruschetta

Zin Restaurant and Jeff Mall's Ham

Diavola and Dino Bugica's Blood Sausage

Allesina Barolo Salumi

I've been down in Bakersfield more in the last few weeks than I have in the last few years. Good thing too, there's some good quality food in the the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Luigi's Deli has been providing high-quality products to the people of Bakersfield for over a century. One of many products they carry is Allesina Salumi from San Luis Obispo. 

After my drive back to Fresno, I sliced right into this little jewel. The smell of the outside is classic salumi, a bit gamey, moldy, yeasty...old world, old school. The inside has a wonderful combination of flavor of fat, meat and spice. All balanced. Really wonderful product.

I've been eating Creminelli products recently and they are equally as good. But the real test will be to eat them side-by-side. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Just Outstanding IPA

The Kern River Brewing Company has a nice little operation up in the hills outside of Bakersfield. 

I was lucky, and I do say lucky, enough to purchase some of their beer at Imbibe a Bakersfield fine wine, beer and spirits store. Legend has it, Kern River beer sells out in a matter of hours upon delivery.

As I'm an IPA fan, I took a few pints home with me and decided to treat both myself and the beer to a proper sandwich and one of my favorites, The Reuben. I'd say the beer and the sandwich were Just Outstanding.

8 Guests, 8 Courses, 8 Wines

It was such a pleasure to get into the kitchen with Chef Tommy Chavez again. It was a fun night, but certainly not an easy one. Everything was cooked to order and from scratch. I even baked fresh fennel bread for the event. Chef Tommy and I were challenged by the glass cook top (not induction), but it was 10 times easier to clean up after than a gas range. Otherwise, things moved quickly and smoothly.

Long-time friend John Marihart made sure our eight special guests always had their glasses filled, their plates cleared, stemware polished and of course, gave the kitchen feedback on how the evening was progressing. Special thanks to Falina Marihart for taking all the pictures that night, cleaning dishes, utencils, stemware, and tasting all of our food before it was sent out. Non-stop for everyone and everyone did their part to make sure our guests had a great evening.

For your viewing pleasure, we've attached a slide show below, a brief history of the evening in the kitchen.

We would like to thank everyone who was a part of a wonderful night of food, wine, and celebration. Here's the menu and the wines for the event (And yes, I favored some Dry Creek Valley reds that night, but I'm biased). The Gruet, the only non-California wine, was served because one of our guests has a special connection to New Mexico. I have links to all of the wines and the wineries in the menu below, just hover over the wine for the link.

CRAB CAKES

CREOLE MUSTARD BUTTER SAUCE, DRESSED GREENS

Gruet, New Mexico Blanc de Noirs NV

 

 ESCARGOT MAITRE’ D

GARLIC HERB BUTTER, GRILLED CROSTINI

Caymus 2010 Conundrum White

 

 BLACKENED BEEF

WHITE GRITS, TOMATILLO SALSA, FRESH LIME, CILANTRO

Caymus 2009 Conundrum Red

 

SPINACH SALAD

CANDIED PECANS, GOAT CHEESE, STRAWBERRIES, RUM VINAIGRETTE

Pine Ridge 2010 Chenin Blanc/Viognier

 

HAND-MADE RAVIOLI

RICOTTA, PROSCUITTO, PINE NUTS, GRANA, OLIVE OIL/BUTTER

Lago di Merlo 2009 Dry Creek Valley Sangiovese

 

CREOLE BBQ SALMON

SWEET POTATO PUREE, HOUSE MADE CREOLE BBQ SAUCE, GREEN BEANS

A. Rafanelli 2004 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

 

FILET DIANE

COGNAC MUSHROOM SAUCE, BACON ROASTED POTATOES, CREAMED SPINACH

Mastro Scheidt 2007 Proprietor’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

 

TOMMY’S SIGNATURE BREAD PUDDING

WARM PRALINE SAUCE, BOURBON WHIPPED CREAM

Windwalker 2001 Orange Muscat

 

 

Cousin Marco curing Olives

Fresno and Healdsburg have slightly different weather patterns. Fresno is a little ahead in terms of grape and olive harvesting. Cousin Marco was hard at work in Fresno curing olives; an annual tradition. Meanwhile, Cousin David was harvesting grapes in Healdsburg for the 2011 Cabernet Vintage. Lots of harvesting going on. 

I've posted Marco's pictures of his olive curing in the Gallery and Facebook.

Chiaroscuro and La Folie in One Night

I’ve already talked about how good I think Chiaroscuro is on The Cured Ham a couple of times.  I'm amazed how little coverage Chiaroscuro gets from the Bay Area food scene, especially for how authentic and consistent it is. I have a special place in my heart for pasta and I feel confident that Chef Alessandro will cook better pasta than I can most nights. I’m sure Chef has off nights, but my birthday dinner was not one of them. And considering Chef's Mother was also in the kitchen, everything had to be good.

I’ve attached the meal as presented that evening. On the cheese plate, a cherry leaf wrapped goat cheese from Basilicata was the standout. A house cured lamb prosciutto had a punch of pepper to it that was unexpected. The desserts that evening were a raisin gelato (that had absolutely no chewy raisins in it), strawberry shortcake, and profiteroles. The profiteroles a.k.a. cream puffs, had nearly the same density, texture, and softness as my Italian Grandmother’s. And yes, both pasta dishes were outstanding. The rigatoni was challenging to the palate with one secret ingredient (which we had to ask Chef about. He was being sneaky about that addition and no I'm not divulging it here).

 

What I didn’t plan for that evening was a special look inside La Folie. One of my cousins is close to Chef Passot. I was allowed to view kitchen operations at the height of service. Basically a step away from the pass, as I watched Chef inspect and arrange nearly every dish. The kitchen is small, efficient, and very busy. No room for idle chit chat, only communication about their stations and timing. What a delight to watch.

After service was over, Chef sat with my cousin, a good friend, and me for nearly 45 minutes. We talked about food of course, but also family, travel, and living in the Bay Area. Chef suddenly became another friend at the table. Way cool. Chef Passot was extremely generous with his time.

I couldn’t have had a better birthday. Welcome to 40 years on Planet Earth.