G.M.'s Wine Dinner - July, 2007

When I first started my job several years ago, I made friends with a fellow attorney. She and I spent a lot of time shopping and going out to eat together, and she told me about a monthly dinner party that she attended with her husband in the East Bay. She would tell me about these legendary dinners - the food, the wine, the casual atmosphere, the quirky crowd. And then one day she invited me to go along.....

And seriously - my culinary life in the Bay Area has NEVER been the same!

The brilliant man behind these monthly parties shall remain nameless, at least on this blog - I will refer to him as G.M. He is not a professional chef - he has a normal job in finance. But he is an amazing home chef and wine connoisseur. Twenty-five years ago he started these dinners as a wine tasting party - 25 bottles of merlot in brown paper bags. Decades later the party has evolved to include some of the most amazing food I have ever consumed, accompanied by perfectly paired wines. G.M takes a set amount of donations from the friends he invites to cover the cost of the food and wine, but no more - this is not an underground restaurant. It is simply the most amazing dinner party I have ever attended, donations accepted. Once you come a few times you get on the email list for the parties, and can bring others. I have brought many friends, including Patch, over the years.

G.M hosts these dinners almost every month - usually taking June off for vacation. The dinner parties are held twice per month, so that everyone on the guest list can attend, and the size of the dinners range from 12-30 people. Most months are themed - December is standing rib roast, January is cassoulet, March is Italian feast, etc. There are two middle eastern dinners per year, and August is Heirloom Tomato month. The provencal feast comes in the spring - imagine perfect fresh homemade aoili, served with tons of fresh and slightly cooked spring vegetables, seafood, roast chicken, acme bread - divine. And then of course, there is a leg of lamb and potatoes, and then fruit and moscato d'Asti or an amazing cheese course from the cheese board in Berkeley.

Speaking of Acme and the cheese board - one of the best things about this dinner is that G.M. has access to ingredients that very few home chefs ever touch. He has truck privileges at the farmers market in Berkeley, and therefore picks his fruit and vegetables before they ever get to the stands. He has his meat specially ordered and sausage ground fresh at Cafe Rouge. His bread is from Acme, his cheese from the Cheese Board, and his wines are direct from his good friend Kermit Lynch - the premier wine importer in the bay area.

One of the best things about the dinners in general is that, while the food is perfect and the wine divine, the dinner itself is so casual. Real silverware and wine glasses are used, but the plates and napkins and bowls are all paper. Saves G.M. a lot of time cleaning up for such a crowd. In addition, he somehow manages to make everything with a small arsenal of equipment - an oven, a giant bbq, a stove, a few pots, several giant clay casserole dishes, and a variety of large silver bowls (plus a food processor and some great knives).

I look forward to this dinner every month. But this past month, the July 2007 dinner, was especially fun. July is one of the few months without a theme, and therefore the whole menu was a surprise.

We started with an apertif - Petillant de Savoie, Quenard. A soft bubbly wine, from the foot of the Alps, it was the perfect pre-meal champagne-esque drink. Very fresh, extremely delicious, and now on my list of things to buy soon.

People at the dinner help set up, clean up, and serve and prep courses. I had the pleasure of helping with the first course. G.M. seasoned and marinated shrimp in olive oil and spices, then dusted it with corn starch and quickly fried it, 30 seconds tops. We then ladled a puree of cannelini beans processed with some pastis, garlic, and various other spices, right onto the middle of a plate. In the middle of the puree went a fresh salad of amazing red heirloom tomatoes mixed with onion, olive oil, plenty of salt, and mint. Three of the fried shrimp went on the puree surrounding the salad. The whole thing was served with acme rustic baguette - oh. my. The puree itself was amazing, I could eat a bowl of that every day. The course was fresh-tasting, and the shrimp was slightly crunchy without being greasy or heavy. The tails were completely edible. People were scraping their plates.

The shrimp was served with a lovely rose - a 2006 Saint Chinian, Mas Champart. This is G.M.'s favorite rose of the 2006 vintage, and is very reasonably priced. It was tasty, fresh, and juicy - everything a good rose should be. Rose is one of my absolute favorite wines in the summer time - so fresh and refreshing, so far from the bad bad rose's of the 80s. If you aren't drinking them this summer, shame on you - go buy this one!

The next course was a crostini. A large slice of oven-toasted acme bread was spread with a thick layer of cheese - goat cheese mixed with a little blue, so sharp and pungent and creamy and delicious. On top of the cheese was a perfect slice of red heirloom tomato, and the whole thing was drizzled with olive oil. Oh my. Some people tried to slice their crostini with a fork and a knife, but I just picked that thing up and started eating, olive oil dripping down my wrists. I'm not touching something like that with a knife, I don't care how bad it looks. Food like that is meant to be eaten with your hands, preferably outside. It was SO good.

The wine served with the crostini was a 2005 Cotes du Rohne, Trignon. It was delicious, but sadly the winery has been sold, and Kermit reports that the new owner is a weasel and has ruined the wines. This was the last taste of wine from the former owner - and it was good, but sad to say goodbye.

Sadly, the next wine (a waiting wine) was corked. Sort of a funny story, actually. The wine was a 2004 Paesan, Guido Porro. I was helping G.M. with the main course, but came to have a taste of the wine. Patch was talking about how she thought the wine had a nose of brie cheese, and wasn't THAT weird. I took a whiff and smelled oysters - briny, salty oysters with mignonette. I reported this to the table, and people started nodding in agreement, and wasn't it weird for a wine to have a nose of oysters. G.M. arrived at the table, and we told him that we thought the wine had a nose of brie and oysters. He took one whiff, made a sour face, and said "only if those things smell like a newspaper that has been watered and left to mold in a car. It is corked." A giant "ah, this makes sense" went up amongst the populace. There is a lesson here - wine should never have a nose of stinky cheese or briny sea creatures. It was funny to watch people sipping it and saying "oh yes, brie, its quite delicious." CORKED!

G.M. took a few of us down to his cellar to pick out some replacement wines. One was a special wine of his - a 1990 Burgundy by Robert Chevillon, Nuits Saint George, Los Perrieres. It was a really bold wine - smoky and woody tasting, with a great nose. It almost had the color of a port. It was like nothing I've ever had - not exactly my absolute favorite wine, but really delicious and interesting.

Next G.M. served the main course. It was supposed to be divine skirt steaks from cafe rouge, but when he got there he saw a giant cut of pork, rubbed in spices and rolled, and he couldn't resist. He slow-roasted it in the oven, topped with the crackling skin, fat soaking into the meat. Amazing. Everyone was served a cut of the pork with some of the skin on top - it was seriously delicious. I had a little bite of the buttery fat with each piece of pork, and it was just perfect. On the side G.M. made one of my favorite dishes - red potatoes roasted with tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, onions, and tons of olive oil. The tomatoes caramelize and become incredibly sweet, as do the peppers. It is a really simple dish but tasted amazing with the pork.

There were two wines with the pork. One was another special bottle - a cab, and sadly I forgot to write down what it was. Really sad because it was my favorite wine of the night (besides the moscato) - I will email G.M. and see if I can find out what it was.

The other wine served with the pig was a 2000 Chianti Classico Riserva - and it was perfect with the pig. The wine is from Villa di Ceggiano. A really bright tart wine, with a long finish - yum. I love a nice chianti (name that film!).

To finish off this perfect meal, G.M. served my favorite dessert. I love a cheese course, but in the summer nothing can beat peaches and nectarines from Frog Hollow Farms - especially with a glass of Moscato d'Asti. On Saturday it was nectarines - one of the most perfect, delicious pieces of fruit I've ever had. It was perfect just by itself.

And the moscato - ohhh the moscato. G.M. serves it at almost every dinner, because it is that good. It is the best sweet wine I have ever had - it isn't too sweet, but it pairs perfectly with fruit. I know G.M. gets this particular Moscato d'asti from Kermit - all I know is that it has a tree on the label. And is heaven in a sparkly, sweet, delicious wine.

This was the perfect dinner for me - I left full and happy without feeling sick from consuming too much delicious food. Some of the dinners are so good that I can't resist the impulse to keep eating, but this was a very well organized and deliciously prepared dinner. It set me up for next month - heirloom tomatoes. Labne sandwiches with perfect tomatoes, blt's where the bun is dipped in the bacon fat before serving, gazpacho.....I can taste it now...

Is it August yet?

cheers ;)

Emilia

A postscript from Patch:

Amen, Emilia, Amen. I have to mention that the crostini course seems deceptive in its simplicity. The thing was so incredibly delicious that I declared to the whole table, "If I were on death row, this could be my last meal." And I stand by that statement. When is a tomato not a tomato? When it is incredibly fresh, perfectly ripe, and hand-picked by G.M. And tastes like the essence of a thousand of the subpar tomatoes that you and I normally get to eat on a regular basis. It's really another creature entirely.

Also, the pork with the crackling skin and potatoes was so good that I took it home in a tupperware I smuggled in for leftovers (which G.M. found amusing) and had at it again later that night, cold. It was still so good. I was going to bring it on the plane next day but forgot. There was much gnashing of teeth.

Finally, the nectarine was the best I have ever had. The. Best. Ever. I rarely say things like that when it comes to food, because I've had so much great stuff. But this was just...it made me want to cry. Emilia can verify if you don't believe me. Also, G.M. has great taste in cigars, a part of the denoument of the meal that I was happy to enjoy.

I planned my trip to SF for that particular weekend because of this feast. And I shall do it again. Heirloom tomatoes, do your worst! Beautiful meal, beautifully captured by Emilia.

:-P