Summer provides another fun way to dine and help a charity at the same time.
Great Chefs of Orange County Celebration of Food and Wine is one of the premier food and wine events in the county and it benefits the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California. This is the 20th annual event, sponsored by American Airlines and Balboa Bay Club & Resort.
Michael Cho, prominent attorney and unabashed food and wine lover, alerted me to the upcoming function. Michael serves on the committee and has much to do with selecting the chefs and organizing the event each year. He has a soft spot for this fund-raiser because his own father is alive after having a kidney transplant almost 15 years ago.
This event will feature 24 of Orange County’s top chefs, cooking signature dishes. The public,there’s limited tickets,will get to enjoy the magic of these chefs as well as sample a variety of wines, sip trendy cocktails (Absolut specialty martinis among them) and enjoy the backup music of popular group Panjive Steel Drum Entertainment.
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Marilyn Wines: began as an idea at dinner party |
The emcee is TV chef and food spokesman Mario Martinoli. Honored chef for the event is Pascal Olhats of Tradition by Pascal restaurant in Newport Beach.
Tickets are $150 per person and can be bought through the Kidney Foundation Web site, www.kidneysocal.org. The event is July 9, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Balboa Bay Club.
Marilyn Merlot
Isn’t it fun to find a new wine and share it with friends? Try this one for some good sips and interesting conversation.
What began as a fanciful idea at a Napa Valley dinner party has become, 20 vintages later, a success story as compelling as that of its legendary namesake.
Marilyn Merlot, which had its debut release in 1986, brought together the iconic image of Marilyn Monroe and some of the finest merlot grapes grown in Napa Valley. The combination has proved as seductive to wine lovers as it has to collectors. The 2004 vintage of Marilyn Merlot, released on Monroe’s birthday on June 1 (she would have been 80 this year), promises to be the finest and most collectible wine of this series.
Made entirely from grapes grown in Napa Valley, Marilyn Merlot is a blend of 90% merlot and 10% cabernet sauvignon. It has rich, berry fruit flavors, hints of chocolate and cedar and an adequately dense texture melding it all together. Suggested retail price for a 2004 bottle is $26.
The annual release of Marilyn Merlot is a much-anticipated event for fans of the actress and wine collectors. Each newly released vintage sells out within a few months, so this would be the time to visit your local wine shop and get your supply. Production of this wine is limited, which allows a focus on the wine’s quality and the elegant Marilyn Monroe images on the labels.
That formula has proved most successful. Marilyn Merlot has long been one of the fastest-appreciating wines in value over the years, with 12-bottle sets of the 1985 through 1996 vintages selling on today’s collector market for as much as $7,500.
Every vintage of Marilyn Merlot features a dramatic photo of the legendary star, and the Sam Shaw photo portrait that graces the 2004 vintage of Marilyn Merlot is expressive, dramatic and seductively glamorous. Taken in 1953, it features Monroe in a gown she wore in the movie “How to Marry a Millionaire,” in which she starred along with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall.
Marilyn Wines go back to 1981 when a small group of friends started making wine at their home near St. Helena, in Napa Valley. As the friends were having dinner on an evening in 1983,and drinking a bottle of homemade merlot,the concept of Marilyn Merlot was born. The wine immediately enjoyed a good deal of popularity around the valley. It was donated to charity auctions and given as Christmas gifts.
In 1985, the playful idea that turned into a significant wine led to the limited production of Marilyn Merlot for sale to the public. Since then, continuing acclaim from critics, collectors and lovers of fine wine have led to the production of Marilyn Cabernet, Norma Jeane wines, the Velvet Collection wines and Marilyn Merlot. Each wine has its own unique Marilyn image label.
Other wines currently available are Marilyn Cabernet 2001 ($38), 2005 Norma Jeane, A Young Merlot ($10) and Marilyn Velvet Collection 2002 ($250 for a 1.5 liter magnum bottle in a black presentation box). The wines can be purchased through fine wine retailers nationwide.
I have tasted the Marilyn Merlot a few times over the years and still have a bottle of the first release, given to me by a special wine connoisseur friend. It makes a party better when you bring a surprise like Marilyn Merlot to the table. Your friends will likely be happy to be introduced to something so clever and so good.
Chef Changes
St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point has changed executive chefs.
The former chef was Azmin Ghahreman, who recently left to open his own restaurant Laguna Sapphire (see below for more on his restaurant).
The new executive chef is one I’ve known since the 1980s, Frederic Castan.
Fredric most recently was the executive chef of the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower hotel, where he’d overseen all food operations since 2002. I first knew him when he was executive chef at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa. He then moved on to a golf resort and the Ritz-Carlton hotels, where our paths again crossed. I’ve had some fine meals when he was manning the stoves.
He’s from Avignon, in the heart of Proven & #231;e. He had a keen interest as a child in his mother’s cooking and has always had a fascination with artistic shapes and colors. It’s no surprise then that one of his hobbies is painting. He took his formal culinary training in Marseille, France. He has a long list of accolades from prestigious French and American culinary groups that he’s gathered during his 30 years as a chef. I think he’ll bring a lot to admire to the tables at St. Regis Resort.
Fredric’s role as executive chef at St. Regis Resort is to ensure the integrity of each restaurant, including Motif, Club 19, Monarch Bay Club, Crust and the Pool Bar & Grill.
He will oversee every aspect of the restaurant’s operations,from the creation and maintenance of all menus and recipes, to preparation, presentation and service.
His philosophy is strongly rooted in providing superior service and creating exceptional cuisine and he focuses on details that will impress his guests while maintaining a simple and elegant menu that focuses on flavor.
Naturally, the best in each dish is achieved by using the best products, and new products, while incorporating his favorite ingredients,fresh herbs, garlic, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
When he’s not in the kitchen, Frederic keeps busy with a few hobbies in addition to his painting. He loves skiing, boating and hiking. He always makes time to sit down and read a good cookbook.
St. Regis Resort is at One Monarch Beach Resort, Dana Point. Phone: (949) 234-3200.
Laguna Seeing Sapphire
It was exciting to hear that Azmin Ghahreman was going to open his own restaurant in Laguna Beach. But it also was a little sad since he was leaving St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa, where he’s been executive chef since its opening.
His restaurant, to be called Sapphire Laguna, will feature a locally inspired design and cuisine with an international bent. It will be on the site of the former Pottery Shack on South Coast Highway and is expected to open in August.
The name comes from his wife’s favorite gemstone. The restaurant will be an integral part of The Old Pottery Place, a new 16,500-square-foot complex that also will include an art gallery with an outdoor glassblowing demonstration area, a bookstore and other boutiques.
Azmin says his mission is to apply his globally inspired culinary tastes and talents to the new restaurant, which will occupy a prime site overlooking the ocean. Sounds like a dynamic place to me. He plans to change the menu seasonally, and often daily, depending on what is freshly caught and available from small farms, nearby markets and artisan suppliers. For lunches, dinners and weekend brunches, he’s teasing us with a list of fine sounding entrees. Among them, grilled Moroccan-style jumbo shrimp, Hawaiian barbecue pork sandwich on Portuguese sweet bread, wok-fried baby snapper with Thai chile-lemongrass sauce, chicken pot pie served with a dozen market vegetables and braised prime short ribs.
So far, this is what I know about what the restaurant will look like. It will have fantastic ocean views, an open kitchen, an eight-person round communal table as the restaurant’s core and walk-in wine cellars holding up to 700 bottles. The main dining room will seat 60 and the bi-level outdoor terrace will seat 38 diners who will enjoy the majesty of a rather ancient Cypress tree and the warmth of a sit-around fire pit on the bottom level.
There will be a bar area, with 14 stools and two banquette-style areas where cocktails and wines, small or large plates of food and “good conversation and laughter with friends” should easily flow.
Laguna Beach architect Si Teller is in charge of the restaurant’s design. To achieve an arty, sensuous, Laguna Beach ambiance, Teller is using an abundance of organic materials throughout the restaurant, including parts of the original building, actual wine barrels for wine storage and display, a U-shaped bar counter made of root wood from a redwood tree dating back to the 1700s, plenty of glass accents and distressed wood furniture and flooring. Finishing touches include layered lighting for depth and intimacy and beautiful fine art by local artists.
Azmin was so enthusiastic about his adjoining 930-square-foot gourmet shop when he first told me about the restaurant plans.
It will be an extension of his interest in wines, cheese and local produce and the shop will offer freshly made food for take-home meals, parties or picnics and savory and sweet packaged delicacies from all over the world.
Azmin has such a broad international perspective and I feel confident that it will all blend beautifully in the new Sapphire Laguna. He’s held top positions in famous properties in Malaysia, Hawaii, Turkey and Singapore before coming to the U.S. He originally trained in Switzerland.
Watch for local announcements and be among the first to dine at Sapphire Laguna in August. Location: 1200 South Coast Highway. Sapphire Laguna will be open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., for intermezzo from 2:30 p.m to 5 p.m. and open for dinner nightly from 5 p.m. Brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on both Saturdays and Sundays. The Gourmet Shop will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free parking will be available on site at the back of the complex, which is accessible from Brooks Street or Glenneyre.
