Wine- and food-matching dinners are getting more and more interesting.
On Tuesday hush (yes, it’s spelled with a small “h”) in Laguna Beach will present a not-to-miss wine dinner called Flavors of California. The menu sounds awesome and the wine pairings really are something to pay attention to.
First course of the dinner: fricassee of chicken in bouch & #233;es (small puff pastries) with a tarragon cream sauce and baby baked potatoes with American caviar, paired with Domaine Carneros 2001 Brut Champagne.
The second course is a composed cheese plate, featuring Humboldt Fog cheese, peach chutney and Spanish almonds, paired with Cakebread Cellars 2003 Napa Chardonnay.
On to the third course, consisting of thyme-roasted New Zealand king salmon, Beluga black lentils, spring onions and cherry demi-glace with two wines. LinCourt Vineyards 2001 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and Foley Estates 2002 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir will be poured.
The fourth course is hazelnut-crusted Colorado lamb, with California artichoke ravioli and red bell pepper coulis, matched with two Sonoma wines. Those are the Benziger Family Winery 2001 Sonoma Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and the St. Francis Winery 2001 Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon.
The dinner finishes with a dual decadence dessert: white chocolate espresso tart with bittersweet chocolate sorbet. Sounds quite yummy and better yet with the Taylor Fladgate 1999 Late Bottled Vintage Port that will accompany it.
The dinner is $95 per person. Call (949) 497-3616 for reservations. Hush is at 858 S. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.
Chocolates With a Twist
One local company has come up with a sweet confection idea that’s very different, thus interesting.
The company is called Sweet Traders and its product is bottles of high-end wines, champagnes and gourmet ciders that are dipped in top quality Guittard chocolate. The recipient takes off the protective shrink-wrapped covering to “peel and pour.” One pours the wine and breaks off the decorative chocolate covering to savor at the same time.
The bottles are hand-dipped so no two are exactly the same. Wines are paired with what the company considers the most complementary chocolate (dark, milk or white). Prices range from $27 to $150.
There are more than 100 selections. Names such as Scharffenberger, Mumm, Dom Perignon and Mo & #235;t & Chandon are in the sparkling wine category. Popular cabernets, merlots, syrahs, chardonnays and zinfandels are in its wine stock.
Guittard, which selects top cocoa beans from prized cocoa plantations, has been making fine chocolate since 1868. The product is melted to the correct temperature for the dipping of the bottles. A gold pull-tab is attached to use in peeling off the chocolate layer.
The bottles of wine are dipped in a way that leaves the wine labels exposed, while the sparkling wines are dipped up to the base of the bottle’s neck.
Sweet Traders also offers a fine selection of delicious desserts, including elaborate cakes, handmade chocolate truffles, rich peanut butter cups, chocolate chews and covered nuts.
The company is based in Huntington Beach in a 2,500-square-foot factory. The entire line of sweets and chocolate dipped wines can be perused and purchased online at www.sweettraders.com or you can call them directly.
Sweet Traders is at 5362 Oceanus Drive, Huntington Beach, (714) 903-6800.
Hone Your Cooking Skills
Did you know that there’s a culinary arts school in downtown Laguna?
Aptly named Laguna Culinary Arts, it offers a variety of cooking classes, including a professional program covering several months of culinary training in preparation for working in a restaurant kitchen.
Beyond that, an impressive staff of wine and culinary professionals and local chefs teach classes.
Even the art of serving high tea and a wine certification course are on the agenda. Check out the Web site at https://www.lagunaculinaryarts.com. Click on Home Chef Classes to see the whole schedule of programs.
One class that I know will be very interesting for the home cook is set for June 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be taught by the executive corporate chef of Pomodoro restaurants, Edmondo Sarti, who will keep you entertained as he makes recipes from regional Italy.
The menu for this class includes baked baby artichokes with a Prosecco wine reduction, gnocchi (home made potato dumplings with basil pesto), striped bass baked in a parchment pocket with fresh herbs and Torta della Nonna (grandma’s chocolate cream custard tart with pine nuts). Italian wines also will be served. Price: $95 per person, per class.
Laguna Culinary Arts: 550 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, (949) 494-0745.
Gourmet Pies in Your Hands
Irvine has a new restaurant with yet another concept that’s not been tapped in this region.
The Cravery features fast, gourmet casual dining and takeout for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a specialty of gourmet, hand-held signature pies,very tasty meals wrapped in a golden pastry crust,which can be eaten without a fork.
There are 16 different pies, all handmade and baked fresh daily on the premises, using classic recipes as well as modern and trendier flavors with influences from mainly America and Asia, but with a few influences from around the globe.
Two of the breakfast offerings are eggs Benedict or scrambled eggs, bacon and cheese pie. There’s also a fine cinnamon-pecan rumble that’s good at any hour.
Lunch and dinner might include savory pies filled with old-fashioned chicken and mushrooms, cracked black pepper steak. There’s also a spicier meal of vegetable curry or Thai curry chicken.
Dine in, take out or have it delivered. The restaurant is at Sand Canyon Plaza at the corner of Irvine Center Drive and Sand Canyon, 6638 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Phone: (949) 727-3663.
