Honesty on the menu
15-hour leg of lamb with a turnip gratin at Bluehour
We’re off to the Classic Wines Auction tonight (at the Convention Center – 750 people!) for the first time in many years. I appreciated Executive Chef Kenny Giambalvo’s refreshingly honest remarks at our more intimate pre-Classic Wines Auction winemaker dinner Tuesday night at Bluehour. We were honored to be asked to participate, and it was a pleasure to reconnect with the owners of De Lille Cellars, a Washington winery focused on Syrah and Bordeaux-style blends, with whom we were paired years ago for a dinner at Oba.
When given the chance to say a few words, Kenny didn’t give himself even a minute in the limelight, but rather, thanked his team, and thanked Classic Wines Auction and its patrons for providing a forum for a little creative outlet — allowing the chefs to invent dishes to complement the wineries’ latest releases. Last year wasn’t fun, he admitted. He’s right. It was more a year of counting beans than cooking them up creatively. And while those of us in the food and wine industries do indeed get asked to donate until we want to cry “Uncle,” it is still a privilege to be able to do it, and to take part in the fabulous evenings. Yet, our donations of wine and wine adventures would be valueless without the good-hearted wine-lovers who bid on them!
Please check back soon…no-knead bread, and open-faced chicken pot pie, with lots of photos…coming up!
