Mastro Scheidt at Sierra Nut House

It's always exciting to work with another Fresno institution. The Sierra Nut House recently brought on Mastro Scheidt wines, specifically, our award winning 2010 Cabernet Franc and Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine bar features a weekly list selected from their current inventory and will be featuring the Mastro Scheidt Sonoma County Cabernet. Their by-the-glass list includes sparkling, white, and red wines, as well as a dessert selection. In addition to by-the-glass options, you may purchase any bottle in the store and enjoy it at the wine bar with no additional corkage fee.

SIERRA NUT HOUSE in the Villagio Center
7901 North Blackstone Avenue
Fresno, CA 93720
(559) 432-4023

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

Fresno FYI, The Grape Tray carries Mastro Scheidt Wines!

Based on the success of our first formal tasting held in Fresno on November 12, The Grape Tray is now carrying all three of Mastro Scheidt Family Cellars 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon's. We are all very happy to be working with Stan and his staff in promoting our wines in the Fresno area.

The Grape Tray is located at:

5091 N Fresno St # 126

Fresno, CA 93710-7695

(559) 226-6828

Wine Tasting @ The Grape Tray, Fresno

Mark your schedule for our first public wine tasting at The Grape Tray in Fresno, November 12 from 12 noon to 2:00pm (ABC Rules, there is a $10 tasting fee). Please send me an email or write on the Facebook Fan Page or the Facebook Public Event Site if you can attend. We are limited by the number of guests we can accommodate comfortably, so we need a head count.

We'll be pouring all of the 2007 Cabernet's, plus some 2009 and 2010 barrel samples.

Our wine will be available for sale at The Grape Tray, just in time for Thanksgiving.

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.