This was my view for most of the night this past Friday.
Lights, cameras and Bizarre Foods action!
I was the sommelier for a one night dinner created by Andrew Zimmern. He was hopping around town shooting all over LA last week with the finale being a 5 course spread at Royal/T. All proceeds went to charity and some of LA’s best chefs were in the kitchen lending a helping hand- Michael Voltaggio, Lee Hefter of Spago and Ari Rosenson of CUT (my Wolfgang Puck homies from back in the day!), among others.
SO. The menu…
The menu was all about introducing the average diner to sea creatures and parts of animals they might not be accustomed to. There was uni, geoduck, pig-face bacon, pig’s blood, lamb and cow tongue, pig intestine among other things. What wine to pair with such fare? How about wines the average drinker might not have ever tried or would think to try; a 12 year old rosé, a sans soufre red blend from a whacky Spaniard, a grape called pignoletto, a pink pet nat topped with a crown cap…
Jill and I came up with the following, in order of course pairings:
2009 La Grange Tiphaine “Rosa Rosé Rosam” // 2009 Tedeschi Spungola Bellaria Pignoletto
2000 Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rosado // 2010 Mendall “Poc a Poc” // De Bartoli 10 yr Marsala
Everybody loved everything! Warren Sapp, even.
PS- Pardon the truly shitty photos. But guess what? This is the last of the BlackBerry Chronicles. Why? Cause momma got an iPhone. Prepare yourself for Instagram Tales! Memoirs of an iPhone? I’ll figure something out.