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Monday, April 20, 2009
Wine & Food Fest: Steak Tartare Across Texas
I know four days is an eternity in online years, but there were some things I came across at the Stars Across Texas event of the Hill Country Wine and Food Festival that I have to share. Then I’ll move on from seemingly endless posts on the biggest food and wine festival in the state. Promise.
First off, rain couldn’t stop the eating, drinking and mingling in the Long Center’s beautiful city terrace. It also didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of FINO chef Jason Donoho, right, or awesome bright pants of general manager Brian Stubbs.
Chef Jason Dady, who runs four restaurants in San Antonio — The Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills, BIN 555, Tre Trattoria and Two Bros. BBQ Market — as well as a couple of young kids (and I thought I had it tough), served one of the most memorable dishes of the night: Steak sous vide, parsley coulis, egg yolk sous vide, Dijon cream, caper dust and foie-gras buttered toast rounds. He had me at duck liver and toast.
Other highlights included: Tyson Cole of Uchi’s pork belly (Cole is quite fond of the p to the b), John Bates of Asti’s fava-bean spread and chocolate truffles and treats by
Josh Watkins of the AT&T Conference Center and Hotel at the University of Texas (whew, that’s a long name. It’ll be easier come fall when Watkins gets to focus just on The Carillon, one of the conference center’s four restaurants, alone. P.S. He’s looking for a chef to take over some of the other chefduties, so get a hold of him on Facebook if you’re interested.) whipped up something fancy that involved peaches and drinking wine out of a plastic bowl.
Jonathan Gelman of The Driskill Hotel won the presentation award of the night with a steak tartare (yes, it seemed the theme of the night) served in another cup of lavender soda with dry ice. Gelman assured me that it was safe as long as I didn’t suck up a piece of ice. Good to know.
I’m beyond upset I missed out on the afterparty, where B-Boy City performed and the chefs, who were already goofing off upstairs when I was heading out, really let loose.
You did hear that drummer-turned-chef Paul Petersen is back in town, didn’t you?
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Wine & Food Fest: Que Paso in Paso Robles? Austin
We all know Austin has more than a touch of California influence these days, but would you have guessed that the laid-back, friendly Austin vibe can be found throughout the entire wine region of Paso Robles?
At Que Paso?, a Hill Country Wine and Food Festival tasting on Saturday at Perry’s Steakhouse downtown, Paso winemakers gathered to talk about what’s going on in the hippest, hottest region in California.
Hosted by Ross Outon, the Austin certified wine specialist who spent months in Paso while filming the upcoming PBS reality series “Winemakers,” which is set to premiere in May. Outon explained that Paso, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles, is the fastest growing wine American Viticultural Area (or AVA in wine speak) in California, with five or six new wineries opening a month, but it isn’t as polished as its well-established neighbors to the north, including the Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino regions.
The range of temperatures, sometimes from above 100 degrees during the day to 50 degrees at night, and the steep, rolling hills and deep valleys just a few miles from the ocean make for a climate that is ideal for growing more than 40 varietals.
Winemakers Austin Hope of Treana Winery, David Frick of Clayhouse Vineyard, Tommy Oldre of Tablas Creek Vineyard and Deb Coppage of Four Vines Winery served eight wines:
- an acidic, mineral-filled sauvignon blanc from Clayhouse ($12-14 retail)
- a bright, aromatic Cotes de Tablas Blanc from Tablas Creek that was hard to put down ($25)
- an earthy, peppery 2006 Esprit de Beaucastel Rouge from Tablas Creek ($45)
- from Four Vines, The Biker Zinfandel, so-called because it would be the only wine hearty enough that a Hell’s Angel would admit to drinking, Coppage explained ($25)
- Hillside Cuvee, the flagship wine from Clayhouse Vineyards ($35, a stunning deal, Outon says)
- Loco from Four Vines, a tempranillo, which came with a temporary tattoo of a bull, that even my tempranillo-loathing friend liked ($35-40)
- a powerful, elegant syrah from Austin Hope with legs that would make a stripper blush (see photo, above) ($42)
- Treana Winery Red 2006, which Hope said is one of those wines you’d want to keep around for 10 years to really see what it can do ($40-50)
“It’s like the 60s in Paso right now,” says Hope between jokes about chicken-frying turtles and any other meat he could get a hold of. “People are trying new things all the time.”
We’re a little odd in Paso, says Coppage, who lives most of the year in Iowa but feels at home among the scrub oak, cows and youthful “weird” winemakers of the area more than two hours north of Santa Barbara. “What sets us a part is how truly friendly and neighborly we are,” she says.
Weird and friendly? Sounds familiar.
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Trade plastic bags for reusable ones this Earth Day
Reusable bags were one of the most surprising and widespread shopping trends of 2008. Maybe the trend of 2009 will be remembering to bring them into the store.
For Earth Day on Wednesday, swap five plastic bags for a reusable one at any H-E-B and Central Market. H-E-B says it aims to bring in 1.5 million plastic bags by giving away 300,000 reusable bags from 3 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The offer is limited to one bag per customer.
In other saving-the-Earth news, Reynolds Wrap is now offering an aluminum foil that’s made from 100 percent recycled aluminum foil. The rolls (available in 50- and 35-square foot rolls for $2.99) are a good step in the right direction, but I know I won’t be the only one still delicately folding lightly-used foil to reuse it, just like my grandmother, who won’t let a square inch of the stuff to go waste.
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