Gina Dallara: October 2009 Archives

By Deirdre Bourdet

This time of year you can't turn around without a pumpkin or nine staring you in the face. Every storefront has trotted out at least ten or twelve for the window display, and the Stanly Ranch Pumpkin Patch is rockin' and rollin' with its hay bale maze, giant sunflowers, and pumpkins of every size and color. Though the decorative pumpkin frenzy will die down after Halloween, the edible pumpkin bandwagon is just getting going in wine country. It's one of my favorite seasons for sweets.

By Deirdre Bourdet

In keeping with their reputation as the first family of fun, the Cejas are throwing a Halloween bash this year in their downtown tasting bar. This means far more than special pricing on the wine... though there will be by the glass discounts and a healthy 30% off all their bottles for the evening, including those to take home. No, Halloween with the Cejas means music, passion, drama, and dancing.

By Deirdre Bourdet

The avalanche of autumn produce in our markets is a sure sign that fall is here, notwithstanding some freak summer flashback days. Pumpkins, squashes, apples, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and beets of every color beckon with their earthy sweetness and sexy dark green leaves.

Like everyone else I hated the canned beets of my childhood, but I've since grown to love the silken texture, rich flavor, and eye-popping colors of the real deal. Beet greens also rank among my favorite leafy green vegetables of all time, but only appear in good shape in fall and winter. Easy to clean and quick-cooking, they taste like a more tender, earthier version of chard. Since you typically get the beet greens for free with the beetroot, a bunch of beets is also one of the best produce deals out there.

By Deirdre Bourdet

The film Bottle Shock tells the tale of the 1976 "Judgment of Paris," where California wines beat out their French counterparts in a widely publicized blind tasting.  This week in Napa, three local merlots go head to head against three from Bordeaux at Back Room Wines' Thursday night tasting event. It won't be blind, but it will be delicious.

By Deirdre Bourdet

Pica Pica Bar has opened in Napa's Oxbow Public Market! I was delighted enough to hear that they would be serving ceviche with wine and beer, but news of their ridiculously awesome happy hour made me make haste to the comfortable leather bar stools at the south end of the Oxbow building. From 3-6pm on weekdays, all alcoholic drinks (white or red sangria, most of the ten draft beers, Venezuelan-style fruit juices called batidos, and your choice of red, white or rose wine) are $3, and a varied assortment of ceviches and corn arepa "sliders" are also yours for the same price.

Submitted by Viansa Winery & Vineyards

Viansa's 2007 Chardonnay offers flavors of Apple, honeydew melon and toasty oak with a crisp clean finish. This wine was 50% barrel fermented and 50% stainless steel tank fermented. A deliciously fresh wine that pairs nicely with a cheese and fruit platter, grilled fish or light pasta dishes.  Drink now through 2010. Visit Viansa.com/lifestyle for recipes like "Pepper and Prosciutto Frittata".

submitted by VirginiaWine.org

by Melissa Close, Executive Chef of Palladio Restaurant

Executive Chef Melissa Close has directed Palladio's kitchen since the fall of 2000, continually working to bring authentic Italian Cuisine to Central Virginia. Raised in Alabama, Melissa has been in the restaurant business since she was 16 years old and is a distinguished graduate from the New England Culinary Institute, Alumna of the Year in 2005. She has focused on Italian cuisine since working for award-winning chef Frank Stitt at Bottega Restaurant & Cafe located in Birmingham, Alabama in the early 90's. Her quest to refine her fluency in Italian cuisine led her to San Francisco's Rose Pistola Restaurant.

After taking a hiatus to work for one of her early culinary mentors and fellow Charlottesville chef, Craig Hartman, at The Cliff House at Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, Colorado, she was drawn back to Italian cuisine when asked to take the Executive Chef's position at Palladio Restaurant. She has brought both national and international recognition for Palladio Restaurant through her constant striving to create menus with the freshest ingredients found locally and internationally. During the restaurant's annual closing in January, Melissa and her staff travel across the Atlantic to stage in some of Italy's finest establishments to expand their knowledge of Italian cuisine. Melissa and her staff's commitment for excellence has won her induction in the Chaine des Rotisseurs, and three invitations to create dinners at the world-renowned James Beard House in New York City, a great honor bestowed upon select chefs in the country.

By Deirdre Bourdet

Most ingredients go in and out of style, depending on the latest health craze or foodie fad. This doesn't of course affect their deliciousness, or deter the converted from continuing to use the items in our own cooking once they have fallen out of fashion with the rest of America.

So I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose heart soared when Julie & Julia hit the silver screen this year, trumpeting the timeless and unparalleled glory of butter to audiences near and far. Sweet vindication! I almost cheered at the scene where Julie sets a pound of butter in front of Julia's portrait in the Smithsonian.

By Courtney Cochran

It's official: Thanks to the addition of yet another stellar eatery - Diavola Pizzeria-Salumeria - from the mega talented Dino Bugica, Alexander Valley's miniscule Geyserville may just be wine country's newest foodie mecca. Turns out the master salumist - who's already conquered cuisine more haute with his highly regarded Taverna Santi - wanted to create more casual fare in the vein of la cucina povera (literally, Italian peasant cuisine), comprised of a deliciously straightforward collection of panini, pizzas, salads and, yes, house cured salumi.