Carried Away

Mobility defines much of modern life, and meals are no exception. Even in restaurants, where takeout was once antithetical, chefs are increasingly offering dishes to go, catering to hurried customers who want it all: quickness, quality, and carryout.

But making good food into go-food requires many considerations, not the least of which is smart packaging that maintains the integrity of a well-made dish. Today’s containers, made with high-grade materials that have the ability to keep hot foods crispy hot and cold foods chilled, offer more choices than ever. In addition, they are microwave useable and safe, have clever corner hinges and locking systems that keep containers tightly sealed and very portable, and are designed for easy stacking and storing. With all these virtues, what more could foodservice ask for?

Actually, they ask for style, colors, shapes, and custom logos too. The packaging industry has met these demands with a range of boxes, hexagons, and rounds, sturdier compartments, and bowls for ethnic rice and noodle dishes, as well as good-looking totes for the growing category of salads.

A Better Box

If custom nonrectangular shapes are part of the lexicon of modern to-go packaging, so are new materials, such as polypropylene, a lighter, less expensive material ideal for the contemporary shapes. Food commodities such as corn, potatoes, rice, grain grasses, and bamboo plants—all known for their strong fibrous pulp—are also appearing in the packaging parade. When combined under pressure with heat and other ingredients such as limestone and recycled paper, these composite containers made of natural materials are sanitary, safe, and lightweight, and biodegrade easily in composts.

“We view our products as workable alternatives to aluminum, plastic, foam, and paper,” says Keith Groenewold, marketing director of GSD Packaging. “Our Bio-Pak concept was designed to find alternatives when a ban on plastics was issued on the West Coast in 1990. We make these containers from renewable resources—no old growth trees, but genetically fast-growing ones. We believe this is much more responsible than using oil-based plastics, a nonrenewable source.” Bio-Pak containers do have a polypropylene lining, just a half millimeter in thickness, that coats the heavy-duty paperboard boxes. The ultrathin poly layer is “the key to keeping foods fresh,” Groenewald adds.

Pick-A-Package

“Food venues understand that containers are not just for leftovers anymore, they’re part of an overall packaging program, keyed to their menus,” says Michelle Quirk, marketing coordinator for Genpak, one of several manufacturers developing new take-out packaging that looks good, works well, and is also economical. As a bonus, some are ecosensitive, made from recycled products.

Image Makers

With custom fonts and a spectrum of colors available, foodservice needn’t opt for cookie-cutter looks anymore.  But beware the cost, advises Alan Kossoff, president of U.S. Box Corp, a large importer and marketer of various kinds of packaging products. “If you move from standard white or brown craft [cardboard] to any colors, you generally double your cost.” Kossoff also cautions against committing to any packaging made of unique or exotic fibers. “You could get locked in to one supplier,” he explains, “whereas if you have a prototype of something more available, you can ask any supplier what it will cost, and they’ll have to be more competitive with pricing.”

U.S. Box fits into the foodservice market with branded upscale packaging. “We do a lot of the hot-stamp process, where a metallic foil stamp of someone’s logo is put on a glossy box…It makes the container look instantly upscale.” U.S. Box also offers the use of their in-house art department to help refine a company’s look or logo. “We’re generally aware of what the competition is doing in a certain sector,” Kossoff states, “so we can give suggestions for something more distinctive and offer choices that make economical sense.”

Although style and cost are important considerations, convenience reigns.  The packaging must suit the needs of both the diner and restaurant.

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Screw it Up!

Over the course of my travels, I chat with restaurateurs and hear the latest hot industry topics. Recently, much of the talk has been about screw caps and how to deal with them. Part 1 addresses the presentation of screw-capped wines on the list. Part 2 will explore ways to present a screw-capped bottle of wine with as much integrity and ceremony as those closed with corks.

Slights and Murmurs

The restaurant industry’s use of alternative closures is nothing new. Bag-in-box wines, for example, have been successfully utilized in establishments for years, especially in casual concepts. But instead of publicly celebrating them, box wineshave been hidden behind the bar, clandestinely used for by-the-glass orders. This second-class treatment has everything to do with perception. Though a box wine’s closure affords bartenders expedience and ease and its air-free container enhances the wine’s shelf life, spigot service is not perceived by customers as nearly as impressive as pulling and presenting a cork.

The screw cap falls victim to similar prejudice, although not by everyone. Many wine-savvy consumers already understand its benefits. Ironically, customers whom we have successfully “traded up” from jug or box wines or who have not been privy to the screw-cap movement are seemingly the most perplexed or put off when presented with a screw cap.

Guest Education

Because more and more bottles have these closures---including ultrapremium selections---it’s important to educate consumers and acclimate them so that they are not unpleasantly surprised when a wine they order is uncapped before their eyes.

      One good way to begin is to decide whether you want to address screw-cap wines on your wine list. Of course, your staff can simply answer guests’ concerns on a case-by-case basis. Or you can tag the bottles on your list with an asterisk and include on the menu a brief explanation of screw-cap benefits. Better yet, you could create a section on your list that highlights alternative-closure wines, including those with synthetic corks, and let people know why they’re all the rage.

Here are a few facts in support of screw caps that you can present either verbally when serving a screw-top bottle or in writing on your list. First, they have been around for a long time---mostly in the domain of food products and soft drinks---where they’ve been proven to guarantee freshness. Additionally, cork, being a natural material, is imperfect. Its failure rate--—i.e., wines affected by cork taint stemming from the closure itself or from the winery---is 2 to 11 percent, depending on whose research you rely on.

Touting Taint-Free

The failure rate is not so evident to most consumers. Even if they are drinking one affected bottle out of every ten, they may not know it because they usually can only pick up on the most blatant offenders. (You know the ones---those with the moldy cardboard smell.) In most cases, cork taint simply takes the edge off the wine. Maybe the fruit is not as bright or the wine is off or not as lively. This is especially unfortunate for restaurants because, rather than recognize that the wine is flawed, patrons are more likely to think the particular selection they chose from your list simply wasn’t very good. And surely you want your customers to have faith that you offer a quality selection in both food andwine.

But you can reassure your guests that, while most people may never be able to identify a mild case of cork taint, a twist-off top eliminates the possibility of buying and consuming a wine that should taste better than it does.

Finally, there are numerous studies that demonstrate that screw tops are conducive to red- and white-wine ageability and longevity, including a recently released four-year comparative study by The Hogue Cellars, which states: “Screw-cap closures proved to hold fruit and maintain freshness more effectively than natural and synthetic corks.”

In a nutshell, screw tops ensure consumers a better product and make it easier to open and reseal their favorite bottles. What’s not to like about that?

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Voices From the Floor

Like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, many servers feel they don’t get much respect. Not surprisingly, the Internet is filled with their scathing blogs as well as various forums where waitstaff can vent and compare notes on their experiences serving food to the public. Abusive customers account for many of their complaints, but owners and managers also cause many a diatribe. Indeed, when management exhibits a lack of respect for staff, servers often don’t shrug it off as they might a rude customer. Instead, bad boss behavior usually results in low morale and high employee turnover, neither of which bodes well for business.

Servers’ Pet Peeves

Short Notice Scheduling—

Many of us choose this job because of its flexibility. Getting the next week’s schedule on Friday night, doesn’t allow us to have a life. Two weeks in advance would be great.

Behind the Scenes Tip Handling—

Whatever system is used to distribute tips among servers, bus boys, and other support staff should be totally transparent. Everyone should know what’s in the tip pool. And, managers should never get a share of the tips. 

Overdoing Upselling—

Management can overdo upselling to the point where the customer gets alienated. Servers can usually tell how much a customer is willing to spend. The better goal should be to encourage them to come back.

Focusing on the Bad, Not the Good—

I can get 15 great comments and 1 bad one. The one I hear about is the bad one. Let me know when I succeed, so I can succeed more.

Lack of Staff Meetings—

Regular staff meetings can head off problems and are a very powerful way to get people to talk about what’s on their minds. Unfortunately, most restaurants don’t hold regular meetings. 

Poor or Underpaid Managers—

There are two types of managers: those who hire incompetent people so they can blame them when things go wrong and those who hire competent people and encourage them to learn and better themselves. The second kind results in a better staff and more successful restaurant.

You need to avoid the dynamic where the waiters earn more than the managers. Otherwise, you just get people looking for a dental plan. Ideally, managers should have some experience as waiters and be able to act as a mentor to the rest of the waitstaff.

Unclear Intentions—

Ultimately, restaurant owners must decide what their goals and philosophy are and make sure the entire staff knows them and has the tools to apply them. Then management must stand behind them when they do.

LISTEN TO YOUR STAFF-

Finally, servers advise restaurant owners and managers to listen to their staff. Servers are on the front line.  They see and hear what customers are raving about and which dishes they politely say "tastes fine."

Suzanne Hall is a Tennessee-based freelance writer and regular contributer to many national magazines.  She also is a columnist for the Mirror Newspapers (Chattanooga, Tennessee) and for Profile

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The Wine Gods Shine on South Island

New Zealand’s South Island is as close as the Southern Hemisphere gets to Burgundy, the Loire, Champagne, Alsace, and Germany. Alternatively, think all of California’s Coastal Regions, Oregon, and eastern Washington crammed into one long, thin island.Between the southern sun, which delivers 30 percent more UV radiation, and the surrounding Antarctic-influenced seas, Marlborough, Nelson, Waipara, and Central Otago zigzag between hot sunny days and cool summer nights. The payoff is vibrantly ripened fruit kissed by zingy, natural acidity.

Fast-Forward History

The history of winemaking in the South Island is brief but interesting. French colonists planted grapes at Akaroa in the 1840s and then left when the country went English. Germans established vines on poor land in Nelson during the 1840s, gave up, and moved off to found Australia’s Barossa Valley. Finally, Central Otago’s gold miners had a go in the 1860s, although it’s probable more wine was made from fermenting old boots than grapes. Prohibition came, and grape growing went quiet.

The modern industry didn’t take off until 1973, when Austrian winemaker Hermann Seifried planted Nelson with Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Fortuitously, while the rest of the country fumbled around with second-rate hybrids like Müller-Thurgau, Seifried proved that first-rate vinifera grapes could ripen in South Island’s cooler climates. Soon after, Montana (now Brancott Estates) planted vines in what would become the country’s largest producing region, Marlborough. In the late 1980s the Brits tasted and embraced the Sauvignon Blanc, and New Zealand hasn’t looked back since.

Marlborough

Clearly Sauvignon has found a sweet spot in Marlborough (approximately 70 wineries; 22,000 acres). The region’s success---and, by extension, the country’s---has been driven by a commercial formula that lays endless golden eggs. Brancott Estate viticulturalist Mike Insley explains why: “Climate has to be the main influence---warm and dry enough to fully ripen commercial yields but cool enough to retain acidity and flavor precursors (methoxypyrazines, thiols, etc.) usually ‘blown off’ in warmer climates. Our longer grape development phase compared to warmer climates may play a part, too; where the French often talk about 100 days between flowering and harvest, Marlborough may push 120 to 130.”

Thirty years ago vines encroached on a virgin landscape. Today almost every inch of the Wairau Valley is covered in grapes. The region’s highly pronounced, sweaty, herblike aromatics, juxtaposed against exotic, ultraripe, tropical fruits, are driven by cobblestone-riddled alluvial soils atop the free-draining gravels of ancient river beds. In outlying clay-driven subregions (Brancott, Omaka, and Wither Hills) Sauvignons express ever richer, oilier textures and increasingly pungent characters.

Further out, the cooler, drier, and windier Awatere Valley forces vines to struggle toward ripeness, pushing Sauvignon toward nettley, tomato-plant-leaf aromas, denser palate weights, and sharper acidity.

Large- and medium-sized producers such as Vavasour, Grove Mill, Hunter’s, Wither Hills, Villa Maria, Forrest Estate, Sacred Hill, Stoneleigh, Allan Scott, Mount Riley, Matua Valley, Lawson’s Dry Hills, Nautilus, Selaks, Wairau River, Babich, Highfield, Jackson Estate, Gravitas, Saint Clair, Te Whare Ra, Tohu, and Spy Valley consistently deliver Marlborough’s signature Sauvignon style year in and year out. Others, like Dog Point, Huia, Astrolabe, Seresin, Churton, Cloudy Bay, Clos Henri, Domaine Georges Michel, and Isabel Estate have successfully elevated low-yield Sauvignon to much higher levels.

Beyond Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough is also prime sparkling-wine country. All bottlings are high-quality Pinot Noir/Chardonnay--based, méthode champenoise, from Brancott’s excellent value Lindauer up to such premium cuvées as Cloudy Bay’s Pelorus, Hunter’s Miru Miru, and No. 1 Family’s Cuvée No. 1.

Chardonnays are crisply fruited, low oaked, and great with food. European-like, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Riesling all deliver true cool-climate aromatics and sharply defined structures.

Marlborough is playing catch-up with Pinot Noir, focusing primarily on inexpensive, volume production---everyman’s Pinot, bless them. These tend to be straightforward and fruity but at least show genuine varietal characters. On the other hand, the low-yield, gently handled, more seriously made Pinots of Fromm, TerraVin, and Seresin are up with New Zealand’s most age worthy.

Nelson

Nelson (21 wineries, approximately 1,500 acres) is New Zealand’s center of art and counterculture, and while soil and climate are important factors, it is human input that makes Nelson’s wines different. All share a distinctive, self-restrained tastefulness that’s hard to pin down. Winemakers strive for drinkability and balance, which is shaped by Nelson’s thriving café culture, with its al fresco dining and brilliant fresh seafood.

Nelson’s reputation rests primarily on small, family-run wineries focused on Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling. Climatically similar to Marlborough, its Sauvignon Blancs are closely allied stylistically, but often better and cheaper. Grüner Veltliner, Albari?o, and Gros Manseng (a highly aromatic variety grown in France’s Jura) are under trial and suggest huge potential.

Two distinct subregional, terroir-derived characters exist. In Upper Moutere’s clay soils, wines tend to be richer and fuller bodied, spicier, and more minerally and savory. Hope and Waimea Plains wines, grown on free-draining soils, show more florals; brighter, more translucent fruit; and linear structures.

Standout producer Neudorf’s highly complex, beautifully structured, age worthy (10 to 20 years) Montrachet-like Chardonnays are among Australasia’s finest. Firmly structured and condensed, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling are produced in pairs to illustrate Nelson’s prevailing soil types.

Andrew Greenhough ofGreenhough Vineyards seeks “less obvious, less big” styles. He wants his Pinot Noirs to be “ethereal, as opposed to deep and brooding” and his complex, lees-driven Chardonnays to show “fruit over visible oaking.” Greenhough’s Pinot Blancs are delicate, fresh, and peachy, and his off-dry Riesling is exquisitely balanced and succulent. His carefully considered ideals are common among Nelson’s growers.

Space precludes detailing other such quality producers as Te Mania, Kaimira, Tasman Bay, Rimu Grove, and Woollaston; all deserve muchmore US restaurant exposure. Volume producers Seifried and Waimea Estate are particularly strong on sharply priced aromatic varieties. Nelson is easily New Zealand’s most underrated region.

Waipara(Canterbury)

The first grapes were planted near Christchurch in Canterbury, the region, but Waipara’s warmer, more consistent climate and soils are better suited to wine grapes. Today, over 90 percent of Canterbury’s wine production is based in the Waipara subregion (17 wineries, approximately 1,300 acres). Sitting in a protective bowl of foothills, Waipara, which means“muddywater” in Maori, is more continentally driven than Marlborough but more coastally influenced than Central Otago. This climatic “in-between-ness” plays out in richer, spicier Pinot Noirs and Rieslings---regional specialties---and tighter, more finely grained, more minerally Sauvignon Blancs compared to Marlborough’s. Chardonnay gathers an added sweet-corn element that doesn't appear elsewhere.

A couple of years ago, industry giant Brancott Estates recognized these distinctions and reaffirmed Waipara's potential by planting 1,000 acres of Pinot Noir and Riesling. Brancott’s marketing pull is raising the overseas profile of neighboring small- and medium-sized producers such as Fiddler's Green, Canterbury House, Mountford, Floating Mountain, Sherwood Estate, Torlesse, Mount Cass, Alan McCorkindale, and Waipara Springs.

Waipara's strongest player, Pegasus Bay, builds layers of complexity into their Pinot Noir and Chardonnay styles, downplaying obvious fruit and heavy oaking. Its lees-driven, age worthy, Graves-like Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon is a stunner, and the winery’s range of crisply etched, low-alcohol, semisweet, and late-harvest Rieslings is superb. The bargain-priced, regionally driven, second-label Main Divide can be as good as regular Pegasus Bay.

Belinda Gould’s noninterventionist winemaking philosophies are expressed in Muddy Water's Pinot Noir, Syrah, Pinotage, Chardonnay, and Riesling. All are highly aromatic, finely structured, and full of back-palate complexity.

Further north and higher up, Austrian-born Daniel Schuster planted his Omihi Hill’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on limestone-laden soils at high-density vine spacing in 1986. His racy, minerally flavored Chardonnays and delicately fruited, silky Pinots have been compared favorably to Burgundy.

Twenty miles out of Waipara, youthful newcomers Bell Hill Vineyard and biodynamic-driven Pyramid Valley have crowded 4,000 to 5,000 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines per acre into limestone-rich, supersteep slopes that would keep a billy goat happy. Emerging styles, sinewy and laser focused, are evidence that this is a hot new region to watch.

Central Otago

Youthful and dynamic, Central Otago (50 wineries, approximately 2,300 acres) is very much focused on low-yield, gently handled Pinot Noir. Sharing the psychology of Oregon and Burgundy, grounded in a climate similar to eastern Washington, increasingly, producers seek out and exploit distinct terroir through single-vineyard wines. Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling are characteristically floral and often show European-like structures. Chardonnays are crisp and Chablis-esque, and Sauvignon quite Sancerre-like.

Otago’s coolest, most variable subregion, Gibbston Valley, produces highly perfumed, finely structured, linear wine styles. Leading old-guard wineries Gibbston Valley and Chard Farm have vine age to deliver consistent depth of flavor and complexity to their Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Pinot Gris. Newer, smallish producers such as Mount Edward, viticulturally obsessed Amisfield, actor Sam Neill’s Two Paddocks, former Oregonian (Archery Summit) Gary Andrus’s Gypsy Dancer, organic Kawarau, Nevis Bluff, and medium-sized Peregrine are consistently delivering pretty Pinots with lifted aromas, concentrated flavors, and fine-grained structures. Regional Rieslings and Pinot Gris can be especially delicate, purely focused, and floral. Peregrine and Amisfield have made praiseworthy Sancerre-like Sauvignon Blanc.

Wanaka is the second coolest region, where biodynamically managed Rippon demonstrates consistent abilities to produce long-lived, delicately perfumed Pinots and Rieslings. Nearby Mount Maude is showing promise with aromatics as well.

Styles change abruptly in Otago’s most consistent region,the greater “Cromwell Basin.”This ultrasunny, mountainous, bowl-shaped mesoclimatedelivers intense summer heat and extended hang time.Pinot styles show broader aromas,richer textures, riper fruit, and higher alcohols. Akarua, Carrick, Mt. Difficulty, Pisa Range, and Central Otago Wine Co. (winemakers to a dozen local microproducers) are solid performers.

Felton Road’s impeccably balanced, terroir-based Pinots; subtle, fine-grained Chardonnays; and carefully conceived, off-dry and unashamedly sweet Rieslings have reached cult status. The region’s senior winemaker, Quartz Reef’s Austrian-born Rudi Bauer, produces aromatic, full-bodied Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris and a crackerjack Auslese-like Riesling. Bauer’s Pinot Noir/Chardonnay--based sparkler is about as close as Kiwis get to real Champagne.

Southeast of Cromwell, Alexandra is hotter and drier in summer, colder in winter. Dry Gully, William Hill, and Black Ridge are respectable performers, the latter notable for dynamiting its vineyard out of solid mica. As one would imagine, Black Ridge makes very minerally Gewürztraminer, Riesling, and Pinot Noir.

Great expectations are held for newly planted vineyards farther east in the limestone hills surrounding the Waitaki Valley.

What Is a South Island Wine?

General Characteristics

Ripe, ultrapure, concentrated fruit, outlined by crisp natural acidity, defines all regions. Uniquely flamboyant Sauvignon styles speak for themselves. Chardonnays, fermented in old neutral oak with lees-driven complexity, are fruit focused and refreshing. Crisp Pinot Gris resembles the best Pinot Grigios.

Increasingly, Riesling producers drop alcohol levels to between 9 and 11 percent, which allows residual sweetness and acidity to find a natural balance and results in a fresher, more food-friendly style.

Pinot Noir clearly illustrates regional difference and is often deeply perfumed with clearly defined varietal characters and refined tannic structure.

Aging

Always drink Sauvignon Blancs and Gewürztraminers young. Chardonnays are best from two to five years but can age 10 to 15. Riesling and Pinot Gris are structured to age ten-plus years. Pinot Noir and sparkling wine drink well up to seven years; the more seriously constructed, 10 to 15.

Kiwis on the List

Not all American restaurant guests have been introduced to the crisp, fruity wines from New Zealand, but those who have are probably well disposed to continue their exploration. For restaurant wine buyers, this is a win-win for both patrons and the program. 

      The kiwi wines that Americans know best are Sauvignon Blancs, and the most renowned come from Marlborough on South Island. But the mention of Marlborough or South Island may not register in the minds of most restaurant patrons. Besides world-class Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, South Island is becoming known for wines made with cool-climate varieties: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir. Whatever the variety, most wines are made in a style that emphasizes bright fruit and acidity. These are food-friendly wines, easy to pair with a variety of menu items. 

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The Chefs in the Cellars: Serving Up Winery Food

Increasingly, wineries are adding upscale food to their tastings repertoires, and restaurant chefs have few reservations about tossing their toques unto the tasting bars.

         For eight years, Michael McMillan lived the life.  As owner-chef at Opus 39 restaurant in San Augustine, the CIA graduate drew both adoring diners and high critical marks for his innovative tasting menu cuisine.  On the side, he also owned a local tapas bar, a retail wine shop and a bakery.  It was all pretty heady stuff, but on the days when his baker was off, McMillan had to be at the ovens by 3 a.m. and probably wouldn’t get home until after midnight.  “I would be putting in 100-plus hours every week,” he says. These days he still creates elaborate meals daily, but only for wine-loving foodies who make advanced reservations at the upscale Signorello Winery in Napa Valley.  And these days, McMillan is usually home with his wife, Christine, and kids by 5:30. 

         Maria Helm Sinskey was also once a busy, in-demand chef, earning her stripes at such high-profile restaurants as PlumpJack in San Francisco.  Now she spends most of her time and energy in the vegetable gardens at Robert Sinskey Vineyards which she and her husband own in Yountville. While Robert makes the wine, Maria prepares the small bites that every person receives when they come through the door at Robert Sinskey Vineyards to buy or to taste wine.

         Jordan Winery's executive chef Todd Knoll, who joined its staff in 2003 after being chef saucier at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, also gets to share a common workplace with his spouse, Nitsa. She is in charge of the Healdsburg winery’s hospitality and special events programs, as well as being well known for her creative flower designs.

         As wineries in California and around the world are discovering, most wine drinkers are also foodies at heart and are willing to pay more for a combined wine-and-food experience.  As a result, many wineries have started to hire winery chefs and even full culinary departments.  They’ve learned having food with the wine-tasting menu upgrades the reputation of the winery and, customers are more likely to spend more extravagantly on wine purchases if they have lingered for a while to soak up the atmosphere and savor the total food/wine experience. One of the pioneers in this movement is Cakebread Cellars in Oakville, which has been offering cooking classes at the winery for about 30 years.  Similarly, Domaine Chandon’s full-scale restaurant has been part of the Yountville culinary scene for decades.

         For restaurant-trained chefs, working at a winery provides an opportunity to experience a different side of cooking – one that has its downsides, of course, but one that provides more regular hours and a greater variety of ways to express and develop culinary talents. “While I occasionally miss the excitement of working through a service at a restaurant, working at the winery gives me more freedom to be creative,” says Sinskey, who has authored an on-the-job cookbook The Vineyard Kitchen.

         How wineries present their culinary experiences varies greatly.

         For example, the Portuguese winery, Espor?o, located in Reguengos de Monsaraz southeast of Lisbon, believes strongly to agri-tourism and hired chef Miguel Vaz to run a full-scale restaurant (with a winery sommelier, of course).  He also prepares special meals such as scallops with beetroot puree, bacalhau(cod) and ovos mexidos com farinheira(eggs with pork) when visiting importers and distributors come tasting.

         Kendall-Jackson has a full culinary department for its many winery sites, and recently chef Matthew Lowe found himself assembling a grilled picnic lunch on a Sonoma mountaintop for French journalists attending a celebration for Vérité, the Jess Jackson-Pierre Seillan collaboration, when one of its wines scored 100 points from Robert Parker.

“My main duty is to prepare six courses of food and wine pairings daily for guests who make advance reservations,” says Signorello’s McMillan.  Rather than have rigid wine-food match-ups, McMillan explains, “Not everyone’s palate is the same, so we encourage guests to discover the flexibility of wines and of foods.  We’re constantly changing the menu according to what’s available.”

“I literally spend most of my time in the garden and preparing dishes of little bites from the garden which everyone gets when they visit,” Sinskey says.  While many city chefs may grow a few herbs and small tomatoes on their restaurant rooftop, there’s a 1/8 acre garden at the winery and another at the Sinskey residence, plus fruit and olive trees all over the property. “Right now, we’re working our way through 1,500 pounds of lemons,” she laughs.  If it’s not lemons, it’s olives.  And, as if to emphasize the food-wine connection at Robert Sinskey, at the end of the wine bar is a small food-prep kitchen.

         Like Maria Sinskey, Jordan’s Todd Knoll is in charge of what’s planted in the winery’s garden and in preparing small bites and command meals for important guests.  He’s also found ways to channel his creativity by installing a large wood-fire oven outside the winery, and he oversees Jordan’s sizable olive oil business. If it all sounds very romantic, Sinskey laughs that for many harried restaurant chefs, the idea of “working at a winery is like a siren’s song!”  McMillan agrees.  “Working at Signorello is like having my own restaurant without any of the responsibilities but to be creative,” he says.  “Working here is much more relaxed, plus I’m in a Mecca for food and wine.  I change the menu two or three times a week, but I am cooking in the same style as what I was doing before at the restaurant.”

         But there are also downsides to winery cooking.  While evenings are free except for the occasional special dinners, most winery chefs and culinary directors have to work weekends, the busiest days at a winery.  And while a few wineries have large culinary staffs, most winery chefs work solo or with one assistant, having to do everything from prep work to often washing the dishes.“It’s a great life style,” McMillan says, “but I do find myself having to do things here that my staff at the restaurant would be doing.” Sinskey, who has a full-time staff of two, finds that when she puts out the call for new hires or for part-time workers during summers, “I get applications from a lot of restaurant chefs, especially line chefs.  But many of them, after I’ve hired them, get bored.  They can’t work without the structure they find in a restaurant.”  For that reason, executive chefs, who are by nature self-starters, seem to make the transition more easily.

         Some wineries who can’t afford, or don’t want, staff-based food preparation, still may want some food experience for their visitors.  Many buy locally made breads, cheeses, chocolates and other artisanal foods for wine-tasting pairings.  Still others regularly retain favorite local caterers for special food events. Additionally, as there are now wineries of some sort in all 50 states, the opportunity for chefs to work alongside winemakers is not limited by geography.

         “We encourage well-balanced foods to go with well-balanced wines,” Sinskey sums up the winery chef experience. “That leads to more enjoyment at the table.”

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Coffee...Out of the Percolator...

A good cup of Joe . . . it’s delicious, it’s comforting, and it carries that jolt of caffeine we sometimes need to nudge us over our next hurdle. This popular brew, however, is not merely a reliable stimulant—it’s also an entirely functional ingredient that works in a variety of dishes, including savory plates. Although coffee has long served as a classic flavor for desserts, in everything from affogato to tiramisu and all mocha inventions in between, many contemporary chefs prize the bean’s rich nutty taste and bright acidity in savory applications.

Michael Lomonaco, chef and partner of Porter House in New York City, considers a strong shot of espresso to be an integral ingredient in his barbecue sauce. He also finely grinds coffee and uses it as a rub for ribs. “I love coffee for the earthy, herbal notes it adds to grilled meat,” he comments. Ian Chalermkittichai, chef of Kittichai, also in New York, glazes duck in coffee and chile, then serves it with collard greens braised in coffee, cinnamon, and anise. TV Chef Emeril Legasse has dedicated two full shows to cooking with coffee, where he too has coffee-glazed a duck, “bammed” baby back ribs in a coffee-Bourbon barbecue sauce, and kicked a mole sauce up a notch with coffee. No longer relegated to the pastry station of the kitchen, coffee is much like chocolate, remarks Norman Van Aken, chef-owner of Norman’s in Coral Gables, Florida, “ It’s an ingredient that can straddle both sides of the [menu when] making great dishes.”

Lending Complexity

There is nothing namby-pamby about the smoky, nutty tones and brightly acid twang of coffee. That’s why it is best used with other strong-flavored foods including beef, ham, lamb, duck, chilies, hearty greens, and sweet spices such as cinnamon, anise, or cloves. But surprisingly, even when used in strong doses, coffee tends to transform rather than overwhelm. When added prudently, coffee-spiked savory dishes don’t taste like coffee at all, but something uniquely complex; flavor profiles of the finished dishes usually emerge extraordinarily different from the individual ingredients that went into them.

Most chefs approach coffee in savory dishes as they would a spice or in the same manner as they would cooking with wine. Perhaps this is because many of the properties of coffee are like those of wine. Tasting techniques, rules, regulations, descriptions, and terms overlap. Coffee tasters slurp, smell, and scrutinize just as sommeliers do. They describe different blends and varietals with terms like crisp, buttery, fruity, and even winey. They examine mouth feel, body, aroma, and acidity. It follows, therefore, that just as chefs would choose the right wine for cooking, they should pick the right coffee too; poaching salmon, for example, in bold Ethiopian Yrgacheffe coffee makes no more culinary sense than braising beef in a Riesling.

Taking the Heat

When the bland little green seed known as a coffee bean is exposed to the heat of roasting, its sugars become caramelized, and natural aromatic compounds are activated, releasing the deep, nutty flavors inside. Darker roasts, such as French, Italian, or espresso, have a more robust flavor, but lighter roasts will better reveal the complexities and subtleties of an individual coffee varietal.

Many elements influence how a specific coffee bean will end up tasting; soil, climate, altitude, or method of processing, but the two most important factors are species and the region of origin. Commercial coffees are culled from two distinct species: Robusta, harvested in tropical lowlands, has a very high yield, but harsh, unsophisticated flavor, and high caffeine content. Arabica is grown at high altitudes, where the smaller beans develop complex, refined flavors, and lower caffeine content.

The three major areas where Arabica is cultivated include Indonesia, East Africa, and parts of Latin America; each region produces varietals with distinctive characteristics. Indonesian Arabica coffees are characterized by bold richness; beans from the island of Sumatra are earthy and nutty, with concentrated flavor and full body. Those from Sulawesi, although still earthy, are also elegant, smooth, and complex.

Coffees from East Africa and nearby Arabia tend to be floral and fruity, with light clean acid. Kenya AA beans have strong overtones of blackberry, black currant, and an almost tannic touch of red wine. Tanzanian Peaberry, with its single seed, is sharp and winey. Ethiopian Yrgacheffe is spicy, bold, and floral, whereas Harrar has strong hints of rum and a tart, balanced acidity.

Latin American coffees are generally characterized by bright acidity and a lighter body. Colombian Supremo, with slightly more heft than most Latin Americans, is smooth, with a tinge of nuttiness. Costa Rican, with milder acid, has elements of peach, apricot, and chocolate. Guatemala Antigua, perhaps the most complex of Latin American coffees, has fine soft acidity and smoky nuances of cocoa, spice, and nuts. Brazilian Bourbon is soft with traces of cocoa and nuts. Mexican Chiapas and Nicaraguan have bold, sharp acidity. With a natural sweetness, Jamaica Blue Mountain is extremely smooth and mellow. Despite its origin, Hawaiian Kona is often grouped with Latin American coffees; a light bodied, aromatic varietal, Kona suggests butter and caramel with a smooth, acidic finish.

Coffee Cuisine

Ham or steak with red eye gravy is by far the most famous savory recipe that uses coffee. Popular throughout the Southern United States, this truck-stop and diner classic is served from breakfast to dinner and through the wee hours of the morning, with the gravy blanketing biscuits and chicken-fried steak. It’s a dish purported to cure heartaches and hangovers the way chicken soup successfully treats influenza and the common cold. In its simplest form, a slab of country ham is griddled in a skillet, then the juices and residue in the pan are mixed with a little flour, deglazed with a cup of coffee and boiled down to thicken. Old-time chuck wagon cooks used this recipe with a slab of beef to make skillet-fried “cowboy steaks” on the trail.

In modern-day versions, the coffee gravy is often enhanced with bacon, brown sugar, vinegar, and a little Worcestershire sauce—a formula that also works well as a braising liquid for brisket or chuck. Chef Terry Conlan of Lake Austin Spa Resort dusts his cowboy steak in a rub of ground coffee, garlic, and pepper. He then skillet roasts the steak and deglazes with brewed coffee and beef stock. Conlan finishes the gravy with brown sugar and jalapeno jelly.

Brewed coffee can also be a very effective part of a marinade. Jurg Munch, chef-owner of David Paul’s Lahaina Grill in Maui, takes advantage of the mellow acidity in locally grown Kona coffee. He uses both strongly brewed coffee and cracked beans with cabernet sauvignon, brandy, and herbes de Provence to marinate rack of lamb.

Unlike stocks, wines, and other liquids, which get more concentrated flavors through reduction, coffee can take on an unpleasant, astringent quality when boiled or simmered. “The trick is to balance the bitterness of strong coffee,” Van Aken claims. For his Guinea Hen with Cuban coffee, Port wine, and Xocopoli chocolate, he reduces Port, then coffee, then rich poultry stock, finishing the sauce with a knob of sweet butter.  In a traditional Thai interplay of sweet and bitter, Chalermkittichai slow cooks duck in a glaze of finely ground coffee, palm sugar, coriander, and red chile. He serves it with collard greens braised with anise, cinnamon, and coffee. It’s a recipe that works equally well with pork. Ong pounds and fries duck breast into a crispy schnitzel, tops it with lightly dressed greens and a sauce of caramelized sugar, coffee, ginger, and soy sauce. He prefers the intensity of coffee that has been double-brewed, but cautions that this should be done with a watchful eye and palate. Overbrewing can be bitter, and overheating should be avoided at all costs.

Moving from the mug to the menu, coffee shows versatility in so many culinary situations, sweet or savory. To take advantage of its unique qualities in cooking, consider the advice of Van Aken: “I try not to stereotype ingredients any more than one should people. Think of the ingredients in terms of their characteristics—not the roles they have played in history—and you can begin an exciting new approach to cuisine.”

Sweet Feat

When using coffee in desserts, pastry chefs need a strong flavoring medium, one that will let the full flavor of the bean shine through. Many cooks know the trick of mixing a teaspoon or so of instant coffee and a little water to create an intensely flavored paste for icings, mousses, cake batters, and the like. But the taste of this potion can be on the crude side, because instant coffee is made strictly from Robusta beans. Fortunately, there are several high-quality coffee extracts on the market, and they are the choice of many professional pastry chefs.

For do-it-yourselfers, Will Goldfarb, pastry chef and owner of Room 4 Desserts, in Manhattan, has devised one of the most erudite techniques of extracting flavor out of coffee beans using a cold infusion. To obtain an extremely smooth and pure extract, he sets whole coffee beans in cream, alcohol, or a very light syrup of 90 percent water and 10 percent sugar, and refrigerates the mixture for at least 24 hours. “The liquids can absorb flavor for up to seven days,” he notes. “After that, the aromatic elements break down. I have even used this method to infuse coffee into egg whites.” 

Technically, brewed coffee is an infusion, and whether you are perking a pot for your morning mug, or braising a pot roast for dinner, some strict rules apply:

1. The mindset of the barista, the pastry chef, and the pharmacist are remarkably similar. Exact measurements, treatments, and conditions are always needed to produce a consistent product. The perfect cup for drinking starts with a formula of two tablespoons of coffee to every six ounces of water, but many chefs prefer a stronger infusion for cooking. You may want to use a higher ratio of coffee or a pressurized method of brewing, such as espresso.

2. Make sure that the coffee is fresh. Coffee beans start getting old as soon as they are tipped out of the roaster, and air begins to oxidize the aromatic elements in the coffee oils. After the beans are ground, this deterioration speeds up exponentially. A decline in flavor can actually be detected after just 30 minutes of exposure. For best results, use whole beans and grind them just before you want to use them. Preground coffee should be used immediately after the package is opened. If coffee must be stored, do so in an airtight container kept at room temperature. It should be useable for one week but certainly no more than two.

3. Choose the correct grind for your method. If the grind is too fine, it will over extract, absorbing too much water and producing a bitter cup. A grind that is too coarse will under extract, resulting in a weak, flaccid brew.

4. Coffee is more than 98 percent H2O, so use fresh spring or filtered water. Filtering the water not only improves flavor, but will also extend the life of your equipment.

Kona Coffee Roasted Rack of Lamb

By Jurg Munch, chef-owner, David Pauls Lahaina Grill, Maui, Hawaii

Serves 4

Whole Kona coffee beans                                    1/4 cup

Black peppercorns                                                1 Tbsp

Brown sugar                                                            3 Tbsp

Herbes de Provence                                             1/2 Tbsp

Salt                                                                           1 1/2 tsp

Strong Kona coffee                                               3/4 cup

Cabernet Sauvignon, plus more to deglaze    1/4 cup

Brandy                                                                     1/4 cup           

Vegetable oil                                                           1/4 cup           

Rack of lamb, trimmed of all excess fat         2 large (8-rib)

Mirepoix                                                                 1 cup

Balsamic vinegar                                                 splash

Cold butter, chopped                                         1 to 2 Tbsp

1. To make marinade, in heavy-bottomed saucepan, lightly toast coffee beans and black pepper. Remove from pan, and with a heavy object, crack beans and pepper together.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine cracked beans and pepper, the brown sugar, Herbes de Provence, and salt. Stir in coffee, Cabernet, and brandy. Continue mixing and add oil in a slow, steady stream.

3. Cover lamb racks with marinade and refrigerate until ready to cook. For best results, marinate lamb overnight.

4. In a skillet over medium high heat, sear both sides of lamb. Roast lamb and mirepoix in a 400°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes for medium rare. Make a sauce by deglazing, reducing, and straining pan juices and vegetables, adding a splash of balsamic vinegar while simmering. Just before serving, stir a few pieces butter into sauce. Cut lamb into chops and serve with sauce, garlic-mashed potatoes, and seasonal grilled vegetables.

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