Test driving the new chef at Feast: Villa Maria Wine Dinner

When you buy a new car, you get to take a test drive with a hopeful salesman beside you. When you buy a house, you get to visit it with a hopeful realtor and have it inspected by a professional. But what about when one of your favorite restaurants gets a new chef?

Sure, you hope he or she has been thoroughly vetted by people you trust, but the consumer's test drive takes place over multiple visits. It takes time to see how a new chef handles beloved menu items, specials, and timing. We got to do our test drive of Feast's new Chef Rich Velazquez recently at the Villa Maria wine dinner, where we got a preview of his creativity and ability to handle dinner for twenty-five.

In spite of its Italian-sounding name, Villa Maria is actually a New Zealand winery. I wasn't disappointed – a cute winemaker with an accent is a cute winemaker with an accent, no matter where he's from, and Simon Fell is definitely that. Hubby and I hadn't tasted any of their wine before this night, and we were on the fence about the dinner until we saw the food menu. It got our attention better than a car dealer's jerking plastic giants ever could (srsly, what's up with those things?).

There were six courses, so I'll hit the highlights. This chef test drive was particularly effective because we got to see how he'd handle some potentially tricky food and wine pairings. For example, the first course was paired with the Cellar Selection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. New Zealand Sauv Blanc is known for its distinct bouquet, which can range from grassy to cat pee, and undertones that can get pretty odd to sensitive palates. This wine thankfully did not make me think of a litter box, but it did have a certain funkiness that some compared to ripe papaya, and tinned asparagus came to mind for me. Chef Velazquez opened the dinner with roasted cauliflower soup with butter poached lobster and chive oil. The food cut the funkiness and brought out the fruit. My only complaint was that I got two shell bits among the tender, sweet lobster.

My favorite course, and one that our end of the table was clamoring to be added to the menu, was the second one, diver scallops with white truffle mousseline, tomato fondue, leeks, and port wine. It was paired with the Single Vineyard Taylor's Pass Sauvignon Blanc. This wine was more crisp than the previous one, and the acidity played very well with the smooth texture and flavors of the scallops. I made a note that this course was "perfect," and I could have drunk the wine on its own.



The wine highlights for me were the reds. My favorite of the evening, the Reserve Marlborough Pinot Noir, had some coffee on the nose, a lot of good fruit, and silky tannins. In other words, it was a BIG Pinot, and one that shows how New Zealand won this year's Pinot Smackdown. It went well with the fennel coriander lamb loin, kalamata olive and goat cheese farro, oyster mushrooms, and blueberry jus. Another highlight red was the Esk Valley Merlot/Cabernet/Malbec. The fruit in this Bordeaux blend tangoed with the spice of the dark coffee black peppercorn rib loin, horseradish, chive potato puree, asparagus, and rosemary jus.

One odd tasting note for those who like them… The Cellar Selection Marlborough Riesling tasted good and went well with the cheese course, but it had a bouquet of freshly opened pool toys.


The chef and kitchen had the good pacing we've come to expect from Feast, and we left impressed with his creativity. We look forward to returning for more wine dinners as well as to see how Chef Velazquez uses his Latin background to spruce up the menu for fall and winter. Overall, I would say the test drive was a success. I should've figured – owner Terry Rogers seemed more excited-hopeful than nervous-hopeful.

Oh, and the wine? Except for the first Sauv Blanc and maybe the Riesling, I would have drunk any of the ones poured on their own. I was particularly impressed with the reds. For me, a good wine goes well with food or by itself, and several of these satisfied this requirement. I'll be looking for Villa Maria on wine lists since their test drive was a success, too.

Fellow attendee and blogger Dan Browning about to dive in to the rib loin:



Disclaimer: We paid for everything, so I have nothing to disclose.

Tasting Notes: Flight Night at Feast

Okay, I'm not sure exactly what Feast calls its Tuesday night wine special because it's not on the web site. We heard about it through their email list. Tune in on Thursday to see Hubby's and my (but mostly his) idea for addressing this lack of centralized wine special info.

Here's the deal: go to Feast on Tuesday night, and for $10, you get four tastes of any of the wines that are available by the glass. We like Feast, we weren't doing anything last Tuesday, and miraculously, we were both home by 6:30, so we decided to try it out. Since there were two of us, we got to try eight. You can get them one (or two) at a time or have them bring out all eight at once. Yeah, if you know us, you can easily picture us having eight glasses of wine lined up at the table.

The wines (no vintages listed on menu):

Cypress Sauvignon Blanc (California):
Light-bodied. Floral nose and grapefruit-citrus palate.
Rating: Good

Santa Julia Organica (Argentina): 100% Torrontes
Peachy-honey-herbal nose. Floral on the palate with a grassy finish.
Rating: Very Good

Martin Codax Albarino (Spain):
Honey, tropical fruit, and wet sheep nose. Mineral and stone fruit on the palate.
Rating: Good

Le Grande Noir (Coteaux de L’Ardeche): 70% Chardonnay, 30% Viognier
Gardenia-peach with lime nose. The body has the fruit/floral characteristics of the Viognier plus the citrus chard backbone.
Rating: Very Good

Roseum Vina Robles (Paso Robles):
Cran-strawberry nose. Very light-bodied with good acidity and little fruit kick to finish. It wants food and brings out the flavor of cheese. Also remarkable in that it's a pink wine that Hubby liked.
Rating: Very Good w/ food

La Monica Montepulciano (Abruzzo):
Leather-raisin nose, but a strumpet with only a light body with ripe fruit.
Rating: Okay

French Maid Pinot Noir (Pays d'Oc):
Butter and dark fruit all the way through. Very smooth with a little smoky oak. According to Hubby, "black forest cake in a glass."
Rating: Excellent

Delas Feres Cotes du Rhone (Rhone Valley): Syrah, Mourvedre and Grenache
Dark fruit & spice with a lingering finish and a hint of herb.
Rating: Good to Very Good

We worked on the wines through the meal, so I don't have specific pairings. We started with the "Mushroom Chips," breaded and lightly fried slices of mushrooms served with a creamy dipping sauce. We then split a large Feast salad. Here's a hint: the small salad is $6; the large is $10, but if you split it, there's a $3 sharing fee. So, two small salads are $1 cheaper than splitting a large. Hubby had the Cedar Planked Atlantic Salmon, which he pronounced to be very good. I went for the Shrimp, Spinach, Mushroom, and Tomato Pizza, which would've been better without the strong-tasting shrimp. For dessert, I had to have my favorite -- the Kahlua cake. Hubby had a glass of port.

Yeah, the wines were the main attraction that evening, although Feast is still one of my favorites in Decatur for a casual dinner. If you're not familiar with wine, try sitting at the bar. We observed two wine newbies being guided through the process by the very knowledgeable bartender. Just skip the shrimp pizza and get your own salad.

Favorites from 2009 & Oeno-lutions

I originally wrote this on Christmas Day so I could get it to Geoff Koski for the Decatur News Online launch. I meant to post it yesterday, but never got to the computer. Yeah, I blame trying to catch up on the Doctor Who specials before David Tennant's final episode is aired tonight. So, here it is, a little late. I'll start over with resolution #3 today.

“Oh, I just love Decatur!

How many times have we heard this when we tell other Atlantans what part of town we live in? I just love Decatur, too, although parking can be tough. Still, it’s worth it, because whether you’re eating on the square or venturing off of it, there’s something for just about any taste and budget. Here are a few of my Decatur favorites from 2009:

Favorite “let’s just grab dinner out” place: If you hadn’t guessed this already, I’m a big fan of Feast Restaurant, by the railroad tracks near the intersection of Howard and Candler. Teri Rogers has set up this cozy spot with good food, a great wine list, and fantastic desserts. I would describe it as “bistro fare.” We went there for our five-year wedding anniversary in October, and they treated us wonderfully. They do great wine and beer dinners as well.

Favorite wine list: Yes, this would be Café Lily. We’ve never had a bad meal there, and they’ve got a great selection of zinfandels.

Favorite place to take parents (or have them take us): My in-laws are absolutely addicted to the mussels at Watershed. We never say no if they want to go there for dinner when they visit. You can even find famous violinist Kirsten Browning and me lunching there from time to time.

Favorite place to stop for a pint after Mass: How convenient for The Grange Public House to be located just down the hill from our church! Great selection of beer including some Belgians. Yes, there are places to find good beer in Decatur that aren’t the Brick Store (which I like a lot as well)!

Coffeecoffeecoffeewine! Yes, we love JavaMonkey. It’s a coffee shop with pretty good sandwiches and great desserts from Southern Sweets, which is another favorite lunch/dessert place. I did try a couple of other places for dessert this year, but none of them can hold a cake server to Southern Sweets.

Favorite newcomer: I’m baffled by the Atlanta food critics’ response to The Iberian Pig. Every “real person” (i.e., not professional food critic) I’ve talked to about it has loved it. I need to go back and try the entrees before I can write my review, but Hubby and I were impressed with the wine and tapas on our first visit.

(added since DNO launch) Favorite "let's do lunch!" place: I can't tell you how many times we'd driven by Duck's Cosmic Kitchen before we decided to stop in one morning for breakfast. I had a chocolate chip scone, and -- please pardon the cliche -- it was love at first bite. Since then, we've gotten bread, and it's become my standard lunch place. The pizzas and sandwiches are all really good, and the baked goods have never disappointed.

So now that I’ve hit the highlights of 2009, it’s time to turn my thoughts to what I look forward to in 2010. One of the reasons I started my blog was because I wanted to have a place for non-professional wine and food lovers to go to for thoughts and descriptions that aren’t incomprehensible if you don’t speak that wine expert dialect. That also means I have a lot to learn, and I recognize my shortcomings. So, here’s what I hope to accomplish in 2010, both for me as the Random Oenophile and for the blog:

1. Drink and write about more European wine. I fell short on this one last year and plan to do better. I need to not be so easily seduced by labels with those magic words Lodi, Willammette, or Walla Walla (although I do get excited by Bordeaux blends and wines from the Cotes du Ventoux region – that counts for something, right?). Have been more intrigued by French pinot noirs lately, so this is a good time for this resolution.

2. Following from number one, drink and write more about wine from interesting places. Like Texas. Yes, my annual professional conference takes me to San Antonio this year, and we’ll likely be going up to Austin as well in search of wineries. If you ask anyone from Texas, their state is way more interesting than any other state, so it counts toward this resolution. That will be another check on the “states I’ve visited wineries in” list.

3. Post a little more regularly on my blog. Going to aim for 1-2 wine/food posts per week plus one Friday Flash fiction post. Regularly updating my web site goes under this number, too. I’m also excited by a new opportunity, to contribute to Decatur News Online. I hope for that to be a mix of regular blog posts and other articles.

4. Have at least 10 pieces of writing, whether they’re novel queries, short stories, or other things out for submission at all times.

5. Take the train to work more.

What? You thought it was going to be lose 10 pounds? Not quite – I’ve got more wine to drink and more desserts to eat! Hopefully my regular visits to the Decatur/Dekalb YMCA and the half mile walk between home and the MARTA station and the other half mile walk between the station and work (for a total of 2 miles round-trip if you’re counting) will help to offset that.

Finally, I look forward to bringing you more wine notes from the Random Oenophile’s West Coast correspondent James Bassett as well as further notes and thoughts from Dan Browning, who helps me out when I can’t be in two places at once. Hubby has also expressed interest in more collaboration, which is exciting because he’s a very humorous writer.

Thank you, dear readers, for helping to make my blog a success in 2009! Here’s wishing you happy eating, drinking, reading, and writing in 2010!