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: New Zealand Wines at JavaMonkey

Hubby and I are unwinding this evening with glasses of the 2007 "Papa Loves Mambo" blend from Sapolil Cellars, a little winery based in and near Walla Walla, Washington. The grapes, 70% Syrah, 20% Sangiovese, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon are grow in the Horse Heaven Hills. Sounds poetic, doesn't it? Sapolil makes absolutely lovely wines, but they're still tiny, so you have to belong to their wine club or order directly from them to get it. I highly recommend them. The "Papa Loves Mambo" is dark purple in color, has a dark fruit nose, and the fruitiness of the Syrah is given a little bite by the Sangiovese and nice smoothness and depth by the Cab.

Oh, we drank wine last night, too. The focus of this Thursday Wine Series tasting was New Zealand. For those who aren't that familiar with it, New Zealand is that country in the Pacific Ocean that's kind of near Australia and gives the Aussies something to make fun of, which is entirely mutual. It's also where the "Lord of the Rings" movies were filmed. Unfortunately, the wines were not designated as being from the region of the Hobbits, Elves, or, well, you get the idea.

Random Aside: the very first night I can remember being drunk, if that makes sense, was at a big formal dinner that closed out the International Conference for Mathematical Modeling and Simulation in Hobart, Tasmania (that little island off the coast of Australia; no, the Tasmanian devils don't look like the cartoon) in 1997. You may not think that mathematicians and simulators would be good dinner party company, but I was seated across from two of my father's colleagues, one from Australia and one from New Zealand. They picked at each other all night, and in between amusing barbs, were sure to keep my wine glass filled. I don't remember much of the evening or the trip back to the hotel afterward. I was only 20 at the time and hadn't really started drinking yet.

So back to the wines...

2008 Russian Jack Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough):
Nice tropical fruit overlay with seashell underneath; only a little funky.
Rating: Good/Very Good

2006 Bird Pinot Gris (Marlborough):
A little funky and grassy; grapefruit finish with a hint of vanilla.
Rating: Good

2006 Bird Gewurztraminer (Marlborough -- do you see the trend?):
No scurvy here! More grapefruit, but this one was more mineral and floral. It also had a soapy nose.
Rating: Good

2003 Huia Riesling (Isengard):
This one would have probably been better in 2005. Or maybe Saruman corrupted it.
Rating: Only an Orc would love it

Gads, I'm a geek!

2005 Staeteland Landt Chardonnay (Marlborough):
This one had nice layers: floral in front, vanilla and oak in the middle, and some citrus on the finish.
Rating: Very Good

2004 Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Trinity blend (Hawkes Bay): 52% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Syrah
The reasoning behind calling this one a "trinity blend" when it has four grapes in it was discussed, and yes, there were some Douglas Adams references thrown in. It has a dark cherry and anise nose, is well-balanced between fruit and acidity and actually isn't as big as one might expect for the blend. A lot of cherry and cranberry come through as well.
Rating: Very Good/Excellent

Wow, both LoTR and Hitchiker's Guide references. It's a good night.