Paso Robles is an ascendant star in the wine firmament, and yet the area is filled with many treasures - both food and wine – that remain undiscovered, even to those who live here. Making under the radar artisan wine treasures ‘discovered’ is what The Garagiste Festival is all about and, this year, we have extended this ethos to our winemaker dinner, held November 7th -- starting with our Chef, Charles Paladin Wayne. Chef Charlie is considered a treasure by anyone who has tasted his food, and is sought after by those in-the-know, perhaps because he keeps the food in the forefront and (even though he has been an area chef for over 30 years) his profile almost undercover. He was instrumental to the success of our Garagiste winemaker dinner last year, which was brilliantly chef’d by The Taste’s Ludo Levebvre who, it is safe to say, was dazzled by the local producers that Charlie introduced him to. Charlie is renowned both for his artistry when matching food with wine and for his insistence on sourcing his produce, meats and seafood locally … well before ‘go local’ was a trend.
“I used to think it was a crying shame that, right here on the Central Coast, we had remarkable fresh fish and produce – much of which went straight to the brokers. Little of it stayed here, because there was no place for it to go -- for years we got only some of it,” said Chef Charlie, who executed his first ever winemaker dinner at Eberle Winery in 1987 and put his culinary magic to work at Justin, Edna Valley and Summerwood wineries before starting his private catering company.
“As Paso became a wine center, it created the opportunity for many of our local treasures to stay home, and the recent ‘local’ movement has reinforced that trend,” continued Paladin. “Now, we take our food right from the ranch and farm!”
Lucky Paso Robles! As an Angeleno, when I am told that I need to go local for my foods, I’m game…but where would that be? The Hollywood Hills? Venice Beach? LAX? Hardly. But, if when (!) I live in Paso, I will know where to go: my backyard – for food tasting as if I had pulled the carrots out of the ground, milked the goats, and harvested the oysters with my own hands. Fortunately, the wealth of local artisan producers do the hard work instead and, by all accounts, love every minute of it. For example, this year’s dinner features vegetables and herbs from Paso-based Windrose Farm; hand-crafted, cow and sheep’s milk cheeses from Paso’s Central Coast Creamery, and quacking-fresh duck eggs from Paso’s Loo Loo Farms, all featured alongside Paso AVA garagiste winemakers Bodegas M, Caliza, Clos Solene, Cutruzzola, The Farm Winery, and Paix Sue Terre.
The Undiscovered Treasures of the Central Coast winemaker dinner offers a unique opportunity to experience all of this in one place - a true taste of Paso terroir, both on the plate and in the glass. Join us on November 7th, and then stay for the festival where more local food producers will be featured alongside 66 remarkable garagiste winemakers. Click here for the menu– and go Paso local with us!
For the full 2013 Garagiste Festival schedule and ticket information, go to http://www.garagistefestival.com/.
Garagiste Festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals are donated to the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program.
As part of The Garagiste Festival team, Melanie Webber spearheads Public Relations. Her public relations agency, mWEBB Communications, Inc., won a 2011 American Business Award for PR/Communications Campaign of the Year. A lover of all things Central Coast, especially the wines, she just received her WSET Level 3 certification.
Recent Comments