FoodTrek: ONO Dinner at Efeste

Wasabi Mom made it a point to have me write a thank you note for just about everything. It was something I dreaded as a child, but appreciate it as an adult because it's the little notes of courtesy and gratitude that keep humanity from literally spinning off this mortal coil out into the graceless void of space. Well, maybe a thank you note can't do all that, but honestly, no one can truly explain why gravity works, so this is as good a theory as any. So, with that in mind, here is my open-letter thank-you to The One Night Only Project's most recent dinner event extravaganza, featuring a one-of-a-kind menu designed and prepared by Chef Josh Henderson of Skillet fame, and both the menu-paired wines and locale of Efeste Winery.

Theo's chocolate budino with flake salt, pasilla caramel and crumbles of popcorn - yes, please - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Dear One Night Only Project, Chef Josh Henderson and Team, and Efeste Winery Gang,

Thank you so much for putting together a truly unforgettable evening. The concept behind One Night Only (ONO) Project was to create a unique culinary experience, never duplicated, to celebrate that fleeting moment of something truly delicious.  Last Saturday's dinner was an intimate gathering to capture a sense of transition, for both Chef Josh Henderson and Efeste's winemaker Brennon Leighton. Henderson, while still associated with Skillet Street Food, is working on a whisky tavern concept in Woodinville, and Brennon Leighton, while still consulting with Efeste, is ready to embark on an adventure, heading out to collaborate with Charles Smith in Walla Walla for an all-Chardonnay winery. These recent big-news announcements punctuated the evening with a sense of both endings as well as beginnings. With every taste of seasonal, fresh perfection, I had that line from Close Encounters of the Third Kind in my head, "This is important...This means something." And no, I didn't form any weird alien formations out of mashed potatoes like some extraterrestrially doped-out Richard Dreyfuss. But maybe I would have if they had mashed potatoes.

Efeste's wine-gasmic event space, plus a sighting of the soon-to-be elusive Brennon Leighton - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I love Efeste wines, namely their reds. Their Final Final blend of Cabernet and Syrah is a favorite. Having a summer dinner meant lighter flavors, so the wines chosen included their 2011 Babbitt Rose, 2011 Evergreen  Riesling, 2010 Lola Chardonnay, 2011 Feral Sauvignon Blanc and a heavier finish with their 2009 Big Papa Cabernet Sauvignon. A lot of young wines, but with that whisper of the grape still present, it was a nice pairing with Henderson's menu, which had a lot of bright, nuanced flavors that would have gotten buried under heavier wines.

Delicious starters, including quail eggs topped with pork and kimchee - Photos by Wasabi Prime

It was a nice, casual start to the evening with wines being poured and a steady stream of appetizers being laid out for the incoming guests. Bites included toasts topped with burrata, balsamic and basil; little quail eggs topped with rich pork and marvelously pungent kimchee; and savory, heady anchovy-topped flatbread. Once seated inside the winery's space set up like a giant dining room, dishes like caramelized cauliflower with a golden raisin agrodolce, melon salad with fresh ricotta and cured halibut with radishes and grapefruit were served. As the sun slipped away, the evening gave way to a fork-tender braised beef cheek over cooked, then oven-crisped barley and a rich Theo chocolate budino sprinkled with flake salt, a smear of pasilla caramel and crumbles of popcorn for crunch. The dishes were colorful, woven with the flavors of a summer in the Northwest, with just a hint of the waning season and the autumn to come.

Fresh bites and summertime delights for ONO - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The naming of One Night Only, or ONO, is a nice play on words -- those familiar with Hawaiian words would be quick to point out that ono means "good" or "delicious," and I'm pleased to say this new un-restaurant venture is true to its name. Apologies for the grainy iPhone photos. I envisioned the dinner as a night-off, no Giant Camera to distract other tablemates with, but I couldn't help whipping out the phone to snap some photos to share. I was happy to see other people bringing their cameras to capture the night, so I won't feel self-conscious if I do bring Big Bertha with me next time. The experience was meant to be like being invited to a friend's dinner party -- good food, wine and meeting new people -- it was all of that! I very happily have some new Facebook friends added and look forward to seeing these familiar faces at other food events or for just a cocktail after work. The thing about restaurant dining is that it's often a private affair. You could be in a giant dining space with 200 other people, but of course you're focused on the person at your table, whereas at a friend's party, you mingle, you find out how so-and-so knows so-and-so, and you make genuine connections. As St. Martha of the Holy Stewart would say: It's a good thing. 

Culinary experience much like a concert - every night a new performance - Photos by Wasabi Prime

The next One Night Only Project dinner has already been announced for August 26th -- these sell out pretty fast, since they try to keep the gathering small, so get moving if you want a seat at the table. It will be featuring the talents of Chef Manuel Alfau doing a multi-course Dominican holiday feast that includes a whole freakin' pig, celebrating the opening of his new Caribbean-style sandwich shop, La Bodega, and instead of wine, the amazing Anu Apte, cocktailian wizard and owner of Rob Roy, will be mixing up rum cocktails for each course. The location for this dinner will be Bottlehouse in Seattle. The full details and link to purchase tickets are on ONO's blog. Hopefully by the time this post is live, there are still tickets available, but even if you miss this one, keep tuned in for the next dinner, it sounds like there's several more planned. It's a perfect way to celebrate a summer evening, where you have a good reason to wrap up the dog for a night, do your hair, and head out for delicious meal.

Summer sunsets and how Wasabi gets ready for a big night out - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Thank you again, One Night Only dynamic duo Julien and Melissa, Chef Josh Henderson and your marvelous crew, and Efeste Winery's team and Walla Walla-bound Brennon Leighton. Happy trails to those ready to embark on a new adventure.

FoodTrek: Wasabi Woodinville Wine Woman at DeLille Cellars

I felt like a Pemco Northwest Profile character this weekend, wine tasting around Woodinville with Auntie S. visiting from Northern California. Sadly, she missed out on the Big Finish, having to fly back on Sunday, but Mr. Wasabi and I were lucky to be invited to DeLILLE Cellars' Spring Barrel Tasting on April 25th, aka, the birthing day of Wasabimus Prime. The day was blessed with lovely wines, delicious eats care of Skillet Street Food, live music, and an amazingly sunny day. Walla Walla Wine Wine Woman Woman, we salute you!

Wearing the Northwest Profile badge of honor proudly at DeLILLE Cellars - Photo by Wasabi Prime

I think the first thing people say when they come to DeLILLE is, Ye gods, how did I ever miss this place - it's freakin' amazing! Well, maybe they don't say exactly that, but you get the idea. The main DeLILLE Cellars' Chateau is along Route 202/Woodinville Redmond Road NE, nestled atop a woodsy picturesque hill, and they have a new tasting room at the nearby Carriage House, which recently opened last fall and makes their wines available to the public for tasting. For DeLILLE events, the Chateau is used and it's a beautiful space. For their seasonal releases, they have tasting bars inside and out, and for this perfect spring day, they had tables set up under a tent where a live band played, people sat on the sunny steps or found a shady spot by a little fish pond. It's such a pretty location -- I sometimes want to keep it to myself and not tell anyone, so that it stays a little hidden Northwest gem, but it's just too lovely a location, the wines are tasty, and let's face it -- I stink at keeping a secret. So consider this the wine-soaked cat being let out of the bag. And stumbling.

The most-awesome silver bullet of Skillet Street Food (bacon jam love!) was there to provide guests with picnic-friendly pulled pork sandwiches with a tangy apple slaw on a grilled bun and crispy fries, or a vegetarian spring risotto. It was too nice not to eat outside, so we grabbed a spot on a park bench by a little fish pond, sat our glasses on a wine barrel, and had our meal al fresco, with a glass of vino. If I wasn't totally om-nomming to my heart's content, it would have been a lovely photo, so just take my Wasabi Word for it.

Skillet Street, live music, tasty wine - spring is HERE! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I was lucky to chat with winemaker Chris Peterson for a bit, and he explained the process behind DeLILLE wines.Working with a profile of elegant, refined and classic tastes, they produce the Bordeaux styles that include their Chaleur Estate (red and white), and their very popular D2 full of Merlot flavor, as well as their Doyenne wines that include a Rhone-styled Syrah and their Aix, a Provence-style red that was sampled at the event. Their Chaleur Estate blends are their flagship wines, and both their Blanc and Rouge were available for tasting -- I personally enjoyed the 2008 Chaleur Estate Blanc, which had a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grapes. It had a dry sweetness that made it very enjoyable on its own, but could easily be paired with a fresh spring salad. One of the popular favorites has always been the D2, with a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot grapes, giving it a really rich flavor that Chris aptly described as, "voluptuous," and "silky on the palette" -- this is exactly why people love this wine with such a great mouth feel, and why it's been a favorite. And this is also why we have a bottle sitting in our humble little wine collection at home.

The DeLILLE wines represent a harmony of tastes with careful attention to the combination of grapes and the knowledgeable palettes of experts to classify flavors to match their time-tested wines. Each wine truly has its own profile, like a character in a book, and winemakers like Chris Peterson are given the opportunity to sort the flavors of the many vineyards to ensure the personalities of each wine comes through. I asked about DeLILLE's sustainable practices, and along with working towards LIVE (Low Input Viticulture and Enology) certification, they do other practices outside of typical certification like encouraging biodiversity in the plants and animals who can naturally prevent imbalances and keep pests under control, as well as "soft" farming techniques that encourage the use of environmentally friendly pesticides, like organic-certified oils. At the end of the day, responsible and careful practices in both growing the grapes and making wine is mutually beneficial to both the quality of the wine and the soil and plants that produce its rare flavor.

The tasting events at DeLILLE are fun. It's as simple as that. They have seasonal release events from February thru August, so head to their Events page to see when the next one is. Even in the dead of winter, they'll hold toasty-warm release events and you feel lucky to be living in the Pacific Northwest, sipping wine and just enjoying life. Granted, maybe it was the birthday-high of getting old(er), but this made for a super-duper spring day -- and to top it all off, we saw Mr. and Mrs. Salty Seattle at the event as well! I love foodie blogger Salty Seattle to bits -- she's such a doll and she was so sweet to leave me a Happy Birthday singing message on my phone when I had to go home and rest like an ol' lady because of a pulled back muscle. Yes, getting old kinda stinks, but a day of wine, song, and pulled pork sammiches make for a pretty nice day.

Sshhh... it's the best-kept Pac NW secret! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Wasabi Cheers to DeLILLE Cellars for the invitation to enjoy this event in the lovely springtime sun, as well as to Chris Peterson for letting me bend his hear for a bit to chat wine and the love of grapes.