Feast of the Olives was a feast indeed
Welcome to Feast of the Olives at Ramekins: 18 (or so) chefs, 3 really long tables, a 5-course meal, and lots of wine.
Each table, of 60+ people, was assigned chefs who would prepare a 5-course meal. Our table was assigned eight chefs. Our first course was truffled artichoke and parmesan soup with an olive crostini from Jeffrey Lloyd and Saul Gropman at Cafe La Haye, paired with a Cline Cellars 2013 Estate Viognier. Everyone swooned at the creamy soup, with shaved truffles on top and a hearty yet delicate flavor. The truffle and artichoke’s earthiness was perfectly paired with the wine.
Next, pan roasted striped bass from John Toulze of the girl & the fig. The bass represented its species wonderfully: light, flakey, and wearing crispy skin. It sat on top of extra virgin olive oil chickpeas, shaved fennel and cured olives. The medley was nice, but I found myself focusing on the fish more than anything else. I even dipped a piece of the fish into the sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, but it tasted rather greasy for my liking. The fish didn’t need help, though. It was amazing.
The buzz at our table was electric for the next course: Santé’s main. Discussion erupted about the wonderfulness of the restaurant and the disappointment that they did not retain their Michelin star in 2014.
A minimalistic, complex dish that you would expect of Andrew Cain and Bruno Tison: a portion of lamb from Lake County’s Shannon Ridge, an artichoke and the cutest baby turnip, boneless rib eye, rare ahi tuna, and pommes puree made with DaVero Olive Oil. All bits sectioned off into their own space on plate, a tasting, if you will. Immediately, confusion erupted at the table: “Where is the ribeye?” “I think we’re missing ribeye..” “I don’t see any ribeye with this, but this turnip is awesome!” It indeed looked like the ribeye was missing. We saw tuna, but, where is the ribeye?
Then, as if out of nowhere, Chef Tison appeared at our table. He explained the entire dish in great detail, including the method behind the ribeye/tuna creation: au torchon. Au torchon is when one wraps food in cheesecloth tightly and marinates or poaches it. The raw tuna was wrapped in ribeye and they were cooked together by way of this method, made famous by French chefs, especially with foie gras. The juice and tenderness of this rare combination was delectable. It was as if the flavors of the ribeye and tuna melded together to create a magical “ribeyetuna”.
We all thanked Chef Tison for stopping by and we proceeded to feel like we were the most special people in the room. We were seated on the opposite side of the room from the kitchen and entrance, so we didn’t get much company from the chefs, who tended to congregate at the entrance. This was a great surprise. “And this is why we come to this dinner every year,” someone stated. And this is why Santé will earn that Michelin star back, this year.
Cheese arrived in time to help us cope with our “all out of Santé ribeyetuna” crash. Carlo Cavallo of B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille (formally known as Burger & Vine) created a unique set up: round crispy polenta topped with a large amount of black olive truffle pesto and an even larger amount of Laura Chenel’s Chèvre (pictured above).
Despite, comprising of 3 things I absolutely love, I found myself making a statement I never thought I would: “There’s too much truffle flavor.” The truffle pesto hit me like a ton of bricks and I became extremely self conscious about my breath. It was too much for me. I found respite in the Highway 12 2012 La Piazza Super Tuscan pair with the dish. It cut the flavor of the truffle.
One of our table-mates exchanged cheese dishes with the table behind us. It was a plate filled with cheeses from Gary Edwards’ Carneros Caves. This was the first time anyone at our table had tried his cheeses. Everyone was blown away by the selection he served, and it made for a great pairing with the intense “truffle hamburger” (as it was visually described by someone at our table) and super, Super Tuscan.
Our cheese party wasn’t over, yet. Epicurean Connection’s Sheana Davis sent her cheese plate over to our table (a nice surprise, as her cheese was served at the 3rd table). It was a first, again, for many at our table, who quickly finished up the serving of Delice de la Vallee and Creme de Fromage served with little olive oil corn cakes.
Finally, dessert. Crisp Bakeshop’s Andrea Koweek and Moaya Scheiman created a matcha tea mousse. Upon first bite, I had a flashback to Hong Kong, where I enjoyed my first matcha dessert at Hotel ICON’s Green. There’s something magical about matcha, powdered green tea that has escaped the Japanese tea ceremony to become a trendy and healthy treat internationally. It has an out of this world taste, one that can transport you to exotic places, and one that you’d only expect from the Japanese and their unique sweets.
The strong flavor of green tea was spot on, and the olive oil shortbread was a work of art with little black specks of sesame throughout. An almond lace crowned the top. It was served with Larson Family Winery’s 2012 Gewürztraminer. The wine was clean, dry, and gives Gundlach Bundschu’s legendary dry Gewürz a run for its money.
Everyone at the table toasted and much to our delight we learned that Carolyn Craig, Larson Family Winery’s winemaker, was a part of our table. It was one of those nights when food and wine overshadow the “what do you do for a living?” question.
The food was amazing. The wine, great. The conversation – even better. I always get nervous when I go to parties like this: will I like the people I sit with? Will they like me?
What started as a group of strangers sharing a love of food and wine ended with us being the last to leave as we sat at the fireplace in the Ramekins courtyard sipping the bit of Highway 12 Super Tuscan we were able to sweet talk the waitstaff to pour us. And while none of us had any mind-blowing olive experiences at the Feast, it reminded me that the Olive Festival, as a whole, isn’t’ just about the olive: it’s about what makes Sonoma Valley so amazing: our bounty of good people, food, drink, and warmth.
All hail the olive, indeed.
-Sarah Stierch, Food + Drink Editor
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At $175 a head I BET it was good. The Jesuit priests who brought this wonderful fruit from the Mediterranean would have been shocked by the beyond the pale ostentatious – ness of this repast and event more suited to the “Patrons”. At least to have the good sense not to write about it at great length in a small local rag that is witness to local charitable organizations closing because of lack of funds. (the Willmar for instance). sincerely, Giulia