How do you top a gourmet
dinner prepared by a chef who has Michelin star rated restaurants on his
resume? Enjoy that dinner in the lovely setting of a local winery, and let the
good times, like the wine, flow. If I were to create a perfect date night, a
farm-to-table dinner at Matthew's Winery would be it.
As we arrived at Matthew's last Friday evening, Stasha, events
coordinator and overseer of the Matthews Wine Club, and a frequent
correspondent via our wine allotment emails, warmly greeted us at the door.
Stasha was kind enough to reach out to all of the chefs lined up for the
farm-to-table dinners this summer, enabling this vegan to partake in the
special affair. Gramercy Tavern hailed Chef Micah Mowrey was kind enough to
accommodate a vegan, which is how we wound up at Matthews on that perfect
summer evening.
We took our glasses of Matthews rosé outside, snagging some yummy apps
of radicchio “bruschetta” and crudité with vegetable puree en route. We settled
into some Adirondack chairs and enjoyed the view of the vegetable garden and the
setting sun.
At some point as we began
our second pour, we were summoned by Bryan, organizer (or as he put it “instigator”)
of the event. Inside, the usual two and four top tables were fitted together to
make several banquet style tables for family-style service. Decorated with
candles and wildflowers, the winery had transformed from an unassuming tasting
room to an event space befitting the gourmet meal that was soon presented. A
mix of old and new tunes from the record player outside wafted in with the
summer breeze. The aroma of great food filled the room.
The menu was graced with all
things in season. According to Chef Micah, the menu was “designed to be
unintelligible”, meaning that he wants you to delight in the melding of flavors
without any one overpowering ingredient. A perfect example was the farrotto, a
risotto style dish made with farro, spring onions, and Portobellos, flavors
that could easily overpower a dish, but were perfectly balanced to the point
that you might not even be able to identify each individual ingredient. Though
mushrooms are not my favorite texture, the flavor was subtle and gave a richness
to the farrotto, which was like a slightly nuttier and chewier version of
risotto—the perfect grain and texture to uphold the robustness of onion and Portobello.
In fact, the dish was so good, we helped ourselves to a second serving!
Other notable flavors
included the summer berry vinaigrette dressed greens—a sweet dressing that had
just the right hint of spiciness—and another dish with the sweetest sugar snap
peas, asparagus, and beets. Dessert was more savory than sweet, a lovely light
dish of tart Rainier cherries with hazelnuts and fresh herbs.
The dinner was one that will
certainly go down as a favorite summer 2019 evening, and we eagerly look
forward to our next farm-to-table dinner at Matthews.
For tickets to an upcoming Farm-To-Table dinner at Matthew's Winery, click here.
