Unwrapping the Bounty of Sonoma

While the locals think the town has not escaped tourism, I was delighted to visit Healdsburg, California and feel like I was not part of the hustle and bustle of nearby Napa. We went to experience first-hand Epiculinary's Bounty of Sonoma, a four day culinary vacation that takes participants out of the kitchen and into the fields, wineries, and markets for a different kind of cooking experience. Making the trip even more memorable was the fact that the Food Network's popular Unwrapped came along to film an upcoming special on culinary vacations.

Healdsburg is an interesting wine town located in Northern Sonoma. Some of Northern California's most famous wine appellations are here including Alexander Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Valley, and Russian River Valley. Visiting the town plaza on Tuesday night, which is locals night (they have a weekly band and farmer's market on this day, when most of the tourists have returned to San Francisco or parts beyond), I noticed an

interesting mix of wealthy winemakers, Mexican immigrant workers, and fading hippies.

Since the town was packed, we walked from restaurant to restaurant trying to find a place to eat. We finally got a table at Restaurant Charcuterie just off the plaza. Known for their pig collection, the restaurant features down home French influenced cuisine. My partner loved his dish with polenta and local goat cheese. My blackened chicken caeser salad was okay.

We couldn't wait to return to our plump four poster bed at 410 Matheson, an elegant and sophisticated inn just a five minute walk from the plaza. The owners, Larry and Dee, have transformed this former convalescent home into one of the chicest inns in town. The rooms feature Bose cd players, huge televisions, four poster beds and incredible bathrooms.

Next day, the big Unwrapped shoot! We started by visiting Tierra Vegetables, an unusual farm run by a brother and sister team and specializing in sustainable crops. They grow over 20 varieties of chiles and sweet peppers, but our focus that day were the strawberries. Our culinary group picked and ate our quota!

Berries in hand, we travelled via van to our next location, Shyster Creek Vineyard. Ross Stromberg bought the 120 acre property in 1998 and has transformed it into a Tuscan landscape. This is where we had our first cooking lesson with Kevin McKenzie, executive chef of Dry Creek Vineyard. Kevin McKenzie launched his career at the beginning of the California Cuisine movement, working alongside such notables as Jeremiah Tower and Jonathan Waxman. He spent several years in Los Angeles as a caterer and private chef for the entertainment elite, orchestrating such events as the Academy Awards Governors Ball three years in a row.

Forming teams, we tackled Kevin's wine country menu with gusto. The menu took advantage of locally grown products and the best of Sonoma wine country: Grilled Sourdough Bruschetta with Heirloom Tomato Jam and Goat Cheese or Tuscan White Beans and Caponata; Summer Green Salad with Terra Sonoma VerJus and Da Vero Olive Oil; Cedar Plank Ggrilled Sonoma Coast Halibut with Heirloom Tomato Vinaigrette and Chardonnay Infusion; toasted Sardinian Couscous with Garden Vegetables; and Bellwether Farms Ricotta and Laura Chenel Goat Cheese Tart with Heirloom Strawberries.

Kevin's enthusiasm and yes, patience, with his cadre of amateur cooks made the morning pass quickly. As we cooked, the crew from Unwrapped filmed, making it a truly festive event. I teamed up with a surgeon from the DC area to make the cedar plank salmon. It was the perfect dish for my cook-mate; she excelled in cutting mathmatically correct dices of the heirloom tomatoes. I seemed to be less skilled; my cutting technique learned from watching my mother chop and dice as she whipped up Southern favorites. This really seemed to make Kevin nervous; I've seen that look of fear on other chefs faces as I have travelled around the world and picked up a knife in the kitchen. Don't get me wrong; I'm a great cook. But my knife skills are serviceable at most.

During the lesson I was pulled aside for my interview with Unwrapped. The entire crew made it easy for me; thanks to them for doing the interview early so I could enjoy the wine that Ross paired with the luncheon! Then it was a la tavola to taste our efforts. The salmon was incredible, if I do say so myself. I'd read a lot about cooking on planks but had never done it at home. The method infused the fresh fish with a woodsy smoke flavor but left the meat uncharred. (Hint: do not use any old piece of wood sitting in your garage for this!) The tart was a fitting end to the lunch; the strawberries so good we ate them from a bowl after the dessert was cleared.

I was still full that night, but with only two nights in Healdsburg, we had to try Willie's Seafood, a hip tapas bar that features fresh seafood tinged with a Latin flavor. First on my list to sample was the Tuna Tartare. It lived up to its reputation; the combination of jalapenos, cashews, ginger and coconut milk provided the right mix of hot, sweet and crunchy. We also noched on a wine country cheese plate and some really good fried calamari washed down with a Russian River Chardonnay.

The next day we were off to another cooking lesson, this one in the Roshambo Winery. I guess I'm a little behind the times because I did not know that "roshambo" is California slang for "rocks, paper, scissors." The winery uses that theme cleverly in their marketing materials. The first thing we did when we walked in the winery was to check out their tee shirts and hats. With pulsing rock music behind us and surrounded by contemporary art, we tasted Roshambo's wines and were very pleased with the Zin and the unoaked Chardonnay.

After a tour of the vineyards we returned to the kitchen for a cooking lesson with Chef Nitsa Knoll, who worked at the Ritz Carlton as lead cook and trainer in both the restaurant and Garde Mange kitchen. She has instructed at the California Culinary Academy, set high tea for British Royalty, and, most recently, established a catering business called Sonoma Culinaire specializing in intimate gourmet occasions. Our menu again, took advantage of Sonoma's bounty and featured the following: Smoked duck with Mango Relish on Crispy Won ton; Mixed green salad with Roasted Peaches, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette; Brined Roasted Pork Loan with Roasted Summer Vegetables; Crepes with Chardonnay-Poached Figs. Besides learning some fantastic recipes, Nitsa gave us some great time-saving tips that we'll all use at home. Making the crepes was the most fun; we all became experts in a matter of minutes and had a lot of fun doing it. Lunch was served on Roshambo's terrace overlooking the vineyards, and accompanied by Roshambo wines.

I've been to a lot of cooking schools in a lot of places as I scout for new Epiculinary vacations. But I have to say that I was really impressed with the effort our partners at Relish put into this trip. The logistics of a "moving classroom" are very difficult but there wasn't a glitch. It added another dimension to the experience to be out of the classroom and among the growers and winemakers who create the ingredients that go into Wine Country Cooking.
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