Last night Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas and Vino hosted a dinner created by one of the Bay Area's best young Italian chefs, Chef Alexander Alioto. Maybe because he was actually born here or maybe because Chef Alioto's father just happens to be Chuck Furuya's fellow Master Sommelier and best friend but whatever the reason, he created a superb meal reminiscent of a meal we had a couple of years ago at Seven Hills in San Francisco. Back then Chef Alioto co-owned Seven Hills with his then brother-in-law, Alexis Solomou but after the divorce of his sister and Solomou, Chef Alioto sold his half of the interest to Solomou and left Seven Hills last month.
To help create this sold out event, Chuck enlisted the help of several of the chefs in the DK Restaurant group including Chef-Partner Ivan Pahk of Maui Fish and Pasta and several of the DK Steakhouse and Sansei staff and they prepped over the course of 3 days to get everything run smoothly. Last nights menu with wine pairing options (of course I selected the wine pairings) looked like this:
Amuse Bouche
Crispy Polenta
with Bay scallops & mushroom sauce
Birichino Malavasia Bianca
1st Course
Braised Spanish Octopus
with caponata & Italian butter beans
My Essential Rose
2nd Course
Raviolo Uovo
brown butter, Parmesan cheese & truffle oil
Sommariva Prosecco
Entree
Hawaiian Kampachi
brussel sprouts, barley & almond cream
Domaine Skouras Moschofilero
Dessert
Poached Apple with Sweet Biscotti
apple puree, grated cinnamon, caramel & up-side down tuile
The Polenta was as good as polenta gets with a creamy interior and crisped exterior and the mushroom sauce really made the dish rock! I normally love scallops but hardly paid attention to them as the polenta and mushroom sauce stole the show!
Chuck then explained that the wine pairing for Octopus was the most difficult as the caponata had a touch of sweetness contrasting the earthy octopus and said they opened a fair amount of wines just to find the perfect wine and Master Sommelier Richard Bett's rose more than complemented the dish.
Then came the star of the show, the Raviolo Uovo! Large sheets of fresh pasta are topped with a "wreath" of fresh ricotta and herbs with a single raw egg yolk placed in the center of the "wreath". After topping with another sheet of fresh pasta, the raviolo are simmered then served with a brown butter sauce with truffle oil and grated Parmesan. Died and gone to heaven! This dish alone would have made it a great meal!
The last main was pan seared Kampachi on an almond cream with barley and Brussel sprouts. The Moschofilero really enhanced the flavors of the sauce and tied the dish together.
Dessert was a straight forward apple dish - maybe I wasn't really blown away by it because I still remember Chef Alioto's fresh ricotta drizzled with honey served with fresh orange imperials and a crispy tuile (photo from our visit to Seven Hills two years ago).
Of course, the gang normally brings an ample supply of vino and last night was no exception. Though the wines weren't perfect with the food, it did enliven the Holiday Spirit!
And Chuck did mention that the Alioto family is already planning Chef Alioto's next culinary undertaking and had no problem if they named it Chuck's Steakhouse. No, I don't think so. But if Chef Alioto creates it, you know it's gonna be GOOD!
Comments