The wine-pairing dinners at Ingredients Café are a special opportunity for Chefs Ben and Tony to make dishes they don’t have on the regular menu. And it’s their keen talent that has brought diners back every month since they began hosting the events in May.

For the October 25 dinner, the chefs teamed up with Sheila Stewart of Wine Merchants to create a five course tour-de-force of true complementary flavors. It’s nice when a wine doesn’t cancel out the taste of a food, but it’s a remarkable experience when the two flavors meld together into a new one. This happened with every course on this month’s menu.

Chef Ben eased us into a hearty harvest dinner by starting with a composed salad of poached lobster, mango slices, a lime infused avocado mash and citrus crema laced with nutmeg. The bright tropical colors and flavors were lovely both separate and combined. As a contrast, chili pepper oil was dabbed around the plate and caught diners by surprise when they got it on their fork.

A 2004 Rombauer Chardonnay from Napa California was paired with this course. It too was tropical, and as Sheila put it, “very quaffable.” Now, usually, one drinks a wine to cut the rich flavors of the food. In this case, the tart salad cut the rich, buttery flavor of the Chardonnay. I would have been happy drinking this wine all night.

The 2003 Archer Summit Premier Cuvee Pinot Noir out of Dundee Oregon, was certainly needed to cut the rich flavors of the second course: a venison meatloaf in a puff pastry served with lingonberry jam and confit chestnuts. The only thing that could have made this dish any better was a roaring fire in a fireplace by which to eat it.

The ground venison itself was mild, but filled out with herbs and butter from the handmade pastry. The pinot noir did its duty by making the palate clean again for another taste of the sweet and tart lingonberries and dense chestnuts.

Venison meatloaf with lingonbery jam,
confit chestnuts and jus

With two pumpkin pie incarnations in two months, it’s safe to say that Chefs Ben and Tony really like this dessert staple. This time, they made it into a spiced soup, topped with a handmade nutmeg marshmallow. The soup was creamy and solid, but not sweet. To bring out that aspect, the melting marshmallow had to be swirled into it at the desired proportion.

To complement this spiced serving, Sheila chose a 2003 Flying Fish Merlot out of Washington State, which was equally as spicy. For some, this meant the wine’s finish was more like the scent of cedar than of oak.

Pumpkin pie soup with nutmeg marshmallow

The fourth course of this harvest meal included the ultimate in rich foods: foie gras. It was supposed to be only a supporting flavor, as part of the lentil hash mounded below the braised beef short rib. But it stole the show, as it always does.

Chef Ben said his favorite way to cook meat is braising, and the rib was done to a tender perfection, but when tasted alongside the rosemary-laced hash, the foie gras brought depth to the beef. More depth was added by the 2003 Avalon Cabernet Sauvignon from California, a nice tart accompaniment.

As the finale, the guests were served warm apple tarts made decadent with the addition of a slice of triple cream brie on top and a swirl of espresso chocolate vinaigrette underneath. It was seamlessly matched with a 2002 Robert Pecota Moscato D’Andrea from Napa California. The entire ensemble was bound together with the sweetness of the apples from the Pine Tree Apple Orchard, and the Moscato, which tasted exactly like a perfectly ripe grape. Contrast was provided by the dry flavors of the espresso in the chocolate and the brie.

Hats off to Chefs Ben and Tony and Sheila for a perfectly paired wine dinner.

Watch for information about the next wine dinner on Tuesday, November 22.

Warm apple tart with triple cream brie and espresso chocolate vinaigrette