Christina Waters

Ham & eggs & a little light bubbly – sounds like breakfast doesn’t it? But it was bistro appetizers at Soif last week. Let me explain.

A “small plate” order of salumi caught our eye – but so did the evening special of a poached egg over shiitake mushrooms. When John Locke poured me a taste of a splendid, very light alcohol Lombardy red wine with the tiniest little “vivace” effervescence, I joked that it was light enough to be a “breakfast wine.” Then the lightbulb went on.

The kitchen obliged and what we got was this gorgeous platter of toscano, soppressata and salame rosa ($12) topped with a poached egg! Ask and ye shall receive. Peasant decadence, paired with the refreshing Francesco Montagna Oltrepo Pavese “Vivace” Bonarda 2006 ($3.25/taste). Something a little different — and completely memorable. My idea of budget gourmet.

We weren’t the only ones soaking up the pastoral beauty of the Corralitos countryside last Saturday. We had plenty of fellow wine-seekers for company as we toured a few of the small artisenal wineries on rare view during this twice yearly open house.

First Alfaro Family Vineyards, where the gorgeous new tasting room, with marble counters and exposed beams, greeted us. The tasting room will be open on Saturdays, by appointment, starting the first week in June, so download a map and get ready to sample some of the many varietals and vintages. (The $10 tasting fee, Richard tells me, will purchase a commemorative glass and a flight of at least five Estate wines.)

This winery has several defining features. One is the irrepressible Richard Alfaro (below, in his official wine tasting shirt), who transformed himself from successful baker to passionate winegrower with a first crush five years ago. Of his 75 acres, a full 25 are dedicated to vineyards - Syrah, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. This has to be — correct me if I’m wrong — the largest continguous acreage devoted to wine grapes in the entire appellation. And it’s gorgeous!

I met Alfaro’s winemaking partner, UC Davis-trained Joe Martin (hence, the Martin Alfaro label), swilled myriad house pinot noirs - including the exceptional 2006 from Santa Lucia Gary’s Vineyard, and the estate-bottled Lindsay Paige Pinot Noir. We listened to the singing attorney, Joe Haselton, sampled cheeeses and hot Corralitos sausage, (more…)

Here’s a red wine discovery you’ll enjoy. I first encountered Martella Syrah Hammer Vineyard 2005 on the Gabriella Cafe menu, and it was love at first sip. I found a bottle of this appealing wine at New Leaf Market.

Martella is Michael Martella, longtime winemaker at Thomas Fogarty who bottles some choice varietals under his own name. This is one of them and it belongs on your dining table.

Syrah loves lamb, duck, olives, almost any cheese - and goes nicely with a long sunset. In the Martella Syrah found meaty, smoky tones initially, with plenty of grip and a band of brambles sitting firmly in the center - brambles that expanded horizontally, on and on into a leisurely finish. Around $20 and worth its weight in American oak.

Fresh seafood gets star treatment at the hands of Sean Baker, who makes beautiful food at Gabriella Cafe.

Baker is currently running a variety of sculptural crudo appetizers involving artworks of oysters with baby fennel mignonette, uni interspersed with tart minced grapefruit (inspired!), and local halibut tartare in pools of chopped avocado, chili smoked tomato and Meyer lemon.

After dinner, I feasted on a spectacular saffron Pavlova meringue, drizzled with rose custard, sweet fresh strawberries and toasted pistachios. Gabriella pastry chef Jessica Yarr never fails to astound me.

What’s not to like about New York? And since my mom and I both love the Big Apple, we spent a few quality days there last week - taking in a show, museums, the action in Central Park (in full spring bloom!), the NFL draft (my mother loves men in groups), and feasting on midtown architecture, old and new.

We decided to do the all-out tourist thing, so we stayed in the very conveniently-located midtown Hilton. Our room on the 34th floor offered a sprawling view of skyscrapers, theaters and verdant Central Park. A block away was the Museum of Modern Art, where we feasted on Monet, Rauschenberg and Pollock and then went upstairs to The Terrace cafe for lunch. Btw, the dominant language in NY these days is French! (Good euro, bad dollar.) (more…)

Rockefeller Plaza is a magnet for visitors and celebrities and we had fun swilling coffee and some of the finest pastries in New York, at the chic Dean & DeLuca coffee shop that overlooks the “Good Morning America” crowds gathering to wave and scream for the cameras. This 25-foot mosaic/mural at the Plaza (left) was made entirely of throw-away cell phones!

The elegant WPA architecture of the Plaza’s suite of buildings and courtyards holds its own in a sea of contemporary super-skyscrapers. A few blocks away, the mighty Michael Graves’ postmodern landmark - once the Hancock building, now headquarters for SONY’s digital lab-theater - knocked us out. A true secular cathedral, this building was playfully “invaded” by a 40-foot floating sculpture of Spiderman.

Our pastry quest continued up at the lovely Cafe Sabarsky, inside the beautiful little Park Avenue mansion that Estée Lauder’s son turned into the Neue Galerie, home to the $138 million Klimt painting. Definitive apple strudel, mit Schlag of course, and a pot of black tea fueled us for the afternoon, and another cultural pit-stop at The Met.

The visually delightful, all-organic catering group founded by Heidi Schlecht and Amy Linstrom (who also operate the inviting River Cafe) continues to fuel some of our best parties.

Platters lavish with edible flowers, opulent proteas, and other eye-candy adorned the tables and decks up at the Vine Hill winery release party last weekend. Endive leaves were stuffed with roasted salmon, dill, and lemon zest aioli. Buffalo mozzarella and sage were wrapped in prosciutto and then grilled - that’s the sort of one step further thinking that characterizes Feel Good Foods’ catering style. Yet completely fresh and clear, nothing tricky or mysterious. The ripe cheeses and myriad olives shared plates with toasted almonds, (more…)

Big enough for lamb, restrained enough for mahi mahi — this is one serious contender for terroir-defining Santa Cruz Mountains appellation pinot noir. After an initial wave of cola and spice, primarily cloves, this sumptuous wine offers a dark finish that goes into a subterranean realm of black velvet shot through with roses and ultraviolet.

After a half hour or so, the wine resolves into a midnight edition of moist earth, plum and tamarind. In other words, you will have sampled a deep slice of the region translated through the pinot noir grape. Contact Wines of Vine Hill for details about how you can order bottle for yourself - if there are any left. And kudos to Cumbre winemaker Salvador Godinez.

A girl’s gotta eat, right? And in this region, that can be a delicious prospect. Over at River Cafe - I do love that place - I drifted into an altered state over a brilliant “salad” of quinoa, that soft, fluffy, Inca grain. The pale yellow quinoa was tossed with scallions, marcona almonds and currants. But the real mood elevator was the use of micro zest of kumquat, that moody, tangy cousin of the lemon and tangerine. It was sensational, and went beautifully with my take home portion of Liberty Farms duck breast from Avanti.…Yes, the duck at Avanti never fails, especially with a current spring “hash” of lentils, favas, green garlic and roasted onions. An argula pesto dressed the dish, which was just as good the second night, as the first. . . . Katya and I stopped for appetizers at Soif the other night, where the deal of the century arrived in the form of a substantial calamari salad for $6! Tender, delicious, tossed in a Meyer lemon dressing - it was lovely with a blush Tokay. . . . One more Avanti note: I had one of the best Avanti dinners ever last night - lamb sliced over roasted Yukon gold potatoes, fresh snap peas in the pod and infant white turnips!!!!! Yeow - with a Sebastapol Syrah - heaven.

Ben, Ben, Ben - when you’re hot, you’re……