@ our house
Here’s one of our recent dinner salads—variation on a niçoise-with fresh local albacore and all-organic everything else.
Some marinated cippolinis and artichoke hearts. Major delicious.
Smoke ’em if you got ’em
Here is one of the recent dishes I’ve enjoyed at the smartly re-branded Le Cigare Volant. And for juicy details, check my review in the current Santa Cruz Weekly—or online.
Here, for example, is a robust beef loin entree, sided with feisty peppers, marrow bone and citrus-infused radicchio.OMG.
Glaze of roasted garlic, red wine reduction sauce. Yes.
Summer Wine: the Prequel
Here’s a surprising bit of feistiness from Vine Hill Winery—a Chardonnay that acts like a Sauvignon Blanc. And that’s a very good thing!
I always expect drinkable and lovely Pinot Noirs from winemaker Sal Godinez. But I was charmed recently by his racy, minerally 2010 Chardonnay. The bright and refreshing acidity of this aromatic wine gives it persistence of citrus and guava notes.
The 13.1% alcohol, light enough to keep each sip interesting, puts it squarely in the “favorite wine of summer” camp. Yet it can hold its own against spicy cuisine—or simply a long, lazy afternoon.
Put a few bottles on ice. Now. Summer is a-comin’ in, usw.
rhubarb three ways!
A dessert by Le Cigare Volant pastry chef Yoomi Shelton riffed on the theme of Live Earth Farms rhubarb.
From left—panna cotta topped with rhubarb coulis. In the center a rhubarb crisp topped with ginger foam! and on the right, jasmine ice cream on a brilliant bouquet of rhubarb gelée. Beautiful and delicious. Something I’m coming to expect from this exciting kitchen.
Lunches daily at Le Cigare Volant— starting May 21st!
La Posta & the Sensuous Appetizer
How good does this salad of radicchio, arugula and fava beans look? Almost as good as it tasted last night.
Add a few slices of beet to continue the brilliant magenta colors of the radicchio, and then top it with a trio of sardines and an egg from those contented chickens outside the kitchen door.
Another reason why La Posta has become our most reliable dining destination.
Academic Dooniverse
It was a town/gown Who’s Who last Monday at Le Cigare Volant, as the UCSC Arts division celebrated the launch of a student-designed label for a Banana Slug Roussanne 2010, made by Bonny Doon Vineyards.
Art major Louise Leong‘s crisp, colorful label design won the top award—and appears on the custom-bottled white wine now available at the Tasting Room on Ingalls Street.
Proceeds from sales of the $16 wine will support student scholarships for UCSC Arts students.
The label is a knock-out and the wine is intriguing. This elegant wine should be the graduation gift souvenir of the season.
[shown here: Leong, winemaker Randall Grahm, dean of the Arts David Yager.photo:J.Rogge]
Inside the Flame
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.