Sun Winefest With The Chefs

Chris Coombs, Executive Chef, and Adrienne Wright, Chef de Cuisine, of Deuxave.

It never fails.  Although there were literally hundreds of wines to sip and talk about whenever we are invited to spend the weekend at Mohegan Sun for their annual Winefest we always end up spending the most time with the Chefs discussing food and watching their demos.  In our opinion, Chef Chris Coombs stole the show with his Truffle Roasted Chicken.  Loaded with Perigord Black Truffles, then Truffle Juice, then Truffle Powder and finally Truffle Butter, it was an amazing taste.  And the Egg Yolk Ravioli were not bad either!

At the big Dine Around event on Saturday night we spent some quality time with our old friend Chef Michele Ragussis of TV fame and her crew.  Of course, Michele is Executive Chef of Central House at The Crown in Provincetown.

We've been fans of Sarah Moulton for years.  She has to be the hardest-working woman in to food TV scene.  She hosted several shows over the years including two back-to-back live cooking shows on the Food Network, a grueling schedule that launched many TV Chef stars.  Her latest entry is Weeknight Meals on PBS which features simpler, easy-to-make meals for the home chef.

Last but certainly not least was Dante DeMagistris, owner and Chef at our hometown jewel in Belmont, Il Casale. In a funny twist the elderly lady sitting next to us was so anxious to find out what kind of olive oil he used that she sought him out backstage (who could refuse her?) and he ended up graciously giving her the bottle to take home!  Class act all the way.

Next up will be the Boston Wine Expo where I am sure that we'll spend most of the time at the food demos as well.  Oh, and more on the wines we discovered in another post!  Stay tuned.

Mohegan Sun Winefest 2015

It was snowy and cold but we had a great view from our room at Mohegan Sun for the Sun Winefest 2015.

Who doesn't love it when the daily paper is delivered to your door?  It's so relaxing to just fall into that comfy bed with room service coffee and read a real paper, quiet and slow.

When we weren't taking pictures we just wandered around having our pictures taken.  The extravagant Dine-Around event was probably the best way to have dinner with Jasper White, Andy Husbands, Will Gilson, Jason Santos and a symphony of other great Boston Chefs all in one room.

Look serious.  Don't look serious.  And that was a theme with the wines, too.  The trends continue to be sweeter wines: Rieslings and Moscato blends to which the millenial enthusiasts flock and the vinters are okay with that. Surprisingly, the wines of summer 2015 seem to be less fizzy and darker, more full-bodied.

Michele Ragussis gave up the most fun on the demo stage, preparing a great scallop, corn and prosciutto dish that was beautifully simple, classic and delicious.

We also spent some quality time bonding with Michele and were lucky enough to hear Jasper White comment on how great her chowder dish was.

Chef Chris Coombs of dBar, Deauxave and Boston Chops let us in on the exacting preparations for a 23 ounce ribeye.  Heat that pan until it is smoking!

And, of course, Dean got a very closeup interview with Chef Georges Mokbel.  From Lebanon, his refreshing book EVERYDAY TO GOURMET is a new perspective on how to approach the joy of food in your life.

As always, the Sun Winefest is a great winter getaway and one of our favorite events of the year!