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 2014

We recently spent the weekend at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut reveling in their annual Sun Winefest, meeting Chefs, enjoying the food and, of course, sipping all that wine.  The trends in wine for this year continue to be a wider interest in wine by a younger demographic as millenials reach out and the popularity with sweeter wines. We were awash in muscato, prosecco, rieslings and dessert wines.  The Finger Lakes region also continues to impress us.  Here I am with Boston Concierge extraordinaire Alaina Posluszny enjoying a sip for the photogs.

We were guests at a truly impressive dinner at Ballo Restaurant on Friday evening which included this Ricotta Gnocchi with Squash, Brussels Sprouts and Guanciale.  Rich in flavors and textures, the dish was paired with a Antinori Bramito Chardonnay 2010.  The food, drink and atmosphere in this upscale Italian venue at Mohegan make for a very special night

Monica Mawhinney of Arrigoni Winery in CT snapped us with her winepod cam as we sampled their wines.
The Sun Winefest is a compeltely unstuffy, fun wine event for people who just want to learn a little more about wine.

Sassy Bitch wines was not only giving taste samples but also handing out their lipstick, guaranteed not to come off on your wine glass.

We caught the news on WFSB upon arrival and saw Mark Dixon.  Dixon surprised us by walking out on the main cooking demo stage the next day to host the event.

Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine recruited audience members to help with his cooking demo but didn't stop there. The large audience he attracted also taped a Happy Birthday message for the Queen Latifah Show and he ended with getting everyone up on their feet to dance and saluting participants who had served in the U. S. military.  Very entertaining and fun.

I chatted on stage with Chef William Kovel of Catalyst in Cambridge who had the tough assignment of following the barnstorming Irvine.  Kovel prepared a delicious scallop dish.

Chris sat next to us in the front row of the demo stage.  We practically pushed him up on stage when Mary Ann Esposito of Ciao Italia asked for volunteers to assist.  He did a great job even if we lied about it being his birthday!

We also enjoyed a lunch at Jasper White's Summer Shack which, frankly, was underwhelming.  The food (pictured clam roll) was okay but the service staff needs, perhaps, a bit more training.

All in all this was a great way to get out of town in comfort and luxury and enjoy doing something new with loads of people who have similar interests:  wine.  The event went very smoothly, the crowd was handled well and the people were a lot of fun.  Don't miss the next one!