Thursday Wine Dinners
An encore performance of Tuesday night‘s dinners, but at three different restaurants. Guests will enjoy a five-course meal paired with a selection of fine wines. These dinners are so outstanding that many guests book both wine dinners on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Thursday, May 17, 6:30 p.m.
Tickets: $75 Per Person*
*Tickets must be purchased in advance. Must be 21 to attend. Ticket price does not include gratuity.
Bleu Restaurant & Wine Bar
Chef Ben Parks
Columbia native Ben Parks began working in kitchens while attending Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Parks enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Upon completion of his culinary studies, he returned to his hometown and worked as sous chef in the now-defunct Trattoria Strada Nova. After several years of teaching culinary arts through the Columbia Area Career Center, Parks joined the staff of Bleu just after its opening in 2008. He is now executive chef and recently oversaw the restaurant’s move to its new location on Walnut Street, near the Boone County Courthouse.
The Menu
Course 1: Frisée & Sweet Gem Salad
Lamb bacon, strawberries, pine nuts and white wine basil vinaigrette
Course 2: Pork Fennel Ravioli
Handmade ravioli with ginger spinach puree and watermelon radish
Course 3: Paprika-Roasted Halibut
Gruyere grits, smoked tomato broth, parsley oil and green tomato roasted corn salsa
Course 4: Coffee-Braised Beef Short Rib
Charred scallion soubise, red wine gastrique and roasted balsamic-marinated beets
Course 5: Mint Lime Frozen Custard
Brûléed grapefruit and pistachio tuile
Les Bourgeois Bistro
Chef Aaron Wells-Morgan
Columbia native Aaron Wells-Morgan began working in local restaurants when he was 15. While attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he cooked in restaurants in Manhattan and Boston, and interned at the Grand Street Café in Kansas City. After graduation, he returned to the Kansas City area, working with PB&J restaurant group and then as executive chef of Café Provence.
A former sous chef at Columbia’s University Club, Wells-Morgan joined Les Bourgeois as executive chef in
2010.
The Menu
Amuse Bouche:
Lemon crème fraîche gelée with cucumber-sorrel sorbet and sturgeon caviar
Course 1:
Foie gras crème brûlée with Armagnac-poached prunes, candied hazelnuts, and brioche
Course 2:
Chicken-fried rabbit loin with cipollini onion, fresh fava beans, spring greens, and guanciale
Course 3: Intermezzo
Mascarpone glacé with vanilla rhubarb sauce
Course 4:
Roasted beef tenderloin with black truffle potato involtini, morel mushroom chestnut veal sauce and spring asparagus
Course 5:
Lemon-strawberry-white balsamic parfait with toasted meringue and marzipan crisps
The Wine Cellar & Bistro
Chef Craig Cyr
Executive Chef Craig Cyr and his wife, Sommelier Sarah Cyr, began their Columbia culinary journey when they opened The Wine Cellar & Bistro in 2003. The couple’s goal was to highlight and support local farms in their seasonally inspired menu. Cyr is part of the Columbia “farm to table” restaurant movement and enjoys supplementing his bistro’s kitchen with produce from his own small organic farm.
Cyr earned his culinary degree from Johnson County Culinary Arts Program in Kansas City, and worked in two restaurants in Topeka, Kan., before moving to Columbia. He has been featured in National Culinary Review and City Room Gourmet. For seven of the last eight years, the restaurant’s wine list has received The Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine.
The Menu
Course 1:
Grilled pizza fritta with garlicky morels, early smoked tomato sauce, cheese curds and basil
Course 2:
Asian green salad with wild violets, napa cabbage, sunflower shoots, tatsoi, blueberry-ginger vinaigrette and roasted radish
Course 3:
Lemon thyme star anise-braised baby carrot potage, roasted fennel purée, minted sugar snap peas and pea tendrils
Course 4:
Grilled asparagus with preserved lemon-rosemary hollandaise, grilled onion, arugula and poached savory meringue
Course 5:
Patric Chocolate PBJ goat cheese cake with native pecan crust and goat milk caramel
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
- All tickets for the Wine & Food Festival will be e-mailed when you purchase. You must print your ticket and bring with you to the event for entrance.
- Must be 21 years of age to attend events.
- Times, events, details, prices and availabilities are subject to change without notice.
- All tickets and passports are non-refundable and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets and passports are non-transferable and are expected to sell out quickly.
- Due to the complexity and volume of our Wine Dinners we are unable to accommodate changes to the menus for food allergies or for other special dietary requests.
- Please remember GRATUITY IS NOT INCLUDED in the Wine Dinner ticket price.
- NO REFUNDS on tickets after May 1, 2012.