Tuesday Wine Dinners
Restaurateurs and their chefs open up their restaurants to create a one-of-a-kind, five-course meal. Each dinner is paired with a selection of wines that complement the fare. Winery representatives will be on hand to discuss the wines and why they were selected for a particular course.
Tuesday, May 15, 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.
Churchill’s
Chef Ignazio Munna
Ignazio Munna loves a challenge. As the new food and beverage director at the Holiday Inn Executive Center, he jumped right in when Churchill’s asked him to write a new all-Italian menu for the restaurant.
A native of Palermo, Italy, Munna earned a degree in culinary arts from Centro Studi Graziano in Palermo, and worked in kitchens in Germany, France and Italy before coming to the United States in 1996. St. Louis diners have enjoyed his creations at Giovanni’s, Seven Gables Inn, Zanti’s and Bartolino’s Osteria. He owned Gianfranco’s in Red Bud, Ill., before arriving in Columbia last year.
Munna likes to feature dishes from every region in Italy. He has won culinary awards in competitions from Italy to Michigan to St. Louis.
The Menu
Amuse Bouche: Zuppa di Porri e Patate
This leek Vichyssoise is a light creamy potato soup garnished with edible flower and potatoes rose
Course 1: Insalata di Caprino
Herbed goat cheese mousse with a savory tuile cracker, served with salad greens and a lemon vinaigrette
Course 2: Fettuccini Tartufate ai Funghi
Fettuccine pasta blended in a Madeira wine and cream sauce with shiitake mushrooms
Course 3: Limoncello Affogata
Palate-cleansing lemon sorbet
Course 4: Chilean Sea Bass
Pan-seared Chilean sea bass fillet served with artichoke hearts in a Chardonnay wine sauce, accompanied by braised escarole and an Asiago risotto cake
Course 5: Tiramisu Veneziano
Venetian-style tiramisu — lady fingers soaked in coffee and Amaretto di Saronno, covered with mascarpone cheese and dusted with cocoa powder
The Club at Old Hawthorne
Chef Adam Wells-Morgan
Native Columbian Adam Wells-Morgan inherited his mother and grandmother’s deep-seated passion for food and cooking at a very young age. As a 17-year-old senior at Hickman High School, Wells-Morgan began working as a line cook at Trattoria Strada Nova and then moved on to the restaurant’s sister kitchen, Cucina Sorella. A 2003 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., he returned to his hometown after school to head the kitchens at Jack’s Gourmet Restaurant and Village Wine & Cheese. He has been executive chef of The Club at Old Hawthorne since it opened in 2007.
In 2010, Wells-Morgan won top honors in the 21st annual National Taste of Elegance™ contest sponsored by the National Pork Board. He also grabbed the Media’s Choice Award in the competition.
The Menu
Course 1:
Fennel pollen-crusted goat cheese, house-made pistachio and dried cherry pâté de campagne, marinated olives and cornichons, and fresh honeycomb
Course 2:
Seared diver scallop, saffron risotto cake, vanilla Champagne beurre blanc and ruby grapefruit
Course 3:
Espresso pork belly, sweet corn pudding, crispy kale, Earl Grey pomegranate syrup
Course 4:
Pepper-crusted beef tenderloin, bay laurel potato pave, sautéed portobello mushrooms and Cabernet demi
Course 5:
Carrot cake “French toast,” house-made chai ice cream, lavender caramel and sugared almonds
Peachtree Catering & Banquet Center
Chef Benjamin Hamrah
Benjamin Hamrah has grown up in the Columbia food service industry; as a youngster, he often wandered the kitchens and back rooms of his father’s restaurants. A graduate of Chicago’s Kendall College, he interned at the Michelin-starred Le Grand Ecuyer in southern France. Now executive chef at Peachtree, he likes to use seasonal, local ingredients in his menus. He says his style is simplistic, adding that he is “obsessed with the art of charcuterie.”
Hamrah and his father, Ali, have run a successful supper club for more than 2½ years, serving 5- to 9-course tasting menus with wine and beer pairings.
The Menu
“I will be serving five to six courses in a family-style service. We want to take all formality out of the dining experience. Dining, especially when paired with great wines, should feel less like a production and more like a family gathering.
“Each course will be served on large platters and roasting pans, reminiscent of the meals and gatherings we loved so much in our younger years. Guests will be seated with others they may not have ever met, but passing plates and sharing stories will give everyone the sense of being surrounded by family.
Meats and Cheeses
- A selection of local artisanal cheeses and cured meats from our local culinary program
Market Salad
- Organic baby greens, asparagus, French breakfast radish, bacon, egg, sorrel vinaigrette
Crispy Pork Belly
- Patchwork pork belly, Chinese broccoli, shitake, quinoa, ginger garlic reduction
Short Ribs
- Legacy beef short ribs, baby turnips, watercress, asparagus soufflé, Augusta Norton veal Demi
Bread Pudding
- Warm white chocolate and vanilla bean bread pudding, salted caramel, candied wild strawberries
Mom’s Cookies and Coffee
Sycamore
Chef Mike Odette
Lifelong Midwesterner Mike Odette caught the cooking bug as a college student. He dropped out, abandoning his chemical engineering studies, to begin a chef career at Café Europa and Europa Bakery in 1988. He spent 17 years cooking in local restaurants such as Trattoria Strada Nova and Booches before opening Sycamore in 2005.
Sycamore honors the farmers, foragers and ranchers of Missouri with simple and seasonal rustic fare. Odette and co-owners Amy Barrett and Sanford and Jill Speake are champions for the market-driven “Missouri bistro-style” cuisine at the restaurant. In 2009, Odette was a semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation Award in the “Best Chef: Midwest” category.
The Menu
Course 1:
Beef tenderloin carpaccio with arugula, capers, Parmigiano-Reggiano
Course 2:
Goat cheese agnolotti with porcini broth and white truffle oil
Course 3:
Farro salad with spring vegetables and micro greens
Course 4:
Slow-roasted pork shoulder and belly with wilted spring greens and crispy soft egg
Course 5:
Vanilla bean panna cotta with strawberries
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.
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.