Last night (August 6th) marked the third installment so far of Tapino Kitchen & Wine Bar's "Locavore" event, "Locavore 3, The Bountiful." This was the third one I attended as well, and now I'm worried - Chef James Porter has topped himself each time, and "Locavore 4, Cultivation" is already scheduled for October 7th & 8th and if you haven't signed up, do it now!
This time it was almost a missed event for the EatFreshAZ crew, as they sold out so quickly the had to add a second evening. By the time we arrived for the "Meet-N-Greet" the joint was already jumping. I met Todd Bostoc of Dos Cabezas Wine Works, his wife and brand new three week old son (what a cutie!) Todd's crew was responsible for the evening's pairings, which we'll get to in a moment.
One thing I noticed right away is that this Locavore event appeared to be attended more by foodies than by industry folks. Info was that the first night was actually somewhat more industry folks than not (farmers, ranchers, press and so forth), and I missed out on the news taping a story about the event on the 5th. But the very fact that more of your average Arizona consumer attended shows just how much this movement towards fresh, local food is affecting the marketplace.
When everyone was seated, Chef James spoke about what the evening's meal meant and how he was excited to involve Chef Payton Curry from Spaghetti Western's Digestif restaurant in all aspects of the meal. Before us was an Amuse Bouche, which was Superstition Farms Farmers Cheese with Candied Pecans and Tapino Basil.
Among the guests at our table were Mr. & Mrs. Bob McClendon of McClendon's Select. Much of the vegetable matter on our plates was their responsibility, and I was quite glad for it. The first course was a McClendon Farms sweet red campari tomato, poached in Queen Creek olive oil and dressed with mache, micro basil and micro licorice basil. The fresh, fruity earthiness of the tomato shone right through, and the simple presentation did nothing to overpower it. To the contrary, the micro greens perked up and supported the tomato flavors wonderfully. The wine presented with this course was Dos Cabeza's "Pink" (so named because it is ... well, pink). Slightly dry with a mild floral and watermelon flavor, backed at the end by star anise, it not only complimented the fruitiness of the tomato but the licorice of the licorice basil.
Round two, and the two chefs brought out big guns. The menu says "Mother Nature Farms artisan style pork charcutiere of country pate and warm sausage." Doesn't do it justice. What was presented on our long rectangular plates was pork three ways; first, the sausage. Delicate, meaty, and placed on some herbed chèvre. Next up was a dark oblong ball of country pate, which was rich and powerful. In making this, they added no gelatin - having access to the whole pig, they simply did as chefs once had to and cooked the gelatin from the bones themselves. This gave a richness to the pate that I have never tasted before. The third and final offering on this altar of porcine perfection was head cheese. Head cheese? Truly brave, considering the implications, and yet executed with the deft skill of one determined to go from snout to tail and waste nothing. An even white color, it was placed on a sauce that was constructed from the broth of the bones, garlic, and a mirepoix. Chunky, meaty, smooth. And the wine that accompanied it was "White" from Dos Cabezas. Thankfully, they put more effort into the making of the wines than the naming of them and it shows. This blend was flavorful with some floral notes, in no way overpowering, and quite approachable. Yet thanks to the Riesling in the blend, it really stood up to the pork and helped present it to the palate. A good drink!
The third course was a very interesting and different one, and shows what can happen when a couple of chefs get together in the somewhat-less-than-bountiful Arizona summer and let loose. This creative veggie martini was lemon, cucumber and tomato, liquefied and blended in to a martini glass rimmed with vanilla sugar. It's not something you'd necessarily make for your average dinner, but definitely a showy way to excite some veggies and basically it worked - though consistency of the blend was uneven and some folks got very green glasses while others were paler or even pink. This was the only drink for this course, no wine this time.
Course number four was a red meat exhibition. Lamb from the Visser Family Farms in Willcox was placed on top of a native tepary bean ragout, then topped with micro broccoli greens (seriously, tiny greens that looked like just leaves and tasted of broccoli - so cool), and next to that was a cannelloni stuffed with Ash Creek Ranch beef. The lamb, a South African breed called a dorper that is now worldwide, was lean and tender with no wooliness. The tepary beans were amazing little jewels of bean flavor. And the cannelloni of beef was an inspiration, with aged, slow roasted tender beef on the inside that spoke to the craft of raising cattle. Threats were made by fellow dinner guests regarding the cannelloni, and defenses raised. It's clear to see why Sharla Mortimer was so proud of her beef! The wine was Dos Cabezas "Toscano," which when it opened up after a few minutes in my glass spoke of vanilla, cherries, Christmas cake. The Syrah in the blend stood proudly in line with all the other flavors. This is a big, spicy, bold wine that has a thick Italian accent and wears it well. It loved the red meat and I could see it playing well with rich tomato sauces and spiced Italian meats.
The evening ended with a chocolate flan. Now, when two masters like James Porter and Payton Curry get together, there's nothing simple going on - whatever they make, it'll have that extra something, that push over the top that has put them at the pinnacle of the Arizona chef scene. And this was no exception. The flan was crafted with Fossil Creek goat cheese and duck eggs. Not only did this utilize wonderful local ingredients, the extra richness from goat's milk cheese and the extra fat from the duck egg made this a huge success. It was then topped with a Sphinx Date Ranch caramel. Just excellent. But then there was the wine; this was one called "El Norte." Even the tasting notes seemed a little different. "Red fruits, citrus peel & cigar wrapper ... tons of black pepper too. [sic] Soy sauce creeps in the nose." Salt and pepper wine with a cigar wrapper? Then, " finishes with reminders of mexican [sic] chocolate." I swirled it, sniffed it and could smell the spiciness. I sipped it and was confused; it had the fruits and citrus, and left a bitterness on the back of the palate. Was it just me? This was awarded a Governor's Choice Award for Best Arizona Red Wine in 2007. Not what I expected. I had some of my flan, and then had an idea - food can transform a wine. Another sip, and voilà! There was what I was looking for. This wine paired so well with the rich flan that it was as if someone had put a completely different wine in my glass. The fruits and citrus oils balanced against the aromatic cigar wrapper, the fermentedness of the soy backed up the black pepper, and the slight bitterness of the Mexican chocolate closed the deal. It was me, the wine was great!
All in all, this third Locavore event continued to showcase not only the outstanding abilities of not only Chef Porter but Chef Curry as well, but also showcased that year round, local food can be had and utilized even in Arizona. Our state truly is bountiful. I think this event may continue to grow, and I imagine that October's event is nearly sold out already. Chef James said something about going to the farms first, then eating what we saw growing and being harvested. As we reconnect with our food sources and get away from anonymous food of questionable heritage and sanitation, we will find great cornucopias of beauty and nutrition on our very doorsteps.
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