Guest Chef Dinner Series
Guest Chef Dinner Series - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
Since 1990 JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery has celebrated the joys of food and wine by inviting some of America’s most celebrated chefs to visit the winery and display their talents. JUSTIN Wine Society members are presented the first opportunity to sign up for these events but they are open to one and all. ALL Guest Chef Dinners are held at JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery. You must hurry though, because reservations fill up quickly. Just contact us and we'll be happy to reserve a seat for you! Following is the year’s line-up:
Zinfandel Festival
Friday, March 20, 2009
Carrie Nahabedian of NAHA, Chicago
After ten years as executive chef for the Four Seasons (Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Chicago), Chef Nahabedian returned to her native Chicago to start NAHA. Her impressive resume spans more than 24 years and is peppered with names like the Ritz-Carlton, Le Perroquet, Le Francais, and Sinclair's. In 2008, Chef Nahabedian was chosen as Charleston Food & Wine Festival’s featured chef. She has been nominated for three consecutive James Beard Foundation Awards as well as Best Chef Midwest and Best Chef Great Lakes for the past three years. In 2008 she won the Best Chef Great Lakes title. Nahabedian has also contributed to a number of books including The Flavor Bible, The Healthy Heart Cookbook for Dummies, Impress for Less, Chicago Cooks, and Secrets of Chicago Chefs. Download Menu
Paso Robles Wine Festival
Friday, May 15, 2009
Stewart & Heidi Woodman of Heidi's, Minneapolis, MN
From the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta to the leading four star New York restaurants including Eric Ripert at Le Bernardin and Gray Kunz of Lespinasse and Spice Market (now Café Gray) to master chefs Alain Ducasse and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Chef/Owner Stewart Woodman learned from the best. He was named to Food & Wine magazine’s list of Best New Chefs of 2006 and opened Heidi's in Minneapolis with his wife, pastry chef Heidi Woodman after stints at Levain and Five Restaurant & Street Lounge, both in Minneapolis. Pastry Chef and co-owner Heidi Woodman graduated from the CIA and worked the line at L’Orangerie, Monzu, An American Place, JoJo, and the Mercer Kitchen. Download Menu
Central Coast Wine Classic
Friday, July 10, 2009
Tory McPhail of Commander's Palace, New Orleans, LA
Chef Tory McPhail was mentored by Commander’s Palace acclaimed Executive Chef Jamie Shannon before moving to the Palace Café in New Orleans, The Breakers in Palm Beach, FL, the Michelin Two-Star Picasso Room and its sister restaurant, L'Escargot in London, and Mongoose Restaurant in the Virgin Islands. He was a key figure in the opening team of Commander’s Palace in Las Vegas after rejoining the Commander's family in late spring of 2000. During his first year as Executive Chef at Commander's Palace, McPhail was a James Beard Rising Star Chef Nominee. He hosts Turner South’s original weekly series, "Off the Menu" and can also been seen on Sara's Secrets, My Country My Kitchen, Into the Fire and Bobby Flay's Food Nation. McPhail also penned the Commander's Wild Side Cookbook, contributed to both The Bon Appétit Cookbook, and the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008 Cookbook. Download menu
JUSTIN Wine Society Gala
Friday, August 7, 2009
Octavio Becerra of Palate Food & Wine, Los Angeles, CA
This protégé of Chef Joachim Splichal began his experience in the kitchen of Max Au Triangle Restaurant Beverly Hills, and then in France and Spain, where he worked in top two and three star Michelin restaurants. When Splichal opened Patina Restaurant, Becerra joined his mentor and together they opened Pinot Bistro in Studio City, with Becerra as the executive chef and partner. As Vice President, Chef, and Cofounder of Patina Group, Becerra played a major role in the launch of each new restaurant. The James Beard Foundation nominated him twice for “Rising Star Chef of the Year.” He has been featured in Bon Appétit magazine, and Nations Restaurant News named him to its list of the nation’s “50 New Taste Makers.” After sixteen years, Becerra departed Patina Group to pursue his own venture, opening Palate in Glendale, CA. Palate combines a restaurant, a wine merchant, cheese cellar and lounge into a vibrant gathering place where food wine and people meet. Shortly after opening, Esquire Magazine included Palate in their list of Best Restaurants of 2008.
Paso Robles Harvest Wine Weekend
Friday, October 16, 2009
Sean Brock of McCrady's, Charleston, SC
After apprenticing under uber-star Chefs Rich Tramanto and Grant Achatz in Chicago and Paco Rocero of La Terraza del Casino in Madrid, part of Ferran Adria’s inventive El Bulli team, Chef Brock headed to the south displaying his talent at the Mobil Five Star/AAA-Five Diamond Lemaire Restaurant at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia and Nashville’s Five Diamond Capital Grille at the Hermitage Hotel listed in Gourmet’s “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants”. McCrady’s history dates back to 1788 and has earned Charleston Restaurant and Chef of the year recognition. Chef Brock’s work there has elevated him to the company of the top cutting edge chefs of the world. His combination of artisanal cuisine and revolutionary food technology is exemplified by actions such as making grits from rare heirloom corn seed frozen in liquid nitrogen and grown on the restaurants’ 2.5 acre biodynamic garden and applying his vast knowledge of curing Smokey Mountain meats in novel ways like spinning bacon into cotton candy. Brock has been the featured chef twice at the James Beard House, New York, prepared the annual Relais & Chateaux dinner in Washington DC, is the winner of the Food Networks “The Next Great Chef” and was a 2008 James Beard nominee for Rising Star Chef of the year.
ALL Guest Chef Dinners are held at JUSTIN Vineyards & Winery. Dinners begin with a reception at 6:30pm followed by dinner at 7:00pm
Each seat is $150 per person or $120 per person for Wine Society members. Members are allowed a total of 4 discounted seats.
Please call 805/238.6932 ext. 300 to inquire.
JUSTIN VINEYARDS & WINERY
11680 CHIMNEY ROCK ROAD
PASO ROBLES, CA 93446
805/238.6932 ext. 300
Fax: 805/237.4164
innkeeper@JUSTINwine.com