while working toward those small but vital moments...
where quality sings
encouraging the personality of each lot, each vineyard to shine
together as a team of people sharing a healthy obsession
to make a little magic happen each year
Troyce Hoffman is a northern Californian based photographer specializing in documentary based work. He was embedded with us during much of harvest 2016 for this story. In 2015 he helped us create The Rite of Interns. You can find Troyce and more of his work at troycehoffman.com
Chef David Viana
After cooking with world-class chefs, including Bobby Flay, Anne Burrell and Michael White, and sharpening his skills in world-class kitchens such as Eleven Madison Park, and Two Star Michelin restaurant Villa Joya in Portugal, Chef Viana received distinguished recognition as the Executive Chef at The Kitchen at Grove Station, receiving three stars from the New York Times who described his dishes as “magical” and “hypnotizing.”
As Executive Chef-Partner at Heirloom Kitchen, Chef Viana crafts New American, seasonally driven dishes, alongside Founder and Director of Operations Neilly Robinson, in their Restaurant and recreational cooking school concept (offering dinner service in an open kitchen). At Heirloom Chef Viana is committed to sourcing the finest quality ingredients and creating both elevated and interactive dining experiences.
Chef Viana continues to impress, receiving three-and-a-half stars from The Star-Ledger within weeks of joining the Heirloom team and was nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Mid Atlantic in 2018. Shortly after, he left to compete on Bravo’s Top Chef: Kentucky Season 16, which finished airing in March 2019. Chef David is currently working on opening up Heirloom Kitchen #2. When David is not at work, he spends his time with his 4-year-old son Cole taking him to the Jersey Shore and Chuck E Cheese!
Chef Eddie Konrad
Eddie was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he attended Mercy Vocational High School and studied culinary arts. He realized at a young age that being in the kitchen made him feel like he was finally a part of something. After he graduated, Eddie attended Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Eddie has worked in many influential restaurants in New England and across the Mid-Atlantic, including Del Posto in New York City, Le Bec Fin, and Laurel back home in Philadelphia. With training in Italian and French techniques, Eddie focuses on refined, ingredient-driven cuisine. He has always strived to improve his skills and provide an educational environment for his fellow chefs and employees. His focus on creating experiences for his guests is always at the core of his culinary work.
Chef Michelle Minori
Chef Michelle Minori has been named one of The San Francisco Chronicle’s Rising Star Chefs of 2017, and has been included in 7×7’s list of “8 San Francisco Chefs Prove a Woman’s Place Is at the Head of the Kitchen”. You may have watched her compete as a finalist on Season 16 of Bravo’s Top Chef. She also won the Last Chance Kitchen competition…ahem….
Chef Michelle Minori built her culinary pedigree in Michelin starred restaurants across San Francisco. Minori spent a year in Los Angeles to open Faith & Flower, where she used her expansive knowledge of dough to build the bread and pasta production programs.
She later spent 3 years running the kitchen at Flour and Water, where she learned the importance of whole animal utilization, sustainability, and supporting local farmers and the community.
She later served as Executive Sous Chef of Thomas McNaughton’s NeTimeas Restaurant Group, overseeing corporate culinary operations for the group’s many restaurants, including Flour & Water, Aatxe, Cafe du Nord, Salumeria, and Central Kitchen.
Minori opened and operated as Executive Chef at Barzotto, a fast-casual pasta restaurant in San Francisco, specializing in handmade pasta. She shares her experience with creating a fast-casual restaurant and dealing with the changing aspects of the hospitality industry at conferences and online.
Currently, she serves as Head Chef of Research and Development for Off the Grid, a mobile food company dedicated to bringing people together through shared food experiences. She uses her extensive knowledge of cuisines, cookery, and systematization, to curate concepts, menus, and recipe development for the company. She also leans on her industry networking to build vendor relationships that support the local economy and small business owners through partnerships and sustainable sourcing.
Michelle is passionate about many causes, including sustainable seafood, local food systems, learning through travel, and that creating change starts with changing the narrative.
1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat (picked over for shells)
1 cup small diced white bread (toasted in butter)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 cups ap flour (for breading)
2 large eggs beaten and 2 tablespoons milk (for breading)
3 cups crumbled ritz crackers and 1 cup panko (for breading)
Canola oil, for frying
Instructions
In a small bowl, whisk together mayo, egg, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, and hot sauce, and season with salt and pepper. In a medium bowl, stir together crabmeat, white bread, and parsley. Fold in mayo mixture, then form into 12 round balls. To bread the crab, first dredge in flour, then moistening evenly in egg wash (beaten egg plus a 2 tablespoons milk), then coat in crispy ritz cracker and panko mixture. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, coat pan with generous amount of oil (about 2 inches in skillet) and heat until shimmering. Add crab cakes and cook, in batches, until golden and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes.
Truffle Sauce Gribiche
Ingredients
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
6 large eggs (hard boiled and peeled)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely diced cornichons
2 tablespoons chopped capers
1⁄2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (packed tight)
1⁄4 cup chopped fresh tarragon (packed tight)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons truffle oil
salt to taste (you can use truffle salt if you have some)
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients in the blender except for the truffle oil and salt. Start the blender and mix until emulsified (well incorporated) about 4 minutes… don’t turn off blender. Once incorporated well, slowly drizzle in the truffle oil and finish with salt.
Soy Pickled Mushrooms
Ingredients
2 cups shitake mushroom caps • 200g soy sauce
40g fish sauce
200g rice brown vinegar
200g water
100g brown sugar • 2 thai chilies
5 cloves garlic
3 scallions, sliced
Instructions
Combine everything in a blender except for the shitake mushrooms. Once blended pour over mushrooms
and marinate in the fridge.
Steamed Halibut
Ingredients
1lb portion of halibut
Salt generously
Instructions
Place halibut in basket steamer for 7 minutes. Check with toothpick for doneness, toothpick should pierce
through the fish effortlessly.
Blanched Wax Beans
Ingredients
1⁄2 lb wax and green bean combination (trimmed and cut in 1 inch pieces)
Instructions
Bring a pot of very well seasoned salt water to a boil (water should taste like the ocean). Drop beans in
the water for three minutes or desired doneness (I like mine to have a slight bite to them). Take out of
water and shock in ice immediately.
Place the OO flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the salt and mix together. Whisk the two eggs together in a small bowl. Turn the mixer on at the lowest speed. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, followed by the eggs. Add them very slowly until the dough barely comes together. Remove the paddle attachment and use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Knead the dough on your cutting board for about 3 minutes, or until the texture becomes smooth and no streaks of flour are present. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow it to rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes while you make the filling.
Roll the dough and form agnolotti:
Roll the pasta to the thinnest setting on your roller. Cut a strip about 8 inches long and 3 inches wide. Squeeze about a dime size amount (about 1 teaspoon) of filling into the middle of the dough, leaving about a finger’s width of space between each dollop of filling. Fold the dough strip over the filling so that the filling is hanging from the top side of the dough. Seal the dough above the filling by using a horizontal pressing motion with the blunt side of your hand or finger. Then using a pinching motion, squeeze the pieces of dough between the filling together to remove any air bubbles and create little spheres of dough (see video). Using a pasta (ravioli) cutter, cut the top strip of excess dough away. Then cut from the underside of dough up to the top edge of the dough so that the dough creates little folds, or pockets, encapsulating the filling. You have just made agnolotti!
Cook the pasta & the sauce:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season with a large pinch of salt. While the water is coming to a boil, make your sauce: In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and shallots. Sweat down about 30 seconds or until translucent. Add the garlic and a small pinch of salt. Cook to sweat, but no color. Season the prawns with salt and add to the pan along with the diced chorizo. Cook about 30 seconds, or just until the prawns begin to turn pink. Add the white wine to deglaze and let it cook away. Add the chicken stock to the sauce and let that come to a boil. Turn the heat off while you cook your pasta.
At this point the water should be boiling, so gently drop your agnolotti into the salted water and cook for 2 minutes. When done cooking, transfer the pasta to the pan with your sauce along with the remaining olive oil and Cerignola olives. Continue to cook everything together until the sauce glazes the pasta, and the pasta is the proper texture. Season with lemon juice, chives, and more salt if needed. Enjoy with a Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir.
2 each 2.5 pounds live Maine lobsters • Chardonnay
2 medium white onions (large dice)
4 stalks celery (large dice)
1 Tbsp palm (or white) sugar • 4 sprigs tarragon
1 Tbsp black pepper
2 quarts water
1. Prepare lobsters
– Dispatch lobsters by inserting the tip of a sturdy knife into the brain.
– Separate tails and claws from the body and set aside.
– Separate head from body. Using spoon, remove gills
from inner head and cut into one-inch chunks.
2. Create lobster stock
– Place lobster heads, onion, celery, sugar, pepper and water into a 6-quart pot and bring to a boil.
– Reduce heat to low, simmer and slowly reduce by half. Once reduced, remove from heat and strain into a container.
– Add tarragon and steep for a minimum of 20 minutes or overnight.
3. Create poaching liquid
– Combine equal parts tarragon lobster stock and One- Sixteen Chardonnay, salt to taste, (set some stock aside for later). Bring Chardonnay poaching liquid to boil. 4. Poach lobsters
– Poach lobster claws for 8 minutes and tails for 6 minutes allowing the water to simmer after boil. Remove lobster and allow to rest at room temperature until warm (or shock in ice water for future use).
– Remove meat from shells with kitchen shears.
Ramp Butter
Ingredients
1 pound ramp tops
2 pounds high-fat butter (soft room temp)
Instructions
In salted, boiling water, blanch ramp tops for 2 minutes or until soft.
Remove from water and immediately shock in ice water.
Once cold, squeeze excess water from the tops and place into a blender.
Purée until smooth. Use ice water as needed to keep cold and fluid.
Fold together ramp purée and softened butter until combined.
Vegetable Prep
Ingredients
1 bunch green asparagus
1⁄2 pound marble potatoes
1⁄2 pound morel mushrooms
Instructions
Remove one inch from the bottom of the asparagus.
Remove tips and cut stalks into approximately one-inch
pieces.
Quickly blanch (30-45 seconds) in salted, boiling water
Cut marble potatoes in half and place in cold salted
lobster stock.
Bring up to simmer and cook gently until tender
Split morel mushrooms in half and gently wash 3 times in
lukewarm water; changing water each time.
Place on paper towel and allow to dry.
Assemble
Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil
Freshest mint possible
Fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
Slice lobster tails into medallions of equal proportions (1⁄2 inch thick).
Glaze lobster claws, tails, and knuckles with extra virgin olive oil, Chardonnay, salt, and black pepper and set aside.
In a separate pan, warm vegetables in hot butter and glaze with lobster stock.
In a small pot, warm lobster stock and whisk in cold ramp butter until slightly thickened.
Place ingredients onto desired serving vessel and finish with torn mint and ramp butter sauce.
Chef Brandon Rosen
Chef Brandon Rosen grew up immersed in his family owned and operated chocolate factory, Leah Gold’s Fantazamadazzle Magical Chocolate Factory in Howell, Michigan. When Brandon was a teenager, he began working at a number of small town establishments where he fell in love with cooking. At age 16, he competed in his first culinary competition with the American Culinary Federation, led by coach and mentor, Chef Scott Swamba. After graduating high school early, Brandon left rural Michigan to chase his dreams in the big city, where he waited outside Alain Ducasse at The Essex House day after day before getting hired. After working through the restaurants closure, he transitioned to Eleven Madison Park, before moving to California to work in the kitchens at The French Laundry, Benu and Redd. Presently, Brandon is an Executive Private Chef in the Silicon Valley. Throughout his career he has come to understand that true American cuisine is defined by the many different cultures that have migrated together and he strives to represent these flavors in his dining experiences.
Chef Justin Sutherland
Growing up in Saint Paul, MN, Justin Sutherland spent his childhood in the kitchen watching his mother and grandmother cook, as well as his favorite TV show, “Yan Can Cook”. For his fifth birthday, Justin asked for and received an Easy Bake Oven. All of these things together, inspired him to pursue his passion and develop his career, centered on food and family.
He opened his first restaurant, the Handsome Hog in Lowertown, Saint Paul, and quickly gained a reputation for excellence, noticed not only locally, but also nationally. An opportunity to appear on “Iron Chef America” resulted in his defeat of Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli of Butter NYC, and another call to compete on “Bravo’s Top Chef Season 16”.
Sutherland currently owns and operates; Handsome Hog, , Ox Cart Arcade & Rooftop, Gray Duck Tavern, O’Bachan Japanese Fried Chicken & Noodles and Chickpea Hummus Bar. He is the culinary consultant for the MN United at Allianz Field.
Accolades & Awards
Named Outstanding Chef at the 2019 Charlie Awards.
Pearl & the Thief named one of the Best New Restaurants 2018 by Minneapolis St Paul Magazine
Handsome Hog named one of the 50 Best Restaurants 2019 by Minneapolis St Paul Magazine
Chef Caitlin Steininger
Chef Caitlin Steininger grew up in Cincinnati, OH in a household full of great food with parents that enjoyed entertaining. She began baking before she could see over the counter and making complete meals by the age of 10. Cooking quickly turned into passion and Caitlin honed her culinary prowess with classic French training at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago. An independent spirit, Caitlin started a website and brand with her sister called Cooking with Caitlin, which features recipes, video demos and podcasts at just 19 years old. For years, Caitlin traveled all over the United States and internationally to Italy feeding and entertaining guests at intimate pop-up events. During this time she was named one of Cincinnati’s “40 Under 40” and featured in Food Network Magazine as “Young and Hungry; Upcoming Food Stars to Watch”.
In March 2017, Caitlin opened CWC, the Restaurant, as a natural extension of the food-focused Cooking with Caitlin brand. The restaurant landed among Cincinnati Magazine’s Best New Restaurant List. In 2018, Caitlin competed in Top Chef Season 16 before coming home and opening her second restaurant, Station Family + BBQ. Most recently, getting to work with the love of her life Brian Young, assisting as a Pastry Chef for his new restaurant Dear Restaurant + Butchery. A mother of four, Chef Caitlin is a mercenary for food experiences, a lover of the community and a devotee of Cincinnati eats.
Chef Brian Young
Chef Brian Young spent his young childhood in New Hampshire and his formative years in Nashville, TN. Young sought to express himself creatively, as both a chef and a musician, from an early age. After years of cooking Barbecue at historic BB King’s Blues Club and as a touring musician, he decided on a culinary career path. He attended New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT where he graduated with a degree in Culinary Arts.
After graduation, Young traveled west to Big Sur, CA and his first high intensity fine dining restaurant job at Sierra Mar at the prestigious Post Ranch Inn. Young returned to his New England roots beginning as a Sous Chef in Saint Albans, VT before moving to Boston as Executive Sous Chef at Harvest Restaurant, Executive Chef at Citizen Public House and Oyster Bar, Co-Chef at Townsman alongside friend and mentor Chef Matthew Jennings, Chef de Cuisine at Cultivar, and now Executive Chef at Dear Restaurant & Butchery in Cincinnati, OH.
Young was named “30 Under 30,” by Zagat, has been featured on Food Network, at The James Beard House, and as a regular installment at Cochon 555 events around the United States as a participant and a judge. In 2019, He was a contestant on ‘Bravo Top Chef’ Kentucky – Season 16.
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