There are wine rooms and there are wine rooms.
The one at Monarch is a stunner, couched behind two glass doors and a double phalanx of wine bottles; Frank Papa’s is downstairs and is loaded with more magnums than an Eastwood flick; and SleeK’s wine room--may it rest in peace--was draped in long, gauzy curtains that forced onlookers to bob, weave, and use a squinty eye to see who was cached within.
Then there’s The Wine Room at The Ritz Carlton.
The Ritz has a wine room, you ask? Indeed. Let me tell you about it…it will be my pleasure. (Sound familiar?)
A nondescript sidebar on the Ritz website claims “the city's largest dine-in wine cellar.” There is one photo of The Wine Room (above), but no hint at how exclusive the room really is. One gains entry only through the main kitchen—literally--a long but engaging stroll through the hotel’s inner sanctum, a puzzle of prep rooms and hallways fashioned, we suspect, by whatever beings designed those crazy corn mazes. The sheer size of the labyrinth will impress, as will the realization of just how many bodies it takes to make the Ritz, the Ritz.
Then, out of nowhere, will appear a pair of frosted glass doors with grapevine handles. People don’t know about it because it’s so well-concealed. The average restaurant snooper--no matter how nosy--could never discover it unattended.
Last night, a group of 40 diners participated in the first inaugural “Dining Duels in The Wine Room,” the creation of its two participating chefs, Azhar Mohammad, Exec Chef of the Ritz since October 2010; and Ben Poremba of Salume Beddu, co-owner of the city’s first high-end salumeria. Although both chefs used the same set of ingredients to prepare the 4-course dinner, this was not so much a “duel” as a collaboration of two chefs who recently became friends.
The only competition was one of cooking style, as the theme for the dinner was “classical” vs. “rustic,” with guests voting course by course for their preferred preparation and presentation. (The former was favored by a slim margin).
High-scoring dishes were the “rustic” bay scallop and eggplant ceviche, the first course of the evening; and the “classic” baby octopus cooked sous-vide, charred, set atop fennel confit and an absolutely silky sunchoke puree, ringed by dribs of pink grapefruit emulsion. (And how ironic that accomplished food photog Greg Rannells was in attendance, but eating and judging rather than shooting.)
The next “duel” will be in late March, pitting “Mid-East vs Far-East.” After that, it’s “The Big Apple vs The Big Easy” and then “Bistro vs Trattoria.”
Contact Ritz F&B Director James Cole at 863-6300 or james.cole@ritzcarlton.com for reservations and more information. And be sure of one thing--it will be his pleasure...
