of local wine tastings will both be held this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, it's the St. Louis Food and Wine Experience (a major fund raiser for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), held at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Five hundred wines will be available for tasting and purchase. Highly recommended--and less hectic--is the Reserve Room, where an additional 130 wines (and some very good food) will be offered. Bring a credit card ... case prices are generally good at this event.
In addition, several guest chefs will be on hand. The local notables:
* "Chef" Tony LaRussa will be mixing up a batch of chili, his "favorite vegetarian recipe."
* Chef Christina Machamer, who took a break from culinary school to compete in—and win--Hell's Kitchen Season 4, will be cooking a root vegetable risotto and a tarte tatin.
Sidebar: Machamer is now 3 months into her one-year stint as Exec. Sous Chef at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood Hotel. When asked how it was going, she commented that "it's good ... a much quicker pace than here ... but double the hours than I thought." (Welcome to the restaurant biz, Christina.) When the gig ends in October, she may look east to New York. In the meantime, she and boyfriend Cory are ready to soft-launch BCBC Blends here in St. Louis, a collection of micro-batch, certified organic spice blends and marinades. Look for BCBC products in local gourmet markets soon and farmer's markets in the Spring. (If you must know, BCBC is a nonsensical name meaning "brown chicken, brown cow.")
OK, back to the "David" event:
This Sunday, at Robust, the new Nicholson Jones Selections wines will be available for tasting. NJS was started by St. Louis winemaker Cal Nicholson and his wife Pam Jones (first vintage: 2003). To date, their offerings have been meaty Cabs and Cab blends, high-end but affordable wines ($15 to $37 retail) that until now have only been available at Robust. Sunday’s tasting will give restaurateurs and other retailers an opportunity to taste and order NJS' new wines, including its first Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. NJS winemaker Julien Fayard will be on hand as well. The tasting is complimentary and open to the public but attendance is limited. RSVP to info@robustwinebar.com or 314 963-0033. –- George Mahe
