We will be hosting our first wine dinner on Sunday, February 27. Planned in cooperation between Bellflower Chef Dan Klenotic and Bellflower Sommelier Jenn Lucier, this will be the first time the two have collaborated on a complete start-to-finish menu, and we’re super excited to share what they’ve come up with.
What we have planned isn’t your traditional wine dinner. We’ll be tasting multiple wines with each course, as Lucier and other members of our staff casually visit each table to discuss the bottles that we’ve selected, the food we’ve prepared, and the way all of the various elements work together.
As for why we’re doing it this way, the answer is simple. When we brought the staff together to talk about the possibility of a wine event, everyone agreed that they didn’t like the generally accepted wine dinner format of “one course, one wine”. We had a different vision. We wanted to load up tables with incredible food, and pour multiple glasses of wine at the same time, so that people can try the same dishes with different wines, and really start to see how the food and the wine work together. We wanted people to walk away from this experience feeling as though they’d not only had a great meal, but actually learned something about their own palates, and what they enjoy.
This more approachable and interactive format resonated with Lucier, who says that she and her fellow sommeliers drink wine this way when they cook for one another, with every guest bringing a different bottle to share. “People are often caught up in specific rules, like only drinking red wine with meat, or white wine with seafood, and it doesn’t have to be that stringent,” Lucier says. “And I’m hoping this approach will break down some of the pretension surrounding wine pairings, allowing people to look at things from a different perspective. It should also give us the opportunity to interact more with our guests, hear their reactions to the pairings, and have a conversation about food and wine, and how they work together.”
Over the course of the dinner, we will each be trying 7 incredible wines from around the world, as well as a special cocktail prepared by the Bellflower bar staff. Over the coming days, we will be sharing more by way of our social media accounts, but here’s a first glimpse of our working menu, which focuses primarily on duck.
- Chilled oysters.
- Duck and sausage gumbo with Carolina gold rice. Toasted rye bread with butter and syrup.
- Smoked and roasted duck. Pan-fried shrimp and turnip cakes with oyster sauce and hot chili oil.
- Sell Farm romaine with hot duck fat.
- Sticky toffee pudding cake.
The per-person ticket price for this entire meal, including wine, is $125. Seating is limited, and will start on a rolling basis at 5:00.
Visit our website and tell us what time you would like to join us. We are requiring that a $25 non-refundable deposit be paid per-ticket at the time the reservation is made, with the balance being due at the time of the event. (Gratuity not included.)
One last thing…. In case it hasn’t already occurred to you, this would make a wonderful Valentine’s gift!
[To reserve your table now, just go to the “choose a menu” tab on our “order online” page, and select “Bellflower Supper & Wine Event” from the dropdown menu.]