LENNDEVOURS

Wine Chick Wednesday: I'm in a New York State of Disconnect

We New Yorkers are a weird bunch.

To start, we can’t even agree on what being a New Yorker means. A former NYC resident myself, I always found it beyond comical that NY1 would devote an entire 60 seconds to the “World Beyond New York” – be it Long Island, Louisiana or Lithuania, it was all the same upon exit from the five boroughs. Is that, then, the true New York?

Not likely. Despite the heavy tax-base and votership in that small speck of real estate, the rest of the state ends up feeling neglected and overlooked. For example, when I first moved to New YorkCity, I was astounded to see how few wine shops and restaurants carried Long Island wines.

Not much had changed when I found myself working in such a shop five years later; the owners swore the wines would never sell because no one knew them or trusted them. Sadly, such proclamations were more often true than not and it was only the daring customer who would take my Long Island recommendations. I found it surreal that consumers would trust wines hailing from entirely different hemispheres over those from their geographical backyard.

This question of New York viniferal loyalty was further compounded by my move to Buffalo.

Sure, I’m from Long Island, but I’ve lived in both NYC and the Hudson Valley (I skipped the Finger Lakes, but give me time...). I almost innately found myself turning my nose up at local wines without ever having tried them. “They’re from Lockport..." I'd sigh. "How good can they be?"

While I’m certainly not writing this to boast one area over another, I’ve come to find it quite curious that we don’t band together more as an entire state. We’ve got an uphill battle here, folks. California is out-fruit-bombing us, France is out-prestiging us, South American is under-pricing us, and Italy is out-experimenting us.

New York, my fellow/femellow (which, by the way, is the new moniker attached to cool chicks like myself) bloggers can testify, produces fantastic wines when the winemakers do not attempt to coerce them into being something they’re not. It damn near breaks my heart every time I taste an overly oaked NY Chardonnay. Why is this happening?!

Local With Local: Seared Peconic Bay Scallops with Wolffer Estate 2003 Estate Selection Chardonnay

Our little Local With Local project kicks off 2008 with another recipe from chef Doug Gulija from The Plaza Cafe in Southampton. This time around, we've paired a popular East End delicacy, Peconic Bay scallops, with a deliciously balanced barrel fermented 2003 Estate Selection Chardonnay from Wolffer Estate. As always, a big thanks goes out to by chef Doug and Ellen Watson, the photographic talent behind the above picture.

This is a terrific combo and I'm proud to say that this menu item is currently on the menu at the restaurant. Recipe behind the jump.

Local With Local: Grilled Strawberry-Duck-Goat Cheese Pizza with Corey Creek Vineyards 2006 Rose

This edition of the "Local With Local" project I've started has me working again with chef Doug Gulija from The Plaza Cafe in Southampton. This time, I'm even more excited because the dish truly was a collaborative effort.

I wanted to highlight Corey Creek Vineyards's 2006 Rose, which has been Nena's favorite rose this summer. I was served a strawberry goat cheese mousse at a rose launch party earlier in the summer, so I suggested that to chef as a starting point. He wanted to do something grilled, because he likes rose with grilled fare and the next thing you know, we had come up with this pizza.

Recipe after the jump...

May's Local with Local Pairing

The goal of my new "Local with Local" series is to not only show how well Long Island food goes with Long Island wine, but also to make it easier for people to try putting the two together at home.

For our inaugural pairing, I've worked with Doug Gulija of Plaza Cafe to put together a delectable spring offering. I told him that I wanted to focus on sauvignon blanc--specifically the latest vintage from Channing Daughters Winery and this is what he came up with. He's known for his masterful work with seafood, and this looks delicious (even to someone who doesn't eat much seafood).

The dish is  Sauteed Local Monkfish Medallions with Baby Grilled Asparagus and Sorrel Hollandaise and it was inspired by the local sorrel Doug found at a local farm stand. And, Doug tells me that he's planning to put this on the menu, and while he doesn't have the 2006 CDW Sauvignon Blanc on his list, he does have the 2005 right now.

The recipe is available by clicking on the "Continue reading..." link below. The picture of this month's dish was taken by Ellen Watson.

Local With Local: Doug Gulija from Plaza Cafe

I first met Doug Gulija at a chardonnay vertical tasting at Wolffer Estate a couple years ago. He came right up and introduced himself to me and throughout the tasting, I was impressed by his palate as well as his dedication to Long Island wines--both in his personal life and and at his restaurant.

You may remember that when LENNDEVOURS was celebrating it's 3rd birthday a little over a month ago I mentioned that I wanted to work with some local chefs on some special food and wine pairings that bring together the best of Long Island's seasonal ingredients with local wines. We'll call it our "Local With Local" project.

Well, I'm happy to say that Chef Gulija has agreed to sign on as my chef of the month for May. He is chef and proprietor of the award-winning restaurant The Plaza Café, located in Southampton, New York. The Plaza Cafe is known as a premier destination for seafood lovers and has been awarded three stars (Excellent) by the New York Times. The Plaza Café has also been awarded an Award of Excellence by the Wine Spectator in 2001.

Chef Gulija has been selected by the James Beard House to cook at the annual Chefs and Champagne in 1999, 2002 and 2006 where the Guests of Honor have been Julia Child, Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller.  This has lead to an invitation to cook at the James Beard House in Manhattan.

Over the course of his career, Chef Gulija has cooked over seas at The Grand Vefour in Paris, the InterContintental Hotel in his homeland of Croatia as well as studying abroad in Spain and Japan.

Later this month, chef and I will announce our wine pairing of the month.