Tom Brady is a legendary quarterback, but would he have tied Joe
Montana and Terry Bradshaw for most Super Bowl wins if he’d brought your nephew’s
pop warner team to the game?
Think about it. What makes a
restaurant great? A savvy owner? An incredible chef? An awesome team? Or
perhaps an elusive magic combination…
My intention was to write a
post about the incredible meal we had the other night at
Tsillan Cellars, Sorrento’s
Restaurant Winemaker’s Dinner, but something far
more memorable than a meal
happened here…and that was a dining experience. As I mentioned in a previous posting, taste
is maybe 50% of an overall meal- (unless the taste is awful – then it is 100%).
Taste is essential, yes, but there is so much more to a dining experience…
The third Friday of the month during the off-season,
Tsillan Cellars closes its restaurant Sorrento’s, and hosts a Winemaker’s
Dinner. These events consist of five-course
meals, complete with their perfectly paired wines. They are fun evenings filled with laughter,
in very relaxed surroundings. The hosts strive to both educate and entertain
the guests. Dave Moore, the Restaurant Manager, introduces each new course,
upon which Shae Collins, the Head Winemaker, briefly explains and describes each
accompanying wine. (Dave is soon to be General Manager of all of Tsillan Cellars,
after Ken Cain the current GM retires to the Coeur D’Alene area this March). See this link under “events” for exact dates
and menu. http://www.tsillancellars.com
So let me take a step back and tell you about
this night. First of all, Jacque and I almost
begged out twice: once on account of the weather, and second when I had a
client appointment run past 5:00 on a Friday evening, knowing we had a dinner
an hour away in Lake Chelan at 6:00. We
called our friends Steve and Carol Palmbush and told them to just get a table and
we would be joining them probably into the second or maybe third of five
courses. Not the smoothest start, you might say.
Upon arrival we were
immediately greeted by Bob Jankelson the owner of Tsillan
Cellars. This was not because
we are frequent guests or really good customers;
this is simply because that
is who Bob is. Every time I see Bob at
Tsillan Cellars, I am reminded of how important it is to love what you are
doing.
Bob has an infectious smile,
and warmly greets his guests, making everyone feel welcomed and appreciated. He is the epitome of “gracious host”. Their
website refers to him as the “Owner” and “Designer”. I think of him more as the
“Visionary” and “Leader”. You can see
and feel the Bob Jankelson vision from the second you drive thru the iron gates
of the winery, and you sense it in every interaction with his staff. I don’t know if he has a written policy which
says “if you are not going to love being here, don’t come to work” – what a great
SOP (standard operating procedure) - but the entire environment testifies that
that’s the case nonetheless.
At our setting we found a beautiful
vegan cannoli, the cannoli filling uniquely wrapped in eggplant. What a pleasant
treat to awaken our taste buds! While not expecting it, Dave brought out to us
the first official course which everyone else had already completed.
Bless Dave. While every
course was great, this first one was my favorite so I’m really grateful I didn’t
miss it.
This first course consisted
of a ricotta and mascarpone ravioli, jumbo tiger prawn - (Jacque got my prawn),
Puttanesca sauce, and charred kumquat.
This was just a brilliantly selected combination of flavors! While I was not familiar with what exactly Puttanesca
sauce was, I loved the brininess that the capers brought to the dish complimented
by the kalamata olives. The tri-color
mascarpone ravioli stood alone in flavor and texture, while combining well with
the sauce. One last point about the Puttanesca
– I would bet that you could ask 70% of the folks who enjoyed it about the
anchovies, and they would respond with “What anchovies?” But had the anchovies been missing, the dish
would have missed. The charring of the kumquats
intensified the sweetness of the skin giving a great contrast to the capers,
olives, garlic and anchovies in the sauce.
Here is a Food Network link to making a good Puttanesca sauce:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/puttanesca-sauce-recipe.html .
The wine paired with the
first dish was the 2014 Estate Viognier which was delicious. The tasting notes suggest a hint of tangerine
which is probably what made it such a great accompaniment.
The food wasn’t the only
treat. We have all had good and bad waiters at some point. It was between the first and second courses
when I was again reminded that everyone at Tsillan Cellars loves coming to
work. Arturo, (who I later found out
actually trained Dave the soon to be GM on how to be a waiter), was transitioning
us to our new wine and you could just feel the pride he had. I learned a long time ago that everyone,
regardless of their position, deserves to be thanked for their service and
addressed by their name. When I thanked Arturo for my fresh glass of wine, he
thanked me back with confidence, and with an obvious recognition that what he
was doing was much more than just serving, but rather being part of an
experience, and in this case Bob Jankelson’s vision. A bad waiter can ruin the best tasting meal.
Our second course was Italian
sweet squash supper soup: butternut squash, cranberry beans,
farro, spinach,
onions, pancetta, and soppressata – which is dry Italian salami. The wine pairing was 2012 Estate Sinistra. Tsillan Sinistra is consistently one of my
and Jacque’s favorite Tsillan Cellars wines, and is a go-to in our household
whenever looking for a wine to accompany Italian food. It is a super Tuscan style blend of 40%
Barbera ~ 40% Sangiovese ~ 12% Merlot ~ 8% Syrah. Excellent. The evening was
progressing wonderfully in terms of both our pallet and the company.
It is not just Bob that makes
everyone feel welcomed or who has an infectious personality at Tsillan Cellars.
Ken Cain, the current General Manager, also does a great job making sure
everyone is having a good time and is enjoying themselves. It is absolutely natural and genuine in how
Ken made his way around the room in between courses visiting every table at least
once. Like the different ingredients combining for the best flavors, the
Tsillian team members were effortlessly synchronizing to bring the best overall
guest experience.
Our third course was seared
pacific halibut, lobster risotto, Meyer lemon compound butter,
sweet red baby
peppers. For someone who does not eat
pork or shellfish…the halibut was great.
Jacque, Steve and Carol all loved the lobster risotto. The pairing on this course was their 2014
Estate Chardonnay. The butteriness of the
Chardonnay enhanced and prepared the pallet for the compound butter on the
halibut. Genius.
The main entrée was filet mignon,
red wine and juniper demi-glace, oven roasted vegetables, and stuffed mushrooms
paired with again one of our favorites, their
Bellissima Rossa. Shae the Wine Maker opted for the not yet
released 2013 Estate Bellissima Rossa.
Kudos for his bravery and confidence in a young wine to be paired with
the main course. It was a little young
in complexity, but still very worthy of its positioning on the menu, and is
worthy of a purchase of a case or two to cellar and let age.
Finally, this gorgeous meal
was crowned with a dessert which was nothing short of awesome! Homemade truffles, freshstrawberries and
cream, paired with both a white and a red wine.
The white was the 2014 Estate Gewurztraminer,
and the red was 2012 Estate Reserve Syrah.
It is not unusual at the end
of an event like this to have the chef come out and take a bow. I have even
seen some of the kitchen staff come out
for a 30 second bow, then back to rowing.
As an indication of great things to come with Dave as the new General
Manager and a further extension of Bob’s vision of the Tsillan Cellars
experience, Dave had the whole restaurant crew come out.
Rather than just a bow, Dave
took a minute and spoke about every single member of the team and the
importance of the various roles they played.
From who they affectionately refer to as Mama doing everything from
dishes to food prep, to their high school senior Levi who started as a busboy
and is now the kitchen expeditor, and of course Arturo the waiter who he credited
with teaching him the ropes early on.
The lesson was obvious: If you value your team members, they will bring
value to the team.
So I’m not sure who the Tom
Brady of Sorrento’s or Tsillan Cellars is.
Is it the visionary and leader in every sense of the word, Dr. Bob
Jankelson? Is it Ken the retiring General Manager? In the restaurant’s case, is
it the Chef of only seven weeks? Has
Dave already started to call the plays?
Or perhaps the only and best explanation for our memorable experience is that the quarterback in
this specific case wasn’t one person at all, but rather the entire Tsillan team
who clearly love to come to work each day.
