Bluefin Bay Grille is always a wonderful place to dine, with its view of Lake Superior and the excellent food. But Bluefin’s Wine & Food Lovers Weekend is extra special. Far left: Everything about the weekend is elegant, including the wines and liquors offered with the five-course dinners. Left: People travel from thousands of miles—or just a few miles, like Paula Sundet Wolf and her husband, John Wolf, of Lutsen.
The food and wine lovers who participated in the Bluefin Bay Food & Wine Lovers weekend in May are no doubt wondering when they can return for another delightful event. However, the spring 2011 gathering will be hard to top.
Guests knew, from the first sip of the amuse—a buttery spring asparagus soup served in a delicate glass— that the evening was going to be something special. With the soup, Wine Sommelier Stuart Sutherland, of Johnson Brothers Wine Company, served a sweet St. Germain [an elderflower liquor] and Prosecco Cocktail.
The next course, an interesting assortment of herbs and lettuce, with roasted beets, citrus, and Chèvre, had a slight licorice taste and paired perfectly with the Wattle Creek sauvignon blanc from Mendocino, California.
The third course was swordfish, red wine braised beef, morels and wild ramps [leeks], which Chef Kevin Kathman dubbed “surf and turf.” It was served with a Clifford Bay Pinot Noir of New Zealand, which Sutherland explained was a bit unusual. But again, it was an excellent match to the delicate meats.
Next was a tasting of pork, squash, sunchoke, apple and just a hint of vanilla, served with Sebastiani zinfandel from Sonoma—a perfect complement to the pork.
Before dessert, Sutherland and Kathman, executive chef of one of the Twin City’s most romantic restaurants, Barbette, shared their technique for finding the perfect pairing. Kathman said he and Sutherland got together and opened “about 100 bottles of wine” and worked on the pairings.
Sutherland explained they had done something different—they first picked the wine and then the food.
It worked fabulously, as was demonstrated by the final course, a pineapple mango upside-down cake with a macadamia nut crunchy topping served with a decadent Peter Lehman Botrytis Semillon, an Australian “sticky dessert wine.”
In addition to a wonderful meal, guests at the May Wine & Food Lovers Weekend had the opportunity to learn about wine and food pairings from talented chefs and wine sommelier Stuart Sutherland of Johnson Brothers Wine Company. Sutherland (far left) discusses the evening’s offerings with Brian Maxwell, Candace Maxwell, Tara Helms and James Helms.
A perfect finish to a wonderful evening of wine sampling.
The next Food & Wine Lovers Weekend will be November 4 – 5, 2011, but fine dining can be enjoyed at Bluefin Grille all year long. Call (218) 663-6200 for reservations or information.
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