Oenophilic Tendencies
Top food and wine pairings of the year
By Jeannine Sano


Good food makes me crave good wine. Good wine makes me crave good food. Thank goodness for all of the talented chefs and sommeliers who so adeptly satisfy those cravings and inspire us to try our hand at some pairings of our own.

1. Foie gras-shellfish consommé with Kamoizumi Junmai Daiginjo sake: chef David Kinch and sommelier Jeff Bareilles, Manresa
Kinch’s creations are always sublime, with nuances and flavors that surprise and delight, and always work together flawlessly. He paints with a palette of French, Spanish and Japanese techniques as effortlessly as a child playing with crayons – if that child were Picasso. The challenge, however, is to complement such diverse ingredients and spices with wine. Bareilles selected an aromatic cold sake to pair with this magnificent elevation of a casual Japanese shabu-shabu soup with a slice of glistening foie gras.

2. Indian-spiced lamb with a Santa Cruz Syrah: chef David Kinch and sommelier Jeff Bareilles, Manresa
Although I enjoy lamb, it is not necessarily my preferred red meat. Similarly, I like Indian cuisine, but it is not my favorite ethnic fare. While I love Syrah, I tend to find those made outside the Rhone Valley to be rather clunky and cloying. Until I tried Kinch’s Indian-spiced lamb with a glass of local Syrah selected by Bareilles, that is. I was so wrong on all counts. As much as I enjoy Kinch’s evolving menu, I cannot help but wish that this stellar pairing would make a comeback at some point soon.

3. Boudin Blanc with Italian beer: chef Mark Sullivan and sommelier Andrew Fidelman, Spruce
Even if you are unable to score a table at the perennially hot Spruce in Presidio Heights, you can still enjoy Sullivan’s haute comfort fare at the bar. The boudin blanc with red cabbage sauerkraut is one of my all-time favorite dishes whether I’m seated at one of the white-tablecloth tables in the dining room or bellied up to the varnished counter. Fidelman’s selected pairing for the dish is Nora, a dry, herbaceous ale with a hint of ginger, from Italy. The rich taste and heady scent of this refined ale, reminiscent of a mineraly white Burgundy, serve to enhance every rich and spicy dimension of the boudin blanc.

4. Goat cheese with Madeira: chef Daniel Patterson and sommelier Paul Einbund, Coi (with guest star Soyoung Scanlan)
Adept at choosing the best of the best and still demanding more in order to offer his diners the finest, Patterson’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies are beautifully displayed in this elegant preparation of aged, hard goat cheese called Etude from Andante Dairy, accented with baby radicchio, preserved dates and toasted walnuts. The bittersweet radicchio, perfumed dates and crunchy walnuts echo and mimic the flavors of the magnificent cheese, without overpowering any of its perfect flavor profile. Just as you begin to think nothing could make this dish better, Einbund steps in with a Madeira from Rare Wine Company, the Historic Series Charleston Sercial. I am still dreaming about this perfect Coda to Patterson’s 11-course tasting menu.

5. Chocolate ganache with California sweet vermouth combined with 1979 Pedro Ximenez Sherry: pastry chef Carlos Salgado and sommelier Paul Einbund, Coi
This oddball combination blew me away, conceptually and sensually. As if the silky Michel Cluizel chocolate were not decadent enough, Einbund plays with the flavors by combining aged sherry with sweet vermouth as a pairing, somehow resulting in a mouthful of cherry-chocolate truffle flavor. Things are never boring at Coi, down to the last bite, and drink, of dessert.

6. Grass-fed beef sliders with Huber Cellars Dornfelder: chef Bruce Hill and sommelier Sarah Knoefler, Picco
I have been a Bruce Hill groupie since I first tasted his sesame-soy tuna tartare with Asian pear on crunchy, sticky rice blini back at Oritalia over a decade ago, a dish that I still enjoy at his delightful Larkspur restaurant, Picco. Hill’s burgers, offered at the glitzy Bix Restaurant, are infamous (even Gourmet editor and former New York Times critic, Ruth Reichl, waxed poetic about them), but he offers a miniature version at Picco, decorated with caramelized onions and Point Reyes blue cheese. Knoefler, whose disarming demeanor makes wine fun and never intimidating, pairs an unusual German red varietal, Dornfelder, made by a Santa Rita Hills winery, with these delectable, adorable creations.

7. Marin pizza piadine with Rocket Man salad and Les Domaniers Rosé: chef Bruce Hill and sommelier Sarah Knoefler, Pizzeria Picco
At both Picco and the Pizzeria, Hill is supported by a team of talented cooks led by chef Chris Whaley and sous chef Jared Rogers (who is responsible for the house-cured salumi at the Pizzeria and the risotto made from scratch every half hour at Picco). Knoefler’s Bacchus touch is also apparent in the thoughtful, more affordable wine list at the Pizzeria. On weekends, if you are lucky enough, Ulysses, a young breadmaker, may make your pizza. The charred yet elastic crust is hauntingly delicious. The Marin is a white pizza with roasted potatoes and garlic. The piadine is a pizza topped with a salad. One of my all-time favorite combinations is the Marin as a piadine with Rocket Man, a salad of baby arugula dressed with sweet olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. Knoefler, who loves rosé wine, always offers two or three different rosés at the Pizzeria. The Provençal rosé, Les Domaniers, is the ideal pairing for this decadent pizza. Add an afternoon of Larkspur sunshine to the mix, and perhaps some Straus soft serve ice cream drizzled with olive oil to top it off, and life can’t get better.

8. Fish & chips with artisanal brew: Piccadilly and BevMo
Amusingly, the best English pub-style fish and chips in the City are made by a couple of Korean women in a hole-in-the-wall shop on Polk Street. The only thing that can make the melt-in-your-mouth crispy golden-fried, moist white fish and thick cut fluffy chips taste better is the appropriate beverage. Try Damnation, a spicy, yeasty, golden Belgian-style pale ale from the Russian River Brewing Company, available at BevMo.

9. Xiu Mai Vietnamese sandwich with German Riesling: Saigon Sandwich Shop and sommelier Alex Fox, formerly of Myth
I have been addicted to Vietnamese sandwiches ever since chef Joel Huff, formerly of Silk’s, gave me a taste of the version he had for staff meals. Luckily I found that combination of sweetly pickled carrots, spicy jalapeno and lush meatball on a chewy French roll at a cramped sandwich shop on Larkin Street. Just look for the line of people spilling out of Saigon Sandwich Shop. Since the sandwich will set you back less than three bucks before tip, try splurging on a bottle of Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett (about $25). I will be forever indebted to Fox for introducing me to that lovely wine, redolent of petrol, honey, grass, orange peel, and macadamia nuts.

10. Pork chop with Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc: chef Laurence Jossel and sommelier Jeff Hanak, Nopa
Even though anything pork generally makes my heart go pitter pat, pork chops were never terribly exciting – until I tried Jossel’s version. Juicy, flavorful and downright porky, accompanied by grilled peaches and arugula salad. The Tablas Creek white Rhone-style wine from Paso Robles, among the series of very reasonably priced half bottles included in Hanak’s well-conceived wine list, maximizes the impact of this very satisfying dish.

Now I’m hungry … and thirsty.

E-mail: jeannine@northsidesf.com