L'Etoile's vegetarian feast.

Madison.

Despite his deep love for bacon, Tory Miller excels at vegetarian cooking. Of course, it appears that he's now discovered a fine vegetarian alternative to that bit of cured, smoked pork belly: smoked maitake (hen-of-the-woods) mushrooms. They're lovely. You see, last night was a special dinner at L'Etoile, pairing vegetarian cuisine with some great wines from California's Central Coast. Before, these sorts of dinners had been a way to highlight specific producers, which generally means it'll focus on meat, like Fountain Prairie's beef or Willow Creek's pork.

This is a problem for vegetarians. On any given night, the restaurant will certainly have a vegetarian entree, often more complex than the meat-based dishes that share the menu. When the kitchen is racing to feed sixty people in one sitting, however, deviating from the menu becomes impossible.¹ There's no shortage of vegetarians who support local agriculture and like a good meal, though, so this was an event long in coming.

Our host for the evening was Michael Kwas, L'Etoile's wine director, a man well-versed in his trade. He'd done his research, and provided not only a fine selection of wines to match each course, but was able to offer a wealth of background information on the wines and the region. Soil: shallow with lots of limestone. Climate: hot during the day, but cooling off quickly in the evening due to the ocean air flowing from the Pacific. Traditional wine-producing region it's most like: the Rhone valley. Hence the group of winemakers referring to themselves as 'The Rhone Rangers'.

The meal itself lasted three hours or so, which was a good thing, given all the food and wine we were polishing off.² The menu we were given looked like:

Tonight's Opening Wine:
Laetitia XD Sparkling Wine, Méthode Champenoise, Arroyo Grande Valley
served with
Amuse Bouche

Second Wine:
2005 Jaffurs Viognier, Santa Barbara County
served with
Wilted Shooting Star Farm Frisée Salad of Applewood-Smoked Wild Mushrooms, Sylvetta, Croutons, Poached Egg, and a Dijon Mustard & Red Wine Vinaigrette

Third Wine:
2003 Renard Rousanne, Santa Ynez Valley
served with
Roasted Garden To Be Kuri Squash Ravioli Sautéed in Brown Butter and finished with Toasted Pine Nuts and Hidden Springs Fresh Sheep's Milk Cheese

Fourth Wine:
2004 Talley Vineyards Pinot Noir, Arroyo Grande Valley
served with
Roasted Blue Moon Farm Baby Beets with Fantôme Farm Chèvre Flan and Balsamic Reduction

Fifth Wine:
2003 Tablas Creek Vineyard, Esprit de Beaucastel, Paso Robles
served with
JenEhr Napa Cabbage filled with Braised Lentils, accompanied by Autumn Vegetable Ragoût, Celery Root Puree, Crispy Shallot Rings and finished with Zinfandel Jus

Dessert Course:
Future Fruit Moonglow Pear Tart Tatin with Cinnamon Ice Cream

A few small items weren't included on the menu:

• The hickory nut crackers with goat cheese that precede every meal at L'Etoile were there, of course, a tradition from when Odessa Piper ran the kitchen. Hickory nuts were one of her very favorite things, and Tory hasn't changed a thing since he took over.³
  
  
• The amuse-bouche was a wonderful little cupful of mushroom consomme with sage gnocchi. Intense, enough that a bowl of it would have been a bit much, but perfect as just a few spoonfuls.
  
  
• Post-dessert, little plates arrived with mignardises: a miniature chocolate truffle; a shortbread thumbprint cookie with raspberry jam; and a sweet version of the hickory nut cracker. Three very tiny (but flavorful) bites.

There was a lot to enjoy about this meal. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to think of anything I would change, so I'll just mention a few of favorite bits:

• The viognier - second wine - was intensely aromatic. Perfume-shop, bowl-you-over intense, full of fascinating fruit aromas. The one I can still recall is pineapple-like smell, but soft around the edges and bleeding into other tropical fruits. You didn't even need to drink it to appreciate it.
  
  
• To go with the viognier was the best dish of the night, the salad with smoked mushrooms and poached egg. We joked about Tory slipping some bacon in when no one was looking; it was a very similar flavor. It lacked a little of the sweetness (and the distinct, cured pork-ness) of real bacon, but the effect was phenomenal. Add in the richness of the poached egg and a light hand on the vinaigrette, and this was, hands-down, the star of the evening. Given how impressive the rest of the dinner was, that really means something.
  
  As Sharon put it: "I think I want a poached egg on everything from now on."
  
  Incidentally, Tory's getting a lot of play out of those smoked maitakes these days. Lifted from the restaurant's regular menu for this week:
  

  Smoked Hen-of-the-Woods Mushroom and Roasted Fairy Pumpkin Risotto blended with Hidden Springs Fresh Sheep Milk and served with Braised Driftless Organics Kale, an Autumn Vegetable Ragoût and Ela Orchard Cider Reduction

• The beet and chèvre salad was delightful, a more sophisticated version of one of my favorite lunch salads. I usually just make a pile of beet slices, add some chèvre or brebis, olive oil, salt and pepper, and consider it a meal. The flan, though, was so light and airy, a soft, melting texture with a flavor that was a softened take on the usual punch of goat cheese.
  
  
• The pinot noir was also a delicious wine. It's a tough wine to pick out at the liquor store, since the quality can be all over the map. Here, though, was an obvious winner, intense and sensuous and everything you'd want from this grape.
  
  
• Just a little note, but I'm sure it was intentional: if you pay attention as you read the menu, you'll note that each course reads as [wine] served with [food]. It underscores the idea that wine is meant to be consumed with food, that it's at its most enjoyable that way. A small detail, but I like it.

* * * * *

¹And the list of vegetarians willing to throw their support behind, say, beef farmers is a short one.

²I hadn't realized this, but when you're at L'Etoile for a meal that includes a flight of wines in the price, an empty glass means they'll just fill it up again if you're not looking. This is the point during the meal when I'm very glad the car's sitting at home.

³Know what else Odessa loves? The BLT. 'Cause it's the greatest sandwich ever.