Tenacious Eats Chateau Coupe Roses French Wine Dinner

Chef Liz and Sommelier Shannon Behnen are an amazing chef/somm pairing, so I had to go to this French wine dinner at Vom Fass!

While there aren't too many wine dinners at Vom Fass, usually just wine tastings, often led by Shannon herself, this is the first time I can remember attending a full coursed dinner.

Anyway, Chef Liz and her husband run Tenacious Eats where they host unique food events and dinners. Since their website is under construction, your best bet is to look through the events at Work & Leisure!

I used to attend quite a few of their events many years ago, and if you search for "Tenacious Eats" in this blog you can see those blog posts, so it's nice to get to see them again!

For now, let's look at the gorgeous wines by Chateau Coupe Roses and courses...

Wines by Chateau Coupe Roses

We started the night off with a Salmon Amuse Bouche, but unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture since they were passed hors d'oeuvres.

Still keeping it light, the next course was a salted cod in a parsley crème fraiche sauce...

Brandade du Morue or Salted Cod

Next up was a Brulee prawn with cherry tomatoes, which was my favorite dish of the night.

Crevettes et Tomate Vierge or Shrimp with tomatoes

The heavy and meaty dish came next, "Allouettes sans Testes", which is a shaved local ribeye with prosciutto. There was also a beautiful red beet rose as a vegetable side along with potatoes too. The sauce was to die for!

Allouettes sans Testes or Ribeye with Prosciutto

And for dessert, I was thrilled at the Fromage (cheese) course with apples and fig jam!

Fromage or cheese!

Here is the official menu since it was quite elaborate and we felt fancy!

Tenacious Eats Chateau Coupe Roses wine dinner menu

P.S. We bought the first two wines on the list!

Resources:

Tenacious Eats = https://workandleisurestl.com/event-cale

Chateau Coupe Roses = https://chateau-coupe-roses.com

Vom Fass = https://vomfassusa.com/blogs/stores/st-louis

Photos by Patience Scanlon

Tenacious Eats Sideways

I got to attend my second Tenacious Eats event when The American Wine Society St. Louis Chapter presented a six-course dinner and wine pairing with the movie “Sideways”. I have only seen the movie once so I was looking forward to seeing it again and this time, with food and wine in hand.

 

My dates for the evening: Michael Segura and Cocktails-Are-Go man, Matt Sorrell!

Unfortunately, I did not get any wine notes with the pairings so my biases pretty much went with the two Pinot Noirs that were served with the pork tenderloin and brisket…also the best pairings since the medium reds were well balanced with the meatier courses. But you can see all the wines in the picture below.

 

First Course: You Could Work in a Wine Store
Manchego and asparagus souffle on a nest of toasted almonds, strawberries, shaved green asparagus, local ice cycle radish, and a Waldburg Balsam grape, lemon and ginger vinaigrette.

Second Course: Why Do "Foulon" Fall in Love!
Cherry wood smoked pork tenderloin medallion, truffle salt, wasabi whipped baby Yukon potatoes, root vegetable hash cup, and a pork and pinot noir demiglaze.

Third Course: And it Tastes so Fucking Good
Briased grass fed highland cow brisket, parsnip and potato pommes frites, Gruyere dust, sauteed local kale and Amish Bleu creme.

Fourth Course: Picnic for Four
Chilled fried free-range chicken, local sixty-degree egg, pickled grapes, whole grain mustard creme fraiche.

Delish!

Fifth Course: I Left My Heart in Santa Barbara
St. Louis Style BBQ spare ribs, Bou-yah slaw and sexy soft white cheddar grits

Sixth Course: Christina's Wedding Cake
Thibodaux chocolate cake, Conord grape jam, almond butter French butter cream, cabernet reduction and macerated currents, apricot and cherries.

The best part about this Tenacious Eats was the “reenactment” scene put on by distinguished wine members, which included Jeff Callahan drinking and spilling a bucket of wine all over himself. You just never know what you’ll get at a Tenacious Eats viewing!

Special thanks to our Chefs for the evening: Chef Elizabeth Schuster and Justin Yarrington!

Resources:

Tenacious Eats = http://www.tenaciouseats.com/

The American Wine Society = http://americanwinesociety.org/

Photos by Jacqui Segura, also known as The Cocktail Ambassador = http://www.thecocktailambassador.com/

Tenacious Eats Soul Food

I finally made it out to a Tenacious Eats event at Meyer’s Grove and it definitely lived up to the hype. This event combines two of my favorite things to do…gourmet dining and watching classic movies. My friends kept posting pictures of all the fun they were having on Facebook, so I knew I was missing out and picked a movie that I thought would make for an awesome event: Soul Food.

I haven’t seen the movie “Soul Food” in years, but I knew exactly what type of cooking I was getting into. There was no way I was counting calories that night either!

Meyer’s Grove has a small bar in the front and has an equally small “stage” area in the back where cocktail tables are set up for intimate dining. You have to sign up early because this room will sell out quickly, and you will definitely get to know your neighbors! Definitely a good place to take a date!

The best part about Tenacious Eats is that Chef Liz and her staff do NOT take themselves too seriously even though the five-course meal is certainly worthy of a fancier establishment. And you can see Chef Liz cooking over on the side for everyone to see, although most people are busy engrossed in the movie.

Here was the menu for “Soul Food”:

“More Folks, More Eats, More Souls, More Soul Food”

Pan seared bone-in ham, Coca COla braised collard greens, macaroni and smoked gouda cheese on house-made roasted corn butter biscuits

"Bird's Sunday Dinner"

Seared Cajun crab cakes, flash fried gruyere grits, sweet potato and butternut squash puree and St. Louie Sauce.

"Hell Hath No Wrath"

Cholula sauce and garlic butter hot wings, shaved root vegetable salad, Walsburg Blueberry Balsamic vinaigrette and fresh lime Creme Fraiche

"Sunday at Big Mama's"

Free range chicken and dumplings, black-eyed peas with smoked ham hocks, East STL green beans, pickled mach choux, and sweet corn bread

"Thanks Big Mama"

House-made, "way-old-school" orange buttermilk pie, blackberry and mandarin orange compote

I enjoyed myself so much that I signed up for a second one this upcoming Sunday! The American Wine Society of St. Louis is throwing a Tenacious Eats dinner while watching Sideways…perfect pairing of course! 

The only downside is that it did take a while for five courses to be served during the movie and the entire evening went almost 4 hours after a lengthy intermission. I didn’t mind the time too much since most of the time you’re busy eating and distracted by the movie, but it got to be a little too late for me on a school night.

Resources:

Tenacious Eats = http://www.tenaciouseats.com/

Meyer’s Grove = http://meyersgrove.com/

St. Louis Magazine article = http://stlmag.com/Blogs/Relish/January-2013/The-Ultimate-Movie-Snacks-Tenacious-Eats-Goes-for-Broke/

Cat Neville talking about Tenacious Eats = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCQQCmSKxeA