DETAILS: Hosted by Ned Swain of Devenish Wines. This 5-course Spanish Wine Dinner celebrates the deliciousness of Spanish wines and cuisine. Five Spanish wines are paired with a regional Spanish inspired menu utilizing local Maine seafood, produce, and meats by acclaimed Chefs Damian Sansonetti and Ilma Lopez.
COST: $77 per person + tax & gratuity (includes wines and food)
TIME: Arrive by 5:45 for the 6PM start
RESERVE: Call 207-772-1110
LINKS: chavalmaine.com and devenishwines.com
About Devenish
Devenish Wines is a small dedicated distributor of fine wines. We believe wines should taste like where they come from--wines that in some way embody the unique climate and environment from which their grapes were produced. To that end, we seek out smaller, family owned wineries that take pride in the wines they produce. They grow their grapes more naturally, and have a real relationship with the land they work on. The wines we represent are the antithesis of industrially produced homogenized wines.
Your Chefs
Before Chef Damian Sansonetti was the acclaimed chef de cuisine at the uber-French Bar Boulud in New York, co-owner Damian Sansonetti grew up savoring his mother's and grandmother's cooking. From handmade pasta to grilled fish to learning how to cure meat and make sausages with his grandfather. A career in food was practically his birthright. Graduating from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Sansonetti worked at Nantucket’s Brant Point Grill and Pittsburgh’s Steelhead Grill, moving to New York to open Heartbeat in the W Hotel. Sansonetti met Daniel Boulud while working at Shallots in Midtown and eventually took a position at Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne.
Chef Ilma Lopez has worked in some of the most demanding and rewarding kitchens in the industry, such as DB Bistro, Corton, Tailor, El Bulli, Café Boulud, and Le Bernardin. When she left New York City to the quieter reaches of Maine, Lopez found a new terrain she couldn’t resist. Arriving with a mastery of colors, flavors, textures, and spices—and a seasoned ability to work under pressure—Lopez makes classic dishes her own, with attention to micro-detail and thoughtful twists. For her work, Lopez earned a 2014 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Star Pastry Chef Award, Has been a multiple-time James Beard top-Chef finalist, and you may have seen her name in the September issue of Bon Appetit Magazine highlighting her incredible talents when naming Portland, Maine as their pick for Restaurant City of The Year.
