DETAILS: Join the incredible chefs and team at Chaval with special guest Cary Coor for an incredible Lopez de Heredia lunch featured three vintages of their Tondonia Reserva red wines, each paired with delicious food from these acclaimed chefs.
Lopez de Heredia is recognized as one of, if not the best, Rioja producers in Spain. They have been making their wine the same way since they began in 1877. Carey Coor from the importer Think Global Wines, will discuss each vintage of the amazing Tondonia Reserva wines throughout lunch. You’ll begin with a glass of the Mestres 1312, Reserva Brut, Cava and then progress through the 2005, 2006, and 2007 vintages of the Tondonia Reserva Rioja reds, each paired with a course from Chefs Damian Sansonetti, Ilma Lopez, and Kirby Sholl. The menu will feature regional and local ingredients with a Spanish flair and influence. This is a wonderful opportunity to taste through a library portfolio of these wines that also happen to be one of the favorite wines in the world for these chefs. Seating is limited and will be on the private patio following all COVID-19 protocols and distancing during seating and service.
COST: $79 plus tax and gratuity
RESERVE: Call 207-772-1110
LINKS: chavalmaine.com
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.
