Friday, January 19, 2007

Alain Passard

The Alain Passard Dinners
With great pleasure, Manresa welcomes Chef Alain Passard of the Michelin three-star L’Arpège in Paris. Alain Passard has accepted a personal invitation from David Kinch to come to Manresa as the guest chef for three special evenings in March. French master chef Passard has reinvented haute cuisine by shifting his attention to vegetables that he grows for L'Arpège at his potagers or kitchen gardens outside of Paris. Chefs Kinch and Passard share an affinity for growing the finest quality vegetables for their restaurants.

Chef Kinch grows his vegetables with Cynthia Sandberg at Love Apple Farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains and they
have been anticipating Passard's visit by planting the Manresa garden to coincide with the Passard Dinners. The planting areas of the farm have been increased, and Manresa has invested in an impressive new hoophouse, a large protective structure which will allow tender vegetables to grow earlier, and later, in the season. David and Cynthia look forward to showing the Manresa garden to Passard and selecting vegetables, which will be featured on the menu for these extraordinary dinners.

Please join us for the Alain Passard Dinners on March 9, 10 and 11.
Open seating begins at 6:30.
Space is limited and parties must be kept to a maximum of four guests.
The Passard Dinners are $285 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.
Wine pairing is $95. Premium wine pairing is $195.
Corkage is $50 for the first 750 ml bottle, $75 for each additional 750 ml bottle.
Gentlemen are requested to wear coat and tie.
Please call Manresa at 408-354-4330 for reservations.

Kinch and Passard together in the kitchen. Photos are courtesy of Chez Pim.

Valentine's Day

Manresa will celebrate Valentine's Day on the evening of Wednesday, February 14 as well as Tuesday, February 13 and Monday, February 12. To celebrate the week, Manresa will open on Monday, February 12 for an extra day of romance. Please join us for a special evening by calling Manresa at 408-354-4330 for reservations. Please note that Wednesday, February 14 is booked full, but reservations are available for Monday and Tuesday.

Masters of Food and Wine

The Twenty-First Annual Masters of Food and Wine takes place at the Highlands Inn, Park Hyatt Carmel; February 22-25. David Kinch returns to the Masters of Food and Wine this year for events scheduled on Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24.

This year the Rarities Dinner takes place at the Villa Della Cova, which resembles a beautiful Tuscan villa. It sits perched atop rocky cliffs along the edge of the Pacific Ocean overlooking Wildcat Cove in the highlands just outside of Carmel. The setting, combined with the evening's extraordinary culinary masters and wine rarities, creates a truly breathtaking dining experience for those guests in attendance. The eight-course dinner will be matched with twenty-two incredible wine selections of rare vintages. David Kinch will prepare hors d'oeuvre and canapés. The Rarities Dinner is on Friday, February 23, 6:00 p.m. $5,000.

David Kinch Cooking Demonstration, Saturday, February 24, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. $225, includes apron and lunch.

A Champagne Veuve Clicquot reception leads into a delectable lunch prepared by Keiko Takahashi, El Paseo; Michel Richard, Citronelle; Herve Fucho, Four Seasons Resorts, Punta Mita Mexico; David Kinch, Manresa and Cal Stamenov, Marinus. Wine pairings include: Weingut Josef Leitz, Littorai, Bergström Winery, Staglin Family Vineyard and Dolce Winery. Saturday, February 24, 12:00-2:30 p.m., $175.

Please contact Masters of Food and Wine for tickets and information at 800-401-1009 or masters@higphpo.hyatt.com. Please note that Manresa is not selling tickets for the Masters of Food and Wine.

The Citrus Modernista Dinner

Please join Manresa for the season's best kishu mandarin, mandalo, kalpi lime, calamondin, Mexican lime, vangassay lemon, yuzu, and kieffer lime plucked fresh from the tree. On Tuesday, February 27, David Kinch will create a five-course menu featuring exotic varieties of citrus grown on the sunny hilltops of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Open seating begins at 5:30. Reservations are now available by calling Manresa at 408-354-4330. The Citrus Modernista Dinner is $125 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
David Kinch's local citrus has not been affected by the recent freeze in California.

Manresa Media Update

Manresa in the Media has been updated to include:

Four star review from The San Jose Mercury News
If Dining Could Be Perfect...
See audio-visual of Chef David Kinch and Manresa.

In Wine Country, NBC
Farm to Fork Dining at Acclaimed Manresa Restaurant
Watch behind the scenes at an all-heirloom tomato dinner.