With a James Beard Best Chef Award and a Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star rating, San Francisco‘s Quince is an incredibly illustrious restaurant. Known for its impeccable Italian cuisine and out-of-this-world wine list, the restaurant is upping the ante with a series of winemaker dinners.
The special meals take place on March 1 and March 29. Each dinner consists of five courses and wine pairings. There’s a limited amount of tickets, and supper starts promptly at 7 p.m. with an intimate reception in Quince’s stunning wine cellar. Guests will move into the private dining room for the main event that features a menu specifically designed to complement the wines by chef and owner Michael Tusk.
On February 4th, the Italian winemakers from ArPePe were on hand to share their rare Nebbiolo. Owner Arturo Pelizzatti Perego makes long-aged varietals using the oldest and most traditional winemaking techniques. Menu items included house-smoked trout with black truffle and heirloom beet salad, risotto with savoy cabbage and black trumpet mushrooms, and spit-roasted veal with sweetbreads.
Nebbiolo is also featured at the second dinner on March 1 — this time from producer Le Piane whose vino comes from the forgotten Italian wine region of Boca. For the final meal at the end of March, Tusk looks closer to home — Berkeley. Donkey & Goat, a family-owned and operated urban winery in the East Bay, crafts natural wine from Rhone varietals. The menus to these dinners have yet to be announced, but Tusk will certainly cook up something creative and delicious.
If you can’t make a dinner but are interested in trying the wines that will be poured, stop by the Quince’s lounge on the night of the event. From 5:30 to 7 p.m., the wines will be available for sipping and winemakers for chatting. Tickets to the Le Piane dinner are $275 per person. The Donkey & Goat dinner is $195 per person.
