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Europa Village, a New Idea

 
Here's an idea--a theme park for wine lovers. In an idyllic vineyard setting, you would walk  from one tasting room to another, eat fabulous food, stay in a boutique inn, shop at exclusive stores and recover from all that imbibing at a luxurious spa.

An oenological dream? Not at all. It's actually starting to happen. And the place is Temecula, often regarded as a backwater compared to such celebrated wine regions as Napa and Santa Barbara county.

The place is Europa Village on Rancho California Road, the main drag of Temecula's wine district.  There's no village now, just a big parking lot and a small complex that includes a faux wine cave. 

Go in there and you'll shiver as if you were in a cave carved deep into a rocky hillside.  But it's only an illusion, constructed on flat ground. That's the building, in the photo at the top.

There's also a wine shop and tasting room--Europa is already releasing wines and has a wine club--and a pretty patio, with lots of white roses, rosemary and an olive tree. The tasting room and part of the patio are in the photos above.

But this is only a "prelude," says managing partner Denis Ferguson, who is collaborating  on the project with long time area developer Dan Stephenson.

These buildings, completed in April, will be replaced by C'est La Vie Wine Chateau, which will include a boutique winery, a Champagne- and wine-tasting room, a French bistro and guest suites.

Bolero Cellars, representing Spain, will have a winery, a sherry- and wine-tasting room, a tapas restaurant, a micro brewery and its own guest quarters. 

Planned for an Italian winery, Vienza, is a resort/spa and hilltop guest suites that recreate the atmosphere of a Tuscan villa.

It's an expansive, and expensive, dream. Construction won't get started for another year and a half to two years, Ferguson says. 

A bed and breakfast across the street has been added, and you can stay there now. But it will undergo renovation, to be finished by the latter part of January.

Meanwhile, Europa wines are on sale at the tasting room or through its wine club.  The labels are C'est La Vie, Bolero and Vienza.

The team of winemakers includes consultants in France, Italy, Spain and California's north coast. For now, the wines are being made and bottled at neighboring facilities.

This fall will see the first harvest from estate vineyards. The existing wines combine local fruit with some from outside the area. The goal is to raise the level from 60% Temecula grapes to 75%, Ferguson says.  

Europa doesn't have a restaurant, but executive chef Dean Thomas (right), who will cook at C'est La Vie's future bistro, caters events there and produces sumptuous breakfasts at the adjacent inn.

For a recent lunch in the cave, Thomas drew on locally grown vegetables and fruits, Temecula olive oil and vinegar.

For appetizers to go with the Pinot Grigio 2009, he sent out toasted bread with heirloom tomato marmalade and gingersnaps topped with a circle of artisanal cheese.

 More of that wine came with a mixed salad of local tomatoes and other vegetables, garnished with a slim breadstick.
The 2006 C'est La Vie Syrah accompanied an old world combination of braised chicken and pork with stoneground grits, grilled eggplant and local farm vegetables. The kumquat chutney on the plate came from a single tree on the property.

The dessert paired pineapple tarte tatin with blueberries in a creamy Temecula grapefruit sauce, accompanied by the 2009 Bolero Muscat Canelli.

Europa took over vineyard land that once belonged to Callaway Vineyard and Winery.  Exhaustive soil and climate studies have shown that the area is a mirror image of the Rhone Valley, Ferguson says.  That sounds like anything but a backwater.

Europa Village, 33475 La Serena Way, Temecula, CA 92591 (just off Rancho California Road). Tel: (888) 383-8767.

A Mango Cake Goes to a Luau

We've been getting gorgeous, plump, green-skinned mangoes from Mexico, just what I needed to make a mango upside-down cake for a luau.

The cake was a hit. Of course, it wasn't very big, and there were a lot of people, so only a  few got a taste.

I found the recipe in a book that I've had for years, "Fruits of Hawaii," published by the University of Hawaii Press in 1955.

The authors were university home economists Katherine Bazore and Mary Bartow and Carey D. Miller, who headed the Foods and Nutrition Department of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station at the University.

From the recipes I've tried, they really knew their stuff.

The cake recipe works like a dream, and you can use the  batter with other fruit when mangoes aren't around.

To prepare the mangoes, first slice down on each side of the seed, making two large sections. With a sharp knife, cut around the edge of each, just inside the peel. This will make it easier to extract the pulp.

Cut the pulp crosswise in slices, then bend back the two ends of each section so the slices pop forward. Now you can slice them off the peel into a bowl.

Slice off any fruit clinging to the seed and remove the peel.

I used slightly more than the 2 cups of mango slices called for in the recipe, and a little more of the brown sugar and butter that line the pan.

This was a party, after all, and even the cake needed to  dress up, although it still looked pretty homey.

MANGO UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
From "Fruits of Hawaii"

2 cups sliced ripe mangoes
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon margarine (I used butter)
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup fat (butter again)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk

Combine the mango slices and lemon juice and let stand 15 minutes.

Melt the 1 tablespoon margarine (or butter) in an 8-inch cake pan or casserole (I used an 8-inch square baking pan). Add the brown sugar and press evenly to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of mango slices.

To prepare the cake batter, cream the fat (or butter), add the sugar and cream together, then add the beaten egg and blend well.

Add the sifted flour, baking powder and salt to the egg mixture alternately with the milk. Pour the batter over the mangoes.

Bake at 375 degrees 50 to 60 minutes. (I used a slightly lower temperature, because my oven bakes hot, and the cake was done in 50 minutes. You can cover it loosely with foil if it starts to brown too much.)

Remove  the cake to a rack. Let stand 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate. Serve warm, with whipped cream or a lemon or lime sauce, if desired.

Makes 6 servings. (I cut mine in thirds, then crosswise in five parts, making 15 party-sized slices.) 

A Bargain at Monterey Palace

The sign over the entrance to Monterey Palace Restaurant says "dim sum & lunch special." What you need to pay attention to is the price, $2.09.

Until recently, dim sum at this Monterey Park restaurant was $1.89 a plate. It's still a bargain, even though tea is extra and so is a dish of mustard and chili sauce.

Still, three of us ate all we could handle for less than $10 each.

The low price is why the restaurant is crowded.

At peak lunch hour, even during the week, the huge room is jammed. Don't think about the weekends, or take a book or magazine for distraction during the long wait.

Dim sum hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., so an early start is a good idea.

You mark off your order on a sheet that lists the choices. No roving carts, in other words, maybe in order to squeeze in more tables. Carts couldn't get through the tight spaces now.

Is the dim sum good, for the price? Yes. 

There is plenty to choose from.  The classics are good, among them yellow shumai with orange crab roe on top (right). 

The wrapper for har gow (steamed shrimp dumpling) was well seasoned--no soy sauce necessary.

My favorite was Chao Zhou (Chiuchow) dumpling, filled with pork, peanuts and cilantro. But my Cantonese friend liked it the least. We all admired the bright fresh green flavors of a steamed dumpling filled with shrimp and chives (at the bottom in the photo above).

You might expect a shrimp and scallop dumpling to include fresh scallops, but these were dried. And what emerged once the wrapper was pierced was also a surprise--noodles.

The slight sweetness of pork in a chewy sticky rice flour dumpling was pleasant. So was pork in a baked dumpling with sesame seeds.

And chicken with mushrooms and sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves (in the steamer container  in the photo above) was better than a takeout version that I bought in L.A.'s Chinatown.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can get "chef's special dishes."  These aren't $2.09 but top out at $8.99 for stir-fried lamb with green onion or, if you're a stronger soul than I am, stir-fried goose intestine with wild fungus.

Monterey Palace Restaurant, 1001 E. Garvey Ave., Monterey Park, Ca 90755. Tel: (626-571-0888.

 

The Mad Greek: A Desert Mirage

The Mad Greek Cafe turns up like a mirage as you drive along Highway 15 toward Las Vegas.

There it is, all blue and white, with Greek flags flying and a jumble of Greek statues. This is not what you would expect in a drab desert town like Baker.

The food is seriously Greek. You'll see stacks of pita bread and pita chips along with displays of dolmades, spanakopita, baklava, kataifi, Greek custard turnovers, kourambiedes, Greek rice pudding, yogurt drinks and more.  

The place is so versatile that you can order a gyro with pilaf, or you can have Mexican food or a burger.  This is necessary because the Mad Greek is a magnet for travelers of all tastes. It's generally jammed.

You'll eat with cool scenes of the Greek islands in the background, nice when the desert is scorching. 

And you'll read Greek quotes inscribed on the walls, such as "The most valuable of arts is the art of living Greek style."

Oddly, the Mad Greek is famous for something that's not Greek, a fresh strawberry shake. You pick it up at a counter that's just for ice creams and shake-making.

The foamy blend of vanilla ice cream, strawberry syrup and fresh berries is so thick that you have to spoon it up. A straw can't do the job.

The ingredients are ordinary. What makes it so special?  That would have to be the finishing touch, a little paper parasol planted on top. And the setting. Where else could you slurp up a shake with Hercules looking over your shoulder?

The Mad Greek Cafe, 72112 Baker Blvd., Baker, CA 92309. Tel: (760) 733-4354.

A New Look for Thai Food?

Chefs seem bent on creating something new. I guess that's how they get attention.

But why tamper with Thai food, which is perfect as is? What makes a difference in this case is that the innovator is thoroughly Thai, born into the royal family and a celebrity chef. In other words, he knows his stuff from the ground up.

He's Chef McDang (that's a nom de cuisine. His real name is ML Sirichalerm Svasti). And traditional Thai food is what he lectures on when Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sends him on an annual tour of Le Cordon Bleu culinary schools in the United States.

This year, Chef McDang gave public lectures for the first time. Anyone who really listened to what he said at Thailand Plaza Restaurant in Hollywood should now be able to cook Thai without a recipe. That's how organized and complete his presentation was.

But the dishes he demonstrated showed his new idea, which is to present Thai food in courses--"like French food," he said, not in communal plates and without rice.

This breaks with Thai custom, which is to eat together, sharing dishes that are served all at once. And rice is so fundamental that to find out if someone has eaten, you ask, "have you eaten rice?"

Just as startling was the dash of olive oil he added to one of his "new" dishes, a timbale of curry fish mousse (at right).

In traditional Thai cookery, only flavorless oil is used, never "smelly" oils, he had said. He topped the timbale with coconut cream and flying fish roe and scattered over the plate finely diced red, green and yellow sweet peppers.  

Even more olive oil went over tuna carpaccio with larb dressing (at top), and micro greens joined typical larb additions such as green onions, shallots, sawtooth herb and mint leaves.

The mango sauce that accompanied grilled marinated pork shoulder (at right) was pretty much like any contemporary mango salsa except that it included fish sauce and Thai chiles.

What all this is leading up to is a book, "Modern Thai Cuisine," due out when Chef McDang has time to finish it. 

His prior book, "The Principles of Thai Cookery," is based on his Cordon Bleu lectures. The chef published that book himself, because he's so dedicated to helping people get it right.

CHEF McDANG'S MANGO SALSA

200 grams (about 1/2 pound) ripe mango meat, peeled and diced small
100 grams (about 1/4 pound) tomato, peeled, seeded and diced small
100 grams (about 1/4 pound) onion, peeled and diced small
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
1 teaspoon chopped fresh Thai chiles
Granulated or brown sugar to taste

Mix the mango, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce and chiles in a bowl. Taste and add sugar so that the salsa is equally balanced between sweet, sour and saltiness.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.