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Great Leftovers--in a Bottle

The best leftovers I've had recently weren't something out of the fridge, but out of a bottle.

They were Ravenswood reds, chosen for me by Ravenswood founder and winemaker Joel Peterson.

What happened was, the small dinner that Ravenswood hosted at Hatfield's on Melrose in Los Angeles turned out to be smaller than expected. That left a forest of partially consumed bottles on the table.

Volunteers were needed to dispose of them, and I stepped foward to help. 

The two bottles that Peterson handed to me were the 2008 Old Hill Zinfandel and the 2008 Icon Mixed Blacks.

The Old Hill came from what may be Sonoma's oldest Zinfandel vines. William Hill made the first notable Zinfandel at that vineyard in 1862.

Peterson is a newcomer compared to Hill, but an oldtimer compared to the newbies now making wine. He produced his first Zinfandel in 1976, starting the winery with $4,000. At least in those days, winemaking wasn't only for the rich, but also for the dedicated. 

The Old Hill Ranch is a certified organic vineyard. Production is low, yielding delicious, interesting wines. Those are Peterson's words, but I wouldn't argue.

The Icon vineyard dates to before 1900. The wine blends a mixture of the grapes planted there, the way wines were made before Prohibition. And the way they should have been made all along, in Peterson's opinion, rather than hyping single varietals such as Cabernet and Chardonnay.

"I have no idea what is in it exactly," he says. But the stats say 37% Zinfandel, 36% Petite Sirah, 24% Carignane and 3% Alicante Bouschet.

The Old Hill is 75% Zinfandel. The rest is mixed blacks.

A Zinfandel specialist elevated to the Vintners Hall of Fame of the Napa Valley branch of the Culinary Institute of America, Peterson crafts his wines with minimal processing. Almost all of them come from old vines. In the case of Zinfandel, the vines get better with age, he says. Not so with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Although a purist, Peterson puts out a low-priced wine for the popular market (and to keep his business afloat). His Vintners Blend Zinfandel, which you can get for under $10, is the most consumed Zinfandel in the world, he says. To keep up with the demand, he makes 500,000 cases a year. 

That wine you could have with spaghetti or hot dogs.

But Peterson's prestigious single vineyard wines required something more elite.  At Hatfield's I tasted them with raw Hawaiian kanpachi, halibut with curry toast crust and chicken breast mole verde (not Mexican despite the name). Peterson ate none of this. He's a vegetarian. 

At my home, the leftover wines had to make do with real leftovers--reheated Korean braised chicken, rice and roasted vegetables.  They showed well, though, standing up to the slightly sweet and foreign flavors like the well-bred creatures that they are.

Picca--What Did I Eat?

Twenty dishes and five desserts shared by seven people, plus double orders that added up to even more food. It was a frenetic experience but still fun, passing, sharing and judging dishes based on a scrap here and a spoonful there.

This was dinner at Picca in West Los Angeles when owner/chef Ricardo Zarate (right) took control and sent out what he thought we should eat. 

The risk wasn't great, because Zarate knew us well from many dinners at Mo-Chica, his downtown Peruvian restaurant.

At Picca, the food is Peruvian, yet different from Mo-Chica. Here you get skewered foods called anticuchos, the most traditional of which is beef heart. I tried heart in Lima and found it well seasoned and delicious, not the gamey, unpleasant organ meat that I expected.

But for those who balk at eating heart, there are anticuchos with scallops (above), salmon and steak. And even cherry tomatoes topped with burrata and huacatay pesto (at top). No one could balk at what tastes thoroughly Italian.

Causa, the stack of mashed potatoes layered with chicken or other fillings, was divided into tiny bites that looked like potato petits fours (above). The toppings were shrimp, crab, chicken and raw tuna. You have to admit they're cute.

Rather than the usual marinated raw seafood ceviche, Zarate produced ceviche crocante, deep-fried halibut and calamari in a crisp golden coating. And a bowl of mussels.

And seabass tiradito with soy sauce dressing, reflecting the Asian aspect of Peruvian cuisine. And bowls of Peruvian style seafood paella. And tiradito with scallops and uni (above), which wasn't on the menu.

And chicharrón de pollo, crisp fried chicken strips (above) that would be perfect for a Super Bowl party.

The food came so fast that I wasn't always sure what I was eating.  This tasted sour. That tasted salty, but what was it?

The most recognizable were Zarate's seco de pato (above), duck leg confit in a bowl with black beer sauce and cilantro rice; a whole small branzino with green huacatay sauce and an artichoke half that was slathered with huacatay aioli and aji amarillo butter in which to dip the leaves.

Bisteck a la pobre (above) was pretty obvious, the steak topped with a jaunty fried egg and, surprise, a banana underneath and chick peas at the bottom.

And you couldn't be fooled by empanadas. These came with a palette of sauces--yellow aji amarillo, green jalapeño-cilantro and red rocoto pepper. The fillings were spicy beef (excellent), chicken and eggplant.

Chorizo crostini (above) was eye-popping bright with its brilliantly colored topping under orange potato chips. 

By dessert, I gave up trying to guess what I was eating.  Was that the lemon tart or the aji amarillo cheesecake? And what was that layered in a glass?  Someone said tres leches cake, but I never found the cake. It might have been snapped up by some other taster.

Churros (above) oozed out creamy, pale yellow lúcuma filling. Lúcuma is a Peruvian fruit with rich autumnal flavor that might make you think of pumpkin.

No confusion about chocolate cake (above) even though this wasn't the usual slice but a mound of dark cake with passion fruit filling and a slice of fruit on top.

Picca was crowded that Saturday night, and much later there was going to be some sort of bartending event upstairs. But after twenty dishes and five desserts, we packed up our tastebuds and went home.

Picca, 9575 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035. Tel: (310) 277-0133.  

EatMx.Com: A Brand New Blog

Want to learn about Mexican food--what to cook and where to eat?

That's what I'm writing about  in my brand new blog, EatMx.com, which will cover everything related to Mexico on both sides of the border and, possibly, other places too.

Check it out today. You'll start with a welcome cocktail--that's it above--then move on to a series about great Mexican dishes in Los Angeles and a post on a fabulous place to eat in Baja's Guadalupe Valley.

Coming up is Mexico's answer to L.A.'s best dishes--10 top tastes chosen from five states. Then a recipe for chilorio, which is spicy, delicious taco meat that you can easily make at home.  And then five fun places to eat in Mexico. And much more.

TableConversation will continue to explore Asian and other ethnic foods,  American cuisine,  restaurants, wines, ingredients, recipes, cookbooks,  tastings and other happenings.

The Mexican posts and recipes in tc.c will remain there, but from now on, everything Mexican will go to the new blog.