Page 24 - Terroir_2014

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Chef Brandon Sharp on
GLOBAL FLAVOR, LOCAL VARIETALS
Executive Chef Brandon Sharp at Michelin-starred Solbar restaurant
follows the seasons in his kitchen with an intense commitment to local
produce. “We try to use as many ingredients grown in Napa Valley as
possible.” The excellent peaches used in signature summer dishes are
grown right up the road on St. Supéry’s Dollarhide Ranch, and Forni-
Brown Organic Gardens supplies the bulk of his greens.
Sharp’s dedication to local ingredients does not stop him from pulling
in global inspiration in his cuisine. “Some of my dishes do have Thai
and Japanese flavors, but most of it comes from places around the world
where there is a strong food and wine culture,” Sharp explains. “A dish
inspired from the South of France will pair well with a red or white
Rhône, and here you can find great versions of those same varieties and
blends. When it comes right down to it, I am very cognizant that the
guests are coming here to eat local food and drink local wine. That is
always a part of the experience.”
Chef Cindy Pawlcyn on
FLAVOR OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Chef Cindy Pawlcyn has run out of fingers. She is counting the different
varieties of fruit trees that dot her gardens, both at home in her two-acre
plot and at the six-and-a-half acres adjacent to Mustards in Yountville.
“Seven kinds of pomegranates, three persimmons, eight types of plum
trees. At home, I have two different varieties of quince trees that yielded
475 pounds of fruit last year. My staff were begging me not to bring any
more in!”
Pawlcyn’s Mustards garden has evolved tremendously over the years,
starting as a three-quarter acre plot in 1983. Today they need a tractor
to work the grounds. “We keep adding whole rows of produce, 20 feet of
blackberry and raspberry bushes at a time.”
At a certain point of the year, 55 percent of Pawlcyn’s kitchen ingredients
come from the gardens. “We have a plethora of produce from June to
November. We grow our own microgreens in greenhouses. Our lettuces
and salads come from the gardens all year-round, and this year the
brassicas, the onions, the green garlic, the scallions, and the asparagus
are all starting early.” And she has an equal enthusiasm for the vendors
who have found their way into her kitchens over the years—like the
90-something seed saver who brought her truckloads of heirloom
tomatoes when she first started cooking in Napa, and the lady who
drives up in her Cadillac with wine boxes full of Meyer lemons that