Wonderful organic tenderloin, rubbed with pepper and truffle salt, seared up and sliced over brown rice cooked with leftover burdock and brussels sprouts. A pan sauce of zin dregs, soy sauce, rice vinegar and a splash of ponzu. Crusty on the outside and totally raw in the middle. A side of leeks and pine nuts caramelized in olive oil and a bit of butter.
This preceeded a wine and cheese hang in the studio which involved a 2000 Thackrey sangiovese and a 1999 d’Arenberg Dead Arm, both of which are drinking beautifully right now; in their own ways, they represent the closest the New World has come to the funky terroir of Europe.