Wednesday October 10, 2012 @ 7 pm in the newly-opened NIGHT+MARKET backyard...
taste the delicious wines of Pascal Potaire and feast on fried chicken!
(my pal, laurent saillard opening a bottle of piege a filles blanc
at his and noella morantin's home in the touraine)
I first tasted Pascal's wines in 2009. I was bumming around the Loire and ended up at the domaine of Noella Morantin, a young vigneronne who had taken over half of the growing surface at neighboring domaine, Clos Roche Blanche. She had initially turned me away (citing preparations she needed to make for the Louis/Dressner tasting she was to attend 2 days later in NYC) -- you see, my main tactic for meeting all the producers I wanted to meet was to not call ahead like a normal person and make an appointment. I didn't want to set myself up to be shot down, so I would just show up unannounced, which everyone hated. But at least I had the chance to talk my way in. That's what I did with Noella. I was delighted when it seemed she actually enjoyed our company. Part of that was because we bro-ed down over the fact that her boyfriend, Laurent Saillard, was the man behind one of our favorite Brooklyn restaurants, 'ici,' a fact that till then we were unaware of.
They ended up inviting us in for dinner and one of the bottles they pulled from their cellar was Potaire's piege a filles blanc, a petillant naturel. Pet-nat is French for awesome rustic fizzy fun wine topped with a beer cap. The name, which translates to 'girl trap' is a referrence to the small amount of residual sugar, which makes it 'go down easy,' thereby faciliting courtship of the opposite sex, making out, things of that nature. Laurent put it very elegantly when he explained, 'it's like, how do you say...panty remover?'
We will be tasting 2 pet-nats: the blanc (100% chardonnay) and the rosé (cot and gamay)
As a bonus, we will also be tasting Noella Morantin's Marie Rose, a chewy rosé from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes she says are 'too shitty to make red, so I make rosé.' (it's delicious)
(a magnum barrel sample of the marie rose laurent had dropped off for me in brooklyn
earlier this year. it was no longer juice, but not quite yet wine. 100% gluggable!)
To feast on:
nam prik prajam wan | daily mortar-pounded relish
(recently, we've done shrimp guts, pork floss and salted duck egg nam priks)
kaab moo | pork rinds
peek gai tod | fried chicken wings
kor moo yang | 'pork toro' (grilled pig neck)
moo sadoong | startled pig
kao kluk gapi | shrimp paste seasoned rice
Should your heart desire, more food and drink will be available a la carte!
Pascal's wines are available for the first time in the USA thanks to the good dudes at Selection Massale. NIGHT+MARKET is the only place in Los Angeles pouring the wines (and one of only 2 in California, the other being Terroir in San Francisco). The great Cory Cartwright, co-owner of Selection Massale, will be joining us from Oakland!
"Selection Massale was founded in 2010 by Guilhaume Gerard and Cory Cartwright as a small importer and online retailer of wines made by farmers. The producers we work with are small scale growers and vignerons who work the land and make wine honestly and responsibly." - Selection Massale's website
Seating is limited. Make a reservation now at www.nightmarketla.com and be sure to write 'WINE DINNER' in the 'notes' section.
Seating will be communal so be prepared to get cozy with your fellow winos! You will probably drink from mugs, not stems. Singles highly encouraged to attend! This is not your average wine dinner.
The nitty gritty:
Cost: $49 includes all food and 3 wines!
Where: NIGHT+MARKET backyard herb garden
When: Wednesday Oct 10 @ 7 pm
Hope to see you there!
Chef Kris
ps. go follow us on twitter already!
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