
The annual Hearst Castle Dinner was held the 12th of July. The dinner is part of the Central Coast Wine Classic and is in its 28th year. This year, under the watchful eyes of Archie McClaren, the driving force behind the event, more than $826,000 was raised for Central Coast charities. The Wine Classic is considered one of the Wine Spectator’s “Top Ten” Charity Auctions in America. Others have blogged about this year's event before me - Chef Michael Hutchings, for example.
For the last 17 years, Sly's chef/owner James Sly has been the coordinating chef for the Hearst Castle event. Yep, that's me. It's a big job, and frankly, it's a relief for me when the event is over. Bob Dickey documents the event for us, and prepared a slide show of the behind the scenes, the event, and of course, the people and food that make it so wonderful.
Technical stuff:
• Clicking on the link should bring you to Skydrive.live.com, where a “folder” will be shown.
• Click on the folder and the whole album will be shown.
• Click on the first image (the castles in different colors) and it will show that image, with the other images on a strip at the bottom.
• Click on “view slideshow” on the right and a slideshow will begin.
We start with a bare concrete apron behind the Casa Grande, move in and set up a pin-spot lit dining room, walk-in refrigerators, build a kitchen, polish thousands of wine glasses and knives, forks and spoons and serve the lucky guests. Then, at the end of the night, it is all torn down, disappearing into the mist like Brigadoon. The rentals, and the complicated job of handling the event set up are done extraordinarily well by the San Luis based Got You Covered, who also handle the auction portion of the event at Avila Beach. Believe, me with the distance and time contraints, this is not simple, but they make it look simple. Very professional. Santa Barbara based Ambient Event Design handled the lighting and electrical requirements - a complex task given the requirements of building an operational kitchen on bare concrete, and creating a beautifully lit dining room out of, well, thin air.
This year, the evening began with 210 guests enjoying a private tour of the Hearst Castle, followed by a reception around the sparkling blue waters and white marble columns of the Neptune Pool. Dinner follows on the north terrace, with diners able to look up at the Guest House, and the Casa Grande on one side, the sunset & "Maxfield Parrish blue" skies over the Neptune pool on another, and the rolling hills of the Hearst Ranch stretching inland towards Paso Robles.
Keeping things local, the 2012 Central Coast Wine Castel Hearst Castle dinner featured six of the Central Coast's finest chefs. Many have contributed to the success of the Central Coast Wine Event over the nearly thirty years the Hearst Castle Dinner has been featured. The lineup: Michael Hutchings from Michael's Catering in Santa Barbara, James Sly from Sly's in Carpinteria, Kurt Grasing from Grasing's in Carmel, Ian McPhee of McPhee's Grill in Templeton, Frank Ostini from The Hitching Post in Buellton and Laurent Grangien of Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles, coordinated by Chef James Sly's Team, six courses, each with two wines matched and carefully poured by the "who's who" of Central Coast Sommeliers.
The Menu:
Hearst Castle Dinner Menu
Thursday July 12 2012
Passed Hors d’Oeuvres by the Event Chefs
The Menu
Course 1 Chef Chef Michael Hutchings, Michael's Catering, Santa Barbara
Sauteéd Santa Barbara Abalone
Butter emulsion sauce, enoki daki mushrooms, dill
Course 2 Kurt Grasings, Grasings, Carmel
Monterey Bay Salmon with Mayishta Farm Heirloom Tomatoes, Fennel & Red Wine
Course 3 Chef James Sly, Sly's Carpinteria:
Southern Hospitality
Fried Chicken, wilted Iceberg and Cress, chilled Beylik Farms Ratatouille
Course 4 Chef Ian McPhee, McPhee's Grill, Templeton
Oak Grilled Pork Belly, honey ale glaze
roasted sweet potato salad, red pepper vinaigrette
fennel red cabbage slaw
Course 5 Chef Frank Ostini, The Hitching Post II, Buelton
Oak Grilled Prime Filet Mignon, Cherry Peppercorn Sauce
Grilled Market Vegetable Sandwich, Creamy Polenta
Course 6 Chef Laurent Grangien, Bistro Laurent, Paso Robles
Chilled white peach and strawberries
Basil emulsion and basil chantilly