Culinary Briefs
"Elegance, dynamism and purity," are the ideals Chef Christopher Kostow holds paramount when developing new dishes for The Restaurant at Meadowood. In his two-year tenure, that philosophy has helped the 33-year-old chef swiftly garner accolades, including a pair of Michelin stars, a place among
Food & Wine magazine's Best New Chefs 2009 and a rare four stars from the
San Francisco Chronicle.
Kostow's menu is constantly evolving, spurred by the turn of the seasons, his own "food memories," and a restless creativity that abhors stagnation. The ever-changing menu constantly demands new wine pairings from Sommelier Rom Toulon, a French native who has headed wine programs at elite lodgings and restaurants around the world.
What's more, Kostow admits, "It tends to be somewhat difficult to pair wine with my food. The dishes as a whole are very nuanced. There are a lot of little things that pop." As a result, Kostow and Toulon must work as a team. "When conceiving a dish, there's an intense level of collaboration," Kostow explains.
"I usually taste a developing dish three to five times," Toulon confirms. "On a daily basis, Christopher is going to ask me, 'What do you want to try today?'" Every dish is matched with a wine, with Toulon typically tasting at least 15 possibilities. "As a sommelier," he says, "it's so much fun because you can play with so many different grapes." And so many wines: the 11,000-bottle cellar is stocked with 1,100 labels, with a focus on the proliferation of legendary Napa Valley wines.
"Is it going to be a white? Is it going to be a red?" Toulon asks himself, as Kostow's new dish takes shape. "Am I going to be playing with the acids? The sugar? And then, when we nail the style of wine, we're working with the inventory, going back and forth. We have no problem opening more bottles every day and just"— here he pauses, perhaps appreciating that he has one of the world's best jobs— "having fun with it!"
But a satisfying dining experience requires more than just successful individual pairings. "We spend a lot of time thinking about the evolution of a meal," Kostow says, "and our tasting menu is the culmination of that. We give a great deal of thought to how it moves, in terms of temperature, texture, and flavors. And in terms of acidity, the richness of the dishes—even their size. It's very important to me that it makes sense as a whole."
Chef and sommelier work together on the arc of the meal, moving diners from foods paired with lighter, crisper whites at the top of the eight-course tasting menu, through to bolder whites and medium-bodied reds, culminating with what Kostow describes as "a meat dish that sings, that is nuanced, but is also rich enough and deep enough to accommodate a big red," like the renowned Napa Valley Cabernets.
In some instances, Kostow has reconfigured a tasting menu to accommodate Toulon's pairing choices. "On a recent menu, I had a scallop dish that followed a truffle broth," the chef explains. "I was looking at that truffle broth as a soup, which made sense prior to a shellfish. But for Rom, it said 'red wine,' which would mean treating it like a first meat course."
"Yes, it definitely made more sense with a red wine," Toulon confirms. "So that's when I asked him to switch the dish on the tasting menu. That's when that level of collaboration really works."
Both chef and sommelier are storytellers. Kostow's food speaks to his Eastern European heritage, with elements that are smoked, pickled and briny. It's also inspired by his travels, evoking flavors found at a dim sum joint, a Mexican beach, or the south of France. Moreover, he uses features of Napa Valley's terroir, curing Wagyu beef with pine needles from the Meadowood property and sourcing produce from its garden, which has been custom-planted to his requirements.
"With each wine, there's a story, too," Toulon asserts. "Stories behind the grapes, the vineyard and the grape growers, the winemakers." When guests order the
Poached Farm Egg, Morels, Fava Leaves and Congee with its Cassis wine pairing, Toulon tells them, "The same limestone region that nurtured these wine grapes also furnished the limestone for the base of the Statue of Liberty."
Is the "intense collaboration" between these two young culinary stars a success? The response is clearly positive since Meadowood diners overwhelmingly choose to order the Chef's Tasting Menu with accompanying wine pairings—thereby putting themselves in Kostow and Toulon's capable hands.
We look forward to welcoming you.
At The Restaurant at Meadowood, we consider ourselves part of the rich evolution of California Cuisine, which has always been based on the use of fresh, local products prepared simply to preserve and showcase the ingredients' natural flavors. This reverence toward locality and sustainability continues within our cuisine though we apply a slightly more modern approach in which the technique only serves to enhance the inherent character of the ingredients.
The pantry's a little bigger today in terms of the use of emulsifiers, gelling agents, stabilizers and the like. From an ingredient standpoint, farmers today are providing us with greater varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs and ranchers are continuously expanding the varieties of organic meat. There's never been a time in history when these resources have been more diverse or bountiful, particularly in California.
Simultaneously, today's guests are often looking for slightly more nuanced and innovative textural juxtapositions and flavor profiles. This is what we strive to offer in The Restaurant at Meadowood.
For example, in one of our menu items, we'll start with potatoes from the Meadowood garden and present them in five different ways without over-manipulation thereby highlighting all the possible textures and flavors inherent in an otherwise humble product. In the end, we're able to make the potato more of a potato than it is in its natural state, thereby continuing the California Cuisine tradition of respecting the work of the local farmers and ranchers and the beauty of the ingredients they provide. The collaboration of nature, the farmer and the chef are the ultimate triumvirate.
Attire
Evening casual. A jacket for gentlemen is appropriate but not required. No sporting attire please.
Children
We welcome children ages eight years and older who will be comfortable choosing items from The Restaurant menu. Children of all ages are welcome in The Grill.
Pricing
Three-Course Prix Fixe Menu $90; Wine Pairings $60
Four-Course Prix Fixe Menu $115; Wine Pairings $75
Vegetables & Grains Menu $115; Wine Pairings $75
Chef's Tasting Menu $175; Wines Pairings $125
