T here’s a sparkling wine tasting this Saturday at Rio Chama (noon-2 pm, $25 per person; 414 Old Santa Fe Trail) that includes more than 25 different producers of bubbly. I love bubbly tastings because you don’t usually get to try more than one or two in a sitting, and if you’re planning to buy some for the holidays it’s nice to buy one you know you love. The ticket price includes nibbles. Call 988-9232 for a reservation.
Are you already thinking about what you're going to eat over the holidays? I am, of course. If you want to dine out I have some early ideas.
Coyote Café is open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with a $100 three-course menu. Highlights include stuffed rabbit with soft fig polenta; halibut cheeks with a vanilla crepe; Wagyu beef Wellington with fingerling potatoes cooked in duck fat and a foie gras Hollandaise. Dessert includes noche buena, a three-chocolate mirror cake with Ibarra ice cream and a strawberry Chambord compote.
That sounds pretty good! I'm a big fan of beef Wellington. Above is one I made a couple years ago with an oryx tenderloin, a chard shroud and a brioche wrapper. It was a helluva presentation, that's for sure. I can't remember for the life of me where I found that recipe, but I know Julia Child has a similar recipe using brioche in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And here's a version made with the simpler puff pastry.
Otherwise, Osteria d'Assisi is offering a three-course dinner Christmas Eve for $59. Choices include a yellow fin tuna tartare, blue point oysters on the half shell, salmon in smoked shrimp cream sauce and stuffed beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce and Brussels sprouts. Desserts include tiramisu, panettone alla Nutella and a Chimayó pumpkin mousse pie.
Inn of the Anasazi is serving Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but the eve looks better. The $110 menu includes a venison carpaccio with smoked egg yolk, caper berries, nasturtium and pearl onions; day boat scallops with quince mustard, potato chip, celery root and pork jowl; quail with spiced persimmon and Perigord truffle; and a beef tenderloin with radish, parsnip, veal breast, gremolata and blood orange. For dessert: a cranberry soufflé with cinnamon crème Anglaise and white chocolate.
Luminaria at the Inn and Spa at Loretto is doing a very English Christmas Eve dinner and a brunch on Christmas Day. The eve dinner involves an attractive choice of entrees: prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts and horseradish cream; jumbo scallops with butternut squash puree and asparagus with brown butter; or roasted duck and foie gras with forest mushroom cornbread stuffing and sautéed kale. It's $80 per person or $110 with wine pairings.
La Casa Sena is open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with one menu that's $85 per person or $105 with wine pairings. First course choices include duck liver pate with blood orange marmalade and toasted almond crostini; sea urchin with black trumpet mushroom risotto and truffle cream sauce; fried shishito peppers with kale and a blood orange-Sriracha cream sauce.
I'll give you more ideas next week!
Meanwhile, I'm working on a story about cocktails that will come out right before the holidays and it focuses on local booze. What kind of drinks are you serving at your December events? I want to hear about them. Email thefork@sfreporter.com.
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