Join Sommelier Erica Archer and James Beard, Finalist, Best Chef Northeast, Chef Damian Sansonetti, Co-Owner of Chaval, for a delicious Virtual Wine Dinner centered on the cuisine and wines of The Mediterranean. All enjoyed from the comforts of home and the help of technology. And we’re delivering it all to your door on the afternoon of the event. 1-3 hours before our event, you’ll receive your dinner-for-two box containing your wine and food with easy instructions to reheat for our 6 pm start.
This is part of a series of Virtual Wine Dinners with Sansonetti and Archer since 2020, and perhaps we will have a guest appearance from Chef Ilma Lopez). Tonight Chef Sansonetti is bringing The Mediterranean to Maine using the produce of local Maine farmers, fishermen, harvesters, and purveyors, and we’ll pair it with beautiful wines from regions around The Mediterranean. We can’t wait to enjoy this incredible meal with you.
Menu:
First course
Maine bean hummus
Maine grains rye pitas
Olive oil & dulse
Second course
Bouillabaisse
Maine monkfish
Clams & mussels
Braised fennel & potato
Olive oil garlic smoked tomato broth
Third course
Pork tagine
Pistachios
Charred onions
Apricots and drunken dates
Toasted cous cous
Dessert
by Chef Ilma Lopez TBA
Featured Wines:
2022 Domaine Suffrine, Bandol Rosé, France
2018 Parparoussis, “Taos”, Achaia, Greece
Due to the nature of this event, we regret that we cannot accommodate food substitutions.
We are excited to have you join us as we gather online from the comforts of home to discuss the featured wines and food pairings, create community, and support small businesses and local purveyors.
Price is all-inclusive of your wine-dinner-for-two, 2 bottles of wine, tax, service, download materials, event experience, and delivery. “Seating” is limited to 15 deliveries in the Greater Portland area, which includes Cape Elizabeth, Cumberland Foreside, Falmouth, Gorham, Old Orchard Beach, Portland, Scarborough, South Portland, and Westbrook.
Tell us about delivery.
We’ll deliver your box of goodies between 3:00-5:00 pm on the event day. You’ll need to be over 21 years of age with a valid ID to accept delivery.
Live outside of our Greater Portland delivery area? No problem. You may meet us for contactless curbside pick-up at Chaval at 3:00. Please make sure to put a note in the comments section at checkout that you’ll do curbside at Chaval at 3:00 sharp (we need to leave on time to make out delivery rounds and get back to our post in time).
For delivery and curbside, you can rest assured that we are exceeding all requirements for your safety and the safety of our teams in preparing, pick-up, and delivering.
Chef Damian Sansonetti, a Pittsburgh native, grew up exploring fresh, local ingredients, making pasta with his grandmothers, curing meats with his grandfather, and assisting his father in the family kitchen. A career in food was practically his birthright. After graduating from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Sansonetti worked at Nantucket’s Brant Point Grill and Pittsburgh’s Steelhead Grill, moving to New York to open Heartbeat in the W Hotel. Sansonetti met Daniel Boulud while working at Shallots in Midtown and eventually took a position at Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne. Training rigorously under Chef Olivier Muller, Sansonetti became chef de banquet at Daniel and then sous chef under Jean Francois Bruel. Promoted to executive chef of Bar Boulud in 2008, Sansonetti was named a 2009 StarChefs.com Rising Star and, in 2022, a finalist for the James Beard Award for Best Chef, Northeast. Now ensconced in the burgeoning food scene of Portland, Maine, Sansonetti’s partnered with his wife, Pastry Chef Ilma Lopez (a 2014 StarChefs.com Rising Star Pastry Chef and nominated in 2018 for a James Beard Award as Outstanding Pastry Chef), to open their Italian fine dining restaurant Piccolo and in 2017 Chaval.
Chef Ilma Lopez has worked in some of the most demanding and rewarding kitchens in the industry, such as DB Bistro, Corton, Tailor, El Bulli, Café Boulud, and Le Bernardin. When she left New York City to the quieter reaches of Maine, Lopez found a new terrain she couldn’t resist. Arriving with a mastery of colors, flavors, textures, and spices—and a seasoned ability to work under pressure—Lopez makes classic dishes her own, with attention to micro-detail and thoughtful twists. For her work, Lopez earned a 2014 StarChefs Coastal New England Rising Star Pastry Chef Award, has been a twice semi-finalist James Beard “Best Pastry Chef” (national), and you may have seen her name in an issue of Bon Appetit Magazine highlighting her incredible talents when naming Portland, Maine as their pick for ‘Restaurant City of The Year’. Their new restaurant, The Ugly Duckling, will open in early 2023.
Sommelier Erica Archer is a Maine native and a true oenophile, having obtained high levels of certification in her field. In 2010, she was awarded the Wine Spirit and Education Trust Level Three Advanced Certification in Wines and Spirits (with merit), became a Sommelier in the American Court of Master Sommeliers, and received her Certified Wine Professional award from the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. Erica is the principal of Wine Wise, a wine education and events service, and is skilled at creating truly creative and memorable wine experiences that take guests beyond a typical tasting with her intimate understanding of what makes each wine unique. And she’ll do it with her trademark down-to-earth style and sense of humor.
Where do we meet?
On your computer screen at 6 pm on the day of the event. You’ll download the Zoom app and access our event through a link that we will send you.
What do we need?
Set your dinner table with a fork, knife, spoon, napkin, water, and a wine glass per person. You’ll also need a corkscrew, an ice bucket if you want to keep your wine chilled, the downloaded materials for this event, and a computer with internet access, sound, and video capability. Be sure to download the ZOOM app before this event, as that is the platform we will be using so that we can all see and hear each other.
Cancellations/Reschedules/No Shows
Because of our size and the need to purchase the wine and food to accommodate the number of tickets sold, we will be able to refund you only if we can re-sell your tickets (minus the $20.00 credit card transactions we have to pay) OR reschedule you to a different event (there is no credit card transaction fee in this case). There are no refunds or reschedules for no-shows or if we cannot resell your tickets. Makes sense, right?
