Monte Bernadi Wine Dinner with Guest Chef Chris Hall
Monte Bernadi Wine Dinner with Guest Chef Chris Hall
Join us at Jianna on Monday, February 24th for a Guest Chef Wine Dinner featuring Chef Chris Hall of Local Three and the wines of the Monte Bernardi Estate and Mission Grape Distributing. Producers Michael and Jennifer Schmelzer, of Monte Bernardi Estate, will be in attendance at the dinner.
Arrival at 6:30 pm with dinner at 7 pm. We will be partnering with Mission Grape Distributing and Monte Bernardi Estate. Please contact Drew Breen at dbreen@table301.com to reserve your seat. The cost for menu and wine pairings is $100 (plus tax and gratuity).
See below for the menu and wine pairings as well as to learn more about Chef Chris Hall and Monte Bernardi Estate.
MENU:
Welcome Cocktail on arrival
Shellfish “Ribolita” CHEF CHRIS HALL
Clams, Lobster Mussels, Chick Peas, Preserved Tomato, Meyer Lemon
2017 Retromarcia, Chianti Classico
Cavatelli CHEF MICHAEL KRAMER
Duck Confit, Maitake, Butternut Squash, Cranberry
2016 IGT Rosso Riserva DOCG
Braised Tennessee Rabbit CHEF CHRIS HALL
Spiced Lentils, Winter Greens, Cherry Mostarda
2015 Sa’etta DOCG
Lamb Loin CHEF MICHAEL KRAMER
Violet Sweet Potato, Pickled Cauliflower, Vincotto
2019 Tzingana, IGT Rosso
Blood Orange Panna Cotta PASTRY CHEF ALISON LEGG
Burnt Meringue, Passion Fruit Coulis
Bricco Del Sole, Moscato d’Asti
MORE ABOUT MONTE BERNARDI:
The estate name, Monte Bernardi, dates back to 1085. The majority of the vineyards are over 40 years old, with the first wine produced in 1992. Previously the grapes were sold to neighboring farms. The Schmelzer family purchased Monte Bernardi in 2003 and has since invested great amounts of time, love and money in the vineyards, the winery and villa.
THE ESTATE
The Monte Bernardi estate extends over 53 hectares (130 acres), of which 10 hectares (24 acres), with five hectares vineyards which over 45 years. In 2001, the farm added 5 more hectares which have a long term lease, bring the total estate farmed vineyards to 15 hectares. The vineyards are situated in the hilly, southern-most region of Panzano, an area that has been acknowledged as one of the Grand Cru of Chianti Classico.
The vines are planted on a soil of a high rock content mixture, which depending on the vineyard, consists of shale (Galestro), sandstone (Arenaria) and limestone (Alberese). The vineyards are perfectly situated – standing at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level, surrounded by forests and enjoying a southern exposure, with the river Pesa flowing just a few hundred meters to the south. These factors contribute to the unique micro-climate of Monte Bernardi.
Mission Grape Distributors: A WINE DISTRIBUTION COMPANY FOCUSED ON HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCERS AT A VALUE PRICE POINT THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
MORE ABOUT CHRIS HALL:
Chris Hall is clearly the most rakishly handsome and debonair of the three Unsukay Partners.
His story begins right around the corner from Local Three at the Pizza Hut on Collier Road, where he worked as a teenager. Somehow, the magic smell of pepperoni and yeast lured him in and 25+ years later he is still at it. Either that, or he is just too dense to figure anything else out…. So he threw some pizzas and moved up the proverbial ladder, eventually landing, while in college, at Philadelphia’s famed Lec Bec Fin where he was begrudgingly taught to cook by an angry Frenchman & his minions. It was a kitchen ripe with talent (and he was too dumb to be scared), so he set off to learning and taught himself how to cook. Some folks, including a few dining critics, claim he never learned to cook, but undaunted, he still kept trying.
Hall eventually headed home to Atlanta in search of bourbon and a Southern Belle. He found both and is still in love with both to this day. He landed at Canoe on his return and and cut his teeth with Gary Mennie, George McKerrow, Ron San Martin and the gang by the river. It was an amazing time at an incredible restaurant and the most formative of his cooking years; but he always knew he wanted his own place, and if nothing else, to cook what he wanted, however he wanted, whenever he wanted. So after meeting Turner and Muss, a fast friendship formed and they began talking about a partnership. It was a long winding road to eventually get there, but the seed for Local Three was born. Years later, they opened Local Three to a swell of critical and guest acclaim and the rest, as they say, is history.
Now you can find Hall mentoring cooks and doing what he likes most: working on the creative aspects of Local Three, Warhorse Investments, and Unsukay. His true passion these days is to help people in much the same way people helped him in his career. He loves to coach and mentor and is still entranced by the machinations of the restaurant business.
Hall participates actively in a number of charities and is Vice Chairman of The Giving Kitchen. In 2015, Chris, Ryan, and Todd were named Cornerstone Humanitarians by the National Restaurant Association’s Educational Foundation for their role in kickstarting The Giving Kitchen. In 2019, the Giving Kitchen was named Humanitarians of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.
He out-kicked his coverage by a long way and has been married to his wife Julie since 2000 They live in Smyrna, and when he is not in the restaurants, he is golfing, crashing around the woods, shooting at things, and generally acting the fool. Hall loves both kinds of football, round & oblong and is obsessed with Atlanta United, Arsenal winning the Premier League, and Georgia Tech winning a national championship. He likes breaking 80 on the golf course, Dusty Rhodes, the Dude, a great bottle of wine, a fine cigar, brown whiskey, piña coladas and getting caught in the rain…… But most of all, he is incredibly grateful for the staff, guests, and friends, old & new, who keep the company going.
