Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Key people behind the scenes of the Fall Bistro Suppers at Mirassou Champagne Cellars in Los Gatos are (from left) Brandy Dunn, event coordinator at the champagne cellars; Justin Perez, executive chef at Buca Fine Catering; and Susan Ardizzone and Lynne Holland, co-owners of Buca Fine Catering.

Mirassou plans gourmet series of bistro suppers

By Suzanne Cristallo

Lots of family history is behind the upcoming Fall Bistro Suppers at Mirassou Champagne Cellars in Los Gatos. The winery, with generations of Mirassous behind it, is providing a variety of wines to enhance each of the four courses created by the Buca Fine Catering Company, caterers with family roots in local restaurants. Reservations for the Saturday dinners on Nov. 4 and Dec. 10, at the historic cellars in the Los Gatos foothills are going fast--the Sept. 30 dinner sold out last week.

The tendrils of families in restaurants--particularly Italian ones--reach far. Italian food buffs will remember La Pastaia when it operated in the early 1980s where Cafe Trio is now in Los Gatos. John and Margaret Ardizzone and son Rick started it. The elder Ardizzones, with the culture of a previous generation of restaurateurs behind them, now operate downtown San Jose's La Pastaia.

While Rick left the business to work in real estate in Los Gatos, his wife Susan, for the past two-plus years, has run a Bistro-style Italian restaurant in Campbell--Buca La Pastaia--with two partners: chef Justin Perez, who oversees the kitchen, and "event whiz" Lynne Holland, who manages the catering business. Catering is the big emphasis for the trio. They do the usual social events such as weddings and private parties in homes or at Saratoga's Foothill Club and the Los Gatos Opera House.

The menus they have created for the Bistro Suppers are dictated by the wines being served and the crowds they attract. Many guests are members of the winery's "Mirassou Tasting Panel," a group that receives two bottles each month of the vintner's latest releases.

"Some people aren't big wine-drinkers. They prefer a sweeter taste, like that of our Monterey Riesling--an off dry," explains Mirassou's agreeably named Brandy Dunn. But some wine savants prefer the more complex taste of the 1997-98 vintage harvest reserves, which are fermented in oak barrels and take on the oak flavor.

The Nov. 4 first course is lobster, scallop and ricotta-filled pasta on fresh snap peas with lobster sauce, accompanied by a family selection Chardonnay. The second course is portobello mushroom soup with truffle creme fraiche and a family select Pinot Noir. The entree is seared Muscovy duck with fig demi-glacé and a wild rice pancake. Connoisseurs will appreciate the accompanying harvest reserve Pinot Noir. Dessert is white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake with pumpkin-walnut gelato. A late harvest Johannesburg Riesling is the accompanying wine.

The Dec. 10 supper will be wild boar-filled ravioli in a sage and black truffle cream sauce with a family selection Pinot Noir, followed by smoked tomato ratatouille--a combination of oil-simmered eggplant, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, garlic and herbs. It's served over crisp polenta with a harvest reserve Chardonnay. The main course is osso buco--braised veal shank--with saffron risotto and lemon gremolata, a garnish of minced lemon peel, parsley and garlic. A family selection Merlot complements it. Dessert is a trio of truffles covered with Grand Marnier and served with a late harvest Johannesburg Riesling. Reservations for either dinner are $60 per person.

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Mirassou Bistro Suppers, 300 College Ave., Los Gatos. Call 408.395.3790 for reservations.

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