 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
||
| Wine dinners make bow at Bodee’s By Lisa McKinnon Closed for nearly a decade, the Ojai area watering hole known as Bodee’s Bar reopened last summer as a restaurant called, simply, Bodee’s. Remodeling was done with an eye toward retaining much of the site’s history: Cut into the dining room floor is a clear “window” through which the 1947 foundation may be seen, the names of locals scrawled in the concrete. But the menu is decidedly of this era: Chef Christopher Watson has included baby greens, yellowfin tuna and his trademark barbecued duck confit quesadilla with mango salsa. Now he’s planning Bodee’s first-ever winemaker dinner. The Aug. 30 event will feature vintages from Jaffurs Wine Cellars of Santa Barbara. Owner/winemaker Craig Jaffurs will be in attendance. The multicourse meal starts at 6:30 p.m., when appetizers of wonton wafers topped with sambal (an Indonesian condiment made with chilies) and seared ahi tuna served with cucumber-apricot salad will be paired with a 2005 Santa Barbara County Matilija rosé, a blend of syrah and roussane. Jaffurs’ 2005 Santa Barbara County roussane, a white varietal with floral-mineral notes, will be poured with poached and chilled scallops accompanied by peachpapaya compote in a radicchio leaf and pink grapefruit and microgreens dressed in basil oil. Up next will be roasted shallot-lobster ravioli with roasted pepper-ginger butter and seared baby bok choy leaves, served with a 2005 Santa Barbara County viognier, a white varietal. Jaffurs’ 2003 Thompson Vineyard Santa Barbara County syrah will be paired with hazelnut-encrusted duck breast with blackberry syrah reduction, red and gold beets and seared chard. The winery’s 2003 Melville Vineyard Santa Barbara County syrah will be poured with buffalo strip loin in a rosemary peppercorn port reduction, accompanied by puff pastry stuffed with portobello mushrooms, fingerling potatoes, goat cheese and broccolini, the latter “flashed” in roasted garlic oil. The dinner will close with a pairing of late-harvest syrah and flourless chocolate cake “touched” with habanero and served with a coffee butter cream and praline cookie and mixed-berry compote. Bodee’s is at 3304 Maricopa Highway, Ojai. For information and reservations, $85 per person, call 646-5300. |
||
 |