[ PROFILE ]

It was a chilly day in late April when I sat down with the New
YorkWine & CulinaryCenter’s
new executive chef, Carlo Peretti. Peretti had been on the job for only about
four hours, but he seemed excited by the prospect ahead of him: local asparagus
was only a couple of weeks away; chives, spring onions, and ramps were already
available; and in a little more than a month the first vegetables and fruits of
the summer would be starting to appear at local farm markets, and on the
rotating menu that he was already crafting for the Center’s Taste of New York
Lounge. We talked about the Canandaigua and Victor farmers markets, and the
opportunity to visit local producers that his new job affords him. Although
short on specifics — it was, after all, his first day on the job — Peretti
already had a clear vision for the Lounge: fresh ingredients, clean flavors,
and an ever-evolving menu that allows the food to speak for itself while taking
advantage of all of the bounty available to cooks — both professional and
amateur — in New York state.

            Three weeks
after our first meeting, Peretti rolled out his new menu. Shelter Island oysters,
Catskills smoked trout, Montauk diver scallops, Hartmann’s charcuterie and
speck, New York artisan cheeses (including a sublime Chatham camembert, and
rich, flavorful goat cheeses from the Lively Run Goat Dairy near Interlaken)
are all featured to good advantage, as are the first crops of the season, including
peas, spring lettuces, and mint. Backed up by both wine and beer pairings, and
served by a friendly and knowledgeable wait staff in a warm, airy, and
surprisingly intimate dining room that encourages lingering, this is the stuff
that three-hour lunches and dinners that linger late into the evening are made
of — especially if your meal is preceded by a visit to the tasting room
downstairs, or a flight of beer samples at the bar adjacent to the Lounge.

While the Lounge and tasting room are important
aspects of what the 2-year-old center has to offer, it’s also home to an
ambitious program of hands-on cooking classes, demonstrations, and lectures
open to the public.

            If lunch
upstairs has inspired you to head to the farmers market and embrace your inner
chef, but you don’t know the bolster of your knife from the blade, the center
can help you on your way to culinary greatness. It offers classes that appeal
to a variety of interests and skill levels, everything from knifework basics and
beginner cooking techniques on up to four-day intensive “ultimate culinary
experiences” and farmers’ market “challenges” for advanced amateur cooks. Visitors
can also take a wide array of workshops, including grilling, spring salads, and
seafood cookery, which offer students the opportunity to put their skills to
the test, learn new techniques, and then sit down to a family-style meal
featuring foods that they have prepared, paired along with New York wines, many
of which are for sale in the tasting room just down the hall from the center’s
well-appointed demonstration kitchens.

Education can be thirsty work, and the New
YorkWine & CulinaryCenter
provides a great opportunity to quench your thirst and to learn more about New
York wines and beers. Wine Coordinator Shannon Brock,
who, with the assistance of a tasting panel, selects new wines for the tasting room
every two weeks during the summer, is excited about the upcoming 2008 season. Last
year was a banner one for wine in New York,
Brock says, as a long, hot, dry summer created perfect conditions for a vintage
year.

            The center hosts
many summer wine programs that appeal to visitors at all levels of wine expertise.
If you know nothing about wine but would like to, you can do one of two things:
take the center’s “Basics of Wine” course, or find your way into the tasting room
on any given day and imbibe an education in oenology along with a wide variety
of whites, reds, fortified wines, and meads.

            For those
who like their wine with a nosh, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon throughout
the summer the center hosts wine- and food-tasting events that bring New York
wines together with cheese, appetizers, and — for those with a sweet tooth —
chocolate. Or, you could make a night of it and take in one of the remaining winemaker
dinners offered this summer, featuring wines from Wolffer Estate Vineyards
(June 19), Heron Hill Winery (July 17), Ravines Wine Cellars (July 24), and
Goosewatch Vineyards (August 21). Each dinner offers either a three-course meal
or a seven-course tasting menu hosted by the winemakers themselves, and is served
in the center’s oak-paneled private dining room — a perfect way to indulge your
taste for opulence and dine in baronial splendor.

Those who taste wine at the center do so standing up
in the tasting room. Those who sample New York’s
beers do so in much more comfort at the upstairs bar. With a rotating selection
of 11 beers and ales on draft, plus 20 others in bottles, the center brings together
ales, lagers, stouts, porters, and wheat beers from several of the more than 60
craft breweries across the state. With a view of Canandaigua Lake
as a background, and access to the Lounge menu, a “flight” of beer samples (or
even two) is an agreeable way to unwind after a cooking class, cool your heels
while waiting for your lunch or dinner companions, or just while away an
afternoon.

            Plans are
currently in the works to expand the center’s beer-pairing dinner series. Past
dinners in this series, which feature beer pairings for each of the seven
courses and beer incorporated into the courses themselves, have been hosted by
Rohrbach Brewing Company and Custom Brewcrafters.

            The New
YorkWine & CulinaryCenter
is located at 800 South Main Street
in Canandaigua. It is open seven days a week starting Memorial Day weekend
through Labor Day, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday noon-9 p.m.
Advance registration is required for all cooking classes, and reservations are
suggested for the Taste of New York Lounge. The tasting room and beer-tasting
bar are open on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information call
394-7070 or visit nywcc.com.

This article appears in May 14-20, 2008.