GRAPESEED OIL gets recognition from specialty food association Chosen as a finalist for the Specialty Food Association’s sofi Award for Outstanding Oil at the New York Fancy Food Show last month, Salute Santé! is getting a large dose of much-deserved attention! The Oscars of the gourmet food world, the sofi Awards are a big deal for any food purveyor, so Nanette and Valentin Humer are ready for the gold! The winner was announced July 1, too late to make this issue. “We are thrilled at receviing the nomination!” said Nanette. “This honor is such validation for all Valentin and I have been doing to make this oil possible.” And all that they do is no small feat—on any given day they are busy sorting seeds, pressing grapeseed oil, bottling, selling and educating chefs, stores and consumers that this is the world’s healthiest oil. “The best artisanal food product I’ve seen in twenty-five years in the Napa Valley,” said star chef Michael Chiarello. Chiarello’s Napa Style in Yountville has been a customer for two years, showcasing the oils and featuring them in their catalogs. Bottega Restaurant has been using the Syrah Grapeseed oil since Chiarello first tasted the oils. Valentin is proud to have chefs of this caliber creating unique new dishes with his oils up and down the Valley. A few of their local restaurant customers are Fish Story, Morimoto, ZuZu Restaurant, Cole’s Chop House, Hog Island Oysters, C Casa, Ca’ Momi, Grace’s Table, étoile Restaurant at Domaine Chandon, Lucy’s at Bardessono and Bottega Restaurant. Chef Malcolm from Silverado Cooking School teaches how to incorporate grapeseed oil into daily menus for his classes. He loves the local and sustainable aspect of these oils. Beginning with Napa as home base, they have spread out to cover the Bay Area, selling to San Francisco chefs like Ron Siegel at Michael Mina Restaurant, Mark Dommen at One Market Restaurant, and Chris Cosentino from Incanto as well as Michael Chiarello’s new hot spot, Coqueta Restaurant in San Francisco. Health guru Andrew Weil’s new restaurants, True Food Kitchens, have converted all their kitchens to Salute Santé! Whole Foods Markets have recently added three Salute Santé! varietal grapeseed oils—Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah—to their oil sections in all 36 Northern California stores. Castello di Amorosa has added a tasting room, La Fattoria, to highlight eight different varietal cold-pressed grapeseed oils. “We love offering all the wineries different varietal grapeseed oils to match the different varietal wines they are making. This allows everyone to customize the oils their own way,” said Valentin. “Now I am just waiting to create the private reserves to match any of Napa’s great wines.” NVL’s Hot Tips to a Better LIFE How to get a Squeaky Clean Wineglass Nobody likes to serve an elegant or everyday wine in a spotted wine glass. Hurley’s Restaurant bartender Dean Schoeps offers this tip for a sparkling presentation. After washing a glass either by hand or in a dishwasher, fill a thick glass or mug with steaming hot water. Hold the wine glass upside down over it and let the moisture and steam rising from the hot water eliminate and loosen the extra debris off the wineglass. Wipe with a buff cloth. No more spots. Schoeps cautions not to use a very thin-sided glass for the steamed water or the glass might crack. Go to nvlmag.com for more helpful tips to make your life easier in WineCountry. Do you have a tip for our NVL readers? Send them along to kari@napavalleylifemagazine.com. J U LY / AUGU S T 2 0 1 3 17
NVLife_JulyAug_2013
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