New readers of my blog quickly surmise that Cara and I would love to live in Manhattan. We visit as often as we can and cherish the memories of each New York experience – whether it’s enjoying a fabulous meal at the latest trendy restaurant, taking in a current Broadway smash or just being pampered at The Pierre or The Sherry-Netherland. Something about the energy of the City gets in your blood, and there’s always something new to try.

If we were in the City tomorrow, you’d find us at Landmarc in Tribeca indulging our passion for the best in food and wine. The culinary team behind Landmarc, Chef Marc Murphy and Wine & Beverage Director David Lombardo, have given free rein to their creative side and developed an outstanding three-course wine dinner featuring Landmarc’s stellar cuisine and the equally acclaimed sparkling and still wines of Schramsberg Vineyards and Davies Vineyards in Napa Valley. The setting for this wine dinner is Landmarc’s beautiful upstairs dining room, which overlooks the bustle of West Broadway.

Guests of the Schramsberg-Davies Wine Dinner will be treated to a quintessential fall menu that features the rich and earthy flavors of truffles, bone marrow and celery root. The savory menu is just what’s needed to complement Schramsberg’s and Davies’ award-winning wines, and their winemaker, Hugh Davies, will co-host the event with Chef Murphy and Lombardo. This expert trio will be happy to answer guests’ questions, but I won’t be surprised if the guests find it difficult to focus on anything but savoring the classic flavors on their plates and in their glasses. In the meantime, I asked Lombardo to share a few insights into the featured pairings:

Overall Theme

Landmarc is often described as a French bistro with Italian influence, and the menu for this wine dinner appears to be representative of what they do best. It also seems like these events are fun for the Landmarc staff, providing them a chance to be even more creative. That said, even here Landmarc is still about pleasing its extended culinary family. “We’re so happy that people come through our doors every day and share their lives and eat our food and drink our wines.”

David Lombardo, Beverage & Wine Director, and Chef Marc Murphy

While the courses and pairings were the focus of his and Chef Murphy’s creative attention, Lombardo said pricing is a really important component, too – which is evident in the $150 per person charge. “People work hard for their money,” he noted. “You should be able to spend it wisely and still get a great value for the dollar with beautiful attention to wines and special menu items. It’s not our style to put out a $350 wine dinner. In order to control costs and still give its clientele a memorable experience, Lombardo turned to California for inspiration. “Sparkling out of California is beautiful – those houses really pay attention to the details in what they’re doing.”

Lombardo decided to showcase Schramsberg’s hand-crafted sparkling wines and then transition into Davies’ Pinot Noirs. “Sometimes with wine dinners you must have that hard transition from a white to a red as you move into heartier fare. So here it is nice to transition within the same family of winemakers. We have our own family [at Landmarc] and our own way of doing things, and the Schramsberg-Davies family is known for their sparklings but also have these great reds, too.”

When it comes to pairing wines with a varied menu, Lombardo gave this advice: “Sometimes people get too focused on [the pairings] and they just get too much in their head. In truth, there are some simple tenets. One is, ‘what grows together goes together.’ If you look to a region and what people there have been eating and drinking together for centuries – you can’t go wrong with that.”

Passed Hors D’Oeuvres

Duo of Scrambled Egg Toasts – Lardo; Salmon Caviar
Mirabelle Brut NV (California)

Lombardo decided to start the evening with Mirabelle Brut, to complement the simple – yet elegantly prepared — scrambled egg toasts. “I think this is something really fun. When I’m on my own I’ll usually start with a nice Cava. I like the citrus and acidity of it,” he said. “If you can afford something nicer each night, such as this Mirabelle Brut, then that’s even better. This is one of the beautiful styles that these guys are doing.”

First Course

Oyster Two Ways – Raw & Champagne Mignonette; Crispy & Truffled Cream Spinach
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2013 (North Coast)

“It’s nice to transition to oysters here. The weather is getting cold, and oysters are keeping great this time of year. So, we try to stick with really fresh east coast oysters. These will probably be Blue Points on Tuesday.” The crispness of this Blanc de Blancs should ensure that it pairs nicely with these two preparations, as the palate-cleansing acidity should balance the texture and richness of the raw oyster and the cream spinach.

Second Course

Risotto Milanese with Saffron, Bone Marrow & Parmesan
Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs 2012 (North Coast)

“With this course we’re starting to get a little hardier,” commented Lombardo. “The chicken stock gives the risotto so much flavor, and then you add some cheese, saffron and beautiful bone marrow to it. This dish has really beautiful fall and winter flavors.” While pairing a sparkling wine with such a rich dish may seem unusual, it seems more natural given the way Schramsberg makes its wines. Unlike other California sparkling wine houses, Schramsberg utilizes barrel fermentation to add richness, complexity and depth to its sparkling wines – which allows them to stand up to even hardier courses.

“I think pairing such a dish with sparkling wine brings people out of their comfort zone,” he said. “If you had a simple vegetable risotto in the summertime, you might think ‘okay summer vegetables and sparkling wine might work.’ But having a little more power and strength on this Blanc de Noirs is perfect. Not only will the bubbles and acidity cut loose on the richness of the dish, but that background structure of the toasty notes will lift up with the bone marrow which should be great.” (Chef Murphy and Lombardo have always had a fondness for bone marrow, featuring it on Landmarc’s menu since 2004 – “As soon as I hear bone marrow, I’m in,” Lombardo quipped.) “I’m super excited about this one. When we were putting it together I thought ‘this will just work.’”

Third Course

Braised Lamb Shank with Celery Root Purée & Brussels Sprouts
Davies Vineyards ‘Ferrington Vineyards’ Pinot Noir 2014 (Anderson Valley)
Davies Vineyards ‘Nobles Vineyard’ Pinot Noir 2014 (Fort Ross-Seaview, Sonoma Coast)

While it may have been tempting to stick to all sparkling wines given the quality of Schramsberg’s bubbles, Lombardo also wanted to show off the family’s reds. “The Pinots they’re producing are great. Beautiful acid and the fruit’s there, too. As you often see in colder weather Pinots — like those up in Oregon – there’s a beautiful tartness to them which gives them the ability to stand up to a rich dish.”

This is the time of year that Landmarc begins to feature a braised lamb shank on its menu, much to the pleasure of its regulars – so it was an easy decision to add it to this fall wine dinner. In addition to the earthiness of the lamb, Lombardo said “the celery root purée adds a bit of sweetness to this dish as well, and you obviously can’t go wrong with Brussels sprouts.”

As for the wine pairings for this main course, Lombardo took suggestions from the producer. “When the winemakers get excited about putting up a couple of wines side by side they want you to see that the style’s the same but that there are small differences. These guys get into it because they’re masters of their craft and really help you understand the subtle differences in soil or vineyard site, whether one’s getting less rain or one’s getting more fog, and just give you a sense of the slight differences between them – even though they’re from the same winery and use the same grape varietal – and that’s always a treat for people to understand a little better. We think these dinners should be fun, but they should also be educational, and people appreciate that.”

Dessert

Olive Oil Cake with Citrus, Whipped Mascarpone, Honey & Hazelnuts
Schramsberg Crémant Demi-Sec 2012 (Napa Valley)

“If you read the ingredients for this dish, they’re sort of a combination of everything you’ve had beforehand. There’s some citrus in there that’s a bit like the flavors coming out of the caviar and the mignonette sauce, the creaminess of the mascarpone reminds me of the creaminess of the risotto and then there’s some nuttiness reminiscent of flavors in the lamb shank, the roasted Brussels sprouts and the Pinot Noir — so we’re finishing up on a nice overall note.” The creaminess of the mascarpone and honey should also be echoed by the creamy texture and subtle sweetness of the Crémant. (In case you don’t know, Crémant is French for “creamy” and in winemaking refers to a sparkler that is made with less bottle pressure and therefore is only lightly effervescent.)

Unfortunately, if you’re not already on the guest list for tomorrow night, you’ll have to wait like me for the next wine dinner offered by Landmarc. “We sold out in a week and a half, which is a testament to Schramsberg’s following and ours at Landmarc.” I for one will keep a close eye on their calendar of events.

Landmarc
179 West Broadway
New York, New York 10013 (Tribeca)
212.343.3883
www.landmarc-restaurant.com
Wine & Beverage Director: David Lombardo
  

(Photos courtesy of Landmarc and Key Group Worldwide.)