How to navigate the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience

Until now, the epicurean events that attract out-of-towners to Sonoma County tend to focus on the grapes and food that are grown and produced here. Think Taste of Sonoma County and the Sonoma County Auction, both hosted by the Sonoma County Vintners.

But this weekend, there’s a new game afoot. The Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience, held Friday through Sunday at various Healdsburg venues, will showcase local wines and chefs alongside an international array of vintages and nationally known chefs.

The result is a head-spinning schedule of down-home barbecues and picnics, chic cocktail parties and dinners, educational seminars and culinary demos. There will be 28 events held throughout the weekend that will showcase the bounty of Sonoma County and beyond.

“There’s all kinds of crazy, great wine here ‒ the pinot, chardonnay and zinfandel that are the biggest stars of Sonoma County,” said festival founder Steve Dveris of Napa, CEO of SD Media Productions. “They’re amazing, and it deserves to be on par with any other region.”

For decades, Dveris has brought West Coast wineries to wine and food events across the country, ranging from Aspen, Colorado, and Austin, Texas, to Miami’s South Beach as part of his job selling advertising and event sponsorships to magazines such as Food and Wine. The opportunity to organize his own wine and food festival here in Wine Country was a no-brainer.

“All the events were everywhere else but here,” Dveris said. “I could never understand it.”

The idea for a new festival here took root in March 2020 when Dveris was approached by Karissa Kruse, president of the Sonoma County Wine Growers, about holding a small festival that would elevate the county in the eyes of the world and celebrate the growers. From that seedling of an idea, Dveris started to dream big in the hopes of creating a legacy project that would live on without him.

“If you want to put Sonoma County on a par with any other region of the world, in Napa as well as Europe, then you need to invite other people in,” he said.

Inviting others to the party also lets the world know that this small corner of California offers a mighty array of talent, from the artisan producers who raise the pigs and vegetables to the growers who tend to the grape vines, all within spitting distance of the event.

Like other epicurean events, the Healdsburg Wine & Food Festival will be centered around the Vintners Plaza Grand Tasting, which will take place Saturday in the parking lot behind Hotel Healdsburg. There will be large tents and smaller pergolas showcasing more than 100 wineries as far-flung as Australia, Spain, South Africa, France, Washington and Oregon, among others.

“The large percentage is Sonoma County wine,” Dveris said. “Our thought was that we wanted to have a sampling of wines from around the world, so you could taste side by side.”

The festival will honor the homegrown roots of Healdsburg with two local beneficiaries: the Future Farmers of America of Healdsburg High and the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation — the charitable arm of the Sonoma County Wine Growers — which supports farmworkers by helping them with affordable housing, health care and crisis support.

“The fact that we’re making the grand tasting look like a farmers market is the theme of our event,” Dveris said. “We’re celebrating the agricultural roots, supporting the farmworkers and honoring the cultivation of great food and wine.”

Surrounding the Vintners Plaza Grand Tasting will be more than a dozen chefs serving everything from pizza to paella. Chef Kent Rathbun, who owns nine restaurants in Dallas, will offer barbecue bites. Jeffrey Lunak, the original chef at Morimoto in Napa, will serve Japanese-style hot dogs from his restaurant, Sumo Dog in Los Angeles.

A general admission ticket for Saturday’s grand tasting also includes a side-by-side burger and chicken slider tasting at the Healdsburg Bar & Grill from Michelin-starred chef Douglas Keane and Viet Pham, owner of Pretty Bird, a popular Nashville-style hot chicken chain in Utah.

“We have an enormous amount of local talent in our community, so this will showcase both local and national chefs who are coming in,” Dveris said. “You’ll walk into the garden at Healdsburg Bar & Grill and get some Rombauer chardonnay and Golden State Cider.”

Other events on Saturday, May 21, include educational wine and cheese seminars at Hotel Healdsburg, celebrity chef culinary demos at The Matheson and a Magnum Party at The Montage with Angeleno chef Ray Garcia, owner of Asterid restaurant at the Los Angeles Music Center.

Barbecue lunch, country crooners

The festival kicks off Friday, May 20, with a couple of special lunches, including a live fire barbecue of a whole pig by Chef Matt Horn that benefits the Healdsburg High School’s FFA students. The public can purchase a la carte tickets for $65.

The money raised by the barbecue will go toward a scholarship fund for students who plan to study agriculture in college and are in need of financial help.

Although the festival is a for-profit event, Dveris doubts it will make a profit this year, as food costs are rising and first-time events rarely make money, he said. In order to ensure there will be enough money to give to the festival’s beneficiaries, he set up the sponsorships in a way that would cover the promised donations, no matter what.

Dveris also asked Rodney Strong Vineyards to host an outdoor concert on Saturday night, with 80% of the tickets going to the grape growers’ foundation and 20% going to help offset the cost of The Band Perry performance.

“We have committed to raising … $100,000 for the farmworkers alone,” he said.

More diversity and ‘chef therapy’

One of the goals of this year’s festival is to showcase the diversity of the Bay Area culinary scene while making sure that women chefs get their fair share of the attention, Dveris said.

That did not escape the attention of local chefs such as Domenica Catelli, chef and owner of Catelli’s in Geyserville, who will be greeting guests Friday night at the welcome celebration cocktail party at The Montage with guest chef Maneet Chauhan.

“To see that it’s starting to evolve is so lovely,” Catelli said. “A lot of times we didn’t even get asked before. Now they’re making sure we’re included.”

Catelli, who has judged the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” and won “Guy’s Grocery Games” six times, said she is looking forward to spending time with Chauhan while they both prep their appetizers in Catelli’s restaurant kitchen.

“When we do events like this, what we love is that we get to play in the kitchen with each other,” she said. “Most everyone owns their own businesses as well, so it’s also a sounding board, especially with what we’ve all been through in the last two years. It’s almost like chef therapy.”

Chauhan, an Indian-American chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park New York, has served as a judge on Food Network’s “Chopped,” as well as been a contestant on several cooking competition shows.

“She’s amazing,” Catelli said. “We’re each doing a different bite and The Montage will do five different bites of their food.”

Catelli plans to wait until she gets a produce list and a weather report to decide which way she wants her bite to go: warm and comforting, or refreshing and crisp.

“It’s going to be the flavors of Sonoma in the spring,” she said. “That’s where my best bites come from. I go to the farmers market and see a great ingredient, and then my head starts exploding.”

The following recipe is from Maneet Chauhan of Chauhan Ale & Masala House in Nashville, Tennessee. She will demonstrate this recipe at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 21, at The Matheson.

You can find Indian products at Asia Mart on Guerneville and Fulton roads in Santa Rosa or order from Amazon.

Shrimp Moilee and Grits Upma (Shrimp in Coconut Curry Sauce with Parmesan Semolina Cream and Garlic Aachar Oil)

4-6 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

2 whole dried kashmiri chile

¼ teaspoon hing (also known as asefotieda)

8 fresh curry leaves

1 large red onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root

Table salt, to taste

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon sambar powder (preferably MTR brand)

1 teaspoon coriander powder

2 (14-ounce) cans coconut milk (preferably Chako brand)

2 pounds shrimp, peeled and deveined

For grits:

1 cup sooji (Indian semolina)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon hing (asefotieda)

2 dried kashmiri red chiles

2 sprigs curry leaves

3 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup grated Parmesan

½ cup butter, unsalted

Salt and pepper to taste

Fried curry leaves, for garnish

Garlic aachar oil, for garnish

Cilantro, for garnish

For sauce and shrimp: In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil. Add the mustard seeds, whole red chiles and hing. As soon as they begin to sputter, add the curry leaves, onion and ginger; saute until the onions are golden brown.

Reduce heat. Add the salt; red chili powder, turmeric, sambar powder and coriander powder; saute for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk and simmer for a few minutes.

Add shrimp to sauce and cook it for a few minutes, until pink and cooked through.

For grits: Dry roast 1 cup sooji. Put aside to let cool completely.

Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and add mustard and cumin seeds, red chile, hing and a few curry leaves. Saute till the mustard seeds sputter.

Pour in 3 cups milk and bring to a boil. Add roasted sooji slowly, stirring continuously by hand. Keep mixing until all the milk has been absorbed. Add cream, Parmesan and butter until it’s a smooth puree.

To serve: Serve a scoop of upma, topped with the shrimp and sauce. Garnish with fried curry leaves, garlic aachar oil and cilantro.

The following recipes are from Stephanie Izard, the first female chef to win the Bravo’s “Top Chef.” Izard owns three restaurants in Chicago: Girl & the Goat, Little Goat and Duck Duck Goat. She launched her own line of sauces, This Little Goat, in 2016. To order visit thislittlegoat.com or on Amazon. Note, the pickles need to be made 24 hours in advance.

Chili Crunch Hong Kong Chicken & Sweet Potato Noodle Salad

Makes 4 servings

For quick pickles:

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2-3 medium heat chile peppers (such as fresnos, banana peppers, jalapenos or serranos), seeds removed and thinly sliced

1 ½ cups distilled white vinegar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon, plus ¼ cup This Little Goat Went to Hong Kong Sauce

For chicken:

1 ½ pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skin-on

Cooking oil (such as canola or vegetable oil)

For noodles:

4 ½ ounces sweet potato (japchae) noodles

This Little Goat Chili Crunch (contains fish)

½ cup fresh mint leaves, roughly torn

To make quick pickles 24 hours before starting: Place the sliced onion and chiles in a heatproof storage container with a lid. Combine the vinegar, ¼ cup water, ¼ cup sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon of this This Little Goat went to Hong Kong Sauce into a small saucepan. bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour the hot liquid over the veggies, making sure they are completely submerged. Let cool completely at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve (ideally overnight).

For chicken: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Season the chicken on all sides with kosher salt and toss with ¼ cup of This Little Goat went to Hong Kong Sauce until coated. Set aside to marinate while you cook your noodles.

For noodles: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add in your sweet potato noodles. Let boil for about 6-8 minutes, until tender. Drain and rinse under cool water to remove some of the starch so they are a bit less sticky, then leave in colander until needed. Once drained, toss noodles with a drizzle of oil from the top of the chili crunch jar (not the crunchy part).

To finish chicken: Heat an oven-safe skillet over high heat and coat with a drizzle of cooking oil. Once hot, add in the marinated chicken (you should hear it sizzle). Sear until skin side begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Leaving skin side down, transfer the chicken to a 375-degree oven until cooked through (or reduce the heat to medium/medium-low and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through). Set aside while you prepare the salad below.

Crunchy Shrimp, Peanut and Herb Salad

Makes 4 servings

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups Special K Cereal

This Little Goat went to Thailand Spice

Kosher salt

Cooking oil (such as canola oil or vegetable oil)

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled & tails removed (butterflied)

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

½ cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

¼ cup pickled pepper mix (see recipe above)

1 lime, zested and juiced

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add in your Special K cereal. Season with a pinch of salt and a few sprinkles of This Little Goat Went to Thailand spice. Saute, tossing the pan frequently, until the cereal is nicely toasted, crispy and well coated in butter. Transfer to a clean plate and set aside.

Wipe the skillet you used to toast the cereal and add a drizzle of cooking oil to the skillet and heat over high heat (or grab a new skillet if you prefer.) Add in your shrimp and sprinkle with This Little Goat Went to Thailand Spice and a pinch of salt. Saute until cooked through and no longer opaque, about 2-3 minutes.

Toss together shrimp, herbs, peanuts, cereal and pickled veggies. Then, garnish the dish with lime zest, lime juice and drizzle of oil from the top of the chili crunch. Add your toasted, buttery cereal to your peanut and herb salad and toss to combine. transfer to a serving platter and top with your shrimp. Drizzle with more This Little Goat Chili Crunch for a touch of heat.

When ready to serve, drain pickled veggies and put noodles in a serving bowl. Top with the chicken and garnish with pickled veggies, fresh mint, and a few spoonfuls of chili crunch (depending on your spice tolerance).

Staff Writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 707-521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56