FOOD FOR THOUGHT
CULINARY EXPERTS (continued)
COURTNEY LOREG, SOUS CHEF
How long have you worked at Wente
Vineyards?
About a year.
Favorite thing about Wente Vineyards?
The collaboration between The Restaurant
and different parts of the company, i.e. The
Garden, getting to use fresh grapes from the
vineyard or juice from the winery, Wente Estate beef, etc.
Favorite item on the menu?
The coral cod dish. I moved from the East
Coast and I'm getting to see a lot of different
varieties of fish.
••••••
MELISSA DUESLER, PASTRY CHEF
How long have you worked at Wente
Vineyards?
Two and a half years.
Best part of your job?
The availability to go to The Garden and
pick whatever we want to use that's growing.
Your favorite dessert?
Any ice cream we make, especially those
with fresh summer fruit.
5 QUESTIONS WITH…
Owen Nattrass
Executive Chef, The Grill at Wente Vineyards
Favorite Wente Family
Estates wine?
2011 Wente Vineyards
Small Lot GSM
Tell us what you do at
Wente Vineyards?
I am the chef at The Grill
at Wente Vineyards.
What is the best part of
your job?
My favorite part of my job
is getting to reinterpret traditional bar and grill food
using seasonal ingredients
and modern techniques.
As an example, instead of
serving traditional buffalo
fried wings we are taking
fresh chicken wings, bring-
ing them with salt and
spices, slow cooking them
in duck fat and deep frying
them before tossing them in
a sauce made from Fresno
chilis that we ferment in
house for six weeks. The
result is a wing that is familiar but completely unique
in execution.
Tell us something we
would not know about
you.
I am an enigma
shrouded in a mystery
and wrapped in a conundrum – but seriously, I run
… a lot. I love electronic
music (especially Drum &
Bass and IDM), urban
street art and performance automobiles. Before I
started cooking I went to
art school and studied
photography and printmaking.
Describe yourself in wine
terms…
"Pairs well with food."
CLICK HERE TO MEET THE RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT TEAM AT WENTE VINEYARDS
